By HARBGUY MWAMBAZI –

SOCIETY maybe racing ahead but little is being said about supporting more women to enter higher education.
Our societal set up leans towards giving more credit to men in as much as education is concerned, leaving little consideration to women.
In most cases, women are said to be weaker than men, yet their strength lies in the ability to mother and nurture what surrounds them.
For them to expand their role, young women need the support and recognition from higher institutions and organisations that have the means, without discriminating against them on account of gender.
Many factors have contributed to low numbers of young women pursuing higher education as at present. When one considers challenges that most young women go through at an early age, it is not surprising that these problems play a role in hindering their access to higher education.
As the increase in early child pregnancies escalates among young women, the chances of seeing most of them in school deteriorates.
It is safe to say that early child pregnancies have always made it difficult for many women and girls to pursue higher education as they find themselves with responsibilities of being mothers when they are not fully prepared.
Early pregnancies have caused many young women to withdraw from their respective schools, with no alternatives.
Another factor contributing to having fewer women in higher learning institutions than men is the issue of child marriages which tends to happen in both urban and rural areas.
But most of the cases happen in rural areas.
However, the problem of child marriages is slowly becoming common in urban areas.
Few people may have taken note as the public considers the problem to be rife in rural settings.
An understandable fact is that men have always dominated in education opportunities for quite some time.
Women have been trying to catch up over the past decade.
The inbalance between the figures of men being educated compared to those of women,  calls for promotion of education among the women.
Education Curriculum Development and Policy Specialist Victor Chanza, said it is sad to learn that most institutions of higher learning are still old fashioned with a perception that women are properties and cannot add value in society.
“When you look at the way the Bursaries Committee selects who should benefit from scholarships, the committee considers more male students than females. Zambia has continued to make steadfast progress in the development of the education sector yet most women have been sidelined when it comes to opportunities of either empowerment or education,” he said.
In the recent past, the girl child empowerment in terms of education was one of the reasons the  Ministry of Education resorted to the introduction of Afternoon Production Unit (APU) studies.
Afternoon Production Unit studies were meant to help school pupils, especially young women, who had performed fairly well in their examinations by giving them a chance to proceed to Secondary School even though their marks were below the examination results cutting point.
However, when one considers that women are involved in more activities than men, it is unfortunate that in most cases, it is the girl-child who is forced to drop out and to be married off as a result of pregnancy.
Mr Chanza said that Government should enforce its policy on gender empowerment were women can be given equal opportunity in all sectors.
He said that only three  per cent of educated women today were in decision making positions, which meant that the country’s average contribution of women was below par.
He said that the public and private institutions of higher learning must brace themselves to empower and recognise women efforts.
Most of these institutions are usually run by the male folk leaving most women out of decision making. And yet women play a very important role.
However, the public might wonder what actually is being done by these higher learning institutions in Zambia as regards promoting both young and older women in having a chance at getting college and university education.
Liutebm University of Tourism Excellence and Business Management has employed measures to ensure that young women in Zambia are given an opportunity to get higher education.
LIUTEBM university senior lecturer and head of Information Technology at (IT) department Lucy Kapiteni said the university had made a positive step in promoting female and males in the university.
She said LIUTEBM has resorted to offering scholarships to Grade 12 girls at various high schools in Lusaka who get excellent marks in examinations.
“We offer scholarships here of female students who perform very well in their final exams at high school. These scholarships have always been 100 per cent and are awarded by the vice chancellor here at the university, making sure that all the fees for a particular student are covered, including the rent allowance as well,” she said.
Ms Kapiteni said the main reason why LIUTEBM sponsored more females was to address the existing imbalance.
She said female students who graduated from tourism programmes have most likely gotten jobs as compared to other courses.
Ms Kapiteni said society has always left men in advantaged positions with access to higher and significant jobs whereas the women are denied such opportunities.
“What we have noticed is that most men occupy higher positions, leaving the women under them all the time. That is why our tourism school also encourages women to take  courses in entrepreneurship so
that they can better empower themselves in the near future,” she said.
A Venevieve 19 year old school leaver from Matero girls secondary school, is one of the beneficiaries form the scholarship presented to her by LIUTEBM after she got good results in Grade 12 final exams.
“I felt great when I was listed as one of the candidates for the scholarship seeing that it is a rare occasion that comes once in someone’s life. Thanks for the incentive given to me, I have begun my degree course in tourism and hospitality,” she said.
She said young women and girls should be given the opportunity to enhance their chances to get higher education. She stressed that women, just like men, needed to be given roles in leadership positions.
However, Rockview College Vice Principle Rabecca Nakazwe said it was very important to promote girl child education in higher learning institutions to pave way for their empowerment.
She said arrangements had been put in place by the college each year to ensure that not only men but young women too are included in accessing higher education.
“Each year we give 75 per cent scholarships to the women, leaving them only to pay a fee of K600 which seems to be reasonable on their part.
We also have the vulnerable who are allowed to do small jobs in school and in return,  they do not have to pay anything at the college. This allows them to learn freely,” she said.
She said the college had built four boarding houses for female students and one for males. This ensures that rent costs are covered for girls in the boarding.
“We keep a close tab on the girls to ensure that they don’t go out unnecessarily and come back late in the night because this might affect their academic performance in class. We always encourage the girls on scholarships to uphold education first before anything,” she said.
It has been noticed that once financial problems hit a family, priority is given to males to go to school while females are neglected.
Mark Mutakwa, 45 who lives in Kabulonga said viewing young women as not important in society should be discouraged as things are constantly changing in life with more women proving to be more reliable as well.
He said that he had resorted to shifting his attention from his sons to his daughter because of the seriousness she has exhibited in handling issues than his son who tends to be a disappointment.
“I had trust that my first born son would do justice in terms of his education, but it turned out to be the opposite. He failed tremendously due to his lack of commitment and zeal. My second born daughter managed to catch up, she excelled and graduated with a university degree, and she is currently working in Lusaka,” he said.
Mr Mutakwa urged parents in Zambia to encourage and support their daughters as a way of empowering and imparting confidence in them.
However, Rockview College director of Distant and Open Learning Education James Nyemba said,  it was regrettable that in some cases, young women were failing to take up challenges once handed a scholarship.
He said that the fundamental factor was not that higher institutions are not doing enough to promote more women in school, but rather that, most women were afraid to take up the challenge of school even under a scholarship.
“We have had instances were more women turn up for scholarship interviews, and I personally issued some scholarships to a couple of young women who in the end did not turn up to commence their school,” he said.
Mr Nyemba said some women were not committing themselves to the challenges that awaited them in college and university as compared to men.
“Most men whom we have issued scholarships to have taken up the tasks related to their course. On the other hand, the first question a woman would ask you once they are here is whether they would be in boarding.
This shows that many women are shunning away from the tasks attached college life.
Mr Chanza said the Government should consider empowering women who have the capacity to positively contribute to the country through higher educational interventions.
He also said that most women exhibited the behavioral tendency of not supporting one another in this matter.
“Most of these women have a ‘PHD’ (pull him/her down) syndrome or cancer of not supporting their own fellow women. You find that a lot of women holding high positions in our society do nothing to help their fellow women who need help in educational empowerment. It is sad to notice this in our country. The trend has to stop,” he said.
It is very important that the ministry of Gender and Child Development advocates for policy directives to address the imbalance between males and females accessing higher education.
For a long time now, calls and campaigns have been made urging that society appreciates girls and women. But it seems only a small segment of higher learning institutions in Zambia have done anything in that regard.
Government needs to work closely with higher learning institutions and organisations to ensure that mechanisms are put in place to promote access to higher education among women.