More Schooling, More Money

By: Jazmyn Colon-Johnson

April 21, 2017

In the United States, children and teenagers are required by law to attend school until the

age of sixteen. Image this; you live in a country where you could drop out of school at the age of

twelve. This would not be the best idea if you would want a good paying job in the future. In order

to provide for yourself in the future, you would want a good educational background. Dropping out

of school would not help children in the future. Some kids in Sub-Saharan Africa drop out of school

while they are really young. In Sub-Saharan, this affects the girls the most because they drop out of

school more than boys. For example, an estimated 31 million girls of primary school age and 32

million girls of lower secondary school age were out of school in 2013 (Girls' Education and

Gender Equality). Because of this, I would like the Sub-Saharan African government to implement

an education policy that requires all children and or teenagers to stay in school until the age of

sixteen.

Everyone deserves the right to education. Would you be satisfied with only having a limited

amount of education? I know that I would not be satisfied. I would be upset because in this world

people need education and especially women. In Sub-Saharan it seems like girls drop out more

because parents would rather see their sons in school than their daughters. Additional research

shows that families would rather send their boys to schools than girls. The online article from the

United Nations explains how "When families face economic problems they prefer to invest their

limited resources in the education of boys rather than provide what is considered as 'prestigious'

education for girls who would eventually marry and abandon their professions anyway" (Overall
Status of Women in Africa).This is a huge problem. This will eventually lead the girls into

becoming dependent on a man. Since the men in Sub-Saharan have more education than women,

most likely their wives will be dependent on them. Their wives will be dependent on their husbands

because they dropped out of school at an early age so they cannot provide for their families alone.

If the Sub-Saharan government passes this law, women would at least have enough education to get

a paying job. It is stated that eighty-four percent of employed women work without pay within

families (African Renewal). Because of the lack of education as a child, women are forced to work

without pay. If women were able to stay into school until the age of sixteen, they might at least

qualify for some paying jobs. Figure 1 from the IMF working papers by Christine Dierterich, Anni

Huang, and Alun Thomas explains employment sectors by gender. Figure 1 shows Sub-Saharan

countries employment sectors by gender. This chart shows the marginal impact of education, in

terms of moving the population out of the agriculture, reaches its peak at secondary education

which is the gateway to the formal wage sector for both genders (Dierterich, Huang, and Thomas).

It is also stated that females benefit more from secondary education as the marginal increase in

wage employment is largest when females gain secondary education (Dierterich, Huang, and

Thomas). If girls in Sub-Saharan Africa stay in school until the age of sixteen they will able to

qualify for agriculture jobs because they would have completed their secondary education credits.

Figure: 1 Employment Sectors, by Gender

 In order for most people to be able to survive on their own, they need a good education.

Implementing this law would help the people and especially women in Sub-Saharan Africa gain so

many opportunities. Being in school until the age of sixteen will help women in Africa have a better

chance of getting a job. If this law is implemented women in Sub-Saharan Africa will achieve a lot.

An article stated that, educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will; less

likely to die in childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to send their

children to school (Girls' Education and Gender Equality). This shows that by keeping our women

in school, less harm would happen to them in their lives. Therefore, the Sub-Saharan African

government should implement this law for the betterment of their people and especially for the

betterment their women.

 References

"Africa Renewal Magazine | Africas Hard Road to the Millennium Development Goals." United

Nations. United Nations, Aug. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

Dierterich, Christine, Anni Huang, and Alun Thomas. "IMF Working Paper." IMF.org.

International Monetary Fund, 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

"Girls' Education and Gender Equality." UNICEF. UNICEF, 23 July 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

"Overall Status of Women in Africa." Overall Status of Women in Africa. United Nations

University, n.d. Web. 20 April. 2017.