Keeping the Promise: 5 benefits of girls’ secondary educationThe Academy for Educational Development’s Center for Gender Equity analyzes the low female enrollment in secondary education in different areas of the world, as about 40% of girls do not attend secondary school worldwide. Though there are still girls who do not reach primary school, even more girls are not able to attend secondary school. Using secondary research as well as the organization’s work with education around the world, the report highlights the barriers for girls attending secondary school, five main benefits to education girls, and strategies for increasing female education in secondary school. The key findings highlight that girls have to balance their duties in the home with school, familie choose to educate their boys over girls, and secondary school can be expensive for some families. However, the report highlights that long-term outcomes associated with education girls, including less diseases, healthier children, less poverty, and civic engagement. In conclusion, the research indicates strategies to increase girls’ access to secondary education including communicating the payoff to parents, building more schools, and making the environment more equitable.