In an interview with BBC News, 16-year-old Hye-Min Park explains that her studious efforts are all in the name of achieving her dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher. Attending hagwons in South Korea is a part of that journey.
A day in the life of a South Korean Student
Park leaves her home for school at 7:30 a.m. which she attends until 4:00 p.m. She returns home for a quick bite, leaving again for private lessons at her hagwon from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
After her hagwon lessons conclude, she heads back to school for a study session until 11 p.m. Once she gets home, she continues studying until 2 a.m. Her alarm is set for 6:30 a.m. to wake up later that morning to do it all over again.
Despite seeming like a long and intensive day, Park explains that she is able to forget her hardships when she sees her efforts pay off in the form of good marks at school.
What is a hagwon?
Hagwons are for-profit private institutions throughout South Korea that students often attend in substitution of public kindergarten or preschool, as an after-school program and sometimes both.
Some have nick-named these institutions “crammers” as hagwons in South Korea typically teach a fast-paced curriculum in various subjects including English grammar, mathematics, fine arts and music.
Nearly 100,000 hagwons can be found throughout the country, and 95 percent of students have taken lessons from these institutions by the time they graduate high school.
The Cost
South Korean parents spent over $15 billion, or 18 trillion Korean Won, on private education annually. That’s more than triple the average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country’s expenditure on private education, and more than anywhere else in the world.
The hagwon structure may be evolving the educational system, acting as a market in which supply and demand rule all.
Three-quarters of Korean students prefer their hagwon lessons to their day school classes. Sohn Kwang Kyun, a math teacher at Sky Education (a top-grossing hagwon), thinks this is because hagwons are consumer-oriented. Hagwon lessons match students’ abilities with the appropriate lessons and pace.
Choi Jung Yoon is also a teacher at Sky Ed. Yoon believes that the preference towards hagwons is also because they are elective; because students elect to take them, they are more engaged.
But how optional are they? The importance of gaining admission into top universities fuels the demand for supplementary lessons from private institutions like hagwons. Further, increasing competition may necessitate hagwon attendance.
The price of hagwons may come at another cost: a loss of interest and motivation in the formal education system and increased stress.
Self-harm was the number one cause of premature death in 2016. Self-harm claims approximately 900 lives annually and continues to be the second leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults under 30. Depression and anxiety disorders rank fourth and ninth, respectively, for health problems causing the most disability.
Hagwons in South Korea is designed to enhance students’ cognitive abilities and contribute to South Korea‘s admirable reputation of educational devotion. However, the added responsibility may also add pressure on Korean students and compromise their mental health.
– Sloan Bousselaire
Photo: Flickr
6 African Countries Receive Life-Saving Cancer Treatments
The agreement was made between two major pharmaceutical companies: Pfizer, located in the U.S. and Cipla, one of the giants in the Indian pharmaceutical world. Both will cut the prices of 16 cancer treatment drugs, including chemotherapies, for six countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are most affected by the disease.
The six countries receiving major discounts on cancer medicines are Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. A press release by the ACS reveals these are the countries in major need of health improvement, as 44 percent of all cancer cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa each year happen in these six targeted countries.
According to the Pharmaceutical Journal, there were an estimated 626,000 new cases of cancer in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012, leading to a total of 447,000 deaths by cancer. The World Health Organization predicts this figure could double by 2030 if nothing is done, with killings reaching almost one million sub-Saharan Africans. In comparison to the U.S., with 90 percent of women surviving five years with breast cancer, Uganda and Gambia have survival rates of 46 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Some of the factors explaining the start of Africa’s cancer crisis are the lack of training for providers, shortages of medications and the insufficiency of diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. Another barrier to quality care for cancer patients in Africa is linked to biology. In fact, there are differences in tumor biology between African cancer patients and patients in developed countries. As an example, African patients often have bigger tumors than patients in other regions, which demands much more care as well as adequate infrastructure to research solutions for curing the disease.
Funding is also a major problem for sub-Saharan Africa, as global funding for cancer prevention and treatment in other low-income countries represents only two percent of global health spending. This is far lower than the health spending for diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.
Having access to high-quality and affordable cancer treatment facilities and medicine in sub-Saharan Africa has become a major goal for ACS and its partner organizations. On top of this agreement, they are preparing long term strategies that will improve the lack of care facing many African patients for years to come.
– Sarah Soutoul
Photo: Flickr
6 Effective Health Innovations for Underdeveloped Areas
6 Effective Health Innovations for Underdeveloped Areas
All of these health innovations have provided great support for hospitals and medical clinics in developing and underdeveloped areas at a much more affordable price than what was previously available. While the ultimate goal is to be able to use more expensive equipment, these medical innovations provide a solution to improving healthcare in these areas for the time being.
– Rebekah Covey
Photo: Flickr
Water in Pakistan
This specific issue of arsenic contamination points to a broader theme of water contamination on the whole. Water supply lines are often located directly adjacent to uncovered sewage lines, causing water contamination to be so prevalent that 40 percent of all ailments in Pakistan are the result of water-borne illnesses. Further, access to clean water in Pakistan is not recognized as a national right but is seen as a responsibility which local governments are meant to take on. This means that such access fluctuates depending on the area, although infrastructural support for a clean water system is, on the whole, dismal.
The scarcity of clean water in Pakistan has allowed extremist groups to use water as a focal point of their recruitment process. Lakshar-e-Taiba, an extremist group that perpetrated the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 172 people were killed, has accused India of committing “water terrorism,” citing such as motivation for terrorist actions in India. By exploiting the issue of water, an issue which every Pakistani citizen is forced to deal with in order to survive, extremist organizations are able to reach larger swathes of the “common man” and augment grassroots support. Thus, the issue of water in Pakistan goes beyond simple health problems and infiltrates international security issues as well.
The wide berth of the problem has initiated an increase in the bottled water industry, but the reality is that such is still financially inaccessible to the majority of low-income individuals, forcing low-income communities to rely on easily contaminated groundwater. In order to address this, an organization called Pharmagen has entered the scene. Pharmagen ensures its water is affordable for low-income customers, requiring only two rupees per liter. It operates through a chain of open water shops that extracts groundwater and purifies it to meet WHO standards before distributing it to the impoverished communities it serves. Currently, the organization provides more than 100,000 liters of potable water per day in Lahore alone and seeks to expand to include 32 additional open water shops while also adding one bottled water facility.
Yet, it is important to note that 21.6 million people in Pakistan still have no access to clean water, and this is a hotbed for extremist activities. The work of organizations such as Pharmagen is both admirable and necessary, but it is also necessary that the international community step up as a whole; the issue of water in Pakistan ultimately goes beyond Pakistan-specific problems, due to its relationship with international extremist organizations. In a world teeming with terrorist activities, it would appear that mitigating grassroots extremist movements by improving access to clean water should have a greater presence on the world stage.
– Kailee Nardi
Photo: Google
Hagwons in South Korea
In an interview with BBC News, 16-year-old Hye-Min Park explains that her studious efforts are all in the name of achieving her dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher. Attending hagwons in South Korea is a part of that journey.
A day in the life of a South Korean Student
Park leaves her home for school at 7:30 a.m. which she attends until 4:00 p.m. She returns home for a quick bite, leaving again for private lessons at her hagwon from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
After her hagwon lessons conclude, she heads back to school for a study session until 11 p.m. Once she gets home, she continues studying until 2 a.m. Her alarm is set for 6:30 a.m. to wake up later that morning to do it all over again.
Despite seeming like a long and intensive day, Park explains that she is able to forget her hardships when she sees her efforts pay off in the form of good marks at school.
What is a hagwon?
Hagwons are for-profit private institutions throughout South Korea that students often attend in substitution of public kindergarten or preschool, as an after-school program and sometimes both.
Some have nick-named these institutions “crammers” as hagwons in South Korea typically teach a fast-paced curriculum in various subjects including English grammar, mathematics, fine arts and music.
Nearly 100,000 hagwons can be found throughout the country, and 95 percent of students have taken lessons from these institutions by the time they graduate high school.
The Cost
South Korean parents spent over $15 billion, or 18 trillion Korean Won, on private education annually. That’s more than triple the average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country’s expenditure on private education, and more than anywhere else in the world.
The hagwon structure may be evolving the educational system, acting as a market in which supply and demand rule all.
Three-quarters of Korean students prefer their hagwon lessons to their day school classes. Sohn Kwang Kyun, a math teacher at Sky Education (a top-grossing hagwon), thinks this is because hagwons are consumer-oriented. Hagwon lessons match students’ abilities with the appropriate lessons and pace.
Choi Jung Yoon is also a teacher at Sky Ed. Yoon believes that the preference towards hagwons is also because they are elective; because students elect to take them, they are more engaged.
But how optional are they? The importance of gaining admission into top universities fuels the demand for supplementary lessons from private institutions like hagwons. Further, increasing competition may necessitate hagwon attendance.
The price of hagwons may come at another cost: a loss of interest and motivation in the formal education system and increased stress.
Self-harm was the number one cause of premature death in 2016. Self-harm claims approximately 900 lives annually and continues to be the second leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults under 30. Depression and anxiety disorders rank fourth and ninth, respectively, for health problems causing the most disability.
Hagwons in South Korea is designed to enhance students’ cognitive abilities and contribute to South Korea‘s admirable reputation of educational devotion. However, the added responsibility may also add pressure on Korean students and compromise their mental health.
– Sloan Bousselaire
Photo: Flickr
Syrian Refugees in Turkey Create Jobs
Globally, migrants compose only 3.4 percent of the worldwide population but add 10 percent to the overall GDP. In the U.S., the average refugee has a positive net fiscal effect after eight years of residency. Additionally, these refugees pay $21,000 more in taxes than they are awarded in benefits after 20 years of residency. This indicates that government assistance to refugees can be an investment in future profits.
According to research conducted by Building Markets, Syrian refugees in Turkey have invested almost $334 million into 6,033 formal companies since 2011. There are an estimated 10,000 formal and informal Syrian-owned businesses in Turkey. Syrian business owners employ an average of 9.4 people, with most employees coming from prior jobs in the informal sector.
Most Syrian business owners in Turkey plan on expanding. Approximately 55 percent have indicated that they intend to hire additional employees over the next year. Over the next few years, owners plan to add an average of 8.2 jobs to their companies.
Syrian refugee business owners intend to stay in Turkey. Around 39 percent plan to open a second business in Turkey. In the event of stabilization in Syria, 76 percent would keep their Turkish businesses while also expanding operations to Syria.
About 40 percent of surveyed Syrian business owners cited a language barrier as the biggest challenge facing their business. Lessening this inhibitor by conducting business in both Turkish and Arabic could encourage Syrian business expansion and create additional jobs.
Better integration of Syrian refugees into Turkey’s formal economy could further increase existing economic benefits. Out of the three million Syrian refugees in Turkey, only about 14,000 had work visas in January 2017. Work visas can only be obtained by companies, not individual employees, and employers are then required to pay monthly Social Security for each registered worker. The responsibility should shift from companies to employees who are more incentivized to pursue registration.
Turkey’s unemployment rate is 10.8 percent. Some fear that expediting entry to the formal labor market for refugees will displace Turkish workers. However, according to research on refugees conducted by the Center for Global Development (CGD), when native workers are displaced by refugee labor competition, they end up in higher-paying jobs. The native labor force has a competitive advantage as they possess language proficiency and job skills that are valued in their domestic market. The CGD found that displaced native workers receive, on average, a three percent salary increase at their new jobs.
The CGD concluded that the most important determining factor in the economic effect of a refugee influx is how quickly arriving refugees enter the domestic labor market and begin producing new tax revenues.
Ultimately, encouraging total integration of the Syrian refugees in Turkey into the formal sector could benefit the Turkish economy by creating new jobs and additional tax revenues. The positive fiscal payoff could grow with the mitigation of existing regulatory and cultural barriers.
– Katherine Parks
Photo: Flickr
10 Things to Know about Education in Nauru
Nauru is a south Pacific island with a population of approximately 10,000. Roughly 1000 of these people are detainees – refugees who have attempted to reach Australia or New Zealand by boat. While education in Nauru is mandatory and provided by the government, the educational experience for Nauruan children and the children of detainees is very different. Below are 10 things to know about education in Nauru.
Despite putting into place the means for free public education, the Nauruan government must improve conditions for detainee children and refugee youth. Without ensuring the safety of these students, improving the system of education in Nauru will not be a successful venture.
– Heather Hopkins
Photo: Flickr
How ATMs Are Helping Syrian Refugees in Jordan
However, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), along with private companies, created a new technological system that enables Syrian refugees to obtain cash assistance through intelligent ATMs around Jordan that identifies the user via iris detector.
UNHCR’s cash assistance program process is direct. First, the refugees’ irises are captured and registered. Then, families on the UNHCR cash waiting list are selected for assistance based on the Vulnerability Assessment Framework ranking. Finally, beneficiaries receive a text message which informs them when the cash is available for withdrawal.
This system, called EyeCloud, has helped over 39,000 households in Jordan, giving several advantages to Syrian refugees. For instance, the biometric recognition installed in the ATMs reduces fraud and increases refugee data protection. Another important feature of this process is that it can be made by the users without the mediation of a bank, increasing the number of beneficiaries. In addition, the UNHCR expects that the system will increase cash coordination with other humanitarian agencies around the world.
A small sample of Somali and Sudanese refugees tasted the EyeCloud system in 2015, and it was extended in Jordan the next year where $21 million was distributed among Syrians refugees. It is expected that this kind of project can help other refugees in areas where there are struggles to obtain basic needs.
The iris identification system is part of the UNHCR Biometric Identity Management System, a project that collects fingerprints, iris scans and photographs of refugees. This information is not only used to provide monetary aid but also to gather important information like citizenship records and dates of birth of the refugees. This makes future identification easier for various international institutions.
Due to the violence and civil war in Syria, more than 5 million people have been forced to flee. Countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have received thousands of Syrian refugees. The EyeCloud technology and ATMs will help refugees preserve their dignity, providing them with access to basic resources that are essential for their future.
– Dario Ledesma
Photo: Flickr
A Year of Positive Changes in Jordan: 8 Facts in 2017
“I do not know of any other country in recent history that has gone through such an onslaught of crises and found itself surrounded by so many conflicts through no fault of its own,” says Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, son and heir of King Abdullah remarked at the U.N. General Assembly in September 2017. “Yet in the face of these daunting challenges, we did not back down from our ideals, or our values. We did not turn our backs on people in need.”
Jordan has been an island of stability in the Middle East even amid a wave of refugees, economic stagnation and the threat of terrorism surrounding it on all sides.
Here are 8 facts about positive changes in Jordan that give hope for the future:
1. Jordan is ranked the second freest economy in the Middle East behind the United Arab Emirates. Despite lacking the magnificent oil wealth and foreign investments of the Emirates, Jordan is ensuring that businesses are in a climate where they can grow and create jobs.
2. Jordan’s Prime Minister has made it official policy to waive all service card requirements for Syrian refugee children attending school in Jordan. This will open the doors for thousands of young Syrians who were forced to leave their country amid the violence. This greater access to education will garner huge returns on investment in the future.
3. Jordan joined a group of other Middle Eastern countries that abrogated an infamous law that allowed a rapist to escape punishment if they married their victim. This is a victory for women’s rights in the country.
4. Though overwhelmed by refugees from conflicts in Iraq and Syria, the Azraq refugee camp has recently undertaken a project to operate the camp on 100 percent renewable energy. In 2017, they finally accomplished this, becoming the only refugee camp in the world to run on solely solar-powered plants.
5. Nour Al Hassan, a native Jordanian, runs the translation company Tarjama, where over 90 percent of employees are women. Over 60 Jordanian women have been hired by the company thus far. In a region that is notorious for women’s unemployment rates, this is a positive change for the future.
6. Although one of the poorest countries in terms of water resources, Jordan is becoming a testing ground for new water-saving technologies. The Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance project looks to supply water to the southern portions of the country while simultaneously filling up the ever-shrinking Dead Sea.
7. The Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) was ranked as one of the top 500 research universities by Times Higher Education. This is the first time a Jordanian higher education institution has been named to this list.
8. Queen Raina of Jordan was awarded the Global Trailblazer Award in 2017, presented by Vital Voices Global Leadership, which recognizes the leadership of women around the world. Queen Raina is a stalwart of women’s rights, education and poverty alleviation.
These 8 facts are just a snapshot of the positive changes in Jordan. In a region where good news is difficult to come by, the advancements made by Jordan are praiseworthy and are moving the country in a positive direction in the face of unimaginable difficulties.
– Daniel Cavins
Photo: Google
The Importance of Food-Based Programs for the World’s Poor
The 1.5 billion people question asks “how voucher programs, despite theory and evidence generally favoring cash, remain relevant, have evolved and, in most circumstances, have improved over time”.
Food-based programs are a method used to subsidize poverty by funding, in part, certain nutritional expenses. Each country that implements food-based programs in their policies does so by using one or many methods, such as supplementary feeding programs, food for work programs and food stamp programs. These programs fall under two broad categories that either enhance the food supply or influence the demand.
Programs that enhance the food supply are primarily applied to the agriculture and farming industry by either influencing supply chain costs or incentivizing production. Programs that influence demand are known as “food-oriented social assistance” (FOSA). In the United States, these programs take the form of food vouchers, the Women, Infants and Children Program and the school lunch program.
The World Bank report analyzes how countries around the world have historically implemented FOSA as empirical evidence of the importance of food-based programs. It specifically looks at case studies of the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Egypt and Sri Lanka. These countries represent key FOSA programs that have made significant efforts to enhance the quality of life for the participating households and have benefited nearly one billion people collectively.
While these countries are primarily high or middle-income, their studies can be applied to low-income countries as well. Food is about 61 percent of costs for the poor and represents a large stressor for households who are struggling to afford these expenses. FOSA programs such as food distribution programs and food subsidies influence more of the population than unconditional cash transfers (UCF). “Based on administrative data from programs in 108 countries, food and vouchers programs cover 20.4 percent of low and middle-income populations, 13 percent more than UCFs.” Although cash-based programs may be preferred, when food-based programs are enacted using the right specifications and safeguarding, many can benefit. When contemplating humanitarian assistance, large-scale international movements should consider food-based programs as a serious contender.
UCFs generally offer more freedom of choice compared to food or voucher programs that may only apply to certain foods or brands. On the other hand, governments lean towards food and voucher programs because they can reflect the interests of the country as a whole and protect purchasing power at vulnerable economic moments. Most large-scale food programs intertwine multiple sectors of the government, representing multiple industries such as agriculture and food retail. The implementation of food-based programs, therefore, relies on the cooperation of multiple political parties and an argumentative benefit to multiple economic sectors.
The link between poverty and food security has encouraged many countries to focus on developing social protection programs aimed at poverty reduction. By stabilizing the prices of food, governments have found ways to maintain a low cost of living and encourage international developments. Advancements in technology also promote new methods of poverty reduction and social assistance programs. In Indonesia, for example, the “social protection card allows access not only to the food subsidy but also to their cash-based and education-related programs.”
Food is a necessary commodity in daily life. Its relevance to health, economic and social indicators elevates the political significance of food-assistance programs. The six countries in this report have commonly overcome leaking or ineffective FOSA programs by maintaining a flexible dialogue. Technological advancements have reduced the costs of redeeming vouchers and transferring cash, and they have also allowed governments to implement and manage new programs with ease. In analyzing the successes and failures of specific programs, this report exemplifies the benefit of policy adjustability in determining the best solution to augment food security.
– Eliza Gresh
Photo: Flickr
Challenge Initiative Takes on Poverty
Women are the key to smart family planning. By increasing access to sexual education and contraceptives, women gain the power to make decisions about their own health and the chances of economic success.
Kamla is a 22-year-old female from Gaya, India. She is a domestic helper and lives in a single room shanty with her husband and young daughter. She does not want another child anytime soon because she feels financially unable to care for one. However, she does not have access to information about contraceptives. Increasing access to information about sexual health should be a priority for four main reasons.
Nearly all population growth occurs in the developing world, and high fertility is an expensive burden on economies of these countries. High population growth limits opportunities for economic growth and increases health risks for both women and children. Quality of life suffers due to limited access to education, nutrition, employment and scarce resources such as clean water.
Surveys in developing countries suggest that 10 to 40 percent of women want to spread out or limit childbirth but do not have access to contraception. This demonstrates an unmet need for birth control. The biggest barriers for women are lack of knowledge and concerns about undesirable health effects.
Family planning improves the lives of both women and children. Reducing the fertility rate would save many women from dying during childbirth. In developing countries, maternal mortality rates are 20 times higher than in developed countries. Increased access to contraceptives also benefits children. Children born fewer than two years apart are twice as likely to die in the first year of life as children born further apart. Being unable to spread out pregnancies also interferes with breastfeeding, which has a crucial role in child nutrition.
Improvements in gender equality result from the power that contraceptives give women. Teen pregnancies interfere with education and unwanted pregnancies at any life stage interfere with a woman’s economic power. Giving women control over their bodies and family size allows them to make smarter economic decisions for themselves and their families.
The Challenge Initiative is a $42 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote reproductive health in developing countries. A previous initiative funded by this foundation showed promise in increasing contraceptive access in certain cities in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and India.
Based on rigorous data collected from the earlier initiative, The Challenge Initiative will use demand-based methods and partnerships with cities in order to implement successful programs in a variety of locations. If philanthropic organizations continue to invest in this solution, people – especially women – around the world will soon reap the benefits of family planning.
– Kristen Nixon
Photo: Flickr