Notes to broadcasters
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In the following script, a host and two guests — with different points of view — discuss the value of educating children. The script emphasizes the importance of both boys and girls attending and staying in school. If children have an education they can help their parents with business matters while they are still at home. If they continue their schooling they can contribute income to the family later in life.
You might wish to follow this program with a panel discussion on the subject of education, for girls and boys. A panel discussion is a good way to present different viewpoints on this and other subjects. Invite several people from your community with whom your audience can identify. Include both women and men, from all walks of life — farmers, school teachers, community leaders, politicians, and home workers — for a more lively discussion.
Other radio scripts about keeping girls in school that can be used with this script are: Package 59 (April 2001), scripts 1 and 2, Sara stays in school and Sara learns about health and nutrition at school.
Script
Host:
Welcome to [
name of program]. So far on our series about children, we’ve learned about healthy diets for babies and young children, and we’ve heard why girls and boys should be treated equally when it comes to food. Our program today is about a common, but difficult, choice that parents must make. Should we send our children — and especially our girls — to school, when they are needed at home? Mrs. Fatima is a teacher and Mr. Monsod is a farmer and trader. They are my guests today. Welcome to both of you.
Mr. Monsod and Mrs. Fatima:
Host:
Mr. Monsod, I’d like to start by asking you a personal question: do you send your own children to school?
Mr. Monsod:
Well, yes, of course. I want my boys to receive an education. I feel that if they continue their schooling, they’ll be able to find good jobs. It helps me and it helps them.
Host:
But if your children are at school, they can’t help you with the chores at home.
Mr. Monsod:
That’s true in some ways, but my boys help me in other ways. For example, they help me by reading instructions on pesticide containers. And they know how to calculate fertilizer amounts. Sometimes they come home from school with ideas about new farming methods.
Host:
Now, I notice you keep referring to your boys. What about girls?
Mr. Monsod:
Well, that’s something different…educating girls is quite another matter. My opinion is that women don’t need an education to look after the home.
Host:
[
Surprised] Wow! That’s quite a statement. Can you give an explanation?
Mr. Monsod.
In our family, my father did the farm work. My mother also worked in the fields, but mostly she did the household chores. For household chores you don’t need a school certificate or degree.
Host:
So you’re saying that because women stay at home and only do household chores or work in the fields, they don’t need an education. Mrs. Fatima, how do you feel about this?
Mrs. Fatima:
I have quite a
differentviewpoint. First, it’s no longer true that women
onlydo household chores. Just look around! Women do much of the work that men used to do, partly because so many men have left to find work in the towns.
Mr. Monsod:
And for that, women need an education?
Host:
Mrs. Fatima, could you give us some examples to help us understand what you’re saying?
Mrs. Fatima:
Today, if you look around our community, you’ll see that women and girls still work in the fields… cultivating the crops. But now they also have to arrange for transport, or sale of these crops. If they can’t read or do math, they will be cheated.
Host:
And then of course, the whole family suffers.
Mrs. Fatima:
Exactly. A neighbour of mine has a story about that. She sent her daughter to sell milk at the market. The trader weighed the milk and pretended to do all sorts of calculations in front of the girl, but it was a lie. He cheated her on the amount. When the girl got home, her father was angry. But how could she know?
Mr. Monsod:
You know, you’ve made a good point and I’m not going to say you’re wrong about that. But still, not all families have enough money to send all their children to school. And parents do need help at home with chores.
Mrs. Monsod:
Yes, of course. But it’s a matter of balancing the costs now, and the benefits later. If you let your daughter go to school, she will be able to attend to business matters that arise when you are away.
Host:
And I suppose you could say that girls who go to school will certainly be better managers of the household.
Mrs. Fatima:
Yes, but most importantly, they’ll be independent and won’t need to rely on their parents. And the more educated children you have —
includinggirls — the more money they’ll be able to send home one day!
Mr. Monsod:
Well…I would certainly welcome the day when my daughter sends money home!
Host:
I think that one very important point raised in this discussion is that there are many changes happening in society. These changes often mean new roles for women and men, and girls and boys. It’s not always easy to change, but it is necessary and everyone benefits in the long run. I’m sure these changes will affect decisions that parents make about whether or not to send a child to school.
And that’s all the time we have for today. Thanks to you both for being with us today.
Mr. Monsod & Mrs. Fatima:
Host:
We’d like to have opinions from our listeners on this subject. Should we send our daughters and sons to school or not? Please contact this radio station by calling [], or write to us at []. And tune in [next time/tomorrow/next week], for a program about how HIV/AIDS is affecting the children in our community. I’m your host, []. Thank you for listening today.
Acknowledgements
Contributed by Jennifer Pittet, Thornbury, Canada.
Reviewed by Anita Amorim, International Labour Organization – International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, Geneva, Switzerland.
Information sources
Challenge of girl child education.
The State of the World’s Children 2002. UNICEF.
Mutoro, Basilida Anyona. Women working wonders: Small-scale farming and the role of women in Vihiga District, Kenya – A case study of North Maragol (Chapter X: Farm management situations and types of households). The Netherlands: Thesis Publishers, 1997.
