As our economy faces up to potential labour shortages due to our ageing population and as it moves to a new level of sophistication to compete with the rest of the world, we're going to need every Australian on board pulling their weight, rejoining the workforce, gaining new skills. Writing off individuals and communities suffering from poverty just creates a dead weight for our economy to drag along.
As more girls get basic schooling, larger numbers will move up the educational ladder - some to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. That's important because workplaces around the world, especially in many developing and emerging-market countries, are becoming more automated, favouring workers with technical skills.
Interpretation
What this quote means
More girls receiving education leads to increased opportunities in technical fields, which are crucial in modern workplaces.
This quote emphasizes the significance of girls' education in advancing their opportunities, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As the global workforce becomes more automated and reliant on technical skills, encouraging and ensuring access to basic schooling for girls is essential for their personal development and the economic progress of societies, especially in developing countries.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a conference on gender equality, this quote can be introduced to underline the importance of girls' education.
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