This week several events put the spotlight on the power of educating girls:
- Alice Albright returned to Senegal to meet with President Macky Sall and visit schools with Serigne Mbaye Thiam, the minister of Education and newly appointed GPE Vice-chair. They visited the Daara Ya Aicha (coranic school) in Grand-Yoff, Dakar, an all-girls school founded in 1996 and welcoming 1500 students from preschool to secondary school.
- Malala Yousafzai turned 21 yesterday. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate and UN messenger for peace is a tireless advocate for giving all girls around the world 12 years of education. Her program, the Malala Fund, supports education in various countries where girls face the most barriers to schooling, recently expanding support to Brazil.
- A new report was released yesterday by the World Bank, with support from CIFF, Malala Fund and GPE: Missed opportunities: the high cost of not educating girls. It contains new research on the various impacts on communities, countries and the world as a whole we’re not giving girls equal access to a full cycle of education.
Most teachers are women and many are former students of the daara. Alongside religious instruction, the girls learn math, science, and foreign languages. The schools is a model for other daaras.
With GPE support, Senegal has implemented a pilot program to integrate 100 daaras into the public education system and give children attending them a well-rounded education. The country plans to expand the program to cover 500 daaras.
Watch a video about the daara Serigne Mansour Sy in Tivaouane
Happy birthday Malala!
Did you know that if every girl received 12 years of quality education, lifetime earnings for women could increase by US$15 trillion to US$30 trillion globally? Or that universal secondary education for girls could virtually eliminate child marriage?
In low-income countries, only 1 girl out of 3 completes lower secondary education (9 years of school). We can’t afford to keep half of the world behind.
The Global Partnership for Education recognizes the untapped potential that can be unleashed by giving all girls a full cycle of education. GPE adopted a gender equality strategy and through technical and financial support, promotes equal access to education for all girls.
Learn more about GPE’s work on improving girls’ education