FOR girls in Britain going to school and getting an education and, eventually, a career is something that can sometimes be taken for granted.

But the reality for youngsters in many developing countries can be very different – with girls forced to stay at home and even become child brides.

That stark gender inequality has prompted an Oxford schoolboy to set up his own charity with the goal of getting more girls into education.

St Edward's School pupil Kian Akhavan will officially launch Girls Write the Future on Monday with a conference at the North Wall Arts Centre in North Oxford.

A visit to Kenya in 2014 provided the catalyst for his efforts.

The 18-year-old said: "I spent the summer there helping to build a school and I noticed there were far more boys than girls.

"I told my mum and she said 'what are you going to do about it?'

"So I started fundraising for that school and raised £12,000 which got about 240 girls an education.

"This is the next step."

Mr Akhavan hopes the charity will inspire more young people to care about gender inequality and to contribute money and work towards a change in attitudes globally.

The upper-sixth pupil said: "In many countries girls are expected to stay home to cook and clean.

"In Malawi two-thirds of girls are child brides and some are married as young as nine or 10.

"It does not just impact on the women themselves, it impacts on their communities and the local economy.

"The benefits of education girls are really far reaching."

Monday's conference will see young people – mainly Year 12 and 13 pupils – listen to talks from two leading figures in the campaign for gender equality, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Shirin Ebadi and Order of Canada winning campaigner, journalist and writer Sally Armstrong.

Mr Akhavan said he is working to find an area to focus on alongside the charity's broad aims.

He said: "It is really hard to find one place to start because there is so much to do.

"I hope to invite young people to empower each other so we can identify specific aspects within gender inequality in education and figure out how to tackle those.

"Gender inequality is not a localised thing, it is a global issue .

"Even in this country we see it, for example in the wage gap.

"I want young people to be able to go out and work for equality."