Should educational background be a barrier in marriage?

Hali and Ana have been friends for as long as they could remember. Hali’s family could barely afford three square meals while they were growing up but Ana was from a wealthy home and she went to some of the best schools within and outside the country. Hali and Ana went to the same secondary […]

Hali and Ana have been friends for as long as they could remember. Hali’s family could barely afford three square meals while they were growing up but Ana was from a wealthy home and she went to some of the best schools within and outside the country.

Hali and Ana went to the same secondary school and that was the beginning of their love tale. They loved each other so much. Unfortunately for Hali, he couldn’t continue with his education after his secondary school because his father died two weeks after his exams. Ana, on the other hand proceeded with hers because her parents could afford it. Years later, after she returned to the country, their paths crossed and they picked up from where they had left off.

Ana’s parents were against their relationship because they felt Hali wasn’t “good enough” for their daughter since he isn’t a graduate. Hali felt so distraught and Ana was torn. But what would they do? If you were in either Hali or Ana’s shoes, what would you have done?

The scene above is a rising trend in so many homes today. Parents give their children the notion that if their intending spouse is not a graduate, they should have nothing to do with such a person.

LifeXtra sought for people’s opinions.

Agidi Shetu Rose said “I had a boyfriend back then who always complained whenever I asked him a question. I believed they were not stupid questions but things I needed clarification on. When I asked him why he does that, his response was that any woman who went to school and is intelligent is always a problem.”

“A person’s educational background shouldn’t be a barrier to marriage. Today, every man/woman, especially men, wants to settle down with someone who is learned, not just someone who went to school.”

“However, men who have issues with ladies who went to school have no idea what it means to educate a lady and so they easily feel intimidated when the lady gets to a higher position in life, for example becoming the General manager of an organization,” she concluded.

Debbie Manjang Macauley says education is relative. “The person must not attend the regular school but should be a person interested in what is happening in his/her environment.”

Using her mum as an example, she said “My mum didn’t go to the university until she was 50 years old but she was and still is my best English teacher. She’s active on a couple of social media platforms. Some people think she’s a professor. I think the willingness to learn supersedes the class attendance.”

Philip Shinnom also thinks that education shouldn’t be a barrier. Speaking to Lifextra, he said “No it shouldn’t. This is because marriage is based on mutual trust and understanding. Also, if a person is not educated, he can enroll in any institution he/she wishes to attend. There is no age limit to education.”