Education

I've always been taught that education is vital. Yes, our church DOES highly value and encourage the education of women. Here are a few quotes I happened to come across while doing some primary lesson research today (oddly enough, this has nothing to do with the lesson I'm working on):

“What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well.”

There must be respect for the interests of one another. There must be opportunities and encouragement for the development and expression of individual talent. Any man who denies his wife the time and the encouragement to develop her talents, denies himself and his children a blessing which could grace their homes and bless their posterity.

--President Gordon B. Hinckley

The whole gamut of human endeavor is now open to women. There is not anything that you cannot do if you will set your mind to it. I am grateful that women today are afforded the same opportunity to study for science, for the professions, and for every other facet of human knowledge. You are as entitled as are men to the Spirit of Christ, which enlightens every man and woman who comes into the world. . . You can include in the dream of the woman you would like to be a picture of one qualified to serve society and make a significant contribution to the world of which she will be a part.

--President Gordon B. Hinckley

If I had a choice of educating my daughters or my sons because of opportunity constraints, I would choose to educate my daughters. -- Brigham Young.

“(1) Formal education directly teaches health knowledge to mothers; (2) Literacy and numeracy skills acquired in school assist future mothers in diagnosing and treating child health problems; and (3) Exposure to modern society from formal schooling makes women more receptive to modern medical treatments” --Paul Glewwe, senior economist for The World Bank

In a speech to his fellow Ghanaians in the early 1900s, the visionary educator, Dr. J.E. Kwegyir Aggrey, declared, 'The surest way to keep a people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family.'"

...

I am so glad I have a husband who not only "lets" me pursue my educational and professional goals but encourages me and does everything he can to help me achieve everything I could hope for.