The Past vs The Present

The Past:

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is a part of the trinity (Tridevi) of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati.

The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a goddess is in the Rigveda. She has remained significant as a goddess from the Vedic period through modern times of Hindu traditions. In Shanti Parva of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Saraswati is called the mother of the Vedas. She is called “the mother of eloquent speech and melodious music”.

Saraswati is the goddess of light who dispels our ignorance and inner darkness through her grace. Even gods worship her for developing proficiency in different fields.

She is generally depicted as a beautiful and graceful goddess in spotless white clothes, with four hands, seated on a lotus seat, holding a Veena, a musical instrument, with one of her hands and resting it on her lap or, with the remaining three holding a book, a rosary and lotus respectively.

Well, That's Our Past, A Rather Glorious One.

The Present:

Around the world, 132 million girls are out of school, including 34.3 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67.4 million of upper-secondary school age. In countries affected by conflict, girls are more than twice as likely to be out of school than girls living in non-affected countries. There are many reasons for this such as poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence. Poor families often favour boys when investing in education.

In some places, schools do not meet the safety, hygiene or sanitation needs of girls. In others, teaching practices are not gender-responsive and result in gender gaps in learning and skills development.

+ Advantages of girls being educated:

Investing in girls’ education transforms communities, countries and the entire world. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families.

Girls’ education strengthens economies and reduces inequality.

When we invest in girls’ secondary education

• The lifetime earnings of girls dramatically increase

• National growth rates rise

• Child marriage rates decline

• Child mortality rates fall

• Maternal mortality rates fall

• Child stunting drops

+ Steps to be taken by educational institutions to promote girl education:

• Tackling discriminatory gender norms and harmful practices that deny girls access to school and quality learning.

• Promote social protection measures, including cash transfers, to improve girls’ transition.

• Remove gender stereotypes from learning materials.

• Address other obstacles, like distance-related barriers to education and menstrual hygiene management in schools.

“If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is GIRLS!”