I just discovered a fantastic World Bank web page that details the importance of female literacy! Here are some of my favorite quotes and information from the page--
"March 5, 2009—In a speech to his fellow Ghanaians in the early 1900s, the visionary educator, Dr. J.E. Kwegyir Aggrey, declared, 'The surest way to keep a people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family.'"
Joy Phumaphi, World Bank vice president for human development and Danny Leipziger, World Bank vice president for poverty reduction, in the foreword of the report Girls' Education in the 21st Century: Gender Equality, Empowerment, and Economic Growth stated:
“Women’s economic empowerment is essential for economic development, growth, and poverty reduction—not only because of the income it generates, but also because it helps to break the vicious cycle of poverty."
"Children of mothers with 5 years of primary education are 40% more likely to life beyond age 5."
"Especially hostage to under-achieving within the secondary system are girls in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, who live in small rural villages that are caught up in conflict, come from minority clans, or struggle with a disability."
"When the proportion of women with secondary schooling doubles, the fertility rate is reduced from 5.3 to 3.9 children per woman. Providing girls with an extra year of schooling increases their wages by 10 to 20 percent. There is evidence of more productive farming methods attributable to increased female schooling, and a 43 percent decline in malnutrition.
Educating women has a greater impact on children’s schooling than educating men. Young rural Ugandans with secondary schooling are three times less likely to be HIV positive. In India, women with formal schooling are more likely to resist violence. In Bangladesh educated women are three times more likely to participate in political meetings."
To read the whole article that these quotes came from, click here.
To visit The World Bank's web page on educating girls click here.
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