Girls get ahead: homework not housework

In many countries around the world, girls don’t get as much education as boys. In fact, every year about 12 milliongirls have to get married and look after a home instead of staying in school. That’s what might have happened to Loubna Imouahden. She’s 17. When her mum and granny were 17, they were already married. But Loubna is still at school, studying for her final exams and hoping to go to university and become a doctor, or an engineer.

Boarding school

All children who live in Loubna’s village high in the Atlas Mountains have a problem. If they want to continue studying after primary school, they have to go to boarding school in the big town far away. That costs money. And parents worry that it’s not safe for daughters, so many prefer to keep teenage girls at home and make them get married.

An organisation called Education For All (EFA) saw this problem. They set up safe, nice – and free – boarding houses near thehigh school in Asni, the big town. The houses are just for girls and they really make them feel at home. Now, nearly 250 girls spend each week in six EFA houses. They go home to their villages for weekends. And they are learningwell.

Big dreams

More than 95% of EFA’s girls passedtheir final baccalaureate exams last year and more than a quarter of 600 girls helped by EFA since 2007 have gone on to university. Loubna is concentrating on science for her final exams and wants to go to university herself, to get a good job and to help her parents.

“It’s important for me to go to school because it's the only way to live a life thatis different from my mother's and grandparents' life,” says Loubna. “The best thing about school is that every day I learn something new, and I feel that with each day I am getting a step closer to my goals – and, of course, the fun time I spend with my friends!”

“As a girl, it’s not easy to complete my studies,” she adds. “But my advice to other girls is that it’s worth it.”

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