Share

Culture vs education: Here’s how one project is changing minds

accreditation
Graca Machel, members of the Mara Alliance and school children celebrate after the signing ceremony to officially launch the education project this week. Picture: The Graca Machel Foundation
Graca Machel, members of the Mara Alliance and school children celebrate after the signing ceremony to officially launch the education project this week. Picture: The Graca Machel Foundation

The face-off between cultural beliefs and education has one big loser – the millions of youngsters who end up not going to school.

“Many parents, especially men, think educating a girl is a waste of time and money,” said Ostack Mligo, secretary of the Mara Alliance, a group of 13 non-governmental organisations organisations involved in education in the Mara region of Tanzania.

Former South African first lady Graça Machel this week officially launched an ambitious project that hopes to change this, and has taken its first step towards educating 20 000 children in the region.

The Graça Machel Trust, the Mara Alliance and partners from various disciplines plan to identify, enrol and retain 20 000 “out of school” children by December next year.

The Bishop of the Diocese of Musoma Michael Msonganzila said the launch of the project was a big and empowering event.

“Most of the children who dropped [out of school] are girls and they are mostly victims of the traditions and cultures … the project will be a real process of liberating girls from any harmful practices of the society,” he added. “This project is reminding us about how important it is to empower women through education for the development of society and nation.”

According to Unicef, two million children in Tanzania aged between seven and 14 are currently out of school. An estimated 60 000 of them live in the Mara region. The Mara Alliance aims to work with school governing bodies to identify these children and get them back in school over a two-year period.

Mara is rated as one of the top five regions practising female genital mutilation in the country and is the leading reason, with child labour, that girls aren’t attending school.

“After going through female genital mutilation girls are made to come back and get married right away,” said Mligo.

He added that the project would also hold interventions to rid the region of female genital mutilation practices and inform people about the importance of education.

“Traditional leaders make money by continuing the practices … it is very difficult to convince people to change their cultural practices,” Mligo said.

The alliance has identified 12 priority areas that need urgent attention: nutritional support; health promotion; water and sanitation; safety and protection; social welfare services; psychosocial support; material support, curriculum support; leadership and structures; community involvement; infrastructure; and teacher development and support.

Seven of the 12 priorities are essential services required by children to survive and thrive, and the remainder create an enabling quality teaching and learning environment.

The project will be implemented and funded by the Graça Machel Trust in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
21% - 103 votes
No
79% - 392 votes
Vote