by Chu Chin Kwok

Created on: December 06, 2009

Before one discusses the challenges and strategies for educating girls effectively in developing countries, one must be clear as to what is involved in educating girls, and effectively at that. I take this to include, among others, the difficulties involved, obstacles encountered and efforts made by relevant parties, through education, to upgrade the social standing of women (which has traditionally been inferior to that of men in developing countries ) so that they will be able to take up employment and office that have been hitherto denied to them, thereby contributing to nation-building as their male counterparts have been doing.

Women in general and girls in particular are the important half of any human society: in China there is a saying "women cover/shoulder half the sky" meaning that women folk contribute as much to nation building as the men folk, underscoring the importance of the so-called fairer sex among us. Alas, the history of many developing countries shows that women and girls had not been treated equally - for until very recently ( and even today ) girls in these countries have suffered both physically and emotionally under the male-dominated norms of societies. In some middle-east and south Asian countries, especially those that practice theocracy ( e.g Saudi-Arabia, Afghanistan) and certain African Muslim states, girls are still regarded, for all purposes and intent, as second-class citizens. They do not have the same rights as the men, to put it simply and bluntly.

Some of the challenges faced by anyone or organization wishing to bring about changes that will result in women receiving effective education are:-

1. Some Muslim countries deny girls the right to a complete and meaningful education. Their most important job is to be a wife and mother; so the problem here is to recognize that such out-dated but unfortunately, entrenched mindset among the population has to be corrected.

2. In developing countries like China, India, baby girls have been abandoned or just discarded, even today, though the practice is more rampant in remote and rural areas. Needless to say, these poor baby girls do not grow to become 'children' to be educated. This is one area where legislation and enforcement authorities must address in order to totally eradicate such uncivil, barbaric practices.

3. In rural areas and remote regions of many developing countries ( China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia being prime examples ) girls have to help out - in household chores,

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