Importance of Girl's Education
Education is not a privilege. It is a human right. Everyone should have the right to education and should not be limited to it regardless of their gender.
For hundreds of years, societal norms dictated that girls and women should be limited in academic opportunities as went against traditional gender roles. In the past it was believed that if women attained too much academic knowledge, it could disrupt their mindset of not wanting to get married, or primary carer for children. Similarly, girls in certain cultures were also limited to education due to their households favouring education for boys over girls.
Although this concept was not as strictly enforced in Australia in the 1950s, it was still seen in the education or subject choices that were available in single-sex home science high schools. For example, students during the 1950s at Penshurst Girls High only learnt about multidisciplinary subjects that allowed them to obtain life skills (Penshurst Girls’ Union, 2005, p. 33) such as cooking, needlework, typewriting, and economics that dealt with the management of businesses, instead of the basic subjects like Mathematics, English, Science, and History.
Home Science class at Penshurst Girls' High School in the 1960s (Penshurst Girls’ Union, 2005, p.48)
What led to the change of allowing girls to receive education?
The heartening influence of the movement ‘International Year of Women’ in 1975, it had raised awareness on an international scale on the persistent issue of discrimination and inequalities towards women. As a single-sex high school, girls at GRC Penshurst Girls started to realise the importance of education for a young girl’s future.
Penshurst Girls' enjoying the use of computers due to the new curriculum (Penshurst Girls' Union, 2005, p.152)
With the influence of the women's movement, many students at GRC Penshurst Girls Campus realised the importance of education for their future potential and financial independence. Most students decided to complete high school to receive a Higher School Certificate and to attend university or TAFE for rewarding careers (Penshurst Girls’ Union, 2005, p. 65). Additionally, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) found that the proportion of female students in Australia staying in school until Year 12 was 24 percent in 1969 and this has been increasing ever since with 89 percent currently.
Why is education important for girls too and not just for boys?
Women have been fighting for their education for decades and receiving this education is just as crucial to the economy as men. Girls who complete their education are more inclined to marry at a later stage in life, work in skilled professional fields, earn higher wages, increase information in regard to personal health, and have greater control over their sexual and reproductive choices. These results are highly advantageous given that they make economies stronger and lower the discrepancy between each gender. The key to a prosperous life is sufficient education which is critical to the empowerment of women.
GRC Penshurst Girls Campus proudly provides quality education that is open to the public for girls of all diverse backgrounds and aims to be disability inclusive. Girls receiving education empowers and assists them in reaching their personal potential, to live a fulfilling life. Providing education is necessary for all girls to receive to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequality. Every child has a right to education, no matter gender, race, disability, sexuality, or religion.