The Current State Of Education
The education system in South Africa and other countries in Africa demands immediate restructuring. The Covid-19 pandemic came and shifted an already compromised education system that was on the path to growing into a more advanced and inclusive sector. Luckily, the mission is still on, and with the pandemic, it is even more important to upgrade the existing education systems. More tech skills will help shape the future of education and careers as a whole. Currently, entities in both public and private sectors are actively upskilling women and girls in businesses, tech, media, medicine, and more. This gives the world a chance to involve more people, more so women.
A Dream Of An Equal Future
The future is looking bright and digital. The evolution is inspiring because it is offering those who would only dream of being in these careers and spaces access to everything they could want and need. On top of the digital world offering users better convenience, it is also offering an opening for work. If the advanced technology meets the same drive and dedication of the women leaders in places such as Rwanda, South Africa and other surrounding African countries, then the future is shining.
The Issues That Hold Us Back
There are multiple factors that affect women and children on a daily basis. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sub-Saharan countries had been dealing with a lack of water and sanitation, energy resources running out, the economy chopping and changing, safety and security, and so much more. These issues have been at the core of what hinders progress in general, and now that there is a need for an advanced and better technological world, these challenges are highlighted even more. The biggest challenging point is that every one of these issues needs to be dealt with immediately and all at once. This creates a backlog and poses an even bigger challenge in terms of whether we have enough resources to deal with these hindrances immediately, which means the help of big public and private sectors is needed too. Luckily, there are schools and programs in place designed to teach women and girls about the better opportunities that exist outside of a domesticated and trapping environment.
Access to Sanitation
It may be a digitally evolving world; however, there are other crippling challenges that tend to hold us back on the path to prosperity – one of them being period poverty. Many young girls in South Africa and other Sub-saharan countries struggle to get proper education due to the fact that they do not have access to proper period and menstruation tools and education. Though there is a shift in this narrative where a lot more women-led companies and organisations choose to support the fight to give every girl proper period hygiene and sanitisation, the work is not complete. There is beauty in knowing that there are women who are actively trying to help young girls receive proper hygiene and sanitation, inspiring all of us to lend a helping hand too.
Teaching Shame
Sub-Saharan countries are known for being cultural and patriotic. That has also made them notorious for instilling gender roles from young ages, teaching boys and girls that they aren’t the same. This teaching also extends into teaching young children that things such as periods and puberty are to be ashamed of, causing young girls to constantly suffer in silence. And though we may not reach everyone all at once, the aim is to teach girls that there is nothing stopping them from achieving their dreams. Not even periods.
Male-driven Instruction
It is hard to navigate any industry that has been running for long in a specific way. Male-driven industries, businesses and sectors have made the spaces occupied feel out of reach for women for so long. But now all that is changing with distinctly girl-based projects that teach girls skills and offer them the right resources to never skip school. It is not easy to implement change in a society that already believes your role is not suited for their industry, but the resistance has been both beautiful and beneficial to the world and the economy. With more and more girls being given the opportunity to receive the same education as their male counterparts, it is evident that there will be a shift in different industries and sectors in years to come.
In Conclusion
Educating more girls and creating more women’s empowerment programs will help our economy, as it is evident that it already does. We need more women in more spaces for representation, inspiration, education and growth. This can be done one step at a time, and a bright future will be greeting us with open arms.