Chapter 4 presents girls’ education as a critical step to female empowerment. Educating girls has many benefits, including higher literacy rates, higher wages, and more rapid income growth. It also increases crop production, curbs premarital sex and early marriage, and encourages family planning. Educated mothers are more knowledgeable about nutrition and vaccines, which helps keep children healthy; equally important are the confidence and high standards instilled in educated girls, which fuels their own advancement.

Schools That Life Up Their Students

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to strengthening America’s education system by increasing the number of minority and low-income students who finish high school and college. Public schools across the nation are underfunded, but it takes more than money and committed teachers for students to succeed. Students also need support from their families, their parents; some do not want their children to attend college because they view higher education as an indictment of their way of life. Creating a culture that values education and sets high expectations is key to helping students succeed academically—and beyond.

Girls in Schools

More than 130 million girls around the world do not attend school. Many governments tried to remove barriers to girls’ education, but inequalities persist, particularly at the secondary and post-secondary levels.