Education is an investment that stays with a woman throughout her life,
is hers to use as she wishes, and cannot be taken away.1
The impact of the education of girls and young women on their lives and their communities has been documented in many countries:
- Women with seven or more years of schooling marry five years later than women with no education.
- Educated women are much more likely to use contraception and have longer intervals between births.
- Women with seven or more years of schooling have two to three children less than women with three years of schooling.
- Educated mothers will almost always want their children, both girls and boys to acquire a better education than they themselves received.
- Educated women are better informed about their rights and are more likely to exercise their rights. They are more likely to participate in the formal political system and the development of the area in which they live than are uneducated women.
While there are many other possible interventions to achieve these social goals, girls' education is the only one which impacts all of them simultaneously.2
"Educating girls and women is the single most important investment that yields maximum returns for development. The most important issue in any country is the number of girls that have access to education and the quality of education they receive, as measured by levels of retention and performance."3
1 The Population Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, Accelerating Girls Education: A Priority for Governments, Dec., 2003.
2 The Forum for African Women Educationalists, 3rd United Nations Conference on the Lease Developed Countries, May 2001.
3 The Population Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, Accelerating Girls Education: A Priority for Goverenments, Dec., 2003.
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