Education vs Religion....!

When I reflect back about what happened on the 14th April 2014 in Nigeria, ±276 school girls were kidnapped from the Chibok Government Secondary School by Boko Haram Terrorists. It is an indication that education is a hazard for some religions in West Africa. It is really affecting me as a young girl (16) from Southern Africa and I asked myself this question; why some religions or religious belief are against education and especially when women acquire professional skills? It is a question which is in most of our minds. Education is perceived as a powerful tool for women worldwide and it releases them from mental oppression. When 58% rate of women completed their higher education; is the more education system becomes a threat to some religious beliefs in some countries globally. More girls than boys now complete their secondary education in 32 of the 34 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to their report in 2009 female graduates greatly outnumber male graduates and up from 54% in 2000. In the past decades, women have been taken and seen as objects or properties for men. Also as the weakest people to be cared, protected and worked for. They were perceived as people who cannot stand up and speak for themselves. Even today, some women are still taken and perceived as the weakest from tender ages, girls are raised to aspire to be married and look up to men for everything when they grow up to be women. In short, women are not seen, taken and recognised to be independent. In most societies, some people have a fixed idea that women cannot be independent and they should always be cared for, worked for and do nothing for themselves.

As I said that from tender ages, girls are socialised to aspire to marriage, so education is not mainly or mostly planted into their minds and lives. So education is a tool for women to prove that they can be independent. Who would look or seek for marriage if she or he has everything they ever wished and desired for? Who would want a man to take care of her and supply her with needs and wants if she can individually do so?

So if most of women and girls can be educated, it would be a tool to show that they can be independent. For many years it has always been like this, women always fitted in lower positions at different organisations, even today, female presidents are very rear and even in our country South Africa, we never had a female president. That’s because many women are not educated to qualify for those jobs and another reason is that, most people think that women are not capable of doing a work that has been identified as male jobs, take control on many major things and lead people to a good direction. Because of this issue, many nations across the world have formed an act called the Gender Equality Act. This act states that each and everybody, Men or Women, should be equal before the law of the country and in any situation it comes across. This means that women are the same as men and they are all equal, so in that case, women should participate in any job. So if most women were all educated, have confidence and believed in themselves, there would be no issues that ensures the Gender Equality is established in our countries and women will gain higher positions, not be underestimated and have a status to be titled 'Women Are Independent' and can actually stand up for themselves....!