Topic: Access to Education for Girls
Country: Russia
Delegate Name: Dorian Thompson
School: Fishers High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Russia position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
While Russia’s history of access to education for women and girls is not ideal, the present and future have become exceedingly bright. In 1989, 6.73 million women had studied in institutions of higher education compared to the 6 million men that had. In 2002, the difference in statistics between men and women grew enormously. 10.76 million women had achieved higher educations compared to the 8.61 million men that had in the same year. As of July of 2011, women still continue to gain higher education more frequently than men. Since 1724, Russia has been proudly educating women and girls to achieve higher than ever before.
Russian women are able to become educated to obtain higher status in working society. In Russia, secondary education is free. The curriculum for both men and women is the same in the Russian education system. Men and women take the same classes, and Russian school systems even provide women with classes in women’s roles in society. Dress making, cooking and housekeeping are all common classes women may take. After their secondary education, every Russian girl is permitted to take a two-year course of higher education or enter into a specialized course, such as college or technical school. All Russian women are permitted to a one year academic vacation if she is unable to attend classes for a long period of time. This shows Russia believes that women should be able to have access to education no matter their situation. The Russian constitution states in Paragraph 19 of Article 2 that “men and women enjoy equal rights and freedoms and have equal possibilities to exercise them”. In Article 253 of the constitution, Russia states that there are approximately 600 jobs where the use of women’s labor is prohibited. This shows that women have a giant role in Russian society and economy, and their education is just as important as the men’s.
In regards to the current state of women’s education, Russia believes that some slight improvements could be made. Education should be easily accessible to both men and women around the world, as it is in Russia. While the people of Russia understand that free education may not be a practical thing, Russian people believe strongly that improvements need to be made to the UN to ensure that women everywhere have access to education. Russia suggests adding an article to the declaration of Human Rights. This would guarantee that all humans have equal access to education.
