Education is the perfect and harmonious development of all our mental faculties.
This blessing should be held out to all classes of people, for the welfare of the nation depends entirely on it. It is a matter of great regret that education is nowadays confined to the male class alone and is denied almost wholly to the weaker six.
When god created man and woman. He drew no hard and fast line of distinction between them. He endowed them equally with all the bright and noble faculties. Would it not be then entirely selfish for man to enjoy all the advantages of education alone? Is education meant for him alone? The answer is obvious. Education cannot form the exclusive possession of any particular man, woman, class or sect. Everyone has an equal right to it, a right that is perpetual and sacred.
Education, as we know, ought to be universal. It should not be limited to men-folk only. It should be imparted to the women as well. For, education has a number of benefits to confer on mankind. Women, who form one half of mankind, should not be refused the benefits of education. In western countries, this was recognized a long time ago. But prejudices against female education still persist in our country. Education broadens our outlook. Our mothers and sister should, therefore, be given the benefit of education.
There are, however, some people who are strongly opposed to female education. According to them, imparting education to women is of no use. Some hold the view that women are intellectually inferior to men. Therefore, women should deal mainly with the kitchen and children. Now, women are, it is true, different form men and women have many special tasks in life. But these tasks also need education. Besides, many women now are competing with men in many active branches of life. Thus, there is no reason why the women should be deprived of the benefits of education.
Most people labor under the wrong impression that women are wholly meant for the hearth. They must perform the household duties, bring up the children and minister to the comforts of their male partners. In other words, their duties are exclusively confined to the inner apartments. As a result of this conception, all their higher faculties get crippled and it world be sheer folly on our part to expect them to manage all the duties mentioned above efficiently and systematically. It is only by imparting proper education to them that we can expect them to discharge their duties quite nicely and decently. Education of women is essentially necessary from another point of women is essentially necessary from another point of view. Education of children depends a great deal on mothers. Childhood is there most impressionable stage and anything good, bad or indifferent taught to a child now makes an indelible mark on his mind. Our women, uneducated as they are, cannot realize it at all. Can we expect to have true and education sons when the mothers themselves are foolish and ignorant? The noble life of Hazrat Abdul Quader Jilani should ever stand out as an example of how a son's character and career may be moulded by his mother.
Every woman is a potential mother. The future of a child depends on how it is brought up and educated in childhood. An educated mother is naturally expected to bring up and educate her child better than a mother with no education at all. This is, perhaps, one of the strongest points in favor of female education. In our country, millions of men also are either illiterate or very poorly educated. For an all-round progress of democracy, we consider to be essential. Social responsibilities must be shared by women as well as men. In domestic life also, men's tasks will be less heavy, if women are educated and able to help their husbands, sons and brothers. Female education alone can make men and women both perfect partners in social, political and domestic affairs. A good wife is a blessing. She lends a helping hand to the performance of her husband's duties. When a husband returns home extremely tired after the day's toil in the outside world, it is for her to cheer him up. She is the best and truest friend and her words would go a long way towards influencing her husband for anything that is good and noble. But alas! such wives are getting rate in Bangladesh. Women are uneducated and unpolished. They do not try to understand the feelings and aspirations of their husbands. Home is the place where peace and happiness should reign supreme. Unfortunately, these have disappeared simply because of these uncultured and untrained women.
Thus, From every point of view, we find that education should be imparted not only to omen but to women as well. Opinions, however, differ as to the kind of education to be given to a woman. Some say that the same kind of education is to be given to a woman as to a man. They hold that women are not intellectually inferior to men. On the contrary, they are their equals in all respects except in physical strength. Hence there is no need for making any distinction between men and women in respect of education. Both may be given the same sort of education.
Others are of opinion that men and women should be educated differently. Men and women have marked natural differences both mental and physical.
Our main principle should be to educate our women systematically and carefully. By education ewe do not mean the winning of the different degrees of University. The old system of education for girls should be changed. (i) Cooking, (ii) Home Economics, (iii) Sewing and (iv) Nursing should be introduced in the curriculum of their study. Some are under the impression that education makes them foppish, weak and quite incapable of discharging their domestic duties. But thy must know that it is non-education that makes them so.
Early marriage is one of the hindrances to the education of women. It is a custom among the Muslims to get their daughters and sisters married before they attain puberty. They are married when they are quite incapable of understanding what their duties are as wives and then often become mothers before they pass their girlhood. So the system should by all means be abolished from our society.
