Because I am a Girl Reports
2012 Girl Report: Learning for Life
Plan’s 2012 State of the World’s Girls report focuses on girls’ education, particularly the importance of keeping adolescent girls in school.
Learning for Life
Since 2007, Plan has been publishing annual reports on various aspects of girls’ rights. For the 2012 report, Learning for Life, the focus is on the importance of girls attending at least nine years of school, in order to help girls live longer, healthier, happier lives.
A girl who obtains a quality primary and secondary education is
- more likely to be literate, stay healthy, and survive into adulthood;
- more likely to reinvest her income back into her family, community, and country;
- more likely to marry later and the children she does have are more likely to survive;
- more likely to understand her rights and be a force for social change against violence and discrimination.
Unfortunately, approximately 75 million school-aged girls around the world are not in school. These girls face a number of barriers, including poverty, gender discrimination and violence. Many girls in developing countries are married by the age of 15 and up to half become mothers before they turn 18. These girls carry the burden of household chores rather than spending time in school. Beyond economic barriers, girls are more likely to experience violence and sexual abuse both in the classroom and on the way to school.
Quality education for girls is a shared responsibility and must be made a top priority on the global agenda – and by quality education we mean an education that is relevant to girls’ needs, rights, and aspirations.