Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Female Education in Lesotho Highest in the World

female education in lesotho
The gender gap favoring males in education is largest in low-income countries. But in Lesotho, a small, poor, landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, the gender gap in education favors females. The ratio of female-to-male enrollment rates in secondary education is the highest in the world, with 1.6 females enrolled for every male.

“This is really, really unusual in the developing world,” says Theresa Ulicki, a professor of Gender and Development Studies at Dalhousie University.

Female education in Lesotho is a result of male outmigration to South Africa, which was triggered by high unemployment and poverty. In the late 20th century, over half of the Basotho male population emigrated to South Africa for better wage-earning opportunities. Because cross-border migration to South Africa was almost exclusively male — with most Basotho males staying in South Africa from adolescence to retirement — women outnumbered men in the general population by a ratio of four-to-one.

Employment rates of Basotho men in South Africa have since declined, but the same norms govern gender differences in education and labor force participation. Most males of primary school age are involved in cattle-herding— a practice that requires young boys to withdraw from school and tend cattle for their families — and many male adolescents withdraw from school to find employment in South Africa.

Equal access to education and employment does not necessarily result in gender equality. In Lesotho, the gender gap in education is in some sense evidence of the lower perceived value of women. Women’s literacy rates and other levels of education are higher than those for men, yet most Basotho women work jobs that have lower status and pay.

Other indications of gender inequality in Lesotho include gender‐based violence and related developmental problems. Gender-based violence is a serious problem in Lesotho, where females are marginalized, making them susceptible to HIV/AIDS, abuse and rape. In 2011, the rate of sexual assault in Lesotho was among the highest in the world, with 88.6 rape cases per 100,000 female inhabitants. In 2016, Lesotho had one of the highest numbers of new HIV infections worldwide. Illegal marriages are also prevalent, with 19 percent of Basotho females under age 18 being forced into illegal marriages, often with older men.

Education is a central element in economic development and social progress. However, female education in Lesotho shows that ensuring equal access to education is an important but insufficient step toward social development.

– Gabrielle Doran

Photo: Flickr

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Why Education Matters, Especially in Times of Crisis

When a developing country is in crisis or conflict, education is an area that suffers immensely. Education is a transitional platform that propels students in developing nations out of the cycle of poverty if implemented consistently. However, the relationship between education and conflict is negatively correlated: though education helps prevent conflict and crisis, once conflict and crises arise, education suffers.

Today, one in six children ages three to 15 are directly affected when a country experiences conflict and crisis. This number in itself explains why education matters, especially for these primary and secondary school-aged children.

According to the U.N.’s tracking of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), “in countries affected by conflict, the proportion of out-of-school children increased from 30 percent in 1999 to 36 percent in 2012.” In 2015, in succession to the MDGs, the U.N. established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new SDGs pledge to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all.” This objective exemplifies the international importance of the universal human right to education.

So, if all people have the right to education, why are children in conflict left out?

The World Economic Forum found a recent OECD report that details why education matters economically. According to the report, “providing every child with access to education and the skills needed to participate fully in society would boost GDP by an average 28 percent per year in lower-income countries.” Conflict and crises have an expensive effect on the economy of the affected country. From 2011 to 2016, for example, the war in Syria exacerbated cumulative losses of $226 billion to the country’s GDP. The correlation between conflict and the economy is buffered when access to education persists. 

The World Economic Forum points out that there are 37 million out-of-school children and youth in countries affected by conflict and crisis. This translates to about 33 percent of out-of-school students across the globe. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) estimates that it will only cost $74 annually to educate each child affected by conflict and crisis. If these students remained in school during times of crisis, the economic consequences, like in Syria, might not be so drastic. 

An infographic published by the GPE looks at the relationship between education and conflict or crisis. When a conflict or protracted crisis arises, no matter what the cause, schools are commonly destroyed or used for strategic purposes. In Yemen, BBC reports, “more than 1,700 schools are currently unfit for use due to conflict-related damage, the hosting of displaced people or occupation by armed groups.” During violence and rebellion, children and teachers are targeted and forced to flee. Education suffers immensely as a result of conflict and crisis and is difficult to reestablish. 

The GPE infographic contrasts the detrimental effects of conflict and crisis to education with the promising relief education can bring in these situations. For each year of education, the risk of conflict reduces by 20 percent. And, if the average secondary school enrollment rate increases by only 10 percent, the risk of war will reduce by three percent.

Education not only reduces the risk of conflict and crisis, it provides opportunities for citizens to stimulate the economy and support democratic processes. The GPE further points out that, “across 18 Sub-Saharan African countries, people with a primary school education are 1.5 times more likely to support democratic processes.”

When nations experience tension like conflict or protracted crisis, education empirically suffers. However, if education can become a developmental focus, as in the U.N. SDGs plan, the risk of conflict and crisis in developing countries can correspondingly decrease. From encouraging future growth to maintaining socioeconomic homeostasis, it is easy to see why education matters, especially in times of crises and conflict.

– Eliza Gresh

Photo: Flickr

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Tumultuous Times Spark Education Reforms in Brazil

BrazilBy hosting both the Football World Cup and the Summer Olympic Games in recent years, Brazil put the focus of the world’s attention firmly upon itself. In the resulting spotlight, many Brazilian citizens took the unique opportunity to voice concerns to the Brazilian government, with the wider world audience looking on. Protests and reform movements abounded in the past decade as a rapidly widening middle class made unprecedented demands in Brazil’s increasingly mobile and globally integrated society.

Among these movements, students and teachers in Brazil banded together to protest deficiencies in an education system that has long underserved Brazil’s citizens. In 2016, protestors occupied hundreds of schools nationwide to bring attention to the country’s needs.

In response to the protests and upheavals of the past few years, governments at every level in Brazil are beginning initiatives to address educational shortfalls. In many areas, education reforms in Brazil look familiar to readers from the United States. Ideas like performance pay for teachers and turning school management over to private charter organizations are spreading throughout the country at a rapid rate.

Application of the new American-inspired techniques is inconsistent however, and most education reforms in Brazil are still too new to evaluate effectively. In particular, schools in large urban centers are innovating at a faster rate than systems in less developed areas of the country. Regardless, enthusiasm is high. Many of the movements are being fueled by the personal initiative of teachers, who are in some ways pulling their more conservative institutions forward with them.

Technology in Brazilian schools shows a similarly inconsistent yet hopeful picture. Schools in Rio de Janeiro, for example, are leaders in educational technology use in South America. In Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city, one nonprofit foundation leads an initiative to translate and implement the Khan Academy materials for use in Brazilian schools. This popular online curriculum and method now features in hundreds of Brazilian schools reaching over 70,000 students.

In addition to the visible presence of the popular video-based curriculum, officials at the Lemann Foundation are even more excited about the potential for the support material and quality measurement features of the Khan Academy method. They see these “back end” features as creating real lasting value for future advances in Brazil’s schools.

Still, regions outside of the country’s largest cities have not progressed as quickly. Internet speeds to schools in Brazil are one unexpected challenge. While Brazil is a world leader in mobile internet infrastructure, most connections to schools do not reach the 2Mbps threshold considered ideal for the delivery of online materials. Fortunately, one potential solution to this challenge is on the way. KALite, a compressed, offline version of the Khan Academy materials, is now being implemented in areas with less robust infrastructure.

Some of these tech-heavy initiatives are showing early signs of success. Brazilian students using these self-paced, interactive tools are more likely to show up to class, and anecdotal reports indicate a higher level of morale and enthusiasm as well.

Brazil instituted compulsory primary education in the 1980s, after the end of military rule. In many ways, that change was impressively successful. Literacy rates, for example, are far higher today than in the latter half of the 20th century, and enrollment has strongly improved. Still, educational attainment lags behind nations at a similar stage of development. Brazil’s education system is ranked 105th in quality out of 122 nations by the World Economic Forum.

As time passes, results from more structural changes will be seen as well, and time will tell whether the legacy of these education reforms in Brazil will garner the same attention as the sporting events that precipitated their beginning.

– Paul Robertson

Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Poverty Through Education: A Look at 3 Major Initiatives

reducing poverty through education
Education is often widely viewed as one of the fundamental pillars used to eradicate global poverty. According to Global Citizen, “61 million school-age children are not in school today,” and many trends show that education is perhaps the strongest tool to reduce extremism and bring world peace. Fortunately, the United States Agency for International Development has made tremendous progress in the realm of education.

Utilizing less than one percent of the total federal budget, “literacy rates are up 33 percent worldwide in the last 25 years, and primary school enrollment has tripled in that period.” In order to tackle global poverty, there must be a collective effort from grassroots movements to provide the necessary resources that foster opportunities for those in need. Some governments have made tremendous improvements in this regard, providing sustainable initiatives towards reducing poverty through education.

Chad

In Chad, the Global Partnership for Education responded in a timely fashion by providing nearly $7 million to the Ministry of Education in 2016 as a response to the 2016 conflict. This grant was not only allocated towards assisting the humanitarian relief crisis at the time, but was also used to provide education for refugees and displaced returnees.

According to the United Nations Education Index, Chad ranks 184th in the world in terms of its educational levels; nearly one in five children lived in poverty in 2015. In Hong Kong, a recent study came out affirming that “children who grow up in low-income households tend to have less access to opportunities and therefore are more likely to remain poor in adulthood.”

Many parents are strong proponents of education as they would like to invest in their children’s future, especially if they come from a predominantly poor household. The kinds of benefits procured from education help youths to break out of the poverty cycle and potentially become primary contributors to their country’s economy.

Additionally, income level persists when a child is enrolled in formal education. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have reduced poverty through initiatives in education such as developing workshops and extended learning opportunities.

Ghana

A headmistress at a recent school conference in Ghana recently lauded the value of education in society, claiming it “is the only means through which one could bridge the poverty and knowledge gaps in society.” Mrs. Elizabeth Ama Asare also stressed the importance of education towards economic empowerment, asserting that without it, “you cannot dine with the rich” or “reason with the professors.”

Her remarks were made in light of the commencement of the Government’s Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, one of the many significant initiatives towards reducing poverty through education.

In Ghana, World Vision International (WVI) has played an integral role in improving the lives of children and levels of education in 10 basic schools in Kpikira. The WVI’s efforts include educating the youth on maintaining general hygiene, and fighting to end the practice of child-marriage that’s embedded in many communities.

According to the article, “ending child-marriage could help the district achieve at least eight of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, including health, education, and poverty.”

Israel

Additionally, the Haredi community in Israel is beginning to more strongly promote education. Characterized by traditional Jewish Law, the Haredi are marrying less and focusing more on their higher education. As seen in 2017, the number of Haredi enrolled in higher education spiked from 1,000 to 10,800. The Haredi community constitutes 16 percent of Israel’s population, and is set to increase monumentally to 40 percent by 2065.

If governments, international organizations and charities actively come together, then bridging the poverty gap can become an achievable task. Those living in destitute areas can benefit through the creation of institutions that enhance learning perspectives and opportunities. Such robust initiatives in reducing poverty through education are vital in paving the way for those who learn in a classroom environment to pursue a better life.

– Alexandre Dumouza
Photo: Flickr

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A Cyclical Dilemma: How Lack of Education Creates Poverty

lack of education creates poverty
The connection between lack of education and poverty is of a cyclical nature, with each one leading to the other. Documentation of how lack of education creates poverty dates as early as the 1966 publication of the Coleman Report, as this report demonstrated that, when compared to their middle and upper-income counterparts, lower income students were less likely to perform well in school.

When looking at the connection between education and poverty, it is essential to consider a variety of factors, including health and women’s empowerment. Since each of these factors is improved when people are better educated, improving these factors then helps to decrease global poverty.

Education and Health

Educated people are less likely to suffer from poor health since they better understand how to prevent the contraction of various diseases. A study in Uganda demonstrated that in rural Uganda, those who were educated were 75 percent less likely to suffer from HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS rates are cut in half among younger people who are educated through primary school.

Education is also linked to maternal health and the health of children. When mothers are more educated, they are more likely to seek care during pregnancy, and they are better equipped to care for their children. Mothers that are educated are 50 percent more likely to seek immunization for their children than mothers who have no schooling.

Additionally, children of educated mothers are over twice as likely to live to the age of five than children of uneducated mothers. Statistics documenting the link between education and health — specifically the health of women and mothers — also demonstrate how education improves women’s empowerment.

Education and Women’s Empowerment

Young girls who are educated are less likely to marry at a young age. This fact means that they have a higher chance of entering into the workforce and not relying on their husbands and families for financial support. Women’s empowerment through education is another factor that demonstrates how lack of education creates poverty.

Women who are educated are able to develop better decision-making skills which allow them to succeed in the workforce. For women who are educated beyond grades three and four, each additional year of education leads to 20 percent higher wages, a fact that clearly demonstrates the link between education and poverty.

How to Improve

Research clearly indicates that if people lack the basic skills to read and do simple math, they will be less likely to get a job. An inability to get a job creates a clear pathway to poverty; however, lowering school fares and increasing investment in the education sector are key ingredients in improving the amount of educated people.

Between the years 2002 and 2007, an estimated 40 million more children were able to attend school, according to the Global Campaign for Education. This increase in educational attendance was due to a variety of factors including lowering school fares in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, and the increase in investment in education in Latin America.

Though many people claim that poverty is what causes poor education, they fail to recognize the complicated cyclical nature of the dilemma as a whole. In fact, many studies demonstrate how lack of education creates poverty. With the proper investment in education, more people can have access to education, enter the workforce and not fall into poverty.

– Haley Rogers

Photo: Flickr

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Rural Education in Jiangsu Province of China

education in jiangsuAs one of the largest provinces in education, Jiangsu is located on the southeast coast of China. In the past decades, rural education in Jiangsu saw great achievements, while the problems and deficiencies in Jiangsu’s education system are also transparent.

In 2016, the average length of education in Jiangsu was 9.5 years. In rural regions of Jiangsu, gender differences in education had been generally eliminated. The annual budget for educational investment indicated a 30 percent increase compared to five years prior. In the last five years, besides the enlarging scale of preliminary education, compulsory education displayed balanced development, and the number of students in higher education showed a 5 percent annual increase with equal opportunities to rural areas.

While the discrepancies in education between urban and rural areas are gradually shrinking, deficiencies and problems in rural education in Jiangsu remain. Students in Jiangsu are enduring top pressures in the 12 years before college entrance. Many rural schools, especially senior high schools in Jiangsu, have harsh schedules requiring students to arrive at school before 6:30 am and return home after 9:30 pm.

By the end of 2016, there were still 2.76 million rural people living below the poverty line in Jiangsu. Kids from poor farming families require sponsorship from charities for book allowances, food, clothing and school supplies. For instance, a German charity named as the Pfrang Association based in Nanjing, supported multiple classes at Xiaoliji Middle School in the Lianshui county of Jiangsu Province.

Another significant problem with rural education in Jiangsu comes from the imbalance of subjects. Since a few courses such as music and art, were not counted towards the total score on all sorts of entrance exams, these subjects often lose out to major parts of the curriculum such as Chinese, Mathematics and English. It is not unusual to see rural senior high schools sacrificing physical classes privately in order to make up classes on main subjects.

On Nov. 18, 2016, Jiangsu set up an educational target in the thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), aiming at building an education system with more completeness and dynamics, for better equality and quality of education especially in rural areas. A variety of schemes have been proposed to support 280,000 rural teachers in Jiangsu, which include improving the status of working and living, holding regular training and providing more opportunities for tutorial exchanges. It aims to attract more teachers to enjoy teaching in rural areas of Jiangsu.

In early November 2017, a group of 84 foreign students from 37 countries participating in the Experience China Event visited Huaxi village in Jiangyin, a national model place in Jiangsu for rural developments.

Rural education in Jiangsu province of China has challenges and opportunities now and into the future. Improving and promoting education in this area urges both practical measures and feasible planning.

– Xin Gao

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China

Education in NingxiaNingxia, known as Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is located in the northwest of China. This region of about 6.7 million people is surrounded by Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Gansu. People of the Hui ethnicity make up more than one-third of the population in Ningxia. The steady and continuous progress of education in Ningxia has taken place since it was founded in 1958.

Until now, the nine-year system of compulsory education in Ningxia has established an enrollment rate of more than 98 percent. There are nine universities and ten professional colleges. Standards of higher education and vocational education for adults are high.

Last year, education in Ningxia reached a number of milestones. A total of 69 kindergartens were newly set up or restructured, the heating facilities of 1,086 schools were renovated and rural schools ended the use of stove heating. Nine vocational training centers were built. A total of 313,000 people received financial aid from the Student Financial Assistance Project and 280,000 students were benefited by the Nutrition Improvement Program.

Compared to the last century, great changes have taken place for education in Ningxia. However, regarding the overall quality of education in this region, there remain significant disparities compared to the well-developed southeastern provinces of China.

Firstly, there is an observable gap between education in urban and rural areas. By the end of 2016, there were still 43.7 percent of people living in rural areas of Ningxia. About 380,000 rural people live below the poverty line. Take the Chencha Primary School as an example. It is the most remote school in the countryside, about 250 miles away from Yinchuan. Due to the inconvenience of lacking transportation services, each of the 48 students across five grades has no option but to walk a long distance to school.

The second problem is the ethnic disparities in education. In October 2014, an investigation on ethnic disparities concluded that the Hui children have a shorter period of education than the ethnic majority and that this had been occurring for generations. Sample statistics showed that while urban males in Hui and Han ethnicities had an average of 11 years’ education, in rural Ningxia, male Hui had 1.4 fewer years of education on average than rural male Han. However, many senior women of rural Hui only had a couple of years’ education and their illiteracy rates in poor, remote areas were high.

Gender inequality in education accompanies this ethnicity problem. It was reported that in rural Ningxia, Hui females had two fewer years of education on average than those of Hui males. Meanwhile, in some Hui families with multiple children, it is likely for parents to put the education of younger boys above that of girls and older boys. Due to the relatively low attendance rate of Hui girls, education in that region was lower, which restricts the overall development of education.

A recent investigation on the lifestyle transformation of Hui Muslim women in Ningxia found that higher education is correlated with avoiding early marriage. Meanwhile, some rural Hui families regard education as unnecessary for women. While the enrollment of primary schools had reached 99 percent in Ningxia, quite a few rural girls terminated their education in grade three or four.

In the Chinese government’s thirteenth five-year plan, the local government in Ningxia will be part of a plan to improve the overall education level of China by 2020. A total of 15,000 new kindergartens are expected to be constructed in poor villages across this region.

These policies will address poverty-related issues and provide aid to minority students and poor families attain education in Ningxia. Global giving with online donations is another measure to support scholarships for girls in rural families of Ningxia.

Better education in Ningxia demands reliable support from all individuals and broader society now and in the future.

– Xin Gao

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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