Education is a cornerstone of women's empowerment because it enables them to respond to opportunities, to challenge their traditional roles and to change their lives.

Educating women benefits the whole of society. It has a more significant impact on poverty and development than men's education. It is also the most influential factor in improving child health and reducing infant mortality.

Women's education also has an effect on family size. The more years of education a woman has, the fewer children she tends to bear.

Despite the clear advantages of female education, parents tend to prefer to educate their sons. A girl's role in life is often perceived solely as a link to the household; formal education may thus be seen as a waste of resources. She is also likely to marry into another family and take with her any advantages she gains from education.

Although literacy and school enrolment among both girls and boys has increased dramatically, much remains to be done. At least 60 million girls lack access to primary education. And the gender gap in literacy persists: More than two thirds of the world's 960 million illiterates are women.

• In India, literacy rates are 39 per cent among women and 64 per cent among men.

• In Egypt, only 27 per cent of females are literate, compared to 63 per cent of males.

Boys are more likely to be enrolled in school, and to remain in school, than girls. This becomes more and more true as the level of education increases. Even in the developed world, fewer women than men attend universities.

There are signs of progress, however. The enrolment of boys and girls in primary school edges closer and closer to parity every year. Even at the university level, women are catching up and even surpassing male enrolment in some countries.

In Kuwait, Bahrain, the Philippines and Cuba, more women are now enrolling in university than men. But even where girls' and women's' access to education is improving, they are often channeled into traditionally "female" fields of study that reinforce their traditional roles in society.

As stated in the ICPD Programme of Action, countries must recognize the value of ensuring that women begin and complete their education and of eliminating gender bias in all types of educational materials that enforce and reinforce inequalities between men and women.

Educational programmes for both boys and girls must promote shared responsibilities. From the moment they begin their education, boys need to be taught to take care of their own domestic needs and to share responsibilities in the home. Educating both boys and girls in non-stereotyped thinking about male and female roles is critical.

Men -- as legislators, decision-makers in ministries of education, school administrators, participants in the design of educational curricula, teachers and fathers -- have a critical role to play. They must make sure that girls are able to go to school, stay in school, and are taught the skills they need to succeed in the workplace and the world at large on equal terms. Men also must teach boys new ways to think about their roles and about women in this rapidly changing world.

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