Girls Speak Out

Author:

Yolanda Betances

Subject:

Humanities, Social Sciences

Institution Name:

Thirteen/WNET New York

Collection:

WIDE ANGLE: Window into Global History

Grade Level:

Secondary

Abstract:

Today, over 115 million children have never set foot inside a school. The fact is that for children living in developing countries, the dream of a first day of school is yet to be realized. The daily realities of poverty, political instability, regional conflict, geography, and cultural or traditional values all play a role to varying degrees -- and the issue of gender disparity makes this fact even more staggering. Full and equal access to education (Article 26) as outlined in the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' and 'The Convention on the Rights of the Child' (Articles 2,3,28, and 29), has clearly been out of the reach of poor children -- and even more so in the case of girls. Nearly two-thirds of children who are denied a primary education are girls. In the least developed countries, nearly twice as many adult women than men are illiterate. (Source: UNFPA http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/10/icpd_ed.htm) If you happen to be a female, you are less likely to have access to a quality primary education and beyond -- contributing to the feminization of global poverty. Yet, there is hope despite this current state of affairs. 189 nations have pledged to meet 8 major Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In doing so, nations hope to improve the social and economic development of all peoples. Included in these goals are those that address education and gender disparity: MDG 2: Achieve universal and primary education. MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Through the activities outlined in this lesson, students will become familiar with the current barriers standing in the way of educational opportunity -- especially for girls. They will watch clips from the WIDE ANGLE film 'Time for School' (2003) to understand the sense of urgency surrounding this issue, the potential benefits that can result from educating girls, and the ways that local communities are trying to address these problems. Note: This lesson focuses on MDG 2 and MDG 3. An introduction to the overall goals of the Millennium Project should be presented prior to this particular lesson.

Course Type:

Learning Module

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Activities and Labs, Curriculum Standards, Lesson Plans, Teaching and Learning Strategies

Media Format:

Text/HTML, Video

Technical Requirements:

RealPlayer

Conditions of Use:

Custom Permissions
WIDE ANGLE: WINDOW INTO GLOBAL HISTORY is an outreach initiative produced by the LAB@Thirteen, Thirteen/WNET New York's Educational and Community Outreach department. The project is designed to support the teaching and learning of Global History in high school classrooms. Our goal is that these resources will enrich the study of Global History in a variety of ways: For teachers, we hope these materials provide a flexible resource to facilitate the integration of quality media elements into standards-based classroom instruction.