Information and stories on education.

10 Important Facts About Girls’ Education in Uganda

Facts About Girls' Education in Uganda

Girls’ education in Uganda varies from region to region. The gender gap has become smaller; however, there are serious issues holding back the progress of the development of girls’ education. Below are 10 facts about girls’ education in Uganda that highlight the obstacles as well as the benefits proven to be derived from the continuation of a girls’ education.

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Uganda

  1. The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) reported that more than 700,000 girls in Uganda between the ages of six to 12 have never attended school. In fact, around half of girls between the ages of 15 to 24 are illiterate and four in five girls do not attend high school.
  2. A large contributor to low female literacy rates and school attendance rates is that up to 40 percent of girls in Uganda are married before the age of 18. Around 10 percent of these girls are married before the age of 15. Around 35 percent of girls drop out due to marriage and 23 percent drop out due to pregnancy. In contrast, allowing girls to continue through secondary education significantly reduces the chances of early marriage and childbearing.
  3. In Uganda, teenage pregnancy rates are some of the highest in the world. The national average is 24 percent; however, statistics change from region to region. The poorest regions have the highest percentage of teenage pregnancy.
  4. Poverty is the largest contributor to low standards in girls’ education in Uganda. Though education is free, school supplies and uniforms are not. Because of this, when faced with either sending a son or a daughter to school, a son’s education will usually be prioritized.
  5. Because of the high poverty rates, girls are usually expected to work as a way to increase the family’s income. The Global Partnership for Education reported that especially in rural areas, local traditions dictate that girls can be married in exchange for a dowry, a sum of money given to the daughter’s family as payment.
  6. Uneducated girls are highly susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases as well as other health complications. Health issues put girls at a risk of not continuing their education. In 2015, around 567 young people between the ages of 15 to 24 contracted HIV/AIDS on a weekly basis. A staggering 363 of these young adults were female.
  7. Girls are less likely to attend school during their menstrual cycle which creates gaps in a girl’s education. This is caused by inadequate infrastructure and resources for good hygiene in schools, especially for girls. Furthermore, girls often feel ashamed and embarrassed about their cycle because women’s health education is not a priority.
  8. Statistics show that educated mothers are more than twice as likely to ensure the education of their children. They are also more likely to earn higher wages than an uneducated person. A World Bank report shows that there would be a 14 percent rise in a girl’s wage if she would continue her education rather than get married.
  9. Educating girls would see a reduction in child marriage and births. This is closely linked to lower mortality rates as well. It would also greatly improve the standard of living across Uganda and reduce poverty rates.
  10. Educated women are more likely to invest back into their families. Roughly 90 percent of an income will usually go back to the family.

While the Ugandan education system has progressed and policies have been adopted, the lack of enforcement is the real issue. There must be further investment in the future of girls and their education; as these facts about girls’ education in Uganda illustrate, investing in girls would benefit the country in immeasurable ways.

– Trelawny Robinson
Photo: Flickr

Importance of Girls’ Education Around the World

Importance of Girls' EducationAdvances in the education of young females have caused positive effects in the past several decades. Still, 130 million girls between the ages of 6 and 17 are not in school, according to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates. The importance of girls’ education should not be looked over. Investing in girls education leads to outcomes that benefit society as a whole.

Benefits of Girls’ Education

Research shows the positive results of more women and girls having better and sustained access to education. Studies show that education raises women’s standard of living in economic, social and health terms.

A 2012 U.N. report found that 95 percent of the 28.5 million children not receiving a primary school education live in low and lower-middle income countries. Of these children, 55 percent are female. A 2014 World Bank paper, using decades of data from 139 countries, found the cross-economy average rate of returning to school is 9.6 percent a year, but estimated rates are higher from women than men.

In addition, educating girls today will also help future populations. According to UNESCO data, if all females in developing countries completed primary education, child mortality would drop by a sixth, saving nearly one million lives annually. Also, maternal deaths, which the U.N. vows are largely preventable, would reduce by two-thirds. Schools can provide girls with life skills, reproductive health knowledge and a social space to discuss issues.

The importance of girls’ education is generational. “Girls are the future mothers of any society. Every girl that receives an education is more likely to make education a priority for her children. It’s a ripple effect of positive change in the community and country.” Tariq Al Gurg, the chief executive officer of Dubai Cares, said.

Challenges to Girls’ Education

Girls also face unique challenges that impact their ability to stay in school through adolescence. For one, poverty often reduces young girls school attendance. Girls are compelled to stay home and work as an extra income could be vital to familial livelihood. Females also face heightened levels of violence; physical assault can keep females away from the classroom on a routine basis.

Another notable obstacle is child marriage. Each year, 15 million girls are married before reaching adulthood. Child brides rarely stay in school, assuming the role as caretakers of a home instead. As a result, the practice is an impediment to education reform, the economic status of women, and thus the empowerment of women worldwide.

Importance of Girls’ Education

Many groups have invested in and advertised the importance of girls’ education and put it at the forefront of global development. The World Bank Group, for example, set several goals in 2017 aimed at improving the education girls receive. The group provides scholarships, trains female teachers, ensures gender-sensitive discussions in classrooms, addresses violence against women and helps end early child marriage. In 2014, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the ban of child marriage, thus promoting the reduction of inequality between genders.

The economic costs of low educational attainment for girls are high, particularly in African states like Uganda. The study finds that a government-sponsored universal primary education would likely raise earnings in Uganda by 18 percent.

Recognizing the importance of girls’ education ensures inclusive and quality schooling for all students. Elevating the level of girls education is vital to improving the lives of girls and people everywhere. Research shows that better female education is correlated with lower rates of poverty and improved health.

– Isabel Bysiewicz
Photo: Flickr

10 Important Facts About Girls’ Education in Somalia

Facts About girls' education in SomaliaThe East African country of Somalia has been ravaged by famine and war, leaving a large majority of the population in poverty. In addition, education opportunities for many Somali children are somewhat limited, especially for girls. Education and equal opportunities are important for improving the quality of life. Below are 10 highly important facts about girls’ education in Somalia.

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Somalia

  1. Over 70 percent of Somalia’s population is under the age of 30, with slightly more males than females. Somalia’s large percentage of youth indicates a need for economic growth in a country with an unemployment rate of 67 percent. In order to ensure a higher living standard and an improved economy as Somali youth mature, education is a key factor for Somalia.
  2. Although education problems exist in both rural and urban areas of Somalia, access to education in rural regions is even more limited. Nomadic pastoralists account for about 65 percent of the Somali population, and only 22 percent of pastoralist children receive a formal education. Of the 22 percent that receive a formal education, fewer than half are girls.
  3. Low enrollment rates in schools are apparent throughout the country, and girls’ enrollment rates are significantly lower, indicating why these facts about girls’ education in Somalia are so important. Somalia has one of the world’s lowest enrollment rates for primary schools. Only 30 percent of children in Somalia are in school and only 40 percent of those children are girls.
  4. One of the biggest reasons for a disparity in girls’ education is due to the act of female genital mutilation, or FGM. According to UNICEF, about 98 percent of Somali girls have undergone a form of FGM. These acts are often performed in unhygienic conditions by surgeons who have no training. After a girl undergoes FGM, the aftereffects of debilitating scarring and infections–along with the possibility of marriage–results in the withdrawal of thousands of girls from school.
  5. Girls in Somalia are often wed at young ages, ending their education enrollment. According to UNICEF, 45 percent of girls were already married by age 18 in 2017. Through education initiatives, however, more daughters are able to stay in school.
  6. Somali girls are also subject to gender expectations that keep them from receiving an education. Girls often stay home and complete domestic housework or help raise younger children.
  7. The majority of female jobs, particularly in the rural south of Somalia, are jobs that do not require an education. These jobs–which include tending to livestock, milking animals, home care and farming–discourage parents from allowing their children to receive a formal education. Somalia’s high poverty rates and economic challenges could be aided with formal education for girls and boys and could shift the rate of unskilled labor in the country. Receiving an education would be essential and beneficial for these children.
  8. Literacy rates in Somalia are unevenly distributed between boys and girls. The total literacy rate is 37.8 percent in the African nation. Men have a literacy rate of 49.7 percent, while only 25.8 percent of females are literate, highlighting the true educational gender inequality in Somalia.
  9. Girls’ education in Somalia has been the subject of organizations like UNICEF, which strives to improve access to and the quality of girls’ education in the country. Due to political instability, however, UNICEF Somalia has only operated in the autonomous region of Puntland and the de facto independent Somaliland. In Puntland, UNICEF has established four girls’ leadership committees in schools and plans are underway to train 40 female teachers through Garowe Teachers’ College. In addition, 12 trained female teachers were recruited to be part of the Somaliland Ministry of Education teaching force.
  10. The Galkacyo Education Center for Peace and Development was established in 1999 as a response to gender inequality in the Somali education system and operates in Somalia proper and Puntland to increase educational access for girls. Since its foundation, the organization has provided primary schooling to 800 girls–over half of which completed grade eight–and informal education to 1,600 adolescent women.

The inequality between boys’ and girls’ education is apparent with these 10 facts about girls’ education in Somalia. Economic issues, political instability, in addition to traditions like FGM and required housework, have restricted girls’ access to a formal education. Despite these problems, there are organizations and centers that aim to educate more girls in the country and the work must continue to grow. In order for the young Somali population to have better opportunities in the future, equal gender opportunities to education in the country are vital.

– Matthew Cline­
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing the Nine Most Important Benefits of Education

Benefits of EducationAccess to education is an ongoing civil rights struggle. Education is not only the accumulation of knowledge but also a chance for students to go beyond their current limitations. The following is a list of 10 of the most important benefits of education.

10 Major Benefits of Education

  1. Improved Health: In developing countries, students are forced to miss school for about 500 million days per year because of sickness. Furthermore, one of the benefits of education for mothers is increasing the survival of her child; a child is 50 percent more likely to live past five years old, 50 percent more likely to be immunized and twice as likely to attend school than children of uneducated mothers.
  1. Individual Economic Growth: With education comes opportunities to advance in life. One extra year spent at school increases an individual’s earnings by up to 10 percent. There is a positive correlation between literacy rates and high per capita income; education can give someone the chance to increase personal wealth. These benefits of education give people the skillset and knowledge to improve their lives.
  1. National Economic Growth: Educated civilians would also contribute to the economic growth of their entire country. For example, each additional year of schooling raising the average annual GDP growth by 0.37 percent. Also, providing education for children has a greater benefit than initial cost. The cost of 250 million children not attending school and not learning the basics of education is equivalent to a loss of $129 billion per year. Therefore, education not only advances the country’s economy but also saves the country from major losses.
  1. Reduction of Poverty: Poverty is a major reason why people in rural communities are unable to attend school. However, education is extremely important in reducing poverty. For instance, if adults had two more years of schooling, a total of 60 million adults would be able to take advantage of more opportunities and escape poverty. Also, if more children were given secondary education, about 20 million people would be lifted out of poverty. This would mean that the number of impoverished people worldwide would reduce by at least 50 percent.
  1. Gender Equality: Sending daughters to school can be quite expensive for impoverished families, so many choose not to. This leads to women being paid less for their work which prevents them from being able to sustain themselves independently. However, one additional year spent at school can increase a woman’s earnings by 10 to 20 percent.
  1. Reduction of Child Marriage: In rural communities, the value of a male child can be greater than that of a female child. As a result, if a family has to choose between financing the education of their son or their daughter, the son often gets priority while daughters are left to focus on domestic life. This leads to an increase of child marriage. Over 60 percent of uneducated girls marry before the age of 18.
  1. Reduction of Child Mortality: One of the benefits of education is having educated parents as it reduces the probability of child mortality. For example, UNICEF found that babies born to young mothers under 18 years old have a 60 percent increased risk of infant mortality than other babies. In 2008, an estimated 1.8 million children’s lives could have been saved in sub-Saharan Africa if their mothers had secondary education or more.
  1. Self-Dependency: Through education, girls all over the globe are able to build self-reliance and independence through education. Receiving an education allows girls to become empowered women who can fight against poverty. Furthermore, education provides individuals with a promising and secure future for better opportunities and lives. In rural areas, education allows people to overcome poverty by expanding their knowledge and using them to lead better and healthier lives.
  1. Better Community: An educated individual has a greater chance of contributing to the community. Literate people are more likely to participate in the democratic process and exercise their civil rights while uneducated people may turn to crime and violence to sustain themselves. This can lead to an increase of conflict in the community because impoverished people do not see any other way to survive. Thus, an important benefit of education is educated people working together toward a better and safer community.

Places with fewer resources and fewer guarantees of survival are often stuck in an endless cycle of poverty throughout generations. Restricting education can lead to stunted economic growth and unstable social and political conditions. By ensuring that access to education is uncontested to all communities, society can benefit from an educated population.

– Jenny S Park
Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in South Africa

Facts About Girls’ Education in South Africa
Education is a basic human right and key to improving people’s quality of life. Despite this fact, millions of women and girls worldwide lack the same access to quality education as men and boys, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa, however, is unique. Though there is still much progress to be made in ensuring gender equality in education in the country, these facts about girls’ education in South Africa can provide a model for other sub-Saharan countries.

Facts About Girls’ Education in South Africa

  1. In many African countries, far more boys attend school than girls. In South Africa, primary school enrollment rates are roughly equal: from 2008-2012, the primary school enrollment rate for boys was 89.7 percent; for girls, it was 90.9 percent.
  2. However, these enrollment rates hide the large racial disparities that exist in South Africa’s education system. Though South Africa has made progress in reducing racial discrimination since the end of apartheid (a system of extreme racial segregation and discrimination that lasted from 1948-1994), racial inequality is still persistent. In general, black girls are at a severe disadvantage compared to white girls in receiving quality education.
  3. One reason for the racial disparities in South Africa’s education system is the racial disparity in poverty. In 2015, 27.9 percent of black Africans were unemployed compared to 7 percent of white people. The poverty rate for Africans is 38 times higher than that of whites. Millions of people classified as black or colored under apartheid live in townships and informal settlements in extreme poverty, while a majority of whites live in cities and nice suburbs. This racial inequality is detrimental to non-white girls trying to achieve the same education as white girls and boys.
  4. Girls are also at a disadvantage in attaining quality education because of the patriarchal nature of South African society. Women occupy a lower social status than men and are socialized to work in the home and be mothers. This deemphasizes the importance of receiving an education.
  5. At around 7.1 million, South Africa has the most people living with HIV/AIDs in the world. This figure is more than double the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, the country with the second highest HIV/AIDS population. Girls and women are four times more likely to be HIV-positive than boys and men, which may lead them to drop out of school. Girls are also often forced to drop out of school to care for family members living with HIV/AIDS which limits girls’ opportunities to pursue careers that could lift them out of poverty.
  6. The rate of crime in the townships in which millions live, particularly gender-based violence, is extremely high compared to those in the suburbs of major cities. Many schools are far from children’s homes, forcing children to walk long distances to school. This exposes girls to the risk of violence on their travels to and from school.
  7. Violence against girls in school is a serious issue in South Africa. Girls face sexual harassment and assault in schools from both fellow students and teachers. These occurrences cause girls to fear going to school, and some to stop going altogether. Girls cannot learn well under these circumstances.
  8. Various programs have been developed to work to improve girls’ education in South Africa. One is the Girls Education Movement (GEM), which was launched in South Africa in 2003. The program aims to give girls equal access to education, make schools safer for girls and improve the quality of girls’ education. GEM is run via school-based, boys and girls clubs and has been implemented in each of South Africa’s nine provinces.
  9. Technogirls is a project that works to support girls in pursuing careers in math, science and technology — typically male-dominated fields. Girls from rural disadvantaged communities are given priority in the selection process. Girls who are selected become interns in various companies and enter a mentoring and skills development program with scholarship opportunities.
  10. The United Nations Educational and Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) works to ensure that every person has access to a quality education. The continent of Africa and gender equality are two of UNESCO’s top global priorities, and UNESCO is active in promoting gender equality in South Africa’s education system.

Room for Growth

Successful girls and women are critical to furthering the development of developing countries such as South Africa. For girls to be successful, they need equal access to a quality education. Though there are many challenges among these facts about girls’ education in South Africa, GEM, Technogirls and UNESCO are making strides in the right direction.

These initiatives not only improve girls’ education in South Africa, but they also provide an example by which other developing countries can improve their education systems for girls.

– Laura Turner
Photo: Flickr

Girls’ Education in Honduras

Honduras is one of the most impoverished countries in the world with at least 66 percent of its population living in poverty. Unsurprisingly, this affects their education system. Honduras has free education up until sixth grade, but the quality of the schools and supplies are subpar. Their teachers often go unpaid for months or are paid very little.

How Poverty Affects Girls’ Education in Honduras

These circumstances make it difficult for children, especially girls, to prioritize school. When families are struggling, it is hard for the child to choose to attend school rather than stay home and help. Girls are often expected to choose family life over schooling and stay home to run the house. 

After children reach the sixth grade, most of them cannot afford to continue their education. For girls’ education in Honduras, the situation is even worse. One of their only options, after finishing sixth grade, is often marriage at the young age of twelve or thirteen. In Honduras, 34% of girls get married before the age of eighteen.

CARE Education

Thankfully, there are organizations like CARE Education that focus primarily on empowering young girls to pursue their education with rigor. Central to their initiative, CARE has established, along with several partnering organizations, The Power to Lead Alliance (PTLA), which provides girls with secure environments in which to learn and grow in. They also work to teach girls to cultivate leadership and assertiveness in the classroom in order to develop their confidence.

Girls’ education in Honduras has benefitted from this program where CARE has listed outreach to almost 2,400 girls. These leadership initiatives have contributed to a lower rate of dropouts among girls after primary school in Honduras.

The Benefits of Girls’ Education

There are countless benefits to educating girls not only in Honduras but in impoverished countries across the world. However, the gender gap that is prevalent in many third-world countries today is all the more reason for a focus on girls’ education in Honduras. A more educated girl grows up to be a more educated woman, which ultimately leads to a better informed and healthier community.

Girls are often not provided the same opportunity and encouragement throughout their lives that young boys are. A girl’s income throughout her life can be up to 20 percent higher as a result of having a primary education. This is a bigger increase than that of boys with the same level of education. The difference schooling can make in a young girl’s life is enormous because they are not allowed much freedom outside of education in impoverished countries.

Access to education does not only improve the individual girl’s life, it has the power to alleviate poverty and stimulate the economy in countries like Honduras. Education alone has been shown to lower fertility rates leading to less unwanted pregnancies and decreasing the rates of HIV/AIDS.

Girls’ education in Honduras has a long way to come, but the benefits of investing in a young girl’s future are far too important to overlook.

– Amelia Merchant
Photo: Flickr

10 Promising and Important Facts About Girls’ Education in China

Facts About Girls' Education in ChinaGirls’ education in China has come a long way in recent decades. The amount of girls at all levels of education is on the rise, slowly but surely closing the gender gap in schools. In some arenas, girls’ enrolment is even passing that of boys. Girls in rural areas of China, however, are still struggling with a lack of opportunity compared to their male peers. Here are 10 important facts about girls’ education in China.

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in China

  1. Girls are beginning to outnumber boys. As of 2009, girls exceed boys in quantity in junior college and undergraduate programs. Women in higher education have higher enrolment levels, accounting for 51.4 percent of total enrollments. About 50 percent of postgraduates in China in 2012 were women.These numbers speak strongly about how far girls’ education in China has come. In 1985, only 25 percent of those enrolled in secondary school were female. Now, women’s attendance is starting to prevail over men’s. With higher enrollment levels comes a more empowered and intelligent female population.
  2. Women are dominating across academic fields. The amount of women in science and math fields such as engineering and automation is growing annually. In China. there are now over 20 million women working in the fields of science and technology. This is considerable progress in mitigating gender stereotypes and in allowing women to fill high-power jobs, showing why this is one of the most important facts about girls’ education in China.
  3. Women in China have the help of numerous organizations. China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF) has been instrumental in uplifting the lives of women. For example, in 2017 CWDF hosted a charity competition in which female entrepreneurs enter their ideas for the chance to win investment funding.Although this is not academic education in the traditional sense, organizations like CWDF are promoting women’s creativity and innovation through programs like this. CWDF is just one of many groups that work to educate China’s female population outside of school.
  4. These organizations have made a tangible difference. Women’s Federations in China in the past five years have trained almost five million rural women and engaged one million women in entrepreneurial activities. Having access to these resources allows women to expand their minds outside of the classroom.
  5. Women are quickly closing the gender gap in illiteracy rates. In 1982 across China, the female illiteracy rate was 48.88 percent, whereas men’s was 20.78. While the current rates have improved significantly (about two percent for men and six percent for women), females are still behind men in literacy. However, women’s illiteracy rates have been falling at a faster rate than those of men. It will not be long until literacy rates between men and women are equivalent.
  6. Women are most disadvantaged in rural areas of China. As far as illiteracy goes, women living in rural areas have the highest rates. This is in great part due to the lack of access to good education in rural regions, specifically for young girls. If a family in a rural area can only afford to send one child to school, the boys are much more likely to be chosen than girls.
  7. Female teachers continue to face restricted career development opportunities. Women dominate the teaching profession in China, and most schools look to balance this out by hiring more men. A less qualified man will often get hired in the place of a well-qualified woman. Thanks to this, female teachers in China have a much harder time getting hired than men do in the same profession.
  8. Women have to get higher test scores than men to gain entry into university. In 2005, Chinese universities began responding to a growing number of female applicants by raising the standards for women in order to keep gender balances in schools equal. At the China University of Political Science and Law, the bar for men is 588 and the bar for women is 632. Unfair practices such as these get in the way of true progress.
  9. The average length of a woman’s education in China has increased. As of 2012, the length of the average girl’s education in China increased to 8.6 years. This is only 0.7 years less than the average man’s education in China. This means girls are getting more encouragement and support to stay in school longer than they have in the past.
  10. Progress in China’s education system for girls has led to many successful Chinese women. Of the 88 female self-made billionaires in the world, 56 of them are Chinese. Chinese women dominate the entrepreneurial world. This amount of success would not have been possible without the great strides that have been made in closing China’s educational gender gap.

As these facts about girls’ education in China demonstrate, it is a complex topic, but overall there have been massive improvements made in the system. This has led to a more prosperous female population in China and a more equal society for all.

– Amelia Merchant
Photo: Flickr

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Five Facts About Education in Jamaica

Education in JamaicaJamaica is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and sits just 90 miles south of Cuba. The country gained full independence in the summer of 1962 from the United Kingdom. It remains part of the British Commonwealth, and as a result, Jamaica makes up the third-most populous English-speaking country in the Americas. Within the last year, education in Jamaica has seen great improvements. Yet, these changes came with years of challenges that have been difficult to overcome. The Education Ministry of Jamaica has become an icon for other Caribbean nations with similar histories, wishing to improve their education systems. Here are five significant facts about education in Jamaica.

Education: A Tool to Weaken Segregation

With the abolition of slavery in 1834, the British viewed education as a tool to integrate ex-slaves into the colonial economy. The British believed that integrating ex-slaves into the economy would result in a peaceful lower class.

By the 1860s, the British relied less on missionary schools, and instead, education in Jamaica was absorbed into the sponsorship of the colonial government. As time went on, separate educational tracks for boys and girls were established by the Lumb Report of 1898. Boys would focus on agricultural training which is a method believed to better control the colonial economy.

To encourage secondary education, elementary schools held annual scholarship questionnaires to allow those unable to afford school fees to attain a higher education. Between 1943 and 1944, the Kandel Report and the Plan for Post-Primary Education in Jamaica concentrated on alleviating the problems of harsh segregation through quality post-primary education. The report and plan resulted in creating a common literacy core for girls and boys.

Inadequate Primary Schools

Grades one to six educate students ranging from the ages of six to 11. Primary education in Jamaica has accomplished universal enrollment yet there are still many challenges that the education system faces.

In elementary school, private and public schools offer very different educational outcomes. Those who attend private schools are often at an extreme advantage while those attending public schools may leave after six years, never fully learning how to read and write. The factors that create this disparity include:

  • class sizes
  • language of instruction
  • the class origins of the teachers.

By the end of grade six, however, every student must take the Grade Six Achievement Examination (GSAT).

Low Academic Achievement

About 99.7 percent of students in Jamaica have access to primary education, and another 83 percent have access to secondary education. Although the access to education is relatively high, academic success is lacking. In 2009, UNICEF concluded that by grade one, no more than 24 percent of six-year-old children going into primary school could master the five sub-tests of the assessment.

By grade four, 70 percent gained mastery of the literacy test. Studies concluded that girls had mastered the literacy test at 81 percent. Boys, on the other hand, had only mastered the test at 59 percent. The numeracy test had even more crippling results. Only 45 percent of students showed mastery. The boys made up 36 percent, behind their female classmates that amounted to 55 percent.

Work To Increase the Quality of Education

Education in Jamaica is on the way towards change. The nation has developed goals to empower Jamaicans by providing quality education. The Ministry of Education launched the Education System Transformation Program (ETSP) in 2009 with the ambitious goal of improving education through a decentralized accountability framework.

A network of institutions is working together to improve the education for every student. The World Bank reported that 90 percent of public schools inspected are prepared to implement the coming plans. Furthermore, 95 percent of all teachers have met all requirements to be registered. The successes of the program resulted in other Caribbean countries approaching Jamaica’s Ministry of Education for help in implementing a similar strategy.

GSAT Performance Has Increased in 2018

The year 2018 has already been very successful for education in Jamaica. The Education ministry reported in June about the extraordinary improvement in the GSAT performance. Education Minister, Senator Ruel Reid, says that an overall increase in four of the five subject areas tested have seen great improvement. Furthermore, 100 percent of the students who registered for the examinations will be placed in seven-year high schools. This historic school year in Jamaica shows great promise for future generations.

– Stefanie Babb
Photo: Flickr

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How Access to a Preschool Education Reduces Poverty

Preschool Education Reduces PovertyEducation has always been a catalyst to development and growth in nations. Policymakers have focused on improving primary and secondary education to foster growth in all aspects of developing countries. Foreign superpowers have focused their aid efforts on helping to build the infrastructure for these schools to varying success. An aspect of the education system that is often overlooked by these domestic and international efforts is preschool or preprimary education.

How Preschool Education Reduces Poverty

A common stereotype has created a disparity of funding and attention between preprimary education and the levels above it. Firstly, many believe that preschool does not have an impact on future student outcomes. It is true that poverty has little effect on the cognitive abilities of a baby, but once children enter primary education, there are noticeable inequalities between wealthier students and poorer students such as trouble focusing in the classroom and behavioral issues. This inequality extends to foundational skills such as reading and writing.

Around the world, 130 million children in developing nations are enrolled in primary education but are illiterate. Providing access to preschool education in these developing nations will produce plentiful benefits for these children and continually increase literacy in students entering primary school. Preschool education reduces poverty by giving students the opportunity to develop rudimentary skills at younger ages, which allows these students to tackle more challenging concepts earlier than they would without a preschool background.

Aglaia Zafeirakou, a senior education specialist at the World Bank, found compelling evidence that students with preschool experience achieved more in each stage of their educational career. She observed that students who attended preschool, on average, scored higher on literacy, vocabulary and mathematics than non-attenders.

An additional 2009 PISA survey showed that in 58 of 65 countries, 15-year-old students who had attended at least a year of preprimary school outperformed students who had not, even after accounting for socioeconomic background. The impact of affordable preprimary education also extended into the primary schools themselves. Primary schools saw significant cost savings and increased efficiency in areas where an affordable preprimary school was available to families.

Improvements in Preschool Education in Developing Nations

The overwhelming evidence that shows that preschool education reduces poverty has empowered families of all socioeconomic backgrounds to demand preprimary opportunities for their children. NGOs and developing nations have valiantly responded to these demands and have improved the educational careers of millions of children.

Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania have all adopted policies that include preprimary education in the basic education cycle along with primary education. They have coupled this with significant investment and expansion in access to preprimary institutions.

Ghana, in particular, abolished preprimary school fees, which has drastically increased enrollment and attainment in its preschools. The efforts of these countries have inspired systematic change throughout the whole of Africa. The continent has seen an 84 percent increase in preschool enrollment between 1999 and 2015.

While this huge increase in enrollment will improve the educational careers of millions of students, there is still more work to be done. The impressive 84 percent increase was mainly due to significant institutional changes in seven African countries. Still, only two percent of children attend preschool in Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia and many of the poorest nations in Africa.

Bettering the Lives of Children Through Education

Some of the most impoverished developing nations are still struggling to provide the necessary access to preprimary education that others have. Fortunately, NGOs have contributed significant efforts to help supplement nationwide projects to increase access to preprimary education in developing countries.

For example, local NGOs in Bangladesh have helped build over 1,800 preschools across the nation. Bangladesh remains one of the poorest nations in the world, but with the help of NGOs, it can ensure better educational outcomes for its young children.

Preschool helps children develop the foundational skills to take on more challenging concepts in primary school. This effect reverberates at each stage of the educational journey, which makes students more successful in their careers as well. It is clear that preschool education reduces poverty, but the effects are best maximized by improving affordability and accessibility in developing countries.

– Anand Tayal
Photo: Flickr

Girls’ Education in Kazakhstan

Girls’ Education in KazakhstanKazakhstan is a land-locked Central Asian nation located to the south of Russia and to the northwest of China. Over two decades, they have transitioned from a lower-middle income country to an upper-middle income country. After 2015, Kazakhstan’s poverty and unemployment decreased significantly as the trade and the oil industry improved. The government has also been expanding into other industries in order to improve the economy and move away from a reliance on oil production. One area Kazakhstan has been growing successfully is in diversification in education.

In Kazakhstan, primary school enrollment is almost universal. The school life expectancy for all children is 15 years. This achievement also includes girls’ education in Kazakhstan. The net enrollment rate for girls in primary school is 99.9 percent, and the progression of girls from primary to secondary school hovers around 100 percent. In fact, educational attainment for women in Kazakhstan is greater than that for men.  In 2014, a study revealed that 28 percent of women went on to tertiary education as compared to 23 percent of men.

Difficulties with Girls’ Education in Kazakhstan

Despite the achievements in girls’ education in Kazakhstan, significant disparities begin to appear when looking at other factors.

  • Children who live in poverty or live in rural areas are less likely to move on to higher education and often receive an inadequate education due to unqualified teaching and outdated curricula.
  • There is also a high prevalence of early marriages for girls. Girls who are married young are unable to complete their education and are deprived of the qualifications necessary for their own employment and independence.
  • In the recent years, the rate of suicides among girls has begun to increase. The group most affected is young women in rural communities for reasons including early marriages, a lack of societal acceptance of reproductive rights, and pregnancy outside of marriage.
  • Recently, a ban on wearing religious symbols in school has had a strong impact on women as the majority of Kazakhstan practices Islam. Many people have protested the ban on religious wear in schools because girls would not be allowed to wear head-scarves. Some girls eventually stopped going to school because of this ban.

Inequality in the Benefits of Education

Though education in Kazakhstan is available to boys and girls equally, the benefits of their education are not. In 2015, it was recorded that only 66.1 percent of women participated in the labor market. This is 10.9 percentage points lower than male participation. That same year, the gross national income per capita based on the purchasing power parity of women was 16,264 international dollars, as compared to the male gross national income per capita at 28,226 international dollars.

Women also predominantly work in traditional areas like education and hospitality while men have greater participation in higher-paying job industries. A significant portion of women are self-employed or working in minor managerial jobs within larger businesses.

It is evident that there is a large gap between how girls participate in education and how their participation translates to opportunities after they enter the workforce.

A Brighter Future for Girls in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan continues to move forward in providing equal opportunity for women through education. In 2009, a law was passed that establishes gender equality in many areas, including education. Beyond that, the government implemented a policy in 2016 geared towards decreasing discrimination through gender education. This is an attempt to teach children, both girls and boys, about gender stereotypes in order to end gender discrimination.

Nearly every child in Kazakhstan is able to receive an equal education, but educational reform continues to push for greater equality for girls so that they will have more opportunities in their future.

– Lindabeth Doby
Photo: Flickr