State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives, Mashiur Rahman Ranga, recently said that the government was putting special importance on female education. We appreciate the information provided by the minister as there is no way Bangladesh can go ahead without quality education for all its citizens irrespective of gender. It is sad and unfortunate that the Bangladeshi women are still lagging behind in education compared to their male counterparts. This is particularly noticeable in rural Bangladesh where we find that many parents consider educating their daughters a waste of both time and money. Parents favour the education of their sons over their daughters because they think that boys are the future earning hands of their family while girls education is not necessarily desirable.
At best many of them are happy if their daughters are somehow able to complete primary schooling. Although much progress has been made in the female education after the independence, we need to do a lot more in this arena and without educating our womenfolk we cannot expect to establish a truly progressive Bangladesh.
The government has been encouraging female education through various means such as-- allowances, stipends, free books and so on. The government needs to conduct campaigns through the media so that the common people realise the importance of the female education. We have observed that especially in the last decade or so the status and value of women have improved. They are more educated and have access to finance from both public and private sectors. Discrimination against women has indeed come down if not up to the desired level then at least significantly.
An educated woman can enlighten her surroundings; she can serve the society by bringing positive change. In this modern age, where giving birth to a female child is still a challenge in many male-preferred families, the education of the mother can give her inner strength to face the undesired family odds to save the life and dignity of her female child.
In upbringing children, a properly educated mother does not discriminate and does not allow others to discriminate among her male and female children as she knows all are equal and need to be properly guided because these children will grow up as adults and what they learn from their family will be reflected in the society.