Globally, 130 million girls ages 6 to 17 are out of school - 75 percent are adolescents. When girls hit adolescence, they are most at risk of dropping out. Child marriage, pregnancy, family pressures, violence and harassment, and poverty keep girls from reaching their potential. We must address the critical barriers that keep girls out of the classroom.
Why it matters
When we invest in girls' education, the dividends are immeasurable! ALL children deserve a chance to live life in all its fullness, and education is a big part of that. As people of faith, we must address the critical barriers that keep girls out of the classroom.
When you invest in a girl, the dividends are immeasurable. Adolescent girls who remain in school are more likely to live longer and marry later. The economic benefits of girls' education are substantial. Educated girls earn higher wages and raise healthier and more educated children. Their voices are better heard in their communities. This results in stronger economies, more peaceful nations, and more equitable systems.
- When a girl in the developing world receives 7 years of education, she marries 4 years later and has healthier children.
- Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 781 million illiterate adults.
- If all women had a secondary education, child deaths would be cut in half, saving 3 million lives.
- An extra year of secondary school boosts girls' eventual wages by 15-25%.
- Girls living in countries impacted by crisis or conflict are 90% more likely to be out of secondary school than those living in countries where there is no crisis or conflict.
Please ask your Senators to cosponsor the Keeping Girls in School Act. This bill leverages innovative financing to build stronger partnerships, prioritizing adolescent girls' access to education worldwide and addressing the barriers that keep girls out of school. It fights poverty and promotes global stability.
About this bill
Significant progress has been made toward gender parity in primary school, but a gap still exists when girls reach secondary school. This bill brings critical attention to programs and policies that support adolescent girls' access to and enrollment in quality education by focusing on overcoming barriers that stand in their way. The Keeping Girls in School Act:
- Recognizes the importance of secondary education for girls and highlights the key barriers that girls face in completing their secondary schooling, including child marriage and gender-based violence.
- Emphasizes both access to and the quality of education for girls and requires that foreign assistance programs take a more holistic approach, reducing the specific barriers that keep adolescent girls out of school, allowing them to thrive.
- Leverages innovative financing to build stronger global partnerships promoting girls’ access to education. This allows U.S. government agencies to better utilize new technologies and approaches and work alongside private partners to multiply the impact of their investments.
Strengthening Accountability for Girls Education in Uganda
In Uganda, only one in four girls makes it past grade 10. Once out of school, girls are at high risk of HIV infection, gender-based violence, child marriage, and pregnancy. World Vision’s DREAMS Strengthening School Community Accountability for Girls Education (SAGE) project in Uganda, funded by the State Department and PEPFAR, aims to reduce girls’ secondary school dropout. It engages teachers, parents, faith leaders, and community members, who all play an important role in girls’ education. Across the 151 schools in 10 districts, 95 percent of the girls at high risk of dropping out stayed in school, including 17 who dropped out and returned to school after a home visit.
This act has been introduced Senate! Add your voice to help us get more cosponsors, get it introduced in the House, and check back here for updates.
Senate (S. 3535)
Date Introduced: 12/14/2023
Number of Cosponsors: 1
Date Passed: not yet passed
House
Date Introduced: not yet introduced
Number of Cosponsors: 1
Date Passed: not yet passed
Additional Links:
Read More on Child Education
Fact Sheet/Leave Behind
(Last Updated 10/03/24)