Women Education: A Key to a Better Society

I am so passionate about women’s education because I have seen as well as experienced how important it is for women to be educated. The word “women education” reminds me of my mother’s dream. Until now she dreams of going to school carrying me and my sister on her back. She is deeply affected by her not being able to get education on time. My mother was very good in her studies and highly wanted to pursue higher education. But all her dreams shattered when she got married at the age of 18. She got married because her elder sister was to get married and in order to save money my grandparents married both her daughters at a time. Though my mother’s story is of the past, the same cases are prevalent in many parts of Nepal as well as the world. This shows that we are still lagging behind in women education. Early marriage is one of the important aspects which refrain women from getting education. One of my friends, flee from her house to continue her education because her parents were forcing her to get married.

Women have so many obstacles to get education from their childhood to their old age. When we are born, people do not want to educate us because we are domestic beings: doing household chores only. If a girl luckily gets primary education, then she had to struggle for her further studies because as soon as we cross 15 years of age, we become legitimate to get married and there is a strong belief that women needs to get married in their early age. A girl if passed this hurdle luckily then as soon as she finishes her 10th grade, she becomes encouraged to work and earn money or study those subjects which are cheap. Streams like engineering, medicine, is for men and not women. People believe that there is no use of spending money educating girls because parents will get nothing in return. Members of society have proved that women get waived from all the responsibilities she has for her parents as soon as she gets married.

I will now share my struggles and my accomplishments. There were a lot of discussions between my parents to enroll me and my elder sister in a government school. My father wanted us to study in a government school because he was the only one to earn in the family and it was difficult for him to earn for our living as well as education in private school. Moreover, realizing that our education will not help him when he is old discouraged him to enroll us in a private school. My mother, however, was adamant about enrolling us in a private school because being a woman she realized how important education is for women.

The social constructions in society about women make it difficult for family having poor or limited economy to educate their daughters. My parents having limited economy had to think properly before deciding for our education: me and my sisters. They denied from enrolling me to an engineering college. There were three reasons behind this decision: first, we had limited economy; second, the perception that engineering is not for girls; third, I will not help be able to help my family economically. I had to comply with their decision as I had no power to decide for myself. I did not have money nor did I have resources which could support me in achieving what I wanted. I, however, got to be a part of an international education luckily as I got scholarship.

However, we are the makers of social construction of women in society and we should be the breakers of this binding social construction, so let us put on as much as effort as we can to empower women. I want to propose some solutions to educate women. At first, not only women but men should also participate in educating women. Men should be made realize that it is important for women to be educated as they can contribute in the family. They can help economically and they can help in making decisions in the family. If my mother was educated, she could have actively supported my family economically. Let us include men in our each and every campaign and initiations. Moreover, let us encourage people to surpass the restricting boundaries of society. Support can be given from any ways possible to empower women: by providing scholarships for women, by giving jobs to women as equal to men, by not discriminating wages among employees etc.