Child labor has persistently posed a global challenge, acting as a barrier to children’s education and jeopardizing their future. According to figures from the World Bank, the number of working children significantly decreases as the rate of educational attainment increases. This observation spans the period between 1977 and 2017, revealing a potential inverse correlation between child labor and education attainment.
Situation in Lebanon
World Bank figures indicate a significant decrease in the rate of children in the labor market between 2000 and 2020; however, there was a slight increase in 2021. The issue is intricately complicated, with various factors severely affecting public school education. Firstly, the number of students enrolling in public schools from refugee camps has notably increased since 2011. Locally, the severe financial crisis has deeply impacted the Ministry of Education’s budget since 2019, compounded by other factors such as the devaluation of the Lira, the Beirut Port explosion, and COVID-19 lockdowns.
Statistics reveal that child labor is more prevalent among male children in Lebanon. However, relying solely on these figures is insufficient, given the existence of different forms of informal labor not addressed by the World Bank and the International Labor Organization.
In the absence of updates from international institutions or local government agencies, I turned to various surveys conducted by local stakeholders and international NGOs. These surveys shed light on the deteriorating quality of education, particularly in public schools and, to a lesser extent, within private schools.
Roadmap towards a solution
Various stakeholders, including the Lebanese government and international institutions, should collaborate to initiate a comprehensive multi-stakeholder plan aimed at reversing the deteriorating quality in the public school system. In addition to financial support, this plan should address critical factors such as the number of schools, the availability of qualified teachers, and curriculum improvements.
On the government front, it is imperative to establish coordination among three key ministries: Education, Labor, and Social Affairs. This collaborative effort will create a legal framework addressing child labor issues, implementing a high-quality educational curriculum, and promoting awareness within the most affected segments of society.
Sarah, a 20-year-old housewife, gets beaten up every time by her husband for not being able to cook, and she totally agrees that he has the right to do that. And there are many others like her!
Violence against Women from their partners is one of the most widespread public issues affecting the individual, family, and community. As not only does it affect the women’s mental and physical health, but also that of their children, relatives, and neighbors. Thus, it is important to tackle the reasons behind it.
Shockingly, the proportion of women who believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife is high and increasing worldwide. For instance, an average of 53% of women and girls worldwide believe that men are justified to beat their wives. The highest concentration of this positive attitude towards domestic violence is in Africa, south Asia, and west south America.. Use the graph below to discover the percentages of each country. Tap anywhere to view the top countries (countries with highest percentages of women justifying the husbands’ violence).
Women believe it is justifiable for men to beat up his wife when she:
Argues with him
Refuses to have sex
Burns the food
Goes out without telling him
Neglects the children.
Among these reasons, neglecting the children constitutes the top reason of justifying domestic violence with 26.32%.
But why is this the case?
Early marriage highly impacts this mindset. Child marriage limits the young girls’ power, resources, knowledge, social support, freedom, and independence. Young married girls have little power in relation to their husbands and in-laws, which makes them believe that a man is sometimes justified to beat his wife. For instance, Girls who marry early are more likely to believe that a man is justified in beating his wife than women who marry later. As seen in the figure below, there is a very strong correlation between the number of women who were married early and number of women who believed that husbands are justified in beating their wives throughout the years.
Also, a negative correlation with the total governmental expenditure on education is shown, implying that government can play a huge role in limiting this mindset, through increasing their expenditure on education as it has shown a great influence on the proportions of early marriage, and women believing it is okay to beat up wives. For this reason, laws should be released to prohibit early marriage and motivate girls to get higher educational attainment.
Having equality in educational attainment among genders will empower women and stop them from accepting to get beaten up by their husbands. This is related to goal 4 of the UN, which considers eliminating the disparities among genders to ensure equal access for all to affordable and quality technical, vocational education among all levels: tertiary, primary secondary and higher education.
Finally, Education is essential, but allowing young people’s voices to be heard is also crucial to empowering the next generation. If women feel heard, they will feel more empowered and thus they are more likely to instigate change.
Girls’ education is proving to be a significant element in improving the quality of life in developed countries. Educational equity not only benefits a country’s economy, but it also helps to minimize infant hunger and the pay disparity that exists between men and women in many developed nations.
Our world society is made wealthier by providing women with the opportunity to further their education.
Gender inequality has been an ongoing issue eversince the first record of history. Today, with rising empowerment and the right protesting, the value of women in the perception of global societies has risen significantly. However, there is still an issue of giving women a secondary rank in terms of societal values. Women, being married young, beginning to work before they become adolescents, and living in countries below the poverty line, tend to validate being beated by their husbands for burning the food, an issue that can arise from juggling so many responsibilities around and forgetting the stove on for as little as 1 minute extra. Although it seems that the poverty line in these women’s countries would lead women to be subject to such values, the key would lie in a more concrete matter, which is education. Education is key to empowerment, to discovering one’s boundaries, and to be able to develop a skill set to be more productive, more efficient, and have more impact. This has proven successful in countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East, and would be ideal if it were to be applied in Africa. In conclusion, investing in the education system must be the primary focus of a nation willing to end its gender gap.
