Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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The Improvement of Education in Macau

Education in MacauEducation in Macau experienced slow progress before the middle of the twentieth century. Primary education was gradually popularized from the 1960s onwards, and the development of secondary and higher education followed. The economy of Macau was developing fast in the following two decades, which induced changes in the structure of society and families. As a result, education in Macau boomed, particularly primary.

Since the Macau Special Administrative Region of China was set up in December 1999, the government has provided 15 years compulsory education, comprised of three years of kindergarten followed by primary and secondary education each of six years. Out of 77 secondary schools in Macau, 65 offer free education. There are 10 accredited institutions for higher education in Macau, offering more than 250 academic programs.

Compared to China and other nations, education in Macau displays special features of its own. The whole society in Macau pays high attention to education, comprehensive curricula and professional development. Students are open to bilingual education and extracurricular activities.

While education in Macau is fast developing and has made great achievements, a few existing problems are also transparent. Before free and compulsory education was extended to 15 years in Macau, only 35.3 percent of the employed population had received a high school education.

Despite the overall education level of the labor force gradually improving in the past decade, in-grade retention rates are relatively high in Macao. As reported in 2013, the retention rate in junior middle school was as high as 15 percent; a previous study showed that 76 percent of senior high school graduates had been retained at some stage.

Tertiary education in Macau is also far from problem-free. The system of tertiary education is not consistent with other levels of education; performance appraisal in universities exists in name only. Due to the high cost of tuition in Macau, student resources and living space and restrictive. Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of students choose the major of economy and business management, which leads to an unbalanced allocation of educational resources. This is harmful to the healthy growth of these institutions in the long run.

In 2017, the government launched the third phase of its Continuing Education Development Plan in Macao. For tertiary education, the corresponding services office kept on facilitating a variety of external cooperation projects within that field, and seek reinforced collaboration from China inland.

To sum up, the current education in Macau has great potential for future improvement. Kindergarten education urges more attention from governmental and public support, and there is a need for better integration of all levels of education. Meanwhile, the structure of tertiary subjects also requires adjustment to meet the economic development strategy with diversity in this region.

– Xin Gao

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Access to Education in Uganda Improves With Exam Ban

access to education in ugandaIn the country of Uganda, education is of high concern. Given that there are over 100 students in some classes, the quality of education is severely lacking. In an attempt to focus on quality and learning retention, Uganda has done away with primary entry level examinations. As opposed to the examinations, the focus will now be aimed at ensuring that the quality of teaching is up to par. Any school found violating the ban will face strict repercussions.

The country’s Ministry of Education found that the quality of education on a primary level was lacking. With the country’s overall literacy rate at 70.2 percent, the ban is the result of a desire to shift focus away from exam results and improve teachers’ instruction skills. This step provides a ray of hope for access to education in Uganda.

Because teachers are so crucial in the quality of education, the first focus for access to education in Uganda is teaching capabilities. The Ministry of Education has embarked on massive training program of teachers at all levels, called the Teacher Training Education Project. The project aims not only to train the teachers, but also to make sure that they have the necessary equipment for teaching, and that they are able to be supportive to their colleagues, according to a report on the project by the Ministry of Education.

The ban on entry exams is good news, but there are still other factors that Ugandans must overcome in order to attend school, such as finances. Tuition at the primary level is free; however, families tend to struggle with paying for school-related expenses such as books. Tuition to secondary-level schooling is free only if a student does well on his or her Primary Leaving Exams.

The dissolution of the entry exams is a step in the right direction regarding access to education in Uganda, but there are still many more steps to take in the future. If the country wants to ensure that quality of education endures, further measures, such as continuous teacher training and free schooling and supplies, must be taken.

– Dezanii Lewis

Photo: Flickr

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Education Flourishes as Infrastructure in Bolivia Improves

infrastructure in BoliviaBolivia is a is one of the most isolated countries in South America and is landlocked, bordering Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Infrastructure in Bolivia has changed rapidly in recent years as communication has adapted to new technology. This is exemplified by the continued rapid growth of cellular phone use in the country.

Although it is often taken for granted, solid infrastructure makes a large difference, particularly for education. When the needs of the students are met, it can make a world of difference in terms of the quality of education.

Miriam Chipana, a student at Jaime Escalante School located in La Paz, was quoted as saying “it is the best school in the area since we have our own field, a computer room, better bathrooms; everything is bigger and with more light.” Another citizen, Odón Willy Barriento, a father and former student of the Luis Espinal School, agreed with this sentiment, saying “It is a momentous change; 30 years ago, we sat in abode chairs and brought wooden planks to use as writing desks. The new infrastructure encourages students to move forward.”

The improvements to infrastructure in Bolivia have come a long way in improving the quality of education in the country. There have been seven schools with more than 6,000 students in urban areas of La Paz benefiting from infrastructural improvements. Freddy Mamani, the principal at Luis Espinal School, reaffirmed this by saying “enrollment has risen, as has attendance in each class, so we are operating at full capacity.”

Despite the positive outlook for education, infrastructure in Bolivia can still be improved. There have been several steps taken to further improve infrastructure, such as the investment of $3.5 billion in infrastructure in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in 2016. This move was part of President Evo Morales’ drive to make the country’s exports more competitive. With this investment, improvements are planned for highways, airports, railways, housing and telecommunications.

Then there is the Bolivia Urban Infrastructure Project, whose development objective is to improve access to basic services to the urban poor in Bolivia. The project aims to do this through targeted infrastructure investments and the provision of technical assistance to municipalities in the planning, expansion and sustainability of urban service delivery. With these improvements planned for infrastructure in Bolivia, the future is brighter than ever.

– Drew Fox

Photo: Flickr

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E-Learning Sudan Offers Education in Conflict

According to ReliefWeb, Sudan has the highest proportion of children not in school, with more than 70 percent of children not getting an education. In this time of war, where over one-third of schools are not suitable for educational instruction due to their lack of infrastructure and location, children are being forgotten. War Child Holland has stepped up to the plate to give these children easier access to education through E-Learning Sudan.

E-Learning Sudan is an interactive learning game that is accessed through the child’s tablet and provides the stability and structure that a school in Sudan cannot. The most important aspect is that it focuses on the child’s creativity through an entertainment platform. As it is a game, it prompts the child’s competitive side, while still educating them through a program that is flexible and simple and allows their skill level to progress.

To give even more acclaim to the program, during the Dutch Game Awards on September 30, 2015, War Child Holland won the Best Co-Production award in collaboration with Ahfad University in Khartoum, Dutch Research Institute TNO and Flavor (game developer).

War Child Holland is an independent and progressive global nongovernmental organization (NGO), devoting its funds towards a harmonious future for those children and youth affected by armed conflict. According to the Huffington Post, there was a large-scale trial run in operation until March 2015, which involved 600 children in 19 villages. It aimed to generate a body of research that would clarify the impact of the project and scale it up.

According to War Child Holland director Bernard Uyttendaele, the program began with three years of the mathematics curriculum and will be expanded to other subjects. “Designed for scale, the long-term aim of the project is to enable children to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to acquire a Certificate of Primary Education. Education provides children with the opportunity to shape their own future. Communities affected by conflict prioritize education. This promising project responds to this, providing quality education opportunities directly where they are needed,” he said.

There was a research study conducted in 2016 by Hester Stubbé and his team on the effectiveness that E-Learning Sudan has had on the children. Two pilot programs revealed that E-Learning Sudan increased mathematic ability significantly and maintained the children’s motivation to continue to learn. Overall, it proves how extensively beneficial such a program is for children in at-risk countries. According to the study, the game is designed so that “the students are helped to master each learning unit before proceeding to a more advanced learning task.”

The designers also asked children to submit drawings of their environment: clothes, food, animals, plants and family. From there, the game design was created with the cultural background in mind. This makes it easier and more familiar for the children to focus their energy on learning the mathematical concepts. E-Learning Sudan has the potential of transforming the way that education during disasters is delivered. UNICEF chose this project back in 2015 as one of the only five which would be showcased globally as an educational innovation project. Its partners are now all collaborating in the development of conduits to accomplish the promise that such an initiative has of supplying children with education in affected countries.

– Nicole Suárez

Photo: Flickr

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Good News About Quality Education in Kenya

In an attempt to increase quality education in Kenya, 90,000 teachers are set to be trained. Instructors are required to participate in a government-sponsored program that will boost learning in primary schools, according to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Over the years, more and more students have had increased access to education in Kenya. As a result, the adult literacy rate is almost 80 percent whereas the regional average is 61 percent. There are still some hurdles to cross, however, as many students who attend school do not have basic reading skills upon completion. A large amount of data indicates that teacher quality contributes significantly to the learning of students, according to a report by the World Bank. It is for this reason that having trained teachers is just as important as access to education.

Around 30 percent of teachers in Kenya are untrained. The number continues to rise as the number of students attending schools increases. Fortunately, efforts are being made to ensure that teachers are well-qualified to suit the needs of their students. USAID has partnered with Kenya’s Ministry of Education (MOE) to improve education in the country. USAID and MOE are working to enhance the capabilities of the teachers and improve the reading skills of the students.

GPE and the World Bank are allocating funds to Kenya so that they are better able to train teachers and provide students with school supplies. The two organizations are granting roughly $85.5 million for the training of 90,000 teachers and $9.7 million of the grant is to be used for the distribution of math books to students. The distribution of math books helps to make school more engaging for the students. The books are colorful and attractive in nature, making them appealing to young students.

Anne Irungu, a teacher in Kenya, marvels at how much just having a textbook has changed her classroom, “…sometimes one book was shared between two or more pupils. Since they could not all move at the same pace, you would find them fighting over the book, and the books would get worn out,” she said. “Now that each pupil has his or her own book, they sit comfortably, they work comfortably, and there is no conflict.”

Having well-trained teachers is beneficial to everyone. Teachers would have access to more earnings because of their training and children would receive a quality education which would, in turn, increase their own earnings later in life and reduce economic inequality.

These factors have the potential to reduce poverty in Kenya. With grants and training, the necessary improvements for education in Kenya can be made which may potentially lead to long-lasting changes for the future.

– Dezanii Lewis

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Hong Kong: Problems and Solutions

Education in Hong Kong: Problems and Solutions

Similar to the British system, education in Hong Kong consists of a 9-year compulsory education for students aged six to 15. Before enrolling in university, most students complete 12 years of study at public or government-aided schools, which are generally free to attend. However, there also exists a private international school system that is in high demand in Hong Kong: the schools are highly competitive to enroll in and boast very high tuition and schooling fees.

The education system in Hong Kong ranks high, though there are a few evident problems. Experts claim that quite a few schools overly stress “reciting” material, which requires students to memorize information verbatim. Further, the “spoon-fed” teaching style does not allow for lively student debates or the promotion of critical thinking. There is a worry that the mechanical reciting and negative acceptance of learning materials will restrain potential creativity and imagination among students. Other major problems of the current education system include low enrolment rates in local universities as well as social and psychological problems among students due to high stress.

There are advantages of getting an education in Hong Kong: one is that the use of English is more popularized in Hong Kong, as compared to mainland China. However, with respect to the education itself, there is no major difference between schools in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The system of education in Hong Kong makes it quite difficult for local students in Hong Kong to connect with Chinese culture and mainland China. In addition, many teachers in Hong Kong are greatly influenced by Western education; thus, they are more likely to recognize the issues of freedom, democracy and human rights as opposed to strengthening their identities with the mainland region. At the moment, both primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong are encouraged by the central government of China to set up curriculums that include Chinese teaching and bilingual learning.

There have been 3,714 cultural exchange programs with nearly 60,000 participants from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macao from 2006 to 2010. Both the scale and quality of cultural exchange has grown in the past decade. The exchange programs that have been included in the education in Hong Kong encourage closing the culture gap between students of these regions.

As mentioned earlier, pressures of higher education in Hong Kong have led to increased stress among students. This is fuelled by a prevailing ideology among the Hong Kong society that nothing is achieved without attending university. More than 80,000 high school graduates compete for one of the 15,000 government-subsidized first-year university spots each year.

Greater efforts must be made to address the stress faced by students within the system of education in Hong Kong. At the moment, the Hong Kong Children and Youth Services helps those who have a tendency of violence. Its staff provides services in addition to speaking gently, listening to the youth and helping them process their thoughts with patience and empathy. The Hong Kong Youth and Children Education Center opened in 2013, offering self-sponsored services and free testing for kids of families in need. It facilitates would be capable of helping them recollect self-esteem, increase resilience and coping skills.

Education in Hong Kong is moving towards an advanced global education system while also placing efforts on fusing the cultures between mainland China and itself. Reasonable solutions and measures depend not only on efforts by the government, schools and society, but also relies on the interactions between teachers, students and their families.

– Xin Gao

Photo: Flickr

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How to Improve Education for Conflict Areas in Africa

education for conflict areasAreas of conflict have many negative effects on the citizens that inhabit those areas. One of those negative effects is the quality of education. Conflict areas in sub-Saharan Africa, where warfare is prevalent, have the highest numbers of child soldiers; 300,000 soldiers between the ages of 10 and 24 are risking their lives in armed conflicts around the world instead of getting the education that they need. Education for conflict areas should be one of the main focuses of sub-Saharan African countries.

A survey conducted by UNICEF polling in the Central African Republic, Uganda, Chad and Nigeria found that 50 percent of respondents reported that schools have been forced to shut down or been damaged due to war conflicts. Additionally, the survey also found that in Nigeria 76 percent reported disruption to education due to conflict. This percentage was even higher in Uganda where 89 percent reported disruption to education.

Damaged schools along with unsafe travel to class, absent teachers and children being forced into war are all factors disrupting students’ education. In the same UNICEF survey, half of the respondents said that education is vital to providing the skills and opportunities that are needed while also promoting peace.

Some ways to improve education for conflict areas in African countries are to involve and correlate U.N. agencies, non-government organizations and local governments to respond to conflicts and promote education. Another way to improve education in areas of conflict is to create programs that are youth led and that promote nonviolence and tolerance. By promoting peace to youths it will encourage students to get an education as well as teach them to promote peace for future generations.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a nonprofit dedicated to bettering education around the world. GPE has been developing programs for youths out of school, including programs for education for conflict areas. These programs include developing ways to identify the number of children out of school and understanding the main obstacle to education. GPE also conducts assessments to create strategies and plans to promote education within individual countries’ governments and to create a dialogue with local education groups. The dialogue between local education groups gives support to decisions on promoting education.

The Effective Support in Fragile and Conflict-affected States policy by the GPE along with its Guidelines for Accelerated Support in Emergency and Early Recovery Situations is one example of how GPE is directly helping conflict areas such as the Central African Republic. These two policies coordinate decisions about how to utilize resources in crisis settings. One technique for doing this is to shift those decisions to non-governmental providers so that people get direct service during acute crises.

– Deanna Wetmore

Photo: Flickr

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Misconceptions About Gender in Education

Misconceptions about gender in educationApproximately 115 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school. Another 37 million African children will learn so little in school that attending may not be as advantageous as saving money or putting the children to work. However, education is paramount for improving the economic status of individuals and improving the social and economic standing of communities.

In general, the cost of attending public schools in developing nations is the responsibility of students, families and faculty. Books, supplies and teachers’ salaries are usually the responsibility of students’ families. Cost is only one reason for low school attendance.

Of the children not enrolled in schools, 53 percent are girls. In many cases, girls are denied schooling as a result of the misconceptions about gender in education which place less value on educating girls as opposed to educating boys. The belief centers on traditional gender roles which place more value on women in the home.

Some of the top barriers to education around the world include lack of funding, teachers, classrooms and materials as well as the exclusion of girls and children with disabilities. The reasons for these barriers differ across borders but there are explanations that blame the inequality on misconceptions about gender in education in terms of future success, wages and family planning.

The following facts have been determined to debunk common misconceptions about gender in education in developing nations:

  • Educated women and girls are less vulnerable to HIV as well as various forms of exploitation.
  • Each additional year of education mothers receive reduces child mortality by two percent.
  • Each additional year of schooling for women is associated with a 10 to 20 percent wage increase.
  • Women re-invest 90 percent of their income into their families

Studies have also shown successes in longer school weeks in countries like Colombia. Longer school weeks keep students occupied and prevent exposure to commonly risky situations. Improving access to education for girls has a vast economic impact which increases families’ ability to afford to send more children to school and allows parents to work longer.

This information has spurred initiatives to improve education worldwide specifically for young girls. One initiative is the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) whose top priority is ensuring access to complete and quality education for girls with the aim to increase the percentage of girls completing primary school from 74 percent to 84 percent by 2018.

There are several pieces of legislation that have been introduced that aim to improve education and economic status for women. These include the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act and the Reach Every Mother and Child Act.

The most recent success for legislative activism is the passing of the Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development Act that promotes universal access to basic education for children across the globe especially girls. These acts are reliant upon constituent action so it is important to contact congressional leaders to support them.

– Rebekah Korn

Photo: Flickr

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4 Reasons Why Women’s Education Leads To Less Poverty

4 Reasons Why Women's Education Leads To Less PovertyDr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” But the inverse can also be true. When a socially marginalized group gains access to rights and opportunities, it can benefit everyone around them. This statement holds true for women’s rights. History has proven that easy access to women’s education leads to less poverty. Here are four examples that support this claim.

Women’s education results in better family planning

Niger is not only one of the world’s poorest countries, but it boasts one of the world’s highest birth rates. Women from Niger each give birth to an average of 7.6 children. The country sees large families as a sign of power and wealth. But “it’s impossible to feed, educate and care for all these children in the short term,” according to the nation’s family planning division.

Niger developed Project Sawki to teach women about birth control, family planning and forced marriages. Their goal is to encourage smaller family sizes. Aid workers created this project to let women speak freely about their marriages and future. “Husband schools” also exist in Niger to teach men the benefits of family planning through educated women.

The BBC, reporting on Niger, concludes that, “Education appears to be the key to reducing the number of babies born.”

Countries that invest in schooling become richer and healthier

Women’s education leads to less poverty, but also to several other benefits. UNICEF studied how countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America changed by investing in women’s advancement. The investing countries found an increase in economic development, income per family and health. Human trafficking and child mortality rates for those same nations declined. By contrast, the countries in the study who did not invest in educating women were met with reduced income and slowed growth.

Female empowerment comes from female choices

The ultimate obstacle to women’s empowerment, according to The Guardian, is the culture they live in. Women not only contribute 70 percent of the world’s working hours, they also make up 70 percent of the world’s poor. The most limiting factor to a girl’s future can be the people closest to her. These limitations take the form of a neighbor shaming a school-attending girl, or a parent arranging a girl’s marriage. If women’s economic choices are tied to their families then they will have few tools in escaping poverty.

The World Bank supports gender equality in addition to poverty elimination. It does so by providing resources to impoverished women while promoting gender equality in the household. The result is large development payoffs in society.

Education, in general, leads to less poverty

The American Prospect (TAP) looks into the complications of integrating education into an anti-poverty initiative. It is certain that both men and women’s education leads to less poverty. However, TAP notes how education only fights poverty in places where economic returns are viable and achievable for those with higher learning. Workers require a context wherein they can be rewarded for their skills and can see the benefits of the growth they help create.

Job training improves the quality of workers for a global market, which allows poorer nations to benefit from their wealthy peers. Supporting women’s education will create the context where girls can improve their lives and improve the world at the same time.

In 2017, Congress introduced the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings act. Through providing women’s education, the United States can bring about the positive changes recorded, and predicted, by the BBC, UNICEF, The Guardian and The American Prospect. If you are an American citizen, you can support this bill at The Borgen Project’s website.

– Nick Edinger

Photo: Flickr

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U.S. Colleges Provide Education to Puerto Rican Students

Despite having occurred nearly two months ago, Hurricane Maria, a category five hurricane, wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, with relief efforts unable to catch up with the severity of the storm. In the day after the storm, the entire island had lost power, five percent of the island had cell service and only 40 percent of gas stations were equipped with supplies. Forty-five days later, only 41 percent of the island has power, 92 percent has cell service and 84 percent of gas stations are up and running.

The catastrophic nature of the storm has also had implications for education. Three weeks after the storm, nearly half of all primary and secondary schools on the island remained closed. College students, too, have been displaced by the storm, making it impossible for them to gain access to education on the island. However, U.S. colleges have sought to ameliorate this problem by providing education to Puerto Rican students for the Spring 2018 semester.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, some students had already started classes by rerouting themselves to Florida, where tuition discounts were being offered to those whose home institutions were unable to reopen. For Puerto Rican and U.S. Virgin Islands students, the State University of New York system, which includes schools like Binghamton, Purchase and Geneseo, made the decision to reduce their tuition to the rate of New York state residents. Rather than pay nearly $40,000 a year to attend, student rates would be approximately $25,000, leaving more fluidity for family assets to go toward home reparation, water access, etc.

Other large U.S. universities have also offered to provide education to Puerto Rican students starting in the spring. Tulane University, Brown University, Cornell University and New York University each have opened their doors to students from Puerto Rico. New York University will provide 50 students with free tuition, housing, health insurance and a meal plan for the spring semester. Tulane opened its doors to Puerto Rican students tuition-free. Cornell offered up to 58 students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) free tuition, room and board. Finally, Brown University shared that they would offer similar amenities plus assistance with travel to students at UPR.

Liberal arts colleges, too, have offered Puerto Rican and U.S. Virgin Islands students the opportunity to attend for the spring semester. Amherst College—one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation—has offered to cover tuition and fees, room and board, books, transportation, health insurance and students’ spring tuition at their home institutions. Though their program is similar to that offered by other institutions, Amherst’s is unique by paying the students’ home schools for their missed semesters so as not to financially detriment them, as well.

In looking to provide education to Puerto Ricans affected by Hurricane Maria, these programs will manage to accommodate a wide number of students who may otherwise not be able to gain access to education for the spring semester. With continued support to the island nation, by the end of the year, education to Puerto Rican students of all ages will be back on track.

– Emily Chazen

Photo: Flickr