EDUCATE OUR WOMEN by Aslı Turan

An African proverb says: "If you can educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate  a woman, you educate a nation." According to a TED Talk given by Safeena Husain, an  educational activist, women's education is the sixth most important thing to reverse global  warming. Even more important than solar panels and electrical cars. An educated woman is most  likely to have smaller families, which will affect the world population and carbon emission. Even  though educating women can cause massive changes in the world we live in, women are still  being disabled from breaking the chain and showing their hidden gem waiting for a break-free.  

According to a study published in pegem.net, there are several reasons women couldn't get the  chance to be educated in Turkey. Firstly, their fathers don't allow them to go to school. Due to  fathers' male gaze, they see their girls only as a bride or a mom, not a person capable of thinking  and working. From this perspective, it is inappropriate for a woman to study further when there  are many unemployed men. Their only goal in life should be a well-behaving wife and a mom.  Nevertheless, men ought to earn money while women do chores. Unfortunately, child brides are  still a major issue that directly affects their education. They cannot study further or grow up  naturally. At a very young age, families take their freedom and chain them with unbearable  responsibilities for such young ages.  

Another reason is that the families face so many hardships that they cannot afford their education  or only let their girls be educated religiously. These girls only learn how to read and write but  nothing further. Provided that a woman was born under better circumstances, probably in the west  side of the country, would you still think that she could escape from the inevitable patriarchy?  Women are yet being interrupted, mansplained, and always guided by men even they don't want  or need it. Not to mention with a burden this big, it is probable to lose confidence and choose a  more acceptable path. For instance, despite every obstacle, few women are a manager or works  as an engineer.  

In the last 20 years, Turkey has shown a visible improvement in girls' education. Several projects  have been applied and have come with great success. One of the tremendous achievements was  made by "Haydi Kızlar Okula," a movement that makes girls' education legally supported and  obligatory by the government. Some of the many obstacles, except the ones given above, those  girls face are inadequate school and classrooms, transportation, and boarding schools' cost. This  campaign let a lot of girls have a chance to go to school. Although "Haydi Kızlar Okula" is a 

remarkable success, educating girls is still a problem that needs to be solved. Many are waiting  for some help to get what is rightfully theirs. My solution is to expand the content of the campaign.  Here are some ideas to expand it:  

Role models have always been life-changing people in our life. They let us believe that we can  do whatever we want. I think that a role model tends to make a person more determined and  challenging. By making the women who overcame similar obstacles our campaign faces, we can  touch on both parents and girls. Their parents may hopefully allow them to be educated. Despite  being educated, girls may need some help with their homework or exams. Many come from  uneducated families. Thus no one can help them out. With the volunteers all around the country,  we can tutor them. In addition to that, many parents pointed out that financial help is encouraging  for sending their girls to school. I propose a foundation that will cooperate with the government to  find volunteers, raise money and use them only for our girls. That way, we may integrate even  more girls into our society because like Malala Yousafzai said: "One child, one teacher, one book  and one pen can change the world."