GENDER INEQUALITY : THE EDUCATOR

 

Narrative - The educator

That night, a wind storm rolled up like a whip, blasted windows pumping. A girl was born fair-skinned like the Snowman. “No! Not a girl again! My husband will be violent to me if he has been knowing this.”, her mother was yelling. It is the sixth 1960s girl that she had been giving birth to. There is no denying fact that boys are more valued by parents at that time. However, they would not know how would the sixth girl be such a successful educator which contribute to the community in the future.

Her mother was so blue the whole day. Out of the blue, a senhora stood in front of the depressed mother. “I’ll give you $20000 if you sell the girl for me.” Her mother was going to promise it but the father rejected, “Let the girl stay, she can do the household chores.” the girl was named Celine. Every day after school, she must have been doing household chores from day to night even so she was optimistic and satisfied with her life as she was given chance to study in a school where girls are not allowed to be studying at school at that time. Although Celine was young, she knew that higher and higher education is the only way to get rid of poverty.

Unfortunately, her father, the breadwinner died in an accident when delivering goods to the buyers. Her mother asked Celine and her sisters to quit studying and work for the whole day to gain more money. “Why us? Our elder brothers eat more and they don’t get sterling results in their examination, it should be them to work!”. Celine’s sisters quit but Celine did not. She continues her studies until she gets outstanding results in the SPM examination and she gets an offer from Malaysia Education Ministry to study at the Institutes of Teacher Education. Celine determined to use her knowledge to educate the community to be changing their minds on gender inequalities in education towards women.

Celine has successfully graduated to become a teacher. She spares no effort to change parents’ minds which is gender inequality towards their daughter. Her action attracts journalists’ attention. Her great deeds were reported and the last word she gave is, “It is never too late to stop gender inequality in education towards women in the community.”