Social Transformation

By Stella Okoronkwo on January 11, 2022

Category: Society

One of the most vulnerable people in the world today are women especially the teenage girls or young adults. Many of them are not able to acquire education because they were born out of wedlock and there is no one to cater for them. Some of them have both parents alive but they live below the poverty line and cannot even afford three meals a day for themselves let alone sending their children to school.

According to UNESCO, Cote d'Ivoire has an adult literacy rate of 47.17%. While the male literacy rate is 53.66%, for females is 40.5%, showing a big gap between the sexes. Compared to other neighbouring countries, Cote d'Ivoire has a low literacy rate. This is not just due to poverty but also due to religion. In some religions, the adepts believe that it is not a good investment to send girls to school because, according to them, they belong to another family. That family is that of her future husband who will come to marry her at a tender age of 11 to 15 years old. I have always said in my book, Chika Goes to school (2011) that education is a basic right of every child and every girl. They need to be prepared for their future through a solid education. Denying girls this right is one of the biggest crimes against humanity. Where I come from in the South-East of Nigeria, there was a time parents would not send their daughters to school for the same reason above but not anymore. Exemplary families with meagre income demonstrated to the rest of the community that it it is a worthy investment to send girls to school. When they finish school, they end up becoming doctors, teachers and engineers for the well being of the nation.

For social transformation to take place, every citizen should help in ensuring that every girl in their community is sent to school. We cannot expect the government to handle every problem we have in our communities because it will not be able to handle all of them. Let us come together as individuals and associations to contribute to human development and social transformation. Let us make hay while the sun shines.