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Publication Date

9-1-2019

Keywords

child labor, education, gender inequality, women

Volume

2019

Abstract

Lack of access to education negatively impacts a person's development in a number of ways and leads to fewer opportunities and increased risks for the individual. Females are disproportionately affected by the lack of gender equality in Ghana's educational system. This inequality comes as a result of practices such as child marriage, child labor, inadequate training of teachers. the inability to accommodate for girls' menstruation cycles at school, and hidden costs of sending children to school. All of these factors are confounded by social norms that tend to see female education as less valuable and thus more disposable than male education. Lack of access to education for girls leads to negative economic and health consequences, such as increased poverty rates, decreased contraceptive use, increased risk during pregnancy, and threats to the health of children, when their mothers are uneducated. Organizations have worked to fight this issue by increasing girls' access to sanitary products, creating social support networks to encourage women and girls to continue their educational pursuits, and reducing the costs of education in special schools to make them more accessible. These practices have had varying effects on girls' access to education in Ghana.

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