EDUCATING WOMEN
An Investment for the future
It is clear that the Education of girls is of far greater consequence than that of boys. This fact is extremely important, and the matter must be seen with the greatest energy and dedication. Among the consequences of providing girls with basic education is improvement in material circumstances. Research has shown that whatever the content of the curriculum, girls benefit from going to school, from problem solving, from expanding their world and from sharing the knowledge base generally afforded to both boys and men. Contributions of women to sciences and the Arts, Albert Fledgling, provide evidence that give opportunity, girls and women have the intellectual capacity to improve substantively the human condition. However, with regard to spiritual education, there are no charts, no progress reports, no quantifying studies that can prove to the world how important it is to equip future generations with the virtues conducive to promoting the establishment of unity and cooperation as the basis of functioning in an interdependent world community. In this respect, the Christian social teaching stress that the unique advantages that educated girls bring to their roles as mothers and first educators of the next generation, not only act as the most effective diffusers of knowledge throughout society, but it is the women of the world, that added a plea for the education of the human spirit and a call for educational reform.
The failure to educate the human spirit and the neglect of character development have contributed to a number of seemingly intractable social problems. Given the obvious rightness of educating both boys and girls and the documented advantages educated women bring to their families, communities and nations, the continuing failure to ensure the education of girls suggests a lack of will. Indeed, the half-hearted commitment to education specifically can be attributed to the lack of both a vision for the future and the inspiration to achieve it. According to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on women in Beijing-China, Margarette Mongella, she points out a number of formidable obstacles of girls education and suggests measures to overcome these obstacles. However, we note the lack of any reference to principles or human values, which might inspire the transformation of individual and collective attitudes and behaviours. Christianity and her social teachings find, in principle, the oneness of humanity and the equality of men and women inspiration for the abandonment of all prejudices, including those based on gender, nationality, creed, degree of material civilization, class and colour. The principle of the oneness of humanity, with its limited recognition of the worth of every member of the human family, needs to be taught in all the schools, universally proclaimed and “asserted by every nation as preparation for the organic change in the structure of society which it implies”. Indeed, profound changes will be made as women move to take their place on decision-making bodies in every sphere around the world. This organic shift need not cause conflict. Indeed an important part of a larger programme to educate girls must be the re-socialization of males for partnership. Boys and men must be given the opportunity to grasp, on the one hand, the harmful effects of attitudes and values which condone and even encourage violence, oppression and war, and to see, on the other hand, the advantages societies, families and girls themselves get when girls are educated.
The failure to educate the human spirit and the neglect of character development have contributed to a number of seemingly intractable social problems. Given the obvious rightness of educating both boys and girls and the documented advantages educated women bring to their families, communities and nations, the continuing failure to ensure the education of girls suggests a lack of will. Indeed, the half-hearted commitment to education specifically can be attributed to the lack of both a vision for the future and the inspiration to achieve it. According to the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on women in Beijing-China, Margarette Mongella, she points out a number of formidable obstacles of girls education and suggests measures to overcome these obstacles. However, we note the lack of any reference to principles or human values, which might inspire the transformation of individual and collective attitudes and behaviours. Christianity and her social teachings find, in principle, the oneness of humanity and the equality of men and women inspiration for the abandonment of all prejudices, including those based on gender, nationality, creed, degree of material civilization, class and colour. The principle of the oneness of humanity, with its limited recognition of the worth of every member of the human family, needs to be taught in all the schools, universally proclaimed and “asserted by every nation as preparation for the organic change in the structure of society which it implies”. Indeed, profound changes will be made as women move to take their place on decision-making bodies in every sphere around the world. This organic shift need not cause conflict. Indeed an important part of a larger programme to educate girls must be the re-socialization of males for partnership. Boys and men must be given the opportunity to grasp, on the one hand, the harmful effects of attitudes and values which condone and even encourage violence, oppression and war, and to see, on the other hand, the advantages societies, families and girls themselves get when girls are educated.
ON THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
One can say that violence against women is a yardstick by which one can measure the violation of all human rights. It can be used to measure the degree by which a society is governed by aggression dominated by competition and ruled by force. Abusive practices against women have frequently been, and are still being, justified in the context of cultural norms, religious beliefs and unfounded scientific theories and assumptions. But whatever its political or religious system, a society patterned on dominance inevitably gives rise to such distortions of power as violence against women. It is being increasingly evident, however, that all forms of violence against women degrade not only the victim but the pepetrators as well. Those who inflict violence on women are themselves among the casualties of power-based systems. Our challenge is to search out new strategies and adopt fresh models that will encourage a healthier, more cooperative society at all levels. We need to move consciously away from patterns of force and aggression towards methods of consultation and peace making. Because of the rise in crime, economic hardship and the collapse of the family, more and more individuals, organizations, and governments are seeking alternatives to violence in managing conflict. One of the essential ways to encourage more cooperation is through education. While economic disparity and legal inequality are known to contribute of incidents to violence against women, it is obvious that violence arises from ignorance - the failure to understand such fundamental realities as oneness of the human race and the mistaken notion that force is the only honourable way to resolve conflicts. Education (moral and material) therefore, is not only a fundamental right but a practical necessity in today’s world. Any attempt to cut societal violence that does not educate individuals to overcome gender prejudices will certainly fall short. At a time when illiteracy is increasing among women in the developing world, it is vitally important to re-emphasize the role of education everywhere if violence against women is to be controlled. Ironically enough, the place where women and girls are most subject to violence and neglect is within their own homes, at the nerve centre of the families. If families educate their daughters, and if the society systematically encourages the education of girl children and their equal participation in all spheres of life, both the family and the community will benefit. But the problem of violence cannot truly be resolved unless men are also educated to value women as equal partners. Any effort to protect women against male aggression which does not involve the early training of boys will necessarily be short-lived. Likewise all attempts to understand the causes and consequences of violence against women, which do not involve men, are bound to fail.PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE
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Publications
2009 DEC NEWSLETTER
VOL. 7, NO. 1 DECEMBER 2009: ALLEVIATING POVERTY THROUGH SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRATEGIS.
