The Right to Learn: Shining a light on young girls’ hunger for education amid obstacles

As many children prepare  for the end of the school year, it is the perfect time to reflect on the thousands of resilient children across the world who strive to maintain their education despite living through crisis, conflict, violence, and fear. Their stories of courage and determination to learn prove just how determined they are to build their lives and contribute to their communities.

Hasina* and Parvana*

For sisters Hasina and Parvana, seeing their brothers getting ready for school daily left them feeling hopeless. The 14-year-old girls were not allowed to get an education because of their gender. They live in a rural district of Kabul Province, Afghanistan.

The collapse of the previous government and the take over of the Taliban regime in August 2021 resulted in many secondary schools across the country being closed to girls. Even if schools remained open to girls, many of them felt they were being pushed out of formal education based on rigid beliefs around gender roles.

But both sisters were determined to learn and began to attend a Save the Children community-based class. “When my brother was going to school and I couldn’t previously, I felt awful. All I wanted was to go to school, to study, to become someone in the future and make my family and the people from this area proud,” said Pravana.

These community-based education classes support children who don’t have access to formal education due to a range of barriers including, policy, poverty, cultural traditions, poor infrastructure, inadequate learning materials, and a lack of qualified teachers.

“Education is not only important for girls but everyone should be educated. No one is born to stay at home. We are born to work hard, study, and reach our goals,” said Pravana.

 

Aya*

In the middle of the night 10-year-old Aya and her family had to flee as their neighbourhood in Syria was being destroyed by shelling. The more than 11-year conflict has resulted in death, destruction, and mass displacement for thousands of families. Aya and her family were left displaced for three months.

Save the Children and partner organization Shafak turned four buses into brightly painted mobile classrooms to keep children learning despite the conflict in the region. These mobile classrooms, have brought education  to close to 575,000 displaced children at the heart of the crisis. Children learn core subjects including Arabic and math, while also being provided with emotional and psychosocial support.

When COVID-19 created social distancing rules, the mobile educational buses moved to distance learning. Teachers film themselves giving lessons on the bus and sent them to students via Whatsapp.

Aya wants to grow up and become a doctor to help the Syrian population. The mobile learning bus makes her dreams and hopes for education possible.

Harriet*

Harriet was devastated when she had to flee her home in South Sudan, but was left with no choice because of the extreme violence. She was afraid that by leaving home her education would suffer. Harriet joined the Save the Children Accelerated Learning Program for child refugees, where she got back to learning and excelled. She has since done extremely well in school and hopes to be a lawyer in the future to help the people of Sudan. “I’m going to change the world!” she says.

She also works hard to create opportunities for other girls by writing songs and plays about gender equality. Harriet is determined to build a bright future, and not just for herself.

 

When we asked children worldwide what they need, time and time again the answer was always clear. Children tell us they want one thing above all else: the chance to go to school.

Children like Hasina, Parvana, Aya, and Harriet know the power of education. Their stories of determination and courage to learn despite the challenges of their circumstances shows how much they understand the importance of education in reaching their future goals.

As the school year comes to a close in Canada, we must remember that all children have the right to an education and nothing should disrupt their learning.

To ensure that all girls have access to an education you can purchase a Gift of Joy from the “Education category”. Save the Children Canada – Gifts of Joy

 

*names changed for privacy