Does Women’s Education Truly End in the Kitchen?

According to an African proverb; “Educating a male child is like educating a person while educating a girl is like educating a family and a whole nation.” Significantly, educating a girl child is like educating the mother of tomorrow who would bring up her children and family in the best approach to withstand the challenges in the future.

Despite the level of civilization, it is very surprising that some people still believe that girls’ child education ends in the kitchen, so spending on her is a waste of resources. I am not a feminist, but when it comes to discrimination of any kind, I don’t give room for it because we are all equal before the law.

Education is a right and not a privilege that needs to be enjoyed by all, irrespective of race, religion, and most especially gender. However, it is so saddening as I keep questioning myself rhetorically, “what brings about the notion that has even become a norm in some families?” Their major belief is that a girl is only meant for childbearing and the kitchen room.

According to an African proverb; “Educating a male child is like educating a person while educating a girl is like educating a family and a whole nation.” Significantly, educating a girl child is like educating the mother of tomorrow who would bring up her children and family in the best approach to withstand the challenges in the future.

Women tend to be the first teachers in children’s lives. They provide the tools for those children to be ready to be participative and inquisitive members of their societies. Take the likes of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, who was raised single-handedly by his mother, Ann Dunham, if not for her level of education and the knowledge she has, what would have become the life of her children?

Similarly, a great Islamic scholar of Hadith, Imam Muhammad Al-Bukhari, memorized 500,000 Hadith when he was blind with the help of his mother who used to read them to his hearing. Today, we can see women heading high positions in the ministry, health sectors, aviation, and so on. Some countries are even headed and governed by women.

An adage says, “Behind every successful man, there’s always a woman.” This means that a great man’s success is determined by his wife’s efforts and unrelenting support without which he might fail in planning and decision making. Perhaps, we can say that a woman can not achieve this if her education is not given the utmost priority.

I would urge the populace to stop the discrimination and hypocrisy against the feminine gender and build a nation of educated leaders together, regardless of gender. Our home (life) would be brighter if we have well-educated wives and mothers in our families. Let us make changes. There are a lot of potentials in our women, beyond the kitchen rooms.