Women and Education in Bangladesh
by Md Hossain, Ruyou Lin, and Katherine Zhou
Everyone has the right to education. Based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights article number 26, “Education should be free, at least the elementary school. Furthermore, it is the backbone of a notion everyone should have their right to go to school and complete their academic study.” In fact, education plays an important role in a human’s life and to succeed in the future. In the passage “The Bridge to Nowhere: A Report on Women and Education in Bangladesh,” Ami Novoryta states those issues which in general cause women to have a low level of education in Bangladesh. As she points out, the Bangladesh people are facing the challenge that is human resource; for example, teachers are getting low wages and they also have to deal with huge amount of students. Another important point that Novoryta mentions is that the economic issue is impeding Bangladeshi women to continue studying at school. Last but not least, the author emphasizes the most important reason for girls to stop going to school is earlier marriage. I strongly agree with the author when she claims that earlier marriage is an important issue for girls to stop going to school.
One significant idea that the author emphasizes is “the average marrying age for Bangali girls is fifteen years old.” In other words, most of the girls from Bangladesh are getting married early in age without graduating from high school. Therefore, after getting married girls become more responsible. A girl has to devote herself to her family, such as preparing to be a young mother and how to be a good housewife. In addition, this is a contradictory and widespread issue. This kind of situation is appearing more in countries in which the tradition is very strong or the custom is more valued than the law. For example in some Asian countries, specifically in the rural area, girls from low income family are required to marry at a young age, interrupting them from finishing their education. By marrying the girl, the family will receive a dowry and they do not have to worry about the financial issue. On the other hand, in the USA, American girls or women have access to the education no matter what age. Moreover, girls who grow up in the western countries have more freedom than girls who grow up in the oriental countries. Asia is an old world, which has thousand of legends and many traditions which people follow and pass from generation to generation, but America compared to Asia is a new world which does not have that much history and tradition.
Another reason why I agree with author on that idea is because earlier marriage is a big issue that impedes girls to stop going to school. In my friend’s experience, she comes from China. She is 22 years old, but she has different life compared with normal 22 year old girls, who do things like study in school. When she was 15 years old, she stopped going to school, because she was married with a man who was about 7 years older than her. Her family is poor, her father got ill and lived in a hospital, and her father needs a lot money to get treatment, so her parents want her to stop going to school and get married. Then they can get money to help her father. (In China, a man needs to give a betrothal present to girl when they marry.) Also my friend loved school, but she thought maybe after she got married, she can still get an education. However, she thought she needed to get money to help family first. So she married this man. But her life is opposite to her dream. After she married, she had one baby, then she stayed home to take care of the baby and did housework. Later, she needed to go out and find work to earn money, so she could earn money to support her family. Until now, she never went back to school, and it is a big regret in her mind.
In conclusion, having a good education is the key word to succeed in life. However, in the developing countries, girls have lack of opportunities to study. In fact, the right to education is very essential to becoming a better person, to enriching people’s life. Moreover, in some countries the government does not want to get involved to solve this issue. Therefore, the United Nations should provide some solution, so girls can have more opportunities to be educated. An example is to persuade the government to offer education programs so that girls who are married can still study, for instance, a continuing education for girls who dropped out of school and still want to keep up with their studies and get their degree. Another good solution is that governments should offer some scholarship or financial support to families with low incomes that could not afford the school tuition. In that way, girls can be engaged to finish their education without barriers.
Everyone has the right to education. Based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights article number 26, “Education should be free, at least the elementary school. Furthermore, it is the backbone of a notion everyone should have their right to go to school and complete their academic study.” In fact, education plays an important role in a human’s life and to succeed in the future. In the passage “The Bridge to Nowhere: A Report on Women and Education in Bangladesh,” Ami Novoryta states those issues which in general cause women to have a low level of education in Bangladesh. As she points out, the Bangladesh people are facing the challenge that is human resource; for example, teachers are getting low wages and they also have to deal with huge amount of students. Another important point that Novoryta mentions is that the economic issue is impeding Bangladeshi women to continue studying at school. Last but not least, the author emphasizes the most important reason for girls to stop going to school is earlier marriage. I strongly agree with the author when she claims that earlier marriage is an important issue for girls to stop going to school.
One significant idea that the author emphasizes is “the average marrying age for Bangali girls is fifteen years old.” In other words, most of the girls from Bangladesh are getting married early in age without graduating from high school. Therefore, after getting married girls become more responsible. A girl has to devote herself to her family, such as preparing to be a young mother and how to be a good housewife. In addition, this is a contradictory and widespread issue. This kind of situation is appearing more in countries in which the tradition is very strong or the custom is more valued than the law. For example in some Asian countries, specifically in the rural area, girls from low income family are required to marry at a young age, interrupting them from finishing their education. By marrying the girl, the family will receive a dowry and they do not have to worry about the financial issue. On the other hand, in the USA, American girls or women have access to the education no matter what age. Moreover, girls who grow up in the western countries have more freedom than girls who grow up in the oriental countries. Asia is an old world, which has thousand of legends and many traditions which people follow and pass from generation to generation, but America compared to Asia is a new world which does not have that much history and tradition.
Another reason why I agree with author on that idea is because earlier marriage is a big issue that impedes girls to stop going to school. In my friend’s experience, she comes from China. She is 22 years old, but she has different life compared with normal 22 year old girls, who do things like study in school. When she was 15 years old, she stopped going to school, because she was married with a man who was about 7 years older than her. Her family is poor, her father got ill and lived in a hospital, and her father needs a lot money to get treatment, so her parents want her to stop going to school and get married. Then they can get money to help her father. (In China, a man needs to give a betrothal present to girl when they marry.) Also my friend loved school, but she thought maybe after she got married, she can still get an education. However, she thought she needed to get money to help family first. So she married this man. But her life is opposite to her dream. After she married, she had one baby, then she stayed home to take care of the baby and did housework. Later, she needed to go out and find work to earn money, so she could earn money to support her family. Until now, she never went back to school, and it is a big regret in her mind.
In conclusion, having a good education is the key word to succeed in life. However, in the developing countries, girls have lack of opportunities to study. In fact, the right to education is very essential to becoming a better person, to enriching people’s life. Moreover, in some countries the government does not want to get involved to solve this issue. Therefore, the United Nations should provide some solution, so girls can have more opportunities to be educated. An example is to persuade the government to offer education programs so that girls who are married can still study, for instance, a continuing education for girls who dropped out of school and still want to keep up with their studies and get their degree. Another good solution is that governments should offer some scholarship or financial support to families with low incomes that could not afford the school tuition. In that way, girls can be engaged to finish their education without barriers.
Works Cited
Novoryta, Ami. "The Bridge To Nowhere: A Report On Women And Education In Bangladesh." Kennedy School Review 9.(2009): 77-79. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov 2013.
PublicDomain Pictures. "Classroom Chinese Education Room Students Learning." 17 Dec 2012. Pixabay. 4 Dec 2013.
Rosseauu. "Book Stack Learn Knowledge Library Reading." 7 July 2013. Pixabay. 4 Dec 2013.
Link to article (on campus only).
Novoryta, Ami. "The Bridge To Nowhere: A Report On Women And Education In Bangladesh." Kennedy School Review 9.(2009): 77-79. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov 2013.
PublicDomain Pictures. "Classroom Chinese Education Room Students Learning." 17 Dec 2012. Pixabay. 4 Dec 2013.
Rosseauu. "Book Stack Learn Knowledge Library Reading." 7 July 2013. Pixabay. 4 Dec 2013.
Link to article (on campus only).