Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

, , , ,

Social Justice Helps to Fight Social Challenges

Social Justice Helps to Fight Social ChallengesAccording to the Pachamama Alliance, social justice is defined as “equal access to wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society.” Social challenges are defined as “an issue that relates to society’s perception of people’s personal lives. Different societies have different perceptions and what may be “normal” behavior in one society may be a significant social issue in another society.”

After defining terms, now the question raised must be addressed: how can social justice helps to fight social challenges? Social justice can help to fight social challenges by providing society with equal opportunities to overcome its problems.

Social justice and education

For instance, poverty is considered a social challenge because it relates to how society views people’s lives. One way to help reduce poverty is to provide greater and more equal education opportunities since many find themselves living in poverty due to a lack of education. From the years of 2002 to 2007, about 40 million more children around the world were able to attend school, due largely in part to the lowering of costs and the increase in investment. Programs like these are examples of social justice and the impact it can have on addressing social problems like global poverty.

Social justice and access to clean water

Another factor that influences poverty rates is a lack of access to clean potable water and nutritious foods. Although having access to these resources is a basic human right, many people around the world do not have access to clean water and food. To be more specific, according to The Water Project one in nine people worldwide do not have access to clean and safe drinking water, as a result, people find themselves without the ability to “grow food, build housing, stay healthy, stay in school, and keep a job.” By implementing programs such as building wells in rural communities and bringing access to potable water within a half-mile of villages across the globe, social justice in the form of providing people with equal access to privileges within a society, the social challenge of global poverty is being addressed.

Social justice and job development

Another important aspect is the economy and how job development can help to eradicate poverty. In China, 700 million people have been raised out of poverty due to several different programs being put in place by the government, one of which is its focus on the creation of jobs and the economic development of rural areas. Additionally, by providing underdeveloped areas with officers to regulate the poverty-alleviation programs, Chinese citizens were able to rise up out of the inhumane living conditions they were surviving in.  Through the government’s efforts in the job and economic development, China’s poor population has been given the same opportunities to achieve wealth and change their situation, which just goes to show that social justice can make a difference in how social challenges are addressed.

In conclusion, in terms of how social justice can help to fight social challenges, one could say that through the implementation of programs that offer the same opportunities to the underprivileged, social justice helps to fight social issues like global poverty.

– Laura Rogers
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

8 Facts About Poverty Among Aboriginal Australians

poverty among Aboriginal AustraliansAboriginal Australians have faced discrimination, genocide and marginalization within their own lands since the British began their initial colonization of the continent in 1788. Aboriginals did not receive any credence in the eye of the Australian government until 1967. Because of this, poverty among Aboriginal Australians skyrocketed.

By simply removing the words “…other than the Aboriginal people in any State…” in section 51(xxvi) and the whole of section 127 of the constitution, the country finally saw Aboriginals as their own individualized people. They are now part of the census and the government can make laws specifically concerning Aboriginal issues. However, even with the government’s recognition of these peoples did not eliminate the discrimination and inequality they often face from the government and society. Here are eight facts about aboriginal Australians’ quality of life.

8 Facts About Aboriginal Australians’ Quality of Life

  1. Today in Australia, a mere 3.1 percent of the Australian population is indigenous. Even though they make up so little of the population, however, 19.3 percent of Aboriginal Australians live in poverty compared to 12.4 percent of other Australians.
  2. Only 4.8 percent of Aboriginal peoples have employment within the upper salary levels in Australia. This low percentage may link to pervasive racism within the country. Nineteen percent of Australians believe they are casual racists but refuse to change. Twenty-six percent of Australians have anti-Aboriginal concerns. Meanwhile, eleven percent of Australians do not think all races are equal. There does seem to be a changing tide, however, as 86 percent of Australians believe that Australia needs to do something to fight the pervasive racism in the country.
  3. There have been significant improvements and money allocations towards the betterment of the indigenous communities in Australia in recent years. In 2017, $33.4 billion went toward government expenditure on indigenous Australians, a 23.7 percent increase since 2009 (taking into account inflation). That is $44,886 per indigenous person or two times the amount of direct government expenditure on non-indigenous peoples. However, Aboriginal peoples are still more than twice as likely to be in the bottom 20 percent for equivalized gross weekly household income. High unemployment and lasting impacts from colonialism have caused low income in Aboriginal homes.
  4. Today, people often find that Aboriginal communities in non-rural areas live off welfare in crowded housing. About 20 percent of Aboriginal Australians living in non-rural areas were living in overcrowded accommodations in 2014 and 2015. In remote or very remote areas of Australia, the overcrowding was almost 40 percent. Overcrowding can often lead to a faster spread of illness in these communities. The proliferation of disease in overcrowded spaces creates a significant financial burden on families who must then seek treatment for their ailing loved ones. However, Australia has put multiple initiatives into place to address and resolve these issues. In 2008, the Federal government started and funded the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing.
  5. From 2014 to 2015, three in 10 Aboriginals (29 percent) 15 and over experienced homelessness for a portion of time. Homelessness prevents individuals not only from human, tribal and societal interaction but can also often prevent them from being active members in the workforce, and therefore, the economy. Aboriginal peoples 15 and over in remote or very remote areas experienced homelessness in their lifetime at a 3 percent increase from non-remote Aboriginals (32 percent).
  6. Aboriginal Australian children between the ages of 5 to 17 are committing suicide at a five times higher rate than non-indigenous peoples in Australia. There is a direct link between the suicide rate and the crushing poverty in these communities and failing government-funded aid services. People have called upon the Australian government to either increase spending on indigenous peoples’ aid or to even wholly reconsider its tactics. As of 2019, the Australian government has implemented restrictions on takeaway alcohol, broadening education initiatives and developing further cultural healing projects.
  7. More than 28 percent of Australia’s prison population was Aboriginal in 2016, which is a shocking fact as less than 3 percent of Australia’s population identifies as indigenous. This widespread incarceration significantly impacts rates of poverty in the Aboriginal community. When one removes a person from a home–that statistically is likely to suffer overcrowding and have underprivileged individuals–they remove supporting income from an already disadvantaged family.
  8. People widely acknowledged that limited completion of education, and more specifically, secondary education, have close ties to poverty for Aboriginal Australians. In previous years, Aboriginal peoples were less likely to obtain a Year 12 or equivalent level of education; 45 percent of Aboriginals achieved this level of education in 2008. However, the gap is closing fast, and as of 2014-2015, records indicate that that percentage has risen to 62 percent of Aboriginal peoples obtaining their Year 12 level of education.
Though the gap between non-indigenous and Aboriginal people ages 20 to 24 with post-school qualifications has not changed, the number of indigenous peoples in this age range who have received a secondary education has doubled since 2002.

NASCA

NASCA, or the National Aboriginal Supporting Chance Academy, is a nonprofit that works directly within indigenous communities doing mentoring, education and development programs. Its initiatives seek to create empowerment and movement from within these communities and alleviate poverty among Aboriginal Australians. Each year, over 1,200 indigenous youths directly benefit from the organization’s work.
In 2018 alone, the program delivered a total of 6,006 educational and health program hours, and attendance in its northern territory program schools saw a 33 percent increase in school attendance. Its work is seeking to create pride in communities and put into motion change that will bleed into the higher political and social sphere of Australia.

Australia has so long ignored its Aboriginal community on both a social and governmental level, so it is a welcome and pleasant change to see so much work on behalf of an underprivileged group of people. Though there is still far to go, some are taking steps both within and outside of the community to build up the visibility and civil rights of the Aboriginal peoples and their needs. Poverty among Aboriginal Australians has set them back long enough. Though they are undeniably Australian, they are fiercely and independently Aboriginal peoples with a right to civil liberties, native land and socioeconomic equality.

– Emma Hodge
Photo: Flickr

,

3 Approaches to Better Education in India

education in India

As India’s population continues to grow, the number of education initiatives from both nonprofits and the government has increased. The approaches to modernizing and unifying education for India’s 1.3 billion people vary, with some focusing on equality and others on upgrading the curriculum. Educate Girls, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and The Akanksha Foundation are three programs looking to improve education in India, through different methods.

3 Approaches to Better Education in India

  1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
    Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is the Indian Government’s flagship program for universalizing elementary education. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan mandates education for children ages 6 to 14 under the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India. SSA is implemented in coordination with state governments to reach 192 million students, with a particular focus on girls and children with special needs. SSA also has an emphasis on community-specific education, in order to address the particular needs of all communities, especially indigenous communities. India has almost 600 Indigenous communities, most of which are rural. Those who live there speak almost 300 Indigenous dialects, meaning that education policies cannot be one-size-fits-all.SSA looks to open new schools in villages that lack infrastructure, or where existing infrastructure is inadequate. For existing schools, the goal is to strengthen teaching staff and increase access to teaching materials and resources such as computers. Many schools in urban areas have significantly benefited from SSA, seeing improvements in textbooks and consistency with teacher salaries. However, rural villages are not seeing the same benefits. In the Keonjhar district, the school does not have proper classrooms and only three teachers for the almost 90 students it serves. The community has appealed to the government for nine years but has received little assistance.
  2. Educate Girls
    Educate Girls works to increase government accountability for education in India’s rural villages. Educate Girls is a non-profit organization established in 2007 by Indian native Safeena Husain. The organization focuses on mobilizing forces in local communities to advocate for better education opportunities in India. Educate Girls currently operates in 13,000 villages with an overall goal of reaching 16 million children cumulatively by 2024.Educate Girls works to increase education in India by lobbying existing governmental networks to improve education conditions for both boys and girls, as not to duplicate services. Husain feels that by forcing the hand of the government, not only do they reduce the risk of duplicating service, but they also hold the government accountable to its citizens and avoid government dependence on non-profit services. Educate Girls uses a base of community volunteers to identify, enroll and retain girls in school to help improve literacy and numeracy rates.The organization aims to change the behavioral and social approach to girls’ education to create an environment where equal opportunities are automatic in India. Volunteers currently go door to door in villages to identify every girl who is not in school. Educate Girls takes pride in their survey’s 100 percent saturation rate by knocking on every door in the village they are targeting. This initiative led to the re-enrollment of 380,000 girls.Thanks to Educate Girls’ in-depth research, it has partnered up with the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Children’s Investment Foundation to create the first-ever results-based bond program. Educate Girls was also just named an Audacious Project of 2019. The Audacious Project is an organization funded by numerous donors and housed by TED, which chooses a few organizations each year to showcase for donors and to present at the annual TED conference. Educate Girls was one of eight organizations selected for this year’s Audacious Project.
  3. The Akanksha Foundation
    The Akanksha Foundation has taken education in India out of the hands of the government, creating a network of public-private schools that are built, staffed and managed by the foundation. Although the schools are privately funded, the organization establishes partnerships with the community as a whole in which it operates. Akanksha schools believe that nurturing home environments is equally as crucial to academic success as a positive school experience. Its academic model starts with an initial evaluation of needs and goal setting. Then through constant evaluation, Akanksha schools tailor their standard curriculum to each community’s needs. Akanksha schools also believe in a focus on extracurricular activities to help develop social and emotional intelligence, teaching students to be responsible and compassionate citizens.Akanksha has 21 schools in Pune and Mumbai, reaching 9,300 students. Within those districts, 12th grade passing rates in the Akanksha schools are higher than the government-run high schools. Ninety-two percent of 12th graders from Akanksha passed compared to only 86 percent passed in the public high school. Similarly to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan government initiative, the results are seen in urban areas, but rural areas are still not receiving comparable resources or attention. India tasks local governments with auditing and enforcing education in their communities, but efforts are often obstructed by cultural opinions about education.

– Carly Campbell
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Enhancing Digital Education in Kenya

Digital Education in Kenya

Despite Kenya’s large economy and rapid digital and technological growth, the country still suffers a vast digital gap. This gap is especially apparent in Kenya’s primary schools. As of 2015, Kenya spent 95.7 percent of its total education expenditure on primary public institutions. But, there is still only one teacher for every 47 students, the majority of whom do not have access to the internet. Tech-start ups and pilot projects are trying to close this gap by creating innovative programs that are helping students to earn a digital education in Kenya.

Opportunity for Everyone

In 2016, Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology created the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP). The project promised to deliver 1.2 million digital devices to 21,718 primary public schools nationwide. The launch was successful and by 2018 the roll-out provided 19,000 schools with more than 1 million laptops, tablets and mobile devices pre-programmed with interactive, educational materials for students.

According to the ICT Authority of Kenya, 89.2 percent of public primary schools have been supplied with these devices. Since its launch, teachers involved with the DLP have also reported increased student alertness, boosted attendance and reported an overall increase in student admissions. The DLP has also created 11,000 employment opportunities in ICT support centers, local laptop assembly plants and digital education content development.

Despite the DLP’s successful roll-out of devices, experts in the field speculated that teacher-engagement combined with access to materials is the most effective way to ensure students’ success. The Inter-American Development Bank carried out a study in 2012, reporting that 860,000 computers supplied to Peruvian schools made teachers feel disengaged from students and did not improve student test scores. The DLP and projects like it looking to innovate digital education in Kenya took note of this and put more emphasis on teacher training. The DLP alone has trained 91,000 teachers to deliver digital learning content through the project since its launch.

Combating Educational Imbalance

Despite the overwhelming contributions provided by the DLP, obstacles still remain in terms of digital education in Kenya. Students in rural areas rarely have access to traditional libraries and textbooks. Then, there is also the issue of not having enough teachers to cover the multitude of students in each classroom. These same areas also suffer from regular power outages, making it difficult to keep devices charged throughout the school day. This, on top of an overall lack of internet access, creates a significant imbalance in the quality of resources provided to students and a system that can’t ensure equal opportunities for every child to be successful.

BRCK, a tech company based in Nairobi, aims to combat this imbalance with an innovative solution called the Kio Kit. The kit provides 40 tablets per school, that can be charged wirelessly, a wifi hotspot and a small server packed with educational content. The Kio Kit is connected to the cloud, making its server self-updating. The kit’s self-updating capabilities ensure that students and teachers utilizing its platform receive the most diverse and up-to-date information that BRCK’s content providers, like TED Education, Khan Academy and the like have to offer. The kit’s wide-ranging content also enables teachers to identify learning techniques that are unique to each student and apply them in the classroom.

Kenya still faces many challenges in quality education for all students. But, innovative tech projects like the DLP and the Kio Kit are working to combat these issues by ensuring both teachers and students have access to the best tech and resources available and helping to make great strides toward strong, digital education in Kenya.

– Ashlyn Jensen
Photo: Flickr

 

, , , ,

Does Poverty Result in Violent Extremism?

Poverty and Violent Extremism
Addressing violent extremism requires going beyond a strictly military approach to address the root causes of radicalization. While many have argued that poverty is a leading factor behind radicalization, the relationship between poverty and violent extremism is complex. Poverty by itself does not necessarily lead to a rise in violent extremism. However, societal exclusion and marginalization, which poverty links to, have a significant capacity to propel people to violence.

Government Failure

A more accurate way of determining the relationship between poverty and violent extremism is to examine not just individual cases of poverty, but entire structures that lead to deprivation and exclusion. A variety of societal factors can drive people to extremism. Firstly, a failure of state governments to provide social services not only results in poverty but allows extremist groups to fill the service gap. Secondly, distinct economic inequality between social groups can lead to grievances and disillusionment which makes extremist viewpoints more attractive. Connected to this form of inequality is social exclusion, in which society relegates one group to its outskirts. Without an ability to fully participate in the community and take part in the political process, people may become desperate for a sense of belonging and empowerment, two things which extremist groups promise.

Feelings of abandonment and resentment are prone to occur in weak states which are unable to provide their citizens with security and basic services. This not only heightens inequality, but it also means that impoverished people may come to rely on terrorist groups to provide services. By filling this role of a social service provider, extremist groups can ingratiate themselves with the community and gradually recruit. Multiple terrorist groups have succeeded in proliferating through this welfare terrorism strategy.

Hezbollah, for instance, has established schools, medical centers and agricultural programs among Shiite populations in Lebanon, while Hamas has made similar investments in education, health and cultural establishments in the West Bank. The Taliban and Al Qaeda have both established religious schools which are sometimes the only educational option available in poor regions, leaving parents with little choice but to send their children to schools that can teach violent ideologies. The failure of governments to provide education, health and social services aids this phenomenon. When terrorist groups provide these services, it not only encourages the population to accept extremists into their community, it also delegitimizes the state and political system.

Inequality and Discrimination

Additionally, it is necessary to evaluate poverty in context within a country in order to determine its relationship to violent extremism. Relative poverty tends to be more of a factor than absolute poverty in radicalizing someone towards violence. In other words, while poverty on an individual level is unlikely to prompt someone to become an extremist, the existence of societal poverty or marked inequality between social groups, can have that effect. People know inequality between groups, in which one group has privilege over the other, as horizontal inequality and it is particularly likely to lead to grievances and the perception of injustice.

One can find an example of horizontal inequality in Syria, where significant disparities have existed for decades between Sunni and Shia Arabs. Under the Al-Assad regime, Sunnis, who make up the majority of the population, have faced economic hardship and discrimination in favor of Alawite elites. Syria is one of the most economically unequal countries in the region with a GINI coefficient of 38.8, and regions of the country have experienced development in a very uneven way. Terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda have been able to exploit Sunni anger at the state to recruit in Syria.

Social Exclusion

Social exclusion is also a crucial factor in driving people towards violent extremism. The U.N. defines social exclusion as a “lack of participation in decision-making processes in civil, socio-economic and cultural life” and the institutionalized withholding of rights which make it impossible to fully integrate with the broader community. When whole social groups receive systematic alienation, group members can become desperate for a sense of belonging and autonomy. This makes them ripe targets for recruitment into terrorist groups, which offer a sense of inclusion and identity.

As one young man in Kenya describes it, “poverty feeds terrorism by eroding a basic human need: the need to belong… Poor people have no stake in nations and economies that ignore them.”As he points out, a lack of economic resources means people are denied the chance to fully participate in and contribute to society. Instead, they spend all their time merely trying to survive. When young people are unable to find productive work and feelings of alienation and deprivation overwhelm them, it can tempt them to join gangs and terrorist networks. These provide not only money but a sense of belonging and utility. Additionally, an inability to enact change through undemocratic political systems may prompt people to turn to violence as an attempt to restore justice.

Activists in marginalized communities have worked to combat this problem through programs which provide not just economic assistance, but a sense of community. For instance, Shining Hope for New Communities (SHOFCO), works in Kibera and Mathare. The organization runs a school for girls that provides tuition-free learning as well as free nutrition and health services for students and their families. The organization also issues microloans which allow people to start small businesses and gain financial stability. Crucially, SHOFCO also works to provide a sense of community for residents through theater, soccer programs and employment advice sessions.

The Role of Foreign Aid to Reduce Violent Extremism

Beyond programs like these, foreign aid has significant potential to reduce the circumstances which can drive people to violent extremism. It is important that aid goes beyond economic assistance to address the sources of grievances which can lead to radicalization. Multiple studies have found that high levels of civil liberties and a strong rule of law correlate with a low number of domestic terrorist attacks. Repression and weak rule of law not only delegitimize the state, but they also deny citizens appropriate channels for addressing grievances through the political system, leading some to take up violent means. With this in mind, foreign aid which focuses on good governance and promoting civil society has the potential to reduce extremism.

One study which examined the number of terrorist attacks in countries from 1997 to 2020 found that governance and civil society assistance results in fewer terrorist attacks in countries that were not experiencing a civil war. As this study shows, investment in foreign aid has the ability to reduce violent extremism, which is one of the key priorities of U.S. national security policy. If U.S. policymakers want to stop the spread of violent extremism, they should support programs that promote providing people with basic needs, economic equality and give people a stake in their community.

– Clarissa Cooney
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Technology to Promote Literacy in Papua New Guinea

Technology to promote literacy

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an independent state comprised of about 600 small islands, that also shares a land border with Indonesia. PNG uses technology to promote literacy in a number of ways. PNG broke off from Australia in 1975 but still receives substantial economic, geographical and educational gains from the country. However, the Australian government reports that in spite of their economic growth and middle-income country status (due to agricultural and mineral wealth), “PNG’s social indicators are among the worst in the Asia Pacific. Approximately 85 percent of PNG’s mainly rural population is poor and an estimated 18 percent of people are extremely poor.”

The World Bank details that PNG also faces a “vexing” situation regarding their remoteness and number of languages. Communities in PNG are very closed off from one another and land travel is strenuous. PNG has 563 airports and air travel has proven to be the common way to get from one place to another. At over 800 languages, PNG is recognized as “the most linguistically diverse country in the world.” As a result of these two factors, PNG’s education system faces a variety of challenges. PNG was ranked 153 on the Human Development Index in 2017, and its adult literacy rate was reported to be 63.4 percent in 2015. Australian Aid and the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) cooperated to produce The SMS Story research project, a way to use technology to promote literacy.

The goal of the SMS Story Research Project was to ascertain whether daily text message stories and lessons would improve the reading ability of children in grades 1 and 2 in Papua New Guinea. The text messages were sent to elementary school teachers in the Madang Province and Simbu Province using a free, open-source software program called Frontline SMS. The project was a controlled trial with two groups, one group of teachers received the message and the other did not. About 2500 students were evaluated before and after the trial. Using statistical testing, it was determined that the reading ability of the group who received text messages was higher than that of the group that did not.

It was found that the schools participating in the study had little to no reading books in the classroom and that students in groups without an SMS story were “twice as likely to be unable to read a single word of three sub-tests (decodable words, sight words and oral reading).” It seemed that many classrooms in PNG did not provide easy access to reading materials or proper reading lessons.

Amanda Watson, a researcher involved with the project stated that the SMS stories were helpful to the teachers as well. She says, “The teachers actually received almost like a reminder to teach, a bit of a motivator to keep teaching and they received that every single day and we think that really helped them to realize that they’re supposed to be teaching reading every single day, five days a week.” This suggests that before the trial, some of the teachers may not have promoted reading as much as they should have, either due to lack of access to materials or not realizing its importance.

Daniel A. Wagner, of the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues, detail the importance of using technology to promote literacy in countries with minimal access to education or educational materials in their paper, “Mobiles for Literacy in Developing Countries: An Effectiveness Framework”. He underlines the importance of promoting literacy through information and communications technologies (ICTs) in today’s world where there are “more connected mobile devices than people” and provides several examples of organizations that are working towards increasing literacy through ICTs.

The Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) is run in South Africa by the Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy. They aim to “improve literacy through interactive, computer-based lessons” created by the University of Pennsylvania’s International Literacy Institute (ILI). They provide access to educational materials and issue students with “mother-tongue resources” in regions where computer sources or books are mostly in English. Comparably, Ustad Mobile is an application in Afghanistan that runs offline on phones. They center around instructing reading comprehension, listening, and numeracy. Teachers and students can download and share lessons; the app also includes exercises, videos and interactive quizzes in order to “mobilize education for all”.

BBC Janala is another project using technology to promote literacy in Bangladesh. It is a multi-platform service and can be accessed through TV, internet, print and mobile phones. BBC Janala concentrates on teaching English through three-minute audio lessons, quizzes, TV shows, newspapers, textbooks and CDs.

Illiteracy is an issue in Papua New Guinea; most likely due to the lack of reading materials and importance placed on literacy. However projects like, “The SMS Story” are all over the world and are working towards using technology to promote literacy one step at a time.

– Jade Thompson
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

Kio Kit: A “Classroom in a Box” in Rural Africa

Kio KitHaving access to education is a fundamental aspect of being able to improve one’s life. Children who grow up in poverty are often deprived of an education and therefore have fewer opportunities as adults, which maintains the cycle of poverty. Education has been proven to be one of the most effective ways to break that cycle. Poor countries have the highest rates of children who are not in school, and according to an estimate from UNESCO, universal secondary education would lead to a 55 percent drop in the number of people living in poverty around the world. In other words, if everyone completed secondary education, more than 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty. Here is the story of the Kio Kit, a way of introducing technology for education in rural Africa.

Education Is A Human Right

The United Nations recognized education as a human right in the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, as of 2015, the UNESCO Institute of Statistics estimates that 37.1 percent of upper-secondary-school-aged children globally are not in school. Barriers to education come in many forms: some children begin working at a young age to help provide for their families, in some places girls are not allowed to go to school and many children live in regions undergoing conflicts or crises that prevent them from accessing education. Additionally, a lack of funding can mean untrained teachers, no school buildings and not enough educational materials.

A lack of access to technology is another barrier to education. Modern technology expands the horizons of what an instructor can teach — perhaps she will download ebooks, or show an educational video about biology, or teach students computer skills that are an asset in the workforce. In many regions, particularly in Africa, internet access is limited. For example, in Chad, Niger and Madagascar, less than 10 percent of the population was using the internet in 2017. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that in 2014 approximately 15 percent of the world population did not have access to electricity, with electricity being less accessible in urban areas. So how can we adapt educational technology to work in regions where there is limited access to electricity and the internet?

How To Adapt Technology

BRCK, an engineering and design company based in East Africa, has developed a solution. BRCK, founded in 2013, focuses on digital solutions that are specific to African infrastructure. The company was named one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Genius Companies in 2018. BRCK’s Kio Kit project was launched in 2015 and consists of a set of forty tablets and a Wi-Fi router that can connect to web content. Kio Kit tablets charge wirelessly, either by connection to a power source or by solar power, and can run for 8 hours on a charge, meaning they can still be used when electricity is unreliable.

The Kio Kit comes in a weather-proof case and is designed to be usable for untrained teachers. The entire kit, including the tablets, is turned on and off with one button. BRCK calls the Kio Kit a “classroom in a box” and promises to expose rural children to “the same information and learning tools available to kids in any city.” As of 2018, BRCK had sold more than 200 Kio Kits to communities in fourteen countries. BRCK does not list prices online, but a 2015 article from QuartzAfrica reports that one kit costs $5,000, to be paid over twelve months without interest. While this is a hefty price and is not possible for some communities, BRCK’s commitment to getting students online is admirable, and the Kio Kit is a valuable step toward accessible education.

– Meredith Charney
Photo: Pexels

, , , ,

5 Facts About the Aga Khan Foundation

Five Facts about the Aga Khan FoundationThe Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) was founded in 1967 by the Spiritual Leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims (the Aga Khan). The organization is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private and international agencies with a goal of improving living conditions and opportunities for people in developing countries as well as fighting against global poverty. The AKF’s main goal is to address the root causes of poverty by sharing new and innovative solutions in health, education, rural development, civil society and the environment. The AKF works in over 30 countries around the world and operates about 1,000 programs and institutions, with a focus on economic, social and cultural development. Here are five facts about the Aga Khan Foundation.

5 Facts About the Aga Khan Foundation

  1. The AKF operates globally, with field resources in Asia and Africa, research offices in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. and headquarters in Switzerland. They work with local, national and international partners to assist impoverished areas. Through their international sectors, they are able to organize outreach campaigns, volunteer resources and development education around the world. The AKF focuses on six areas: agriculture and food security, economic stability, education, child development, health and civil society. The main goal is to improve the quality of life by aiding in the fight against the issues associated with poverty.
  2. The AKF is involved with approximately 1,000 programs and partner institutions in over 20 countries and employs over 80,000 people, mostly from the developing areas that the foundation operates in. Through their worldwide efforts and partnerships, various AKF agencies and affiliated members have won awards in a variety of areas. The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme received the Community-based Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change Award in 2014, the Aga Khan University Hospital received the CSR Brands of the Year Award in 2013 and the Aga Khan Development Network itself was selected as a 2011 Devex Top 40 Development Innovator, plus the AKF has received several other awards and mentions in the past 20 years alone.
  3. So far, the AKF has helped millions of people improve their quality of life. Each year, over two million students from preschool to university are enrolled in programs and institutions operated by the AKF. Over 17 million people benefit from various financial services and over 10 million people receive electricity each year due to efforts by the foundation. Through various rural support programs, like participatory governance and natural resource management, over eight million people have been able to receive better food security and raise household income.
  4. The AKF has one of the largest nonprofit, private healthcare systems of the developing countries. Thousands of nurses, midwives and doctors have been trained through this system, and several community health projects are hosted each year to raise awareness of various health issues. One of the goals of the Foundation is to introduce the use of eHealth tools to enhance the quality of healthcare and make it more accessible to communities without easy access. Over 5 million people are able to receive healthcare each year due to services provided by the AKF.
  5. Each year, the Aga Khan Foundation Canada hosts a World Partnership Walk to raise money and awareness for the foundation. Started in 1985 by a group of women formerly from Africa and Asia, it has since become an annual event that is held in over 10 cities in Canada and is the largest event in the country held in support of international development. Since 1985, the World Partnership Walk has raised over $100 million to help initiatives in over 15 countries to help reduce poverty and improve quality of life across Africa and Asia.

The AKF is an international network of agencies working to fight poverty and improve the quality of life for people in developing countries around the world. These five facts about the Aga Khan Foundation show that by providing well-rounded opportunities like schools, healthcare and financial help, the foundation has been able to provide a variety of assistance to those in need. The Aga Khan Foundation has helped millions of people over the last 60 years and is on track to help millions more in the near future.

– Jessica Winarski
Photo: Aga Khan Development Network

 

, , ,

The Link Between Mental Health and Poverty

Mental Health and Poverty
Although mental health and poverty are two things that one might not always group together, there is a serious link between people living below the poverty line and mental health disorders. According to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration SAMHSA report, around 9.8 million people living in the United States had mental health disorders in 2015, and 25 percent of those people were living below the poverty line.

Both poverty and mental health can bring about the other. For instance, a Gallup poll found that about 15.8 percent of people not living in poverty reported having diagnosed depression, while 31 percent of people living in poverty reported depression. In addition, a McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research study based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics found that a household is likely to experience a 50 to 80 percent increase in food insecurity if the mother has diagnosed depression. While it is not clear whether the depression leads to living in poverty or living in poverty results in depression, the link between the two issues is clearly prevalent. Therefore, it is crucial that others address and treat the mental health of people living in poverty.

Ways to Treat Mental Health

One large issue with impoverished people having mental health disorders is that they often do not have the insurance and money to seek therapy and get medical help. This can be especially harmful to children living in poverty. The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics has three main recommendations for low-income families to seek help for mental health disorders, including education and training, establishing relationships with providers and creating multidisciplinary teams.

The best way to help and treat mental health in low-income families and communities is education. By integrating mental health education in schools and free programs that schools offer to families and communities, more people can learn about how to cope with mental health disorders and keep themselves and their families healthy and happy. In addition, integrating mental health services into school health services allows children to seek help for any mental health disorders right at school.

Further, establishing relationships with school health providers and counselors allows children to feel comfortable enough to seek the help that they need, in a safe space that they are used to. Communication between children/families and health care providers also allows the providers to be available more quickly and could result in more effective treatment.

Effects of Improving Mental Health

Poverty can strain a person’s mental health due to stress and instability. Therefore, public mental health has a huge impact on communities and the mental health of the people. People do not widely recognize public health, which is why is it crucial that communities are actively working to prevent mental health problems and to educate the community on how to cope with mental health strains.

Mental health problems and poverty have a serious link and it is vital that people are aware of the strains of poverty and understand their community and who is at risk. Only by monitoring and evaluating impacts of mental health, creating educational programs and addressing both physical and mental health, both mental health and poverty can improve together.

– Paige Regan
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

Education in the Philippines

Education in the Philippines

The Philippines is a growing nation with a population of over 108 million people. The island nation is struggling to teach its young students. There are shortages and dropout rates that are the norm throughout the country and are harming the countries wellbeing. Here are some statistics about education in the Philippines.

By the numbers

The Philippines has 45,973 public schools throughout the country, of which, 38,503 are elementary schools, and 7,470 are high schools. There are a total of 27.7 million students in the Philippines with 22.9 million going to public schools and 4.8 million going to private schools. Funding for education in the Philippines as of 2018 is 672.41 billion Philippine pesos or 12.8 billion USD. This funding is among the lowest budgeted among the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries.

Dropouts

The Philippines currently has the highest dropout rates among all of the ASEAN countries, with a dropout rate of 6.38 percent in elementary students and 7.82 percent of secondary school students. There are a number of reasons for the high dropout rate, but the top three reasons seem to be:

  1. Hunger, students will skip class to find something to eat when there is no food at home or at school.
  2. Work, to help provide for their families students will stay at home and work on family farms or businesses.
  3. Conflict, this problem is primarily in the southern regions of the country in Mindanao where there have been insurgents disrupting life for the past 50 years.

Today, there are currently 1.4 million students who are out-of-school in the Philippines.

Shortages

There is a significant lack of supplies and teachers throughout the country. The number of students in the classrooms is a ratio of one teacher for every 31 students at the elementary level with one teacher for every 36 students at the secondary level. These numbers are down from a year ago where the ratio was one teacher for every 45 students. This has a negative impact on the students in the classroom who do not receive the attention needed to learn. There is also a shortage of supplies in the classroom. Along with the increased number of students comes the lack of chairs, textbooks and even drinking water for the students, particularly in the cities. Classrooms will sometimes have two or even three students sharing a single textbook. According to the Philippines Department of Education, the country needs 60 million textbooks, 2.5 million chairs and over 80,000 sanitation facilities for the schools throughout the country.

The Good News

The future of education in the Philippines does have a positive outlook. The Philippines currently enjoys a literacy rate of 97.5 percent, an increase from 92.3 percent in 2000. There is a program called the 1,000 Teachers Program aimed at giving scholarships to high performing, but underprivileged high school students. The program is aimed at relieving some of the pressure that the school system is facing to gain more teachers for the classrooms.

With many problems with education in the Philippines, there are significant hurdles to meet if the country wants to improve its system. More teachers, supplies and money are needed to help the students who desperately want to learn and improve their lives.

– Sam Bostwick
Photo: Wikimedia