Located in the northern region of Oceania, the Federated States of Micronesia is comprised of the island country, Nauru, and four prominent island states: the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands. Modern education in the islands has grown leaps and bounds from its initial introduction via Japan during World War I, especially once the region became Americanized at the conclusion of World War II. With this American aid, the development of girls’ education in Micronesia began to grow swiftly and has continued ever since.
Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)
According to a status report released by the United Nations Development Programme in 2010, the gap between male and female enrollment in Micronesian schools began to close after signing the Millennium Declaration. In 2009, the ratio of girls to boys in primary education was 0.96, compared to the ratio of 0.92 in 1994. In the same year, the ratio of girls to boys in secondary education was 1.02, and the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in the College of Micronesia was 1.14.
Despite this improvement, girls still scored lower than their male peers, though not by much. The same study shows that in the 2008-2009 school year, while boys garnered an average 65 percent test score, girls scored an average of 61 percent, pegging the overall test score at 62 percent.
Chuuk Women’s Council
Chuuk, one of the four Federated States of Micronesia, had become home to many different non-governmental organizations all throughout the 1980s. In 1984, these organizations began to congregate; by 1993, they had totally coalesced to create bigger waves and to form what is known as the Chuuk Women’s Council (CWC).
Currently, the council is spearheaded by Christina “Kiki” Sinnett. In an Office of Minority Health blog post, Sinnett wrote, “The biggest challenge for women in Chuuk is access to education. Unfortunately, in many Chuukese households, girls are overlooked by parents when it comes to education decisions, meaning that they may do whatever it takes to educate their sons, often at the expense of their daughters’ education.”
She further elucidates that many programs the CWC offers are engineered for disenfranchised women who never got the chance to complete their schooling.
Although Chuuk has the highest student populous of all the Micronesian states, the mean amount of time a Micronesian adult spends in school 9.7 years; the United States’ mean amount time spent in school, however, is 12.9 years. This contrast means that while education globally falls short, girls’ education in Micronesia is utterly abysmal.
Promoting Female Wellness
The CWC doesn’t restrict itself to traditional educational lessons. The Shinobu M. Poll Memorial Center triples as a rendezvous for the council’s annual conferences, an educational domain and a wellness center for women. Within the premises, cancer screenings are performed, a dialogue regarding reproduction/reproductive safety is alive, and the doors to HIV tests are open.
In their Healthy Lifestyles Program, the CWC combats tuberculosis as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis promotes abstinence — Chuuk has the highest teen pregnancy rate of all the federated states. The organization also provides reading material for those in need of health-related education.
Another major staple of the CWC is advocacy work, especially regarding violence surrounding women. The establishment lobbied heavily for the age of consent to be legally altered from 13 years old to 18 years old within the nation’s regions.
With much work still left to do and many left uneducated on the harsh realities women face daily in the Federal States of Micronesia, the CWC also stands for “community policing” in their areas. Community policing is, essentially, the spreading of information and reporting of sexual misconduct to expel ignorance and miseducation from the community.
Girls’ Education In Micronesia
Sinnett, who succeeded her mother (the memorial center’s namesake) as CWC president, grew up an active fly on the wall of the nursing lifestyle. “I got to watch her go to work every day,” Sinnet told the Rural Health Information Hub, speaking of her late mother, “care for others, and be a valuable member of our local community.”
This conduct acted as a catalyst for her to become involved herself, and push to ameliorate girls’ education in Micronesia.
– Jordan De La Fuente
Photo: Flickr
Who Are the Roma: Past, Present and Future
Who are the Roma? While believed to have originated from Egypt (hence the slang term ‘gypsy’), the Roma people can actually trace their origins back to northern India. From around 700AD onward, they migrated across Europe, working as entertainers, artisans and farmworkers. For a long time, they managed to get by in this fashion without issue.
Moving Through Europe
As time went on, cracks began to appear in their initial acceptance. It seemed that everywhere the Romani people went, the ruling class wanted to tie them down or expel them. If they went to places such as Wallachia and Moldova, for example, they would find themselves enslaved. Moving to western European countries like Spain meant death or forced assimilation.
After the last emancipation of the enslaved Romani people in 1864, it seemed as though the Roma group had begun to make some progress. In the years after the first World War, the Roma began to make moves towards social and political lobbying. The first Romani organization, The General Association of Romanian Roma, appeared and The World Roma Congress had its first meeting in 1933.
Then, the Nazi regime began to target the Romani people along with the Jews. During World War II they faced the stripping of their nationality, deportation to labor camps and even mass executions. It is estimated by historians that at least 220,000 Roma were killed in Europe during World War II, but the exact numbers are unknown.
Who Are the Roma?
Now, ask the question today: who are the Roma? One would assume that, in a modern-day society that focuses on social inclusion, the Romani people would fare better today. Yet, even in the present day, the Roma remain the group the most discriminated against in Europe.
The Romani people today find themselves the victims of hate crimes such as having their homes burned or physical assault. In many of these cases, the local police fail to provide them with the protection or justice that they need. The police are also known to discriminate against the Roma and treat them with less dignity than non-Roma.
They also struggle in everyday society due to the disadvantages of prejudice. Despite regulations, situations such as segregated schooling for Romani children and lower wages for Romani workers still exist in Europe. Some Romani people even have trouble purchasing land on which they could build homes. This means that even those who want to work for a better life might have trouble achieving it.
Thus, the Romani people could remain trapped in their current disadvantaged situation. Consider the fact that 70 percent of the Roma population throughout the world lives in poverty. Many of them live in slums without electricity or running water.
Where Can the Roma Turn to in Search of Hope?
Government intervention seems the only possible way to provide the Roma with the assistance that they need to rise out of their current situation. And indeed, the governments of multiple countries have created programs of varying success, such as the Phare programs of the early 2000’s.
Yet, a 2013 Brigham Young University Paper indicates what might prevent the success of Roma assistance. The paper stated that at least in Romania, the local governments focus upon the integration of the Roma into society. They do not focus on integrating Romani people in a way that will not kill their culture.
Indeed, many Romani people still live traditional, nomadic lives and are unwilling to leave them even if it means living in poverty. This culture, however, clashes with the current sedentary European culture. Unless these two cultures can find a compromise in the future, some Roma might still live on the fringes of society.
There are groups like The Minority Rights Group International and Amnesty International that are working to educate people about the Romani people by working with the Roma communities and governments. The U.N. has been working with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to address providing business opportunities and social services to the Romani people in the country through enacting a two-year “Action Plan for the National Roma Strategy.” They hope to find solutions to many of the problems the Romani face every day.
Ask the question again: who are the Roma? They are a people who have faced countless tragedies in the past and now face an uncertain future. Yet, when given the assistance and understanding that they need, they may be able to find their own place in society where they can thrive.
– Elizabeth Frerking
Photo: Flickr
Three Organizations for Female Empowerment in South Africa
Women’s Empowerment Foundation for Southern Africa
This is an information-based organization whose goal is to strengthen women’s voices, give means to women to speak out, empower women with information to change their lives and advocate for a gender-sensitive representation of women in the media. This organization also prioritizes empowering rural women in Zimbabwe with information in order to gain economic independence to meet their own basic needs. Through information about women empowerment, the question of how to give women their voices make them use them has been answered. The practice of eliminating challenges that women face, such as hunger and sanitary needs leads them to realize their economic and social rights and therefore causes them to eventually speak up about this injustice in their communities. Women’s Empowerment Foundation for Southern Africa work in a way that it firstly help women gain their voices, and then it facilitates their expression through communities and the government, as well as working to change society’s negative picture of women through the media.
Thuthuzela Care Centre
This network provides support for women across South Africa who have been victims of rape and sexual assault. It gives these women a support so that they do not experience tributary trauma while pursuing justice, counseling and medical treatment. By late 2014, 56 of these centers have been established. These centers provide emergency medical care, post-exposure prophylaxis, counseling, court preparation as well as many other services. Thuthuzela turns victims into survivors. USAID supports a public awareness campaign to inform the public of South Africa about these centers, the services that they provide and how to access them. Grants are also given to NGOs for after-hours care, HIV related care, as well as giving support to sexual offenses courts.
United Nations Development Programme
The purpose of this programme is to support the Government of South Africa in order to achieve gender equality and promote women’s empowerment in economic and social circles. This program currently has two areas in focus: women economic empowerment and closing the gap between policy and implementation. There is a study presently occurring that is striving to identify hindrances of women-owned enterprises from accessing loans and is determined to come up with recommendations for removing these barriers. The goal of this study is to expand women’s access to financial services and investing differently in women. The United Nations Development Programme has worked with numerous organizations in order to achieve the goal of women being able to be the main subject in their own lives.
Female empowerment in South Africa still has a long way to go, but these three organizations have pushed this effort past the starting gate, which will cause more and more people to get involved. The hope is that these organizations will slowly close the gender gap in South Africa and allow women to use their voices in positions of power, rather than succumb to the voices and the money of their husbands. This can happen with the help of the people who recognize that there needs to be something done in order to achieve women’s equality in South Africa.
– Megan Maxwell
Photo: Flickr
U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to the Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands is a small island nation in the Western Pacific located just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. As same as for many other distant countries, many Americans might wonder how the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to the Solomon Islands? The reasoning lies primarily behind the economic and geopolitical environment of the Solomon Islands, both of which make this small country a good candidate for aid.
The relationship between U.S. and Solomon Islands
The relationship between the United States and the Solomon Islands began during World War II when the U.S. had a large-scale presence on the Islands. Today, the relationship is still very strong.
According to the U.S. State Department, the mutual goals of the United States and the Solomon Islands are: improving regional stability, promoting democracy and human rights, combating trafficking in persons, responding to climate change, increasing trade, and promoting sustainable economic development”.
In the statement above the economic and geopolitical factors influencing U.S. investment in the Islands are emphasized. Geopolitically, The Solomon Islands lie in a strategic area. Per USAID, “A vast proportion of the world’s shipping passes through Pacific waters, making the Pacific Islands central to global security and the global economy”. For this reason, a close relationship with the Solomon Islands guarantees freedom of U.S. shipping interests and gives leverage to the United States in related conflicts, some of which occurred recently.
Furthermore, in a region that has significant geopolitical importance and was targeted by China, providing foreign aid to the Solomon Islands gives the U.S. an ally in a strategic location. This idea has been reinforced by the fact that Solomon Islands national security officials receive training and educational opportunities by the U.S. military. Clearly the U.S. Benefits from foreign aid to the Solomon Islands in this regard.
Economically, the Solomon Islands are an ideal candidate for aid since they are a relatively poor country. As a result, the impact of humanitarian aid in improving the lives of those on the island and in creating a strong relationship between the two countries is substantial.
Climate change effect on the Solomon Islands
Since this is an area highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, U.S. foreign aid to the Solomon Islands has helped this small country cope with climate change. In 2014, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance pledged 250,000 dollars to help the Solomon Islands recover from Cyclone Ita, a natural disaster that affected more than 50,000 people.
This illustrates another example of how the U.S. Benefits from foreign aid to the Solomon Islands. With climate change accelerating, vulnerable island communities such as the Solomon Islands are facing a growing existential crisis. As is the case with many of the Pacific Island nations, the Solomon Islands are poor and inadequately equipped to cope with such a crisis. In order to avert a humanitarian crisis with potentially destabilizing effects for the global community, the U.S. Foreign aid to the Solomon Islands helps ensure that the island community can be better prepared for the effects of climate change. As a result, aid to island countries is acting as an upfront cost to ensure that a bigger humanitarian crisis on the horizon never happens.
Although relatively small, U.S. foreign aid to the Solomon Islands helps protect American interests in the region and prevents a larger humanitarian crisis in the country itself that would require more resources in the future.
– Taylor Pace
Photo: Flickr
Change of the Century: Girls’ Education in Micronesia
Located in the northern region of Oceania, the Federated States of Micronesia is comprised of the island country, Nauru, and four prominent island states: the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands. Modern education in the islands has grown leaps and bounds from its initial introduction via Japan during World War I, especially once the region became Americanized at the conclusion of World War II. With this American aid, the development of girls’ education in Micronesia began to grow swiftly and has continued ever since.
Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)
According to a status report released by the United Nations Development Programme in 2010, the gap between male and female enrollment in Micronesian schools began to close after signing the Millennium Declaration. In 2009, the ratio of girls to boys in primary education was 0.96, compared to the ratio of 0.92 in 1994. In the same year, the ratio of girls to boys in secondary education was 1.02, and the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in the College of Micronesia was 1.14.
Despite this improvement, girls still scored lower than their male peers, though not by much. The same study shows that in the 2008-2009 school year, while boys garnered an average 65 percent test score, girls scored an average of 61 percent, pegging the overall test score at 62 percent.
Chuuk Women’s Council
Chuuk, one of the four Federated States of Micronesia, had become home to many different non-governmental organizations all throughout the 1980s. In 1984, these organizations began to congregate; by 1993, they had totally coalesced to create bigger waves and to form what is known as the Chuuk Women’s Council (CWC).
Currently, the council is spearheaded by Christina “Kiki” Sinnett. In an Office of Minority Health blog post, Sinnett wrote, “The biggest challenge for women in Chuuk is access to education. Unfortunately, in many Chuukese households, girls are overlooked by parents when it comes to education decisions, meaning that they may do whatever it takes to educate their sons, often at the expense of their daughters’ education.”
She further elucidates that many programs the CWC offers are engineered for disenfranchised women who never got the chance to complete their schooling.
Although Chuuk has the highest student populous of all the Micronesian states, the mean amount of time a Micronesian adult spends in school 9.7 years; the United States’ mean amount time spent in school, however, is 12.9 years. This contrast means that while education globally falls short, girls’ education in Micronesia is utterly abysmal.
Promoting Female Wellness
The CWC doesn’t restrict itself to traditional educational lessons. The Shinobu M. Poll Memorial Center triples as a rendezvous for the council’s annual conferences, an educational domain and a wellness center for women. Within the premises, cancer screenings are performed, a dialogue regarding reproduction/reproductive safety is alive, and the doors to HIV tests are open.
In their Healthy Lifestyles Program, the CWC combats tuberculosis as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis promotes abstinence — Chuuk has the highest teen pregnancy rate of all the federated states. The organization also provides reading material for those in need of health-related education.
Another major staple of the CWC is advocacy work, especially regarding violence surrounding women. The establishment lobbied heavily for the age of consent to be legally altered from 13 years old to 18 years old within the nation’s regions.
With much work still left to do and many left uneducated on the harsh realities women face daily in the Federal States of Micronesia, the CWC also stands for “community policing” in their areas. Community policing is, essentially, the spreading of information and reporting of sexual misconduct to expel ignorance and miseducation from the community.
Girls’ Education In Micronesia
Sinnett, who succeeded her mother (the memorial center’s namesake) as CWC president, grew up an active fly on the wall of the nursing lifestyle. “I got to watch her go to work every day,” Sinnet told the Rural Health Information Hub, speaking of her late mother, “care for others, and be a valuable member of our local community.”
This conduct acted as a catalyst for her to become involved herself, and push to ameliorate girls’ education in Micronesia.
– Jordan De La Fuente
Photo: Flickr
Key Facts About Poverty in Indonesia
The sovereign archipelago of Indonesia is on track to rapid urbanization; in fact, it is the largest country in Southeast Asia, the world’s third most populous democracy and is ranked 16th in GDP. Indonesia also happens to possess the sixth worst inequality of wealth in the world. The nation’s boom in economic viability has been beneficial for some, but Indonesia still persists as a developing country marked by profound wage disparity. The following facts about poverty in Indonesia offer insight on the various forces surrounding the country’s income inequality.
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Indonesia
Potential for Growth
These top 10 facts about poverty in Indonesia provide a salient foothold into the country’s current state. Indonesia is projected for great growth and under the right dispersion of assets, national poverty reduction efforts can continue to succeed.
– Yumi Wilson
Photo: Flickr
Fiction vs. Reality: How the Media Misrepresents Madagascar
Pivot
Several organizations advocate for the population of Madagascar. One such organization, Pivot, has created a district in Madagascar called the Ifanadiana District, which focuses on providing health care benefits for Malagasy people. Its population is now 200,000.
The organization aims to transform Madagascar’s health system through rights-based care delivery, strengthened public systems and a new era of science guided by the needs of the poor. Before this organization was located in the Ifanadiana District, one in seven children died before age five. Patients also had to find and pay for all medicines and supplies before treatment.
However, there was a 19 percent decrease of under-five mortality after Pivot intervened. Pivot has built hospitals and provided vaccines and health care to enlighten the people of this impoverished country. Pivot has made an extraordinary difference to the country of Madagascar and will continue to do so until it’s health system has been completely transformed.
Halt Poverty
Halt Poverty is another organization working to reduce poverty in Madagascar. The group’s current crowdfunding campaign is to support the building of a provision of safe water in vulnerable households surrounding areas of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar. The endeavor will only cost $2,945 to serve 200 people safe water, or $14.98 per person.
Halt Poverty uses adventure tourism to advocate for the support of poverty reduction in Madagascar. By exploring the natural landscapes and villages of this country, people are able to see the nation as it truly is. These tourists will support the local economy, protect the environment, respect the local culture and participate in poverty reduction.
These programs offer a deeper cultural insight than the one offered by tourism. Over the course of the trip, tourists will get a deeper intercultural understanding of Madagascar and gain exposure to volunteer opportunities that reduce poverty.
Reality of Madagascar
The media misrepresents Madagascar by portraying the nation as an impoverished country lacking in aid from poverty-reduction organizations, but this is not the reality. Although Madagascar experiences immense poverty, the poverty rate has actually decreased in the past couple of years.
In fact, the poverty rate decreased from 77.6 percent to 72 percent between 2012 and 2018. The World Bank reported that the Malagasy economy has been gradually improving ever since the return to legal order in 2014. Since 2016, the economic growth rate in the nation exceeded 4 percent. With trends such as these, one can see that Madagascar is improving in terms of its economy and poverty at a fairly quick rate.
On the Horizon
Although Madagascar is misrepresented in the media, there is, in fact, a great deal being done to give Malagasy people a better life. However, the misrepresentation of this country in the media has caused its issues to remain predominantly unknown.
The combined efforts of organizations like Pivot and Halt Poverty suggest improvements in tourism, health systems, poverty reduction and ultimately, a brighter future for Madagascar, are on the horizon.
– Megan Maxwell
Photo: Pixabay
Reasons and Solutions for Poverty in Iran
Poverty in Iran has been fluctuating over the years. There are many reasons for this, but also many solutions that the government, citizens and other countries can take to make changes and help those in poverty. The current population of Iran is around 82 million, and in 2017, 28.40 percent were unemployed youth.
According to a World Bank study, poverty in Iran is estimated to have fallen from 13.1 percent to 8.1 percent between 2009 and 2013. This was most likely because of a universal cash transfer program in late 2010 that focused on eliminating the subsidies on energy and bread. However, poverty is still a major issue. According to another World Bank study, poverty increased again in 2014 and declining social assistance could be a potential reason.
Poverty in Iran is not only affecting citizens’ ability to afford basic necessities, but is also causing negative issues related to mental health, including suicide, in Iran’s youth. Regardless of all the causes of poverty, there are actions being made to make changes.
Income Gap Causing Problems
Unemployment is a major problem in Iran. Many individuals are working more than one job to afford basic necessities and pull themselves and their families out of poverty, while others are barely working at all. According to an Iranian economist, “there are currently 3.3 million jobless people in the country.” This is due to the increasing income gap between the rich and the poor. The minimum wage jobs of many individuals with lower incomes can not help them move out of poverty and the wealth gap has been expanding. On top of this, there aren’t enough jobs to go around.
According to World Bank statistics, unemployment in Iran was 11.26 percent in 2016, 11.06 percent in 2015 and 10.57 percent in 2014. There is hope that the unemployment rate will keep going down by creating more jobs and having the government adopt new approaches to pull individuals out of poverty.
In 2017, President Rouhani stated that his government wants to prioritize reducing unemployment and creating around 900,000 job opportunities per year. On the other hand, Labor Minister Ali Rabiei said that realistically his government can create 300,000 to 400,000 job opportunities annually.
Sanctions Hurt the People Too
U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran don’t only affect the politicians but the citizens too. Sanctions are seen as one of the major causes of food insecurity, mass suffering and eventual high poverty rates. According to The Economist, 75 million Iranians are suffering from the U.S. sanctions imposed on them. Oil, for instance, is the largest source of income for Iran. When there is no oil coming, there are no U.S. dollars, and everything purchased in Iran is with U.S. dollars. With no U.S. dollars, the value of Iranian rial is falling drastically, causing many companies to go bankrupt. Therefore, they have to let a lot of employees go.
The World Bank released a report on the economic improvement in Iran and stated that many of the economic developments in Iran are due to the removal of the sanctions over the country’s nuclear energy program enforced in 2016. Removing the sanctions will make living conditions for Iranian citizens in poverty less difficult. However, as of November 2018, the U.S. is imposing the sanctions again and informing and requesting all other countries, including India, China and the European Union countries, to stop working with Iran. With reinforced sanctions that were in place before 2016, there is a lot of unrest and fear among citizens for more unemployment and more people going into poverty.
Action to Reduce Poverty
Poverty in Iran can be seen as a major issue, exasperated by the upcoming sanctions on businesses and oil in the country as well as the increasing gap between the rich and poor in society. However, statistics show that creating jobs and removing sanctions can significantly improve the lives of Iranians living in poverty. Communication is key to global change.
– Negin Nia
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ Education in The Gambia
Primary schools have achieved gender parity
The Gambian school system consists of a basic education of nine years, broken into six years of primary school and three years of upper basic education.
Hopes for girls’ education in Gambia are high, especially for the youngest ones. Since 2007, there has been an equal number of Gambian boys and girls enrolled in primary school. A significant portion of this success can be attributed to the Education for All initiative, led by UNESCO and implemented in 2004. The initiative aimed to achieve gender parity in primary school enrollment, and it obviously succeeded.
While the primary school enrollment gap has disappeared, primary school completion is a different picture. For every 100 boys that complete their basic education, only 74 girls do the same. Additionally, out of the girls that do complete basic education, only few will go to the secondary school. The secondary school enrollment rate for girls is very low, as girls constitute less than half of all secondary school students. From the social expectations placed on girls to the financial burdens of education, the structural barriers that prevent girls from continuing with their education are complex and numerous.
Social expectations of girls
In deciding whether or not to send their female children to school, families consider the opportunity cost. Girls in school cannot perform the domestic labor traditionally expected of them, which means they cannot provide immediate income for their families. Other direct costs, such as textbooks and uniforms, often present way to big of a burden on poor families.
This economic burden has long kept girls out of schools. As of September 2013, however, the Global Partnership for Education partnered with the World Bank and the Gambian Government to eliminate school fees for primary school. For families who could previously not afford to send their daughters to school, the primary school became accessible. As of September 2014, this was extended to upper basic and secondary schools as well. Before school fees were abolished, there were also scholarships specifically for girls available to encourage poor families to send their daughters to school.
Improvement of hygiene in schools
When feminine hygiene is inaccessible, girls are unable to attend school consistently. Historically, women period has forced girls to take time off school, making it difficult to keep up with coursework. To address this, the Education for All initiative began providing free sanitary pads at schools. A study done by The Gambia’s Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) showed that this initiative significantly increased girls’ self-confidence and school attendance rates. After sanitary pads were supplied, girls’ attendance increased from 68 percent up to nearly 90 percent.
Community supports girls education
Dedicated Gambian mothers are standing up for their girls. Across The Gambia, numerous Mothers Clubs are raising money and awareness for girls’ education. UNICEF has provided them with labor-saving machines, such as milling machines, which lessen the female labor burden. Less time working means more time for school. UNICEF also provides some seed money for the women to embark on income-generating projects, which support their local schools and alleviate the indirect and direct costs of girls’ education.
An engaged community, driven by mothers and mobilized by foreign aid, is challenging the status quo to shape a brighter future for Gambian girls. Girls’ education in The Gambia has become a national priority. While social expectations for girls still impose barriers to education, the Gambian government, aided by UNICEF and UNESCO, has made education significantly more accessible to girls in this little country.
– Ivana Bozic
Photo: Google
Top 10 Facts About Child Labor
Top 10 Facts About Child Labor
Now more than ever, there is a reason to be optimistic about ending the exploitation of children for labor. As the facts show, child labor is decreasing and many global programs are working to end it once and for all. Hopefully, these top 10 facts about child labor will encourage you to act. As consumers, we can demand that businesses do not exploit the labor of children. As concerned citizens and voters, we can demand that our leaders work to address this problem and end it forever.
– Raymond Terry
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ Education in Tuvalu
On the remote Pacific Island country of Tuvalu, the expectations for men and women are distinct. Women are expected to adopt a subordinate role, are usually less involved in politics and are not provided the same legal protections as men especially in regards to child custody or inheritance. If they work in the formal economy, they are generally expected to be teachers and nurses. Yet, Tuvalu has one of the highest gender development ratios in the Pacific Island region. At least in part, this favorable ranking is the result of the state of girls’ education in Tuvalu.
Education in Tuvalu
According to the Education for All 2000 Assessment, Tuvalu has had a longstanding commitment to universal access to basic education. The government has explicitly cited that a child cannot be denied an education based on their sex. However, proximity to the school and academic achievement continue to be the biggest barriers in secondary education.
Though pre-primary and primary schools are numerous, secondary schools are much more difficult to access. There are 18 Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) centers and 10 primary schools. Each of the 9 main islands has its own government primary school and there is an additional faith-based private school located in the capital, Funafuti.
In contrast, there are only two secondary schools. Therefore, in order to attend secondary school, the student must relocate to the island on which the school resides. There is a public boarding school located on the island of Vaitupu, and a faith-based private school located in Funafuti.
These schools do not discriminate between sex, but the student’s admittance into these schools is dependent upon the student’s performance on the National Year Eight Examination (NYEE). If the student is successful, then the student proceeds to an additional four years of schooling, two of which would be compulsory. If the student is not successful, then they have several options: (1) repeat year eight, (2) enroll in vocational training or (3) illegally drop-out of school.
Girls’ Education in Tuvalu
While girls’ education in Tuvalu is provided throughout pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, girls are not allowed access to vocational training. Vocational training in Tuvalu consists of The Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI) as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses. These programs provide training for vocations that are reserved for men in Tuvaluan society such as farming, fishing, carpentry and welding.
Perhaps because women are unable to pursue the vocational training alternatives, girls are actually more likely to progress to secondary school than their male counterparts. Prior to secondary school, in pre-primary and primary schooling, females account for a little under half of the student population.
This is reflective of the nations demographic of which females make up a little under half of the nation’s population. However, according to the 2015 National Educational Review report, females consistently make up nearly two-thirds of the student population enrolled in secondary school.
Girls generally outperform their male counterparts throughout their educational careers. In 2013, 64.2 percent of girls who sat for the NYEE passed the exam. Only 58.6 percent of boys passed the exam that same year. As a result, 12 boys dropped out of school that year. Only one female dropped out.
Of the roughly 35 percent of females that did not pass the exam that year, 33 percent re-enrolled in year eight. Of the 41 percent of males that failed, only 29 percent re-enrolled. This is likely due to the fact that boys have vocational alternatives that do not require passage of the NYEE.
Following secondary school, both genders have access to tertiary education. Both The University of South Pacific and Fiji National University have campuses in Tuvalu, and more programs can be explored in Australia and New Zealand.
A Positive Future For Women in Tuvalu
Tuvalu’s current strategy to address gender inequality in the country is outlined in a document called Te Kakeega III. The country intends to amend gender-biased laws by the year 2020. Furthermore, the country is actively promoting women’s political involvement. As a result, more women now hold positions in the health and education sectors as well as some top positions in several non-government organizations.
And they are not alone, other groups, like Pacific Women, are working to change the way that women are seen in society to bring about gender equality. Their three-year plan will invest 1.8 million while working with the Department of Gender Affairs to give a voice to the women of Tuvalu.
Girls’ education in Tuvalu already provides the foundation for combatting pre-existing inequality. The next step is addressing Tuvaluan societal expectations. With the help of groups like these and government support, Tuvalu has a great chance of being a positive example not only for girls’ education in Tuvalu but also for a gender-equal society.
– Joanna Dooley
Photo: Flickr