It's lunchtime in a small, remote school in the Solomon Islands. The adolescent girls I'm working with have spent the entire morning photographing and workshopping their answers to a single question: why is it so hard for girls here to finish high school?
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I'm used to lunchtime being a noisy affair, but here we sit in silence. Is the hard work making them tired? The blistering heat? Yes and yes. But what unfolds through our conversation is deeper than that. Some of these girls walk almost two hours each day to get to school. Another two hours to get home, in oppressive heat and often, torrential rain. When a girl gets to school, she's tired. By the time she gets home, she's utterly exhausted.
Plan International is working with 60 girls in the Solomon Islands to find out why, in 2019, only 7 per cent graduate high school. What's emerging is a complicated - and frankly quite sad - picture.
Girls told us they spend an average of 18 hours doing household chores each week, almost three hours every day. This is a staggering seven times the global average of 2.5 hours a week and leaves little time or energy for homework.
In every village we pass to get to the school, we see crowds of children playing, riding bikes and kicking balls, just as you'd expect at the end of the school day. But there's a significant difference: they're all boys. The girls are inside getting dinner ready while the boys play, study or recuperate from their school day.
This week, Scott Morrison chose to visit the Solomon Islands. That this is his first international stop since the election shows just how seriously his Government is taking its role in the Pacific.
The Morrison Government says it will invest $2 billion in infrastructure in the Pacific over the coming years. This is an important strategic move for Australia. It's in our national interest to have peace and prosperity in the region, and it's also reflective of our values: we are a wealthy nation and we want to support our neighbours.
But one thing is missing from this plan. Something absolutely crucial to its success. And that is educating girls to become the next generation of workers, entrepreneurs and leaders.
As I look around the classroom at these 15 bright, capable girls, it dawns on me that statistically, only one of them is likely to graduate. That's only one girl who has a shot at pursuing her dreams. How did we get here? Primary school enrolment across the country is very good.
The secondary school drop-off rate in the Solomon Islands is one of the highest in the world. And it's not that these girls are dropping out, but rather that they're pushed out. By school fees. By violence. By strict policies around relationships and pregnancy. By an expectation that girls will prioritise household chores over studying for their exams. And as it is in so many countries around the world, by the simple fact that they were born a girl.
Plan International's research finds that school fees are the single biggest barrier to girls completing secondary school. The introduction of government fees at senior secondary level triggers many families to decide they can no longer afford to invest in their daughters' education and future. These fees can be as little as $200 per student, yet can mean the difference between continuing in secondary school, or facing an unequal future of domestic or low paid work, with little control over their own lives.
The social stigma around pre-marital relationships and pregnancy is another hurdle. School rules effectively decree that girls who become pregnant should be expelled - and they are rarely welcomed back. Those who are in relationships are often expelled too, out of anticipation that they might become pregnant or negatively influence those around them.
Despite the fact that 93 per cent of girls here are removed from school too early, one of the highest dropout rates in the world, secondary education only amounts to just 1 per cent of Australia's education funding to the Pacific region.
The Stronger Together report, released today by Plan International, tells the stories of these girls. It shows a group who has been ignored, belittled and discriminated against for too long, but who remain optimistic that a change is coming.
Against all the odds, these girls are strong. They have a vision for their future. They have hopes and dreams for being leaders across many domains. And they deserve a chance.
On Monday, Scott Morrison said he remains committed to investing in education in the Solomon Islands. I hope that these plans will include girls. I hope that he will listen to what they think and how they feel about the issues that affect their daily lives and the change they want to see. His government is in the ideal position to turn this terrible situation around and make a real and lasting impact.
If he is serious about helping our Pacific neighbours, then he cannot ignore their voices. No society can thrive when half of its population is held back. If Australia wants to 'step up' in the Pacific, it first needs to step up for girls.
- Hayley Cull is director of advocacy at Plan International Australia
