Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls and women. Besides opening many doors of opportunities, the educational achievements of women can have ripple effects within the family and across generations. Promoting girls’ education is one of the most tested ways of reducing poverty worldover. Investment in education for girls tends to produce many sweet fruits. Research has shown that girls who have been educated are likely to marry late (usually above 25 years of age) and to have smaller and healthier families. Because they are knowledgeable, educated women can recognise the importance of health care and know how to seek it for themselves and their children. The other advantage of taking girls to school is that they are able to know their rights and to gain confidence to claim them. However, women’s literacy rates are significantly lower than men’s in most developing countries except Rwanda. That is why as the world celebrates International Women’s Day on Saturday, Rwanda must be credited for empowering both the girl-child and rural woman. According to the ministry of education, more girls enroll for primary and secondary levels than boys. This is no mean achievement considering that in most countries in the region, it is the opposite. The uneducated woman has also been enlightened about her rights by the government and other stakeholders hence ending the impunity with which men used to sell off property without even consultation. As a result, there’s more stability in homes than before. However, the girl-child still needs everyone’s support if our country is to fully develop.
