A Day Without Women

Today is International Women's Day. For some, it is "A Day Without Women". Schools in Alexandria City, Virginia are closed because 300 teachers have requested leave. At least, parents have been given notice a day in advance. Still, it is difficult for parents who have no access to instant childcare. Elementary schools are indeed the best places to feel what happens when women do not go to work. Almost ninety percent of primary school teachers in the United States are female.  The same holds true for the Philippines. The teachers I had when I was in elementary school are all women. I would not be going to class then if we had "A Day Without Women".

Above copied from WJLA
The first teacher I had who was male was in high school. I had male instructors for two subjects: physical education and practical arts. Of course, the contrast was really striking when I entered college. Most of the teachers I had at the Ateneo de Manila University were male. The situation in the United States is similar, only about a third of tenured and tenure-track professors in PhD granting institutions are women.

Primary school teachers obviously are as important as university professors. After all, they are the ones that really prepare us for higher education. Nonetheless, women have been at the frontiers of human knowledge and have been influential leaders in this world. On this day, it is indeed timely for the website of the Nobel Prize to assemble the video below. These women have changed the world like the primary school teachers who have helped us grow.





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