By: June Shimuoshili
There is something uncomfortable we need to acknowledge about girl education in Namibia: sometimes we ask girls to succeed in circumstances that adults themselves would struggle to survive.
We tell a girl to focus on her studies while she worries about whether there will be food at home.
We tell her to attend school while her family needs her to work in the fields.
We tell her to stay focused while she cannot afford sanitary products.
We tell her to dream while she watches her brothers receive educational opportunities that she does not.
This is not a lack of ambition. It is a lack of support.
As advocates for girls, we need to stop measuring their potential without examining the environment surrounding them.
Supporting girls means investing in menstrual health, school feeding, safe transport, scholarships, mentorship and psychosocial support. It means identifying girls at risk of dropping out before they disappear from classrooms.
It also means educating parents.
A daughter is not additional labour. She is not an economic burden. She is not less deserving of education because she is a girl.
And traditional leaders have an important role to play. When community leaders publicly say that girls’ education matters, parents listen. When they challenge practices that keep girls out of school, communities begin to change.
Government must also coordinate its response. A girl does not experience poverty through the Ministry of Education alone. She experiences it through food insecurity, healthcare, family income, transport, safety and social expectations.
If we truly believe that girls are the future, our budgets, policies and community priorities must demonstrate it.T
