My Communities

Hello am Suwilanji Simfukwe from Zambia. Have learnt several short courses on this platform thanks to Philanthropy University.

HI, MY NAME IS MARCELA OSPINA FROM MEDELLÍN COLOMBIA. ACTUALLY, I´M WORKING IN SOME PROJECTS CREATED TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD: EN CASA (AT HOME) MOVEMENT), BRAVI, THE BRAVE GIRL (ABOUT CHILD ABUSE) AND CREATIVE SOULS WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN. THIS COURSE IS SO IMPORTANT FOR ME BECAUSE I CAN STRENGTHEN MY SKILLS TO HELP A LOT OF WOMEN TO BELIEVE EMPOWERING WOMEN, HELPING THEM HEAL THEIR PAST AND THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE THAT ALL WOMEN ARE ART AND THAT CREATIVITY BELONGS TO ALL OF US BECAUSE IT IS A DIVINE GIFT

I am Theresa Awulor, a Nigerian in the Communications unit of Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN). I am always interested in anything that relates to girls as I see the female folk as game changers in any sector of life

Hi I am Chubado Abdulrahman from Nigeria. I'm happy to join this Community.

Hi everyone, My name is Fehintola from Nigeria. Just enrolled, and I look forward to learning and exchanging thought in this course. Thank you.

Hi Marcela, this sounds interesting. Good luck with the project. I hope this course helps you achieve more in your project.

IHi Theresa, I agree with you. Girl are the future game changers.

Welcome Chubado. I'm excited about the course too.

Hello, my name is hamda Ali
I am from Djibouti I am 22 years old and I like learning everything new

My names are Michael Olakunle Daramola, i'm 46 years old, from Lagos Nigeria. I'm bi-lingua, speaking English and French. I was trained by the International Air Transport Association Montreal Canada. My department specifically in the Aviation Industry is Aviation Security. My professional profile can be found on https://michaelcreations.wordpress.com/about

I'm re-enrolling for this same program. Thank You!!

My name is Johnson Ameh a social worker.

Looking forward to completing this course as I believe is one of the ways to help improve communities.

Hello. My name is Juliet. I am happy to connect with you. This course really tickles my fancy and i do hope it will add to my skills in designing girl-centred programmes.

Thank you

Hi, my name is Naomi Ibomhen and I am a Nigerian. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature. I am a writer.

hi everyone ,my name is Miriam

The course discussion board allows you to chat and exchange ideas with like-minded learners across the globe. This is a great way for you to find others who are as curious and passionate about this topic as you are!

You can access the discussion board at any time by clicking on the “All Topics” button in the menu on the right side of the page. As you progress through the course, you will also find individual discussion topics like the one below.

Hello everyone, My name is Oyinda and I am an MPH student at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.

My name is Titera Agjei. I'm from Ghana and a work with a non-profit organization called Ngorli which means 'HOPE'.

Nice initiative Marcela. Hoping to work together in the future. keep up the good work.

Nice one Theresa

Hoping to work with you in the future Mr. Olakunle Daramole.

Hi everyone,
My name is Taliroyiahn Chermaine Rollart. I am from Papua New Guinea the smallest country on the map above Australia. I come from the coastal part of the country where white sands, blue sea and palm trees sway to and fro.
I am so grateful to be joining this course as part of Learning and teaching others. Not only that but also to help as many people that I can come across.

Hi everyone,
My name is Taliroyiahn Chermaine Rollart. I am from Papua New Guinea the smallest country on the map above Australia. I come from the coastal part of the country where white sands, blue sea and palm trees sway to and fro.
I am so grateful to be joining this course as part of Learning and teaching others. Not only that but also to help as many people that I can come across especially girls around the world in any way I can.

Hello I am Abdulqudus Olawale Jimoh from ilorin kwara state of Nigeria

My name is Aiya, I have a degree in human rights and would like to have extra knowledge in this particular course because my passion is to empower the weaker species, women and girls. Success to all of you here.

Hi, I am Apoorvi from India. I am working in development sector since 6 years.

Hi Everyone, I am Alain Kabore, Joining from Dakar Senegal. I am a technical advisor for RH project. I intend to develop a project to prevent early teenage pregnancy and wanted to know how to use girl centered design for that. Thanks

Hi ! My name is Fitri. I'm a tech student and I'm from Indonesia

Hi everyone. My name is Prue, a public health practitoner based in Harare, Zimbabwe and London, UK. I am passionate about promoting health and wellbeing for girls and young women.

Hello.. I hope that it will be a worthy changing course for me.

Hi there! Looking forward to this course. My name is Alex and I am part of an NGO based in Belgium that operates globally, dedicated to inspiring girls in STEM.

Hi Coleagues, Am Cathy Phiri from Lusaka, Zambia (CHAZ). I work for Churches Health Association of Zambia. I enrolled in this out of my own interest. Even though the experience and insight i will gain from this will be beneficial to my work at CHAZ, it is has however; nothing to do with CHAZ.

I'm Cris from Brazil based in NYC. I work as UX Design and I have a deep interest in projects for women.

I'm JIBU KISHENGULA, from Congo, Democratic Republic of the

I need some experience from you

I need some experience from you

I need some experience from you

My name is Alain REMEZO from Rwanda , i am working on differents projects which help adolescent girls and young women.

Hi everyone, My name is Caroline, and I'm learning from Nigeria.

Hello, all my classmates. I am Nang San Htiet Oo and I am a university student in Myanmar. I know this course from the my school director share this information to me and I am interesting in this course because it is for the girl and design so I join this course. I will try my best in this course.
Thank You!

I am Janet Pendimso Joseph from Nigeria. A midwife by profession.

I am Janet Pendimso Joseph from Nigeria. A midwife by profession.

My story is not of one girl but of many. It is the story of Malala from Pakistan. It
is the story of the sisters I have met from Syria and Nigeria who have been denied an education or been targeted for going to school. It is the story of millions
of sisters who I do not know by name, but who continue to struggle for what
should rightfully be theirs—a safe, free, quality education that allows them to
fulfil their dreams and transform the places in which they live.
Every girl, no matter where she lives, no matter what her circumstance, has a
right to learn. Every leader, no matter who he or she is or the resources available
to him or her, has a duty to fulfil and protect this right. Unfortunately, many
leaders are not taking this responsibility seriously. They spend their money in
other ways. They identify the problem as too large, or the solutions as unclear,
or the girls who miss out as deserving less than their own sons and daughters.
Getting millions of girls into school in the next 15 years may seem impossible
but it is not. The challenge is significant but the world does not lack the funds or
the knowledge to achieve 12 years of free, safe, quality primary and secondary
education for every girl—and every boy.
We have shown how the necessary funding can be found. This book now shows
what works to support girls’ education and helps us understand why. It also
makes it clear that the world cannot achieve a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous future without investing in girls’ education.
The world’s leaders have just opened the door on a new future by agreeing to a set of
ambitious goals for our people and planet. But these will not be achieved without investment in girls’ education. How can we all succeed when half of us are held back?
This is why this book is needed now. To help us meet the ambition set out in
the new Sustainable Development Goals. To help us understand how we can
overcome the barriers to girls’ education which have stood for too long without
adequate understanding, challenge, or action to overcome them. To show the
world’s leaders that girls’ education is not only the right thing, but the smart
thing to do if we are to meet the new future they have opened to us.
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 17 9/18/15 9:13 AM
xviii WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
This book shows clearly what girls and women themselves have known across
generations: the world cannot afford to NOT educate its girls. Girls’ education is
the key to our new and better future. The key to increased health, prosperity, and
security. If the world’s leaders truly want to invest in this future then they must
deliver on their promises and start investing in books, in education—in hope for
girls who have too often been left behind.
Girls are desperate to learn and to lead. I have met many of my brave sisters
who every day encounter incredible obstacles to education, including war, poverty, and even personal attacks. Yet their knowledge for learning is never overwhelmed and they continue to show up. It is time that our commitment, determination, and action mirrors and honors theirs. This book helps us understand
how it can.
It helps us understand what we must do together to see the last girl forced to
marry rather than go to school, to work rather than learn, to be denied an education because her family cannot afford it, or fear for her safety when she leaves
for school. It helps us understand how girls who beat the odds and show up
for school can receive the education they deserve, the education that will allow
them to learn, grow and become leaders in their communities.
This book also reminds us that the world has set its ambition for education too low
for too long and shows how we can help girls stay in school for longer. A quality
basic education is a first and necessary step but if we are to truly see the power of
girls to transform our world we must aim higher and secure a full course of primary and secondary education for every girl. As my father always believed for me
and as I now believe for every girl, basic education begins to unlock girls’ potential
but secondary education provides them with the wings to fly: to transform not
only their lives but the lives of their families and their communities.
This book shows the world that it must do more for girls’ education if it is to
secure the future it wants. It also shows how this can be done from primary
through secondary school. But the reason I welcome this book above all else
is because it shows us that any efforts to get all girls into school will not work
unless they address the violence and conflict that can stop girls from learning.
This summer, as I said “goodbye” to my life as a child on my 18th birthday, I
stood with girls who had been forced to leave their country and flee to Lebanon,
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 18 9/18/15 9:13 AM
WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION xix
girls who had been forced to leave not just their homes but their schools. But
they refused to leave their education. To them the right to an education was just
as basic as the right to food or water. Yet the world is failing them by failing to
protect this right.
If we are to see our world transformed by educated and empowered girls then
we have to end violence against girls whose only crime is wanting an education—not just the violence of conflict but the violence of forced marriage, of
child labor, of targeted attacks, of assault or abduction in the classroom. This
book helps us understand how we can do so.
I am proud that the Malala Fund is a partner with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and with Gene Sperling, its founder, and
Rebecca Winthrop, its current director, who are authoring this book. The future
of girls globally depends on all of us working together, across cultures and our
differences, joining together in this common cause. I’m grateful for their hard
work, which they have undertaken for decades.
It is my hope that the evidence this book presents encourages our leaders to
match the courage, determination and ambition of girls who struggle daily to
realize their right to an education. The challenge is significant but the knowledge
and funding are available to meet it. All that is needed is the action. I believe that
we can and will educate every girl. I hope that you will join us.
Malala Yousafzai
Student, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Co-Founder of the Malala Fund
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 19 9/18/15 9:13 AM
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 20 9/18/15 9:13 AM
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 1 9/18/15 9:13 AM
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 2 9/18/15 9:13 AM
WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION 3
s Malala implies in her moving foreword to this book, there should
not be a need for a book like this on the evidence for the benefits of
girls’ education. For many, the idea that any child could be denied
an education due to poverty, custom, the law, or terrorist threats is
just wrong and unimaginable. Period. End of story. Indeed, those of us who have
worked to make the case for girls’ education with evidence, statistics, and case
studies know well that the millions of people around the world who recoiled at
hearing of girls being kidnapped in Nigeria, or shot in Pakistan, or threatened
in Afghanistan simply because they wanted an education did not need a book
of evidence to know it was wrong. They did not need academic studies or policy
analyses to know that little girls should have the same chances as their brothers
to learn; to contribute to their families, communities, and nations; and to make
good on their dreams.
And yet, we know that a thorough understanding of the evidence on why girls’ education matters and of the evidence on what works in educating girls is undeniably
essential. We understand that in virtually every nation, resources are scarce and that
those arguing for a greater investment in girls’ education must come to the table
with not only a soft heart but also hard-headed evidence on why the returns from
investing in girls are so high that no nation or family can afford not to educate their
girls. This book is for those who want to understand this evidence. It is designed
to provide easy and one-stop access to hundreds of studies on girls’ education for
any academic, expert, nongovernmental organization (NGO) staff member, policymaker, or journalist seeking to dive into the evidence and policies on girls’ education. But it is also designed and written for the concerned global citizen who simply
wants to better understand the issues and do their part in working for high-quality
girls’ education around the world. (This is the second time that the Center for Universal Education has sponsored the writing of such a book. An earlier version of this
book was also produced from the Center in 2004, with the coauthorship of longtime
girls’ education champion and expert Barbara Herz. Eleven years later, we felt that
A
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 3 9/18/15 9:13 AM
4 WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
the proliferation of new studies, new developments, and new issues demanded a
second book, which we are proud to roll out, together with Malala and the Malala
Fund, along with the documentary on her fight for girls’ education.)
The Power of Evidence and Girls’ Education
Whether you are an expert or a generalist and concerned citizen, we think you
will find that there are two things about the evidence on girls’ education that are
both striking and profound:
• First, the evidence is extensive on education for girls in poor nations. The
sheer magnitude of evidence is undeniable. There are few if any policy areas in the world where the evidence is so deep and sweeping as are the
findings that support a far greater global commitment to girls’ education.
• Second, girls’ education is the world’s best investment with the widest-ranging returns. What the evidence contained in this book makes so
clear are the vast, wide-ranging, and multifaceted returns from investing
in girls’ education. Thus, this second aspect is why we believe that girls’
education is the best investment that can be made anywhere in the world.
In advanced nations, we are used to hearing the case for why education in
general contributes to wages, growth, and upward mobility. These returns
from education are just as strong in poorer nations as well. But what makes
girls’ education in developing nations truly the investment with the highest return in the world is the degree to which it leads to better outcomes
in not only the traditional economic areas of growth and incomes but also
in its positive impact in areas like reducing rates of infant mortality, maternal mortality, child marriage, and the incidence of HIV/AIDS and malaria, along with its positive impact on agricultural productivity, resilience
to natural disasters, and women’s empowerment. In chapter 2, this book
breaks down the evidence by categories in all these areas.
“Especially Girls”: Never Forgetting the Boys
One challenge in writing a book on girls’ education is the danger of giving the
impression that the crisis in education in many poor nations is just a girls’ issue.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The percentage of boys completing a

My story is not of one girl but of many. It is the story of Malala from Pakistan. It
is the story of the sisters I have met from Syria and Nigeria who have been denied an education or been targeted for going to school. It is the story of millions
of sisters who I do not know by name, but who continue to struggle for what
should rightfully be theirs—a safe, free, quality education that allows them to
fulfil their dreams and transform the places in which they live.
Every girl, no matter where she lives, no matter what her circumstance, has a
right to learn. Every leader, no matter who he or she is or the resources available
to him or her, has a duty to fulfil and protect this right. Unfortunately, many
leaders are not taking this responsibility seriously. They spend their money in
other ways. They identify the problem as too large, or the solutions as unclear,
or the girls who miss out as deserving less than their own sons and daughters.
Getting millions of girls into school in the next 15 years may seem impossible
but it is not. The challenge is significant but the world does not lack the funds or
the knowledge to achieve 12 years of free, safe, quality primary and secondary
education for every girl—and every boy.
We have shown how the necessary funding can be found. This book now shows
what works to support girls’ education and helps us understand why. It also
makes it clear that the world cannot achieve a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous future without investing in girls’ education.
The world’s leaders have just opened the door on a new future by agreeing to a set of
ambitious goals for our people and planet. But these will not be achieved without investment in girls’ education. How can we all succeed when half of us are held back?
This is why this book is needed now. To help us meet the ambition set out in
the new Sustainable Development Goals. To help us understand how we can
overcome the barriers to girls’ education which have stood for too long without
adequate understanding, challenge, or action to overcome them. To show the
world’s leaders that girls’ education is not only the right thing, but the smart
thing to do if we are to meet the new future they have opened to us.
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 17 9/18/15 9:13 AM
xviii WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
This book shows clearly what girls and women themselves have known across
generations: the world cannot afford to NOT educate its girls. Girls’ education is
the key to our new and better future. The key to increased health, prosperity, and
security. If the world’s leaders truly want to invest in this future then they must
deliver on their promises and start investing in books, in education—in hope for
girls who have too often been left behind.
Girls are desperate to learn and to lead. I have met many of my brave sisters
who every day encounter incredible obstacles to education, including war, poverty, and even personal attacks. Yet their knowledge for learning is never overwhelmed and they continue to show up. It is time that our commitment, determination, and action mirrors and honors theirs. This book helps us understand
how it can.
It helps us understand what we must do together to see the last girl forced to
marry rather than go to school, to work rather than learn, to be denied an education because her family cannot afford it, or fear for her safety when she leaves
for school. It helps us understand how girls who beat the odds and show up
for school can receive the education they deserve, the education that will allow
them to learn, grow and become leaders in their communities.
This book also reminds us that the world has set its ambition for education too low
for too long and shows how we can help girls stay in school for longer. A quality
basic education is a first and necessary step but if we are to truly see the power of
girls to transform our world we must aim higher and secure a full course of primary and secondary education for every girl. As my father always believed for me
and as I now believe for every girl, basic education begins to unlock girls’ potential
but secondary education provides them with the wings to fly: to transform not
only their lives but the lives of their families and their communities.
This book shows the world that it must do more for girls’ education if it is to
secure the future it wants. It also shows how this can be done from primary
through secondary school. But the reason I welcome this book above all else
is because it shows us that any efforts to get all girls into school will not work
unless they address the violence and conflict that can stop girls from learning.
This summer, as I said “goodbye” to my life as a child on my 18th birthday, I
stood with girls who had been forced to leave their country and flee to Lebanon,
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 18 9/18/15 9:13 AM
WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION xix
girls who had been forced to leave not just their homes but their schools. But
they refused to leave their education. To them the right to an education was just
as basic as the right to food or water. Yet the world is failing them by failing to
protect this right.
If we are to see our world transformed by educated and empowered girls then
we have to end violence against girls whose only crime is wanting an education—not just the violence of conflict but the violence of forced marriage, of
child labor, of targeted attacks, of assault or abduction in the classroom. This
book helps us understand how we can do so.
I am proud that the Malala Fund is a partner with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and with Gene Sperling, its founder, and
Rebecca Winthrop, its current director, who are authoring this book. The future
of girls globally depends on all of us working together, across cultures and our
differences, joining together in this common cause. I’m grateful for their hard
work, which they have undertaken for decades.
It is my hope that the evidence this book presents encourages our leaders to
match the courage, determination and ambition of girls who struggle daily to
realize their right to an education. The challenge is significant but the knowledge
and funding are available to meet it. All that is needed is the action. I believe that
we can and will educate every girl. I hope that you will join us.
Malala Yousafzai
Student, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Co-Founder of the Malala Fund
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 19 9/18/15 9:13 AM
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 20 9/18/15 9:13 AM
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 1 9/18/15 9:13 AM
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 2 9/18/15 9:13 AM
WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION 3
s Malala implies in her moving foreword to this book, there should
not be a need for a book like this on the evidence for the benefits of
girls’ education. For many, the idea that any child could be denied
an education due to poverty, custom, the law, or terrorist threats is
just wrong and unimaginable. Period. End of story. Indeed, those of us who have
worked to make the case for girls’ education with evidence, statistics, and case
studies know well that the millions of people around the world who recoiled at
hearing of girls being kidnapped in Nigeria, or shot in Pakistan, or threatened
in Afghanistan simply because they wanted an education did not need a book
of evidence to know it was wrong. They did not need academic studies or policy
analyses to know that little girls should have the same chances as their brothers
to learn; to contribute to their families, communities, and nations; and to make
good on their dreams.
And yet, we know that a thorough understanding of the evidence on why girls’ education matters and of the evidence on what works in educating girls is undeniably
essential. We understand that in virtually every nation, resources are scarce and that
those arguing for a greater investment in girls’ education must come to the table
with not only a soft heart but also hard-headed evidence on why the returns from
investing in girls are so high that no nation or family can afford not to educate their
girls. This book is for those who want to understand this evidence. It is designed
to provide easy and one-stop access to hundreds of studies on girls’ education for
any academic, expert, nongovernmental organization (NGO) staff member, policymaker, or journalist seeking to dive into the evidence and policies on girls’ education. But it is also designed and written for the concerned global citizen who simply
wants to better understand the issues and do their part in working for high-quality
girls’ education around the world. (This is the second time that the Center for Universal Education has sponsored the writing of such a book. An earlier version of this
book was also produced from the Center in 2004, with the coauthorship of longtime
girls’ education champion and expert Barbara Herz. Eleven years later, we felt that
A
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 3 9/18/15 9:13 AM
4 WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
the proliferation of new studies, new developments, and new issues demanded a
second book, which we are proud to roll out, together with Malala and the Malala
Fund, along with the documentary on her fight for girls’ education.)
The Power of Evidence and Girls’ Education
Whether you are an expert or a generalist and concerned citizen, we think you
will find that there are two things about the evidence on girls’ education that are
both striking and profound:
• First, the evidence is extensive on education for girls in poor nations. The
sheer magnitude of evidence is undeniable. There are few if any policy areas in the world where the evidence is so deep and sweeping as are the
findings that support a far greater global commitment to girls’ education.
• Second, girls’ education is the world’s best investment with the widest-ranging returns. What the evidence contained in this book makes so
clear are the vast, wide-ranging, and multifaceted returns from investing
in girls’ education. Thus, this second aspect is why we believe that girls’
education is the best investment that can be made anywhere in the world.
In advanced nations, we are used to hearing the case for why education in
general contributes to wages, growth, and upward mobility. These returns
from education are just as strong in poorer nations as well. But what makes
girls’ education in developing nations truly the investment with the highest return in the world is the degree to which it leads to better outcomes
in not only the traditional economic areas of growth and incomes but also
in its positive impact in areas like reducing rates of infant mortality, maternal mortality, child marriage, and the incidence of HIV/AIDS and malaria, along with its positive impact on agricultural productivity, resilience
to natural disasters, and women’s empowerment. In chapter 2, this book
breaks down the evidence by categories in all these areas.
“Especially Girls”: Never Forgetting the Boys
One challenge in writing a book on girls’ education is the danger of giving the
impression that the crisis in education in many poor nations is just a girls’ issue.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The percentage of boys completing a

Hi friends, happy to be part of this course. I just enroll today but I am already enjoying the course, Mang Panmun Ishaku is my name and from an overview of what I have seen in the orientation module, I am determined to study this course to the end and I recommend this for parents and Intending parents as well. Looking forward to have a great time on this platform

Hi friends, happy to be part of this course. I just enroll today but i am already enjoying the course, Mang Panmun Ishaku is my name and from an overview of what i have seen in the orientation module, I am determined to study this course to the end and I recommend this for parents and Intending parents as well. Looking foward to have a great time on this platform

That's great, thumps up

@akshaya_chandar said in Introduce Yourself in Girl Centered Design!:

My story is not of one girl but of many. It is the story of Malala from Pakistan. It
is the story of the sisters I have met from Syria and Nigeria who have been denied an education or been targeted for going to school. It is the story of millions
of sisters who I do not know by name, but who continue to struggle for what
should rightfully be theirs—a safe, free, quality education that allows them to
fulfil their dreams and transform the places in which they live.
Every girl, no matter where she lives, no matter what her circumstance, has a
right to learn. Every leader, no matter who he or she is or the resources available
to him or her, has a duty to fulfil and protect this right. Unfortunately, many
leaders are not taking this responsibility seriously. They spend their money in
other ways. They identify the problem as too large, or the solutions as unclear,
or the girls who miss out as deserving less than their own sons and daughters.
Getting millions of girls into school in the next 15 years may seem impossible
but it is not. The challenge is significant but the world does not lack the funds or
the knowledge to achieve 12 years of free, safe, quality primary and secondary
education for every girl—and every boy.
We have shown how the necessary funding can be found. This book now shows
what works to support girls’ education and helps us understand why. It also
makes it clear that the world cannot achieve a sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous future without investing in girls’ education.
The world’s leaders have just opened the door on a new future by agreeing to a set of
ambitious goals for our people and planet. But these will not be achieved without investment in girls’ education. How can we all succeed when half of us are held back?
This is why this book is needed now. To help us meet the ambition set out in
the new Sustainable Development Goals. To help us understand how we can
overcome the barriers to girls’ education which have stood for too long without
adequate understanding, challenge, or action to overcome them. To show the
world’s leaders that girls’ education is not only the right thing, but the smart
thing to do if we are to meet the new future they have opened to us.
What Works in Girls Education-FINAL.indd 17 9/18/15 9:13 AM
xviii WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
This book shows clearly what girls and women themselves have known across
generations: the world cannot afford to NOT educate its girls. Girls’ education is
the key to our new and better future. The key to increased health, prosperity, and
security. If the world’s leaders truly want to invest in this future then they must
deliver on their promises and start investing in books, in education—in hope for
girls who have too often been left behind.
Girls are desperate to learn and to lead. I have met many of my brave sisters
who every day encounter incredible obstacles to education, including war, poverty, and even personal attacks. Yet their knowledge for learning is never overwhelmed and they continue to show up. It is time that our commitment, determination, and action mirrors and honors theirs. This book helps us understand
how it can.
It helps us understand what we must do together to see the last girl forced to
marry rather than go to school, to work rather than learn, to be denied an education because her family cannot afford it, or fear for her safety when she leaves
for school. It helps us understand how girls who beat the odds and show up
for school can receive the education they deserve, the education that will allow
them to learn, grow and become leaders in their communities.
This book also reminds us that the world has set its ambition for education too low
for too long and shows how we can help girls stay in school for longer. A quality
basic education is a first and necessary step but if we are to truly see the power of
girls to transform our world we must aim higher and secure a full course of primary and secondary education for every girl. As my father always believed for me
and as I now believe for every girl, basic education begins to unlock girls’ potential
but secondary education provides them with the wings to fly: to transform not
only their lives but the lives of their families and their communities.
This book shows the world that it must do more for girls’ education if it is to
secure the future it wants. It also shows how this can be done from primary
through secondary school. But the reason I welcome this book above all else
is because it shows us that any efforts to get all girls into school will not work
unless they address the violence and conflict that can stop girls from learning.
This summer, as I said “goodbye” to my life as a child on my 18th birthday, I
stood with girls who had been forced to leave their country and flee to Lebanon,
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WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION xix
girls who had been forced to leave not just their homes but their schools. But
they refused to leave their education. To them the right to an education was just
as basic as the right to food or water. Yet the world is failing them by failing to
protect this right.
If we are to see our world transformed by educated and empowered girls then
we have to end violence against girls whose only crime is wanting an education—not just the violence of conflict but the violence of forced marriage, of
child labor, of targeted attacks, of assault or abduction in the classroom. This
book helps us understand how we can do so.
I am proud that the Malala Fund is a partner with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and with Gene Sperling, its founder, and
Rebecca Winthrop, its current director, who are authoring this book. The future
of girls globally depends on all of us working together, across cultures and our
differences, joining together in this common cause. I’m grateful for their hard
work, which they have undertaken for decades.
It is my hope that the evidence this book presents encourages our leaders to
match the courage, determination and ambition of girls who struggle daily to
realize their right to an education. The challenge is significant but the knowledge
and funding are available to meet it. All that is needed is the action. I believe that
we can and will educate every girl. I hope that you will join us.
Malala Yousafzai
Student, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Co-Founder of the Malala Fund
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction
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WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION 3
s Malala implies in her moving foreword to this book, there should
not be a need for a book like this on the evidence for the benefits of
girls’ education. For many, the idea that any child could be denied
an education due to poverty, custom, the law, or terrorist threats is
just wrong and unimaginable. Period. End of story. Indeed, those of us who have
worked to make the case for girls’ education with evidence, statistics, and case
studies know well that the millions of people around the world who recoiled at
hearing of girls being kidnapped in Nigeria, or shot in Pakistan, or threatened
in Afghanistan simply because they wanted an education did not need a book
of evidence to know it was wrong. They did not need academic studies or policy
analyses to know that little girls should have the same chances as their brothers
to learn; to contribute to their families, communities, and nations; and to make
good on their dreams.
And yet, we know that a thorough understanding of the evidence on why girls’ education matters and of the evidence on what works in educating girls is undeniably
essential. We understand that in virtually every nation, resources are scarce and that
those arguing for a greater investment in girls’ education must come to the table
with not only a soft heart but also hard-headed evidence on why the returns from
investing in girls are so high that no nation or family can afford not to educate their
girls. This book is for those who want to understand this evidence. It is designed
to provide easy and one-stop access to hundreds of studies on girls’ education for
any academic, expert, nongovernmental organization (NGO) staff member, policymaker, or journalist seeking to dive into the evidence and policies on girls’ education. But it is also designed and written for the concerned global citizen who simply
wants to better understand the issues and do their part in working for high-quality
girls’ education around the world. (This is the second time that the Center for Universal Education has sponsored the writing of such a book. An earlier version of this
book was also produced from the Center in 2004, with the coauthorship of longtime
girls’ education champion and expert Barbara Herz. Eleven years later, we felt that
A
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4 WHAT WORKS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION
the proliferation of new studies, new developments, and new issues demanded a
second book, which we are proud to roll out, together with Malala and the Malala
Fund, along with the documentary on her fight for girls’ education.)
The Power of Evidence and Girls’ Education
Whether you are an expert or a generalist and concerned citizen, we think you
will find that there are two things about the evidence on girls’ education that are
both striking and profound:
• First, the evidence is extensive on education for girls in poor nations. The
sheer magnitude of evidence is undeniable. There are few if any policy areas in the world where the evidence is so deep and sweeping as are the
findings that support a far greater global commitment to girls’ education.
• Second, girls’ education is the world’s best investment with the widest-ranging returns. What the evidence contained in this book makes so
clear are the vast, wide-ranging, and multifaceted returns from investing
in girls’ education. Thus, this second aspect is why we believe that girls’
education is the best investment that can be made anywhere in the world.
In advanced nations, we are used to hearing the case for why education in
general contributes to wages, growth, and upward mobility. These returns
from education are just as strong in poorer nations as well. But what makes
girls’ education in developing nations truly the investment with the highest return in the world is the degree to which it leads to better outcomes
in not only the traditional economic areas of growth and incomes but also
in its positive impact in areas like reducing rates of infant mortality, maternal mortality, child marriage, and the incidence of HIV/AIDS and malaria, along with its positive impact on agricultural productivity, resilience
to natural disasters, and women’s empowerment. In chapter 2, this book
breaks down the evidence by categories in all these areas.
“Especially Girls”: Never Forgetting the Boys
One challenge in writing a book on girls’ education is the danger of giving the
impression that the crisis in education in many poor nations is just a girls’ issue.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The percentage of boys completing a
This is elaborate exposition of the challenges facing the girl child

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@instructional_team said in Introduce Yourself in Girl Centered Design!:

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