ED: Investing in girls pays dividends

Oftentimes, it is the successful, long-term enacting of a plan or program that brings transformative change to society.

To that end, it is gratifying and heartening to learn, from a recent expansive study that used four rounds of surveys on over 1,700 households over a span of 26 years, that the Female Secondary Stipend and Assistance Program (FSSAP) -- introduced in 1994 for secondary-level girl students in Bangladesh -- has not only improved education outcomes in the short run, but in the long run has been successful in delaying marriage, increasing the probability of employment, and increasing the probability of marrying men who are more educated and employed.