Michelle Obama Insists on Girl Education in Morocco

Together with her two teenage daughters, Sasha and Malia, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama brought her message about the need to educate the girl child to Morocco yesterday.

The first family landed in Liberia on Monday where she urged young girls to grab every opportunity available to get education, Face2Face Africa reported yesterday.

She also met with Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before proceeding to Morocco on Monday night.

In Morocco, Mrs. Obama met with local girls and education activists at a workshop to discuss the need to educate girls. The First Lady pledged to help girls in Morocco and Africa as a whole to go to school.

“We have to change those notions that girls are only valuable for their reproductive capacity, or their ability to do manual labor,” Mrs. Obama said.

The Obamas are on a six-day trip to Liberia, Morocco, and Spain where they hope to promote the U.S.-sponsored Let Girls Learn Initiative, which was established with the aim of empowering young girls around the world through quality education.

The royal family is expected to leave for Spain on Wednesday to further raise awareness about the importance of giving girls a chance to go to school.

Let Girls Learn            

Let Girls Learn was established in March 2015 by the Obama administration with the aim of enabling adolescent girls around the world to access quality education.

With help from partners and stakeholders in the education sector, the initiative is running numerous education projects that are benefiting millions of teenage girls around the world.  

In November 2015, the initiative through the help of USAID announced its plan to construct 25 new public schools in Jordan, 70 percent of which will be for girls. USAID has also pledged to provide $70 million to help the Let Girls Learn Initiative to further girls’ education in Pakistan.

Girls’ Education in Africa

According to Plan International, girls in at least 47 African countries have a 50 percent chance of going to school. While retrogressive traditions and beliefs are largely to blame for the small number of girls accessing education in Africa, poverty and ignorance have also played a big role.

However, most African governments have introduced policies and laws aimed at achieving universal, free primary education for all, thus giving girls from poor families a chance to go to school.