SDGs – Equality Education and Gender Equality Essay

Introduction

In 2015 United Nations General Assembly Summit adopted seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, which aim at achieving peace and prosperity for humankind and the whole planet. Two of those seventeen goals are quality education and gender equality. Quality education is aimed at providing equitable quality education and learning opportunities for everyone. Meanwhile, gender equality aims at ending discrimination and violence towards all girls and women and providing them with equal opportunities for life as there are for men. There is no way to say that some of the seventeen goals are more important than others; however, the ones concentrated on improving education have the power to accelerate the achievement of the others. The matters of high-quality education that can be accessed by any person regardless of their origin are the ones that should attract more attention. One of these matters is to provide equal opportunities for education for both genders since it directly affects their lives and gender equality in the future growth of society.

Equality Education and Gender Equality: Overview

Providing every person with equitable quality education means giving all people the opportunity to get knowledge regardless of their origin, social status, or economic conditions. Getting equal high-quality education allows people to achieve academic success, grow mentally, improve their analytical abilities and critical thinking, and open their minds. A good education can lead people to become professionals in multiple spheres that can change the world for the better.

In modern society, it may be hard to accept that gender inequality is still present these days. However, being one of the SDGs shows that achieving gender equality is a common problem. While gender equality means equal rights for both genders in most cases, it refers to women because “women suffer from gender inequalities almost in most cultures” (Papa, 2020, p. 1689). Every girl and woman should be able to manage her life without being bounded, shamefaced, or afraid.

Achieving gender equality and providing equitable quality education should join hands since these are coordinately important parts of common growth. Providing all girls with high-quality education expands their worldview, prepares them for adult life, and opens up the possibility of equal employment. If women have the same employment opportunities as men, they can not only have successful jobs but also participate in politics, amend laws, and bring diversity to the way the world is building.

Gender Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes often refer to men as strong and powerful beings, whereas women are considered weak stay-at-home cleaners and cooks. The contrast in how boys and girls are treated starts in childhood because the parents automatically differentiate between storytelling, activities, and toys. Boys are usually more allowed to play outside and are rewarded for being active, while girls are generally expected to stay inside and play games that resemble housekeeping. Under the influence of stereotypes, girls suffer from a lack of education which, eventually, “curtails women’s voice and agency in the household, at work, and in institutions” (Wodon et al., 2018, p. 2). Since women have been expected to put their entire time into improving men’s day-to-day lives, they often cannot advance themselves.

The Importance of Educating Girls

If stereotypes influence people, they are more likely to close their eyes to the importance of educating girls. Nine in ten girls in the world graduate from primary schools, and only three in four of them complete lower secondary education (Wodon et al., 2018). Lack of education may result in situations such as being victims of physical or mental abuse or early childbearing for girls. Statistics show that each additional year of secondary education lowers the risk of marrying as a child and unwanted pregnancy by six percentage (Wodon et al., 2018). More often than not, if a person did not get proper education, they will have a limited horizon and will not think ahead and analyze.

The quality of education for girls can affect their employment and their ability to support themselves financially. Research shows that if women had at least six years of education, their average payment could grow by about 9 percent (Wodon et al., 2018). With nine years of school, the growth would be about 21 percent, and with twelve years, their earnings could increase by 44 percent (Wodon et al., 2018). With a good education, women have a larger range of jobs to choose from and the opportunity to be independent. Thus, they will not have to depend on their families and will be able to choose a life partner without concentrating on financial benefits.

Another aspect of educating girls is establishing social contact, which is an essential part of nation-building. For adults, it would be easier to have healthy relationships with other people if they had friends in school, especially during tertiary education (Wodon et al., 2018). When girls are forced to leave school, their social circle decreases, thus, decreasing their range of vision and making it harder to trust people when they become adults. With no friends or people to rely on, girls and women are more likely to become victims of abuse since there is no one to help them (Wodon et al., 2018). If people do not have the opportunity to go to school, they cannot learn how to interact with others and eventually may become outcasts.

Conclusion

Both girls and boys have to be able to get proper education so they could become open-minded women and men of varied attainments. To bring the world to prosperity and make society healthy both physically and mentally, there cannot be a place for inequality and discrimination towards anyone. High-quality education must be accessible since it will raise the number of professionals in different spheres to help achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

References

Papa, R. (Ed.). (2020). Handbook on promoting social justice in education. Springer.

Wodon, Q., Montenegro, C. E., Nguyen, H., & Onagoruwa, A. (2018). Missed opportunities: The high cost of not educating girls.World Bank. Web.

Appendix A

Some important points/ideas that might be useful in Presentation.

1. Quality education is aimed at providing equitable quality education and learning opportunities for everyone: providing learning opportunities for everyone
2. Gender equality aims at ending discrimination and violence towards all girls and women and providing them with equal opportunities for life as there are for men: ending discrimination and violence towards women
3. Provide equal opportunities for education for both genders since it directly affects their lives and gender equality in the future growth of society: equal education opportunities affect gender equality in the future growth of society
4. If women have the same employment opportunities as men, they can not only have successful jobs but also participate in politics, amend laws, and bring diversity to the way the world is building: women can participate in politics and bring diversity to the way the world is building
5. The contrast in how boys and girls are treated starts in childhood because the parents automatically differentiate between storytelling, activities, and toys: boys and girls are treated differently since early childhood
6. Since women have been expected to put their entire time into improving men’s day-to-day lives, they often cannot advance themselves: women were not given the opportunity to advance themselves
7. Lack of education may result in situations such as being victims of physical or mental abuse or early childbearing for girls: lack of education results in abuse towards women
8. With a good education, women have a larger range of jobs to choose from and the opportunity to be independent. Thus, they will not have to depend on their families and will be able to choose a life partner without concentrating on financial benefits: with a good education women have an opportunity to become financially independent
9. When girls are forced to leave school, their social circle decreases, thus, decreasing their range of vision and making it harder to trust people when they become adults: not finishing school decreases the quality of social contacts in the future
10. High-quality education must be accessible since it will raise the number of professionals in different spheres to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: equal education for both genders helps to achieve the SDGs