Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Education in Spain Requires Immediate Improvements

  • Education in Spain

Education in Spain is a broad and extended topic. Although the federal form of government in the country resides in Madrid, and is lead by the prime minister Mariano Rajoy, the country is divided within 17 autonomous regions that have smaller forms of government within each one. This leads to some schools in Spain teaching Spanish in the particular dialect from each region, such as in Catalonia, the Basque country, Galicia and more.

The Spanish schooling system is divided within three categories: public schools, private schools and state-funded private schools. Regardless of public schools being completely funded by the state, thus free of charge for the students who attend such schools, class materials, books and sometimes uniforms still need to be paid with citizens’ own money.

Sunken within the 2008 economic crisis, the European country of Spain has just now started to recover its economy and generate interest, breaking the loop that has positioned the country at the second highest unemployment rate within the European Union, Greece taking the first place. The sector that has been most affected by the economic crisis of the past several years has been public education in Spain. This issue has been a notoriously increasing one since the economic crisis started, due to extreme budget cuts on the public schooling system within the European country.

Prime minister Mariano Rajoy declared José Ignacio Wert as the minister for education in the year of 2011, and from then to 2015, when Wert was substituted by Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, education was greatly affected. From the year 2012 to 2013, public schools’ teaching systems declined when sharp cuts forced the government to leave up to 25,000 teachers unemployed. Public universities’ tuition fees increased by 66 percent, taking Spanish citizens out on the street to protest the dreadful management that increased the numbers of people who could not afford education for their families.

The main consequence regarding these issues has been the increase of school dropouts, which stood at an alarming rate of 25 percent in 2014, the highest school dropout rate in the European Union. However, there is good news. Even with high levels of poverty, education in Spain was ranked as having the 12th lowest inequality gap for students of all the countries in Europe.

Spanish residents fight for a better schooling system and education in Spain everyday. The lack of teachers, economic resources and the increase of students per class have lead to a series of educational strikes in order to make the Spanish government understand and respond to the gravity of the issue.

– Paula Gibson

Photo: Flickr

Hagwons in South Korea

Hagwons in South Korea

In an interview with BBC News, 16-year-old Hye-Min Park explains that her studious efforts are all in the name of achieving her dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher. Attending hagwons in South Korea is a part of that journey.

A day in the life of a South Korean Student

Park leaves her home for school at 7:30 a.m. which she attends until 4:00 p.m. She returns home for a quick bite, leaving again for private lessons at her hagwon from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

After her hagwon lessons conclude, she heads back to school for a study session until 11 p.m. Once she gets home, she continues studying until 2 a.m. Her alarm is set for 6:30 a.m. to wake up later that morning to do it all over again.

Despite seeming like a long and intensive day, Park explains that she is able to forget her hardships when she sees her efforts pay off in the form of good marks at school.

What is a hagwon?

Hagwons are for-profit private institutions throughout South Korea that students often attend in substitution of public kindergarten or preschool, as an after-school program and sometimes both.

Some have nick-named these institutions “crammers” as hagwons in South Korea typically teach a fast-paced curriculum in various subjects including English grammar, mathematics, fine arts and music.

Nearly 100,000 hagwons can be found throughout the country, and 95 percent of students have taken lessons from these institutions by the time they graduate high school.

The Cost

South Korean parents spent over $15 billion, or 18 trillion Korean Won, on private education annually. That’s more than triple the average Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country’s expenditure on private education, and more than anywhere else in the world.

The hagwon structure may be evolving the educational system, acting as a market in which supply and demand rule all.

Three-quarters of Korean students prefer their hagwon lessons to their day school classes. Sohn Kwang Kyun, a math teacher at Sky Education (a top-grossing hagwon), thinks this is because hagwons are consumer-oriented. Hagwon lessons match students’ abilities with the appropriate lessons and pace.

Choi Jung Yoon is also a teacher at Sky Ed. Yoon believes that the preference towards hagwons is also because they are elective; because students elect to take them, they are more engaged.

But how optional are they? The importance of gaining admission into top universities fuels the demand for supplementary lessons from private institutions like hagwons. Further, increasing competition may necessitate hagwon attendance.

The price of hagwons may come at another cost: a loss of interest and motivation in the formal education system and increased stress.

Self-harm was the number one cause of premature death in 2016. Self-harm claims approximately 900 lives annually and continues to be the second leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults under 30. Depression and anxiety disorders rank fourth and ninth, respectively, for health problems causing the most disability.

Hagwons in South Korea is designed to enhance students’ cognitive abilities and contribute to South Korea‘s admirable reputation of educational devotion. However, the added responsibility may also add pressure on Korean students and compromise their mental health.

– Sloan Bousselaire

Photo: Flickr

10 Things to Know about Education in Nauru

Education in Nauru

Nauru is a south Pacific island with a population of approximately 10,000. Roughly 1000 of these people are detainees – refugees who have attempted to reach Australia or New Zealand by boat. While education in Nauru is mandatory and provided by the government, the educational experience for Nauruan children and the children of detainees is very different. Below are 10 things to know about education in Nauru.

  1. Primary, secondary and tertiary education are compulsory in Nauru; children who are citizens of the Republic spend an average of nine years in school.
  2. Nauru boasts an exemplary literacy rate of 95.3 percent.
  3. The Nauru federal government gears its education system toward creating productive citizens suited to take advantage of specialized training outside of Nauru.
  4. According to the national government of Nauru, “training and educating the People of Nauru is the Government of Nauru and the Department of Education’s priority to prepare and equip Nauru’s future generations.” However, as few as 15 percent of asylum seekers’ and refugees’ children in Nauru go to community schools because of physical harassment and bullying.
  5. Nauru has 11 community schools, including three elementary and two secondary schools (Nauru Secondary School and Nauru College). The Able/Disable Centre is open for children with special needs. Education at these schools is free.
  6. Located in Aiwo District, Nauru is the Nauru Campus of the University of the South Pacific (USP). USP started teaching distance courses in the 1970s and established a local campus in 1987.
  7. Missionary Philip Delaporte established the first public schools, teaching boys and girls to read and write in the Nauru language. In 1923, the joint administration of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand made education required and established an English language curriculum.
  8. Overcrowding is an issue at the local schools. Senior male Nauruan classes contain as many as 50 students.
  9. The federal government closed the refugee and asylum seeker education program run by Save the Children in 2015, despite a nearly 90 percent attendance rate. Presently, refugee children must attend local schools.
  10. The Regional Processing Center converted the onsite school into an office, a gym and a leisure area for detention center staff.

Despite putting into place the means for free public education, the Nauruan government must improve conditions for detainee children and refugee youth. Without ensuring the safety of these students, improving the system of education in Nauru will not be a successful venture.

– Heather Hopkins

Photo: Flickr

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Education in the UAE

Education in the UAE

Education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone significant changes since the small Arab nation was founded in 1971. At that time, options for students were few and far between, but this has changed significantly in recent years.

The UAE currently offers every citizen education completely free, from kindergarten to even university. The government even funds the educational endeavors of students if they seek to further their studies abroad. Moreover, the literacy rate in the UAE is 93.1 percent for males and 95.8 percent for females, according to recent estimates. This is a significant increase from the rate of adult literacy in 1975, which was only 54 percent for men and 31 percent for women.

University enrollment rates similarly paint a more optimistic picture of the educational landscape in the UAE. About 95 percent of all girls in their final year of high school apply to university, while 80 percent of males in their final year of high school apply to university. However, education in the UAE still requires improvements in order to produce competitive students in today’s world. This is evidenced by the goals of the UAE Vision 2021, the government’s five-year plan to push the country to innovate and develop, where education is given immense importance in order to secure the future prosperity of the nation on the world stage. The UAE hopes to diversify its economy, especially by investing in the very citizens who are likely to play a major role in its future growth.

Furthermore, the benefits of improving education in the UAE are by no means vague or illusory. Indeed, Dubai Cares, the philanthropic organization based in the UAE, attempts to address poverty across the globe by means of education. This program is devoted to combating poverty and hunger through education via a variety of means – one, in particular, is to establish school programs that ensure the children are being fed in countries ranging from Ghana to Palestine. Dubai Cares firmly believes that in education lies the key to effectively fighting poverty. Another prominent example is investing in girls’ education, believing that doing so enlightens others and results in health benefits that will affect future generations.

The intersection of education and philanthropy is hardly a surprise. Educating others gives them the tools to make proper decisions that are in their long-term interest. It helps them pull themselves out of poverty and also avoid it in the future. The future returns of such an endeavor cannot be lightly dismissed since educated parents are likely to instill the same values in the younger generation.

– Mohammad Hasan Javed

Photo: Flickr

Education in Moldova Shows Encouraging Improvement

Education in MoldovaEducation in Moldova includes five tiers. Students enter school at the age of six and graduate at 17, and the school year runs from September to July, similar to American school systems. Introduction to the educational system begins with primary school until age 10. Secondary education is split into lower and upper secondary cycles. Lower secondary, grades five to nine, is called gymnasium. Gymnasium graduates must pass an entrance exam to qualify for Lyceum before admittance.

Upper secondary—or lyceum—includes grades 10 through 12. Graduating from lyceum qualifies students to receive their “Scoala Medie de Cultră general,” or general certificate of completion. Students may also be awarded a Diploma de Bacalaureat if they opt to take and pass the national baccalaureate exam.

Higher education is offered by both private and public universities, academies and institutes. Getting a degree from any of these can take four to five years depending on the chosen upper secondary education. Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral studies are also available.

The Moldovan Constitution guarantees that state public education be free and all citizens have the right to access to education. Higher education in Moldova is more or less free. Tuition fees for students living off-campus is an average of 5000 Moldovan Lei, or $280.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) occurs every three years in order to test the effectiveness of education in Moldova, with a two-hour-long exam on math, science and reading for 15-year old students. The program is a global effort that engages over half a million students from 72 countries in order to evaluate education systems worldwide.

PISA encourages the development of facilitative learning environments and improved educational systems for low and middle-income countries and aims for inclusive learning for all students. PISA is designed to assess students’ ability to apply what they have learned in school to real-life situations. The organization’s main goal is to measure a country’s effectiveness in preparing students for success in higher education and a professional career.

In 2009, Moldova scored below average in all areas of study according to PISA test results. However, in 2015, Moldovan students had a 15-point increase in the sciences, a 28-point increase in reading and a 23-point increase in math. Equity rankings between boys and girls and social backgrounds are about equal.

In 2013, the Moldovan government devised and instituted pivotal changes that may be responsible for improved scores: increased funding and academic accountability. Increased financing for public educational institutions has undoubtedly improved conditions.

The implementation of the Education Management Information system (EMIS) which includes information about a school’s ranking and performance marks, has motivated schools to improve their quality of education. This also allows parents to make informed decisions when choosing a school for their child.

The students’ PISA scores offer a hopeful insight into education in Moldova. Although it may not be the best, it is improving.

– Sloan Bousselaire

Photo: Flickr

Education in Micronesia Leads to Economic Struggle

Education in Micronesia Leads to Economic StruggleThe Federated States of Micronesia is a country in the western Pacific Ocean and is comprised of more than 600 islands. The current system of education in Micronesia has 18.4 percent of young Micronesians reaching the college level, with 32 percent making it to high school, and just 36 percent going to elementary school, while the rest do not attend any school.

In Micronesia, the first eight years of education is mandatory, with children beginning primary school at the age of six. The curriculum in this eight-year program includes subjects such as science, mathematics, language arts, social studies and physical education. Public secondary school is available free of cost to all Micronesian students. There are also several private schools available, such as the Pohnpei Agricultural and Trade School and Xavier High School in Chuuk.

Education in Micronesia is an important part of the country’s history, as its first school, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, was the first school established in the entire Pacific. Before education was significantly built up in the late 1960s, secondary school was a privilege reserved for only a few of the very best students in the country. After the educational development of the 1960s, each district had its own secondary school and enrollment was ten times larger than it was just a few years prior.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy reversed the U.S.’ previous policy of slow-paced change and modest annual subsidies to a policy of rapid development. The U.S. doubled its annual budget for Micronesia in just one year, raising it dramatically in the following years. The yearly subsidy of $6 million in 1962 was increased eightfold to almost $50 million by 1970; within the next decade, it doubled once again, resulting in a total close to $100 million.

This shift in policy had a major effect on education in Micronesia, as its share of annual education budget stood at 10 percent in 1962 and doubled to 20 percent by the end of the decade. Despite the good intentions, education had far outpaced the economy of Micronesia.

In his article “The Price of Education in Micronesia”, Francis X. Hezel writes,”The industries that were supposed to have developed, if only enough seed money could be found and intelligent and enterprising people provided to initiate these projects, were never begun. Instead, young graduates did what they knew best – worked for the government–and when jobs there could not be found they returned to the village to wait until their luck changed. Yet, it is significant that, despite the stagnant island economy, young Micronesians have returned home after college to take their chances on their island rather than reside in the US permanently.”

If we hope to improve education in Micronesia, we must address these concerns and strive to improve the economy and prospects for young Micronesian graduates.

– Drew Fox

Photo: Flickr

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A Few Successes: Education in Mauritania

Education in MauritaniaTerrorism, corruption, slavery and poverty. These are some of the significant issues that plague most of the African continent. Some of the lowest education and literacy rates can be found in Africa. One of the primary ways a country can help its citizens and begin to climb out of poverty is by providing education. Despite enormous political and economic challenges, one nation is doing this: Mauritania.

Mauritania is a country of about 3.7 million people in the northwest corner of the continent, sharing borders with places such as Mali and Algeria. Given its geographical location and proximity to unstable countries, Mauritania faces egregious challenges both outside its borders and within them. This has undoubtedly made the pursuit of education expansion and overall poverty alleviation measures difficult to implement effectively.

The overall literacy rate in the country suffered a decline between 2000 and 2015. This is clearly a result of failed policies by the government to provide education for its people. When compared to its neighbors, Mauritania spends the least amount of GDP per pupil. The fact that its neighbors suffer from similar if not worse conditions than Mauritania makes this even more absurd.

However, in 2014, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), a nonprofit fund dedicated to improving education systems in developing countries, began funding a new program in Mauritania. This new program is designated the Mauritania Basic Education Sector Support Project.

There has been a myriad of successes since implementation, most notably the 101 teachers certified under the Teacher Training Initiative curricula and the construction of 10 middle schools in rural areas. This project is continuing to provide training for administrative support staff as well as distributing pedagogical kits to students and schools.

In 2017, The Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization teamed up with the Association of Volunteers Against Illiteracy to improve education in Mauritania. This partnership sought to target specifically the Haratin minority by constructing two schools in the city of Nouakchott.

The project was a success, having provided education to over 70 women and children in just under four months. In addition to the school buildings themselves, the Education Spells Freedom project provided a bathroom facility, rugs and school supplies in order to improve the experience of attendees.

The challenges facing Mauritania will not be overcome quickly or easily. Education in Mauritania is a key starting point in the process of improving the lives of Mauritanians. The Education Spells Freedom project and the GPE program in the country should serve as a guide for future nonprofit organization initiatives regarding education in Mauritania and beyond.

– Daniel Cavins

Photo: Flickr

World Leaders Pledge to Boost Investments in Education

At the UN, World Leaders Pledge to Boost Investments in EducationFinancing and investments in education promote economic development, reduce gender disparities and are potentially the most effective way to accomplish all of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the U.N. Member States in 2015 and to prevent conflict and sustain peace.

At the event titled “Financing the Future: Education 2030,” world leaders, advocates, children and students gathered in New York to underscore the importance of unreservedly financing global education. According to the U.N. News Centre, the event was co-organized by governments, the private sector, civil society and U.N. agencies to encourage greater investments and political commitments in quality education. This included education at all levels: early childhood, primary and secondary.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres delivered the opening remarks by speaking of his background as a teacher in his native Portugal, where he began to see education as “a basic human right, a transformational force for poverty eradication, an engine for sustainability and a force for peace.”

Guterres underlined four areas of focus where he urged world leaders to boost investments in education. Noting that about 260 million young children, most of whom are girls, are deprived of school education, he urged for greater investments by governments and donors in education funding. He also advocated for the reduction of gender-based disparities, adoption of lifelong learning habits and a particular focus on children, notably refugees, affected by wars and conflicts.

Guterres also envisioned the launch of an International Finance Facility for Education as early as next year through the G-20 Education Commission. Speaking of the wide range of barriers faced by girls in obtaining primary and secondary education, he noted that only 1 percent of poor rural women in developing countries completed their secondary education studies.

This means that half of any low-income country’s assets–women and girls–can not currently play a role in a country’s economic development simply because they lack proper access to education or suffer disproportionately in poor and vulnerable households. As Guterres reiterated, each year of secondary education can boost a girl’s future earning power by as much as 25 percent.

U.N. Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai, the youngest laureate of the Noble Peace Prize, built on this theme and urged world leaders to boost investments in education, especially for girls. She said that girls worldwide desire greater opportunities and are actively pushing back against poverty, war and child poverty.

“We have big goals,” said Malala, referring to the SDGs, “but we will not reach any of them unless we educate girls.”

The U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, stressed the need to widen the circle of beneficiaries of quality education and labeled it as “the civil rights struggle of our time.”

“Confronted by the largest refugee crisis since the close of the Second World War, and with education receiving less than 2 percent of humanitarian aid, it is vital we marshal the funds to provide an education for all children–especially those left out and left behind: refugee children,” he said.

A recently released report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) further breaks down the extent of the problem. More than half a billion children and adolescents worldwide are unable to meet the minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics and are headed towards a “learning crisis.”

Many of the global goals are dependent on SDG 4, which directs “inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities.” But lack of access to school, failure to maintain children’s attendance and the poor quality of education are among the three common problems hampering progress in quality education.

Speaking about the UNESCO report, Silvia Montoya, director of the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, stated that “[t]he figures are staggering both in terms of the waste of human potential and for the prospects of achieving sustainable development.”

The UNESCO report and the U.N. event show that tackling the global education crisis requires far greater investments in education than have been previously allocated. Greater resources are needed to promote equitable opportunities for children around the world seeking quality education.

Governments, the private sector and citizens can all play a critical role in ensuring that our most precious resources–our young population–are not deprived of the resources they themselves need to succeed and become tomorrow’s leaders. As Guterres concluded, “[f]inancing education is indeed the best investment we can make for a better world and a better future.”

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

Education in Belgium: A Model for the World

Education in Belgium

Belgium has one of the most complex and successful education systems in the world. Between 2008 and 2012, 98.9 percent of male children and 99.2 percent of female children were enrolled in primary school. These statistics show that mandatory primary school is enforced and taken seriously in Belgium.

Compulsory education lasts 12 years, similar to the United States, and goes from age six to age 17. Belgium also has equal primary and secondary education enrollment rates for both boys and girls, showing equal access to education for both. What is even more impressive is that since 2007, at least 20 percent more women than men have enrolled in higher education.

Education in Belgium is monitored by a number of comprehensive policies. In 2002, the Decree on Equal Educational Opportunities created local consultation platforms to ensure fair school admission and enrollment processes. In March of 2014, the “M Decree” was passed, which is meant to promote the inclusion of students with special education needs in mainstream schools. The Decree indicates that schools may only refer students to “special education” if they can justify having tried all possible methods to allow them to follow mainstream education programs.

This system is very thorough and accounts not only for what happens while children are in school but also works to make sure they can integrate effectively into the labor market. It is this system that improves not only education and literacy rates, but economic success, crime rates and domestic stability.

Education in Belgium is setting an incredible example for the rest of the world. While it is a very rich country, its model can still be used to improve education in other, less financially stable, countries. It continues to improve further, as seen with its 2014-19 plans to implement measures to reduce dropout rates, and will hopefully help lead education systems in developing countries to similar heights.

– Liyanga De Silva

Photo: Flickr

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She’s the First to Finish School – Girls’ Education

She's the FirstOne of the side effects of poverty is an inability to start or finish one’s education. But one nonprofit is aiming to fight that effect by educating young women. She’s the First is a global nonprofit that “supports girls who will be the first in their families to graduate high school and trains students everywhere to be global citizens.” Their aim is to keep girls in school until they graduate so they can experience and learn more in school. In addition to poverty preventing young girls from finishing school, early marriage, long routes to school and expensive costs for higher schooling also affect girls’ education.

Two women wanted to combat all of that by helping young women get the education they need to succeed. She’s the First was started in November 2009 with a Youtube video and Facebook page by founders Tammy Tibbetts and Christen Brandt. Both had received scholarships for their schooling and wanted to do the same for other girls. It has been shown that education, specifically girls’ education, can help stop poverty.

It works with other international organizations to identify young women to sponsor. 11 countries are the current focus of the organization, including countries in West Africa, Eastern Africa, Latin America and East Asia.

Over 900 girls are She’s the First Scholars, meaning they have received a scholarship to allow them to pursue their education. The young women are provided with mentors in order to help them become successful leaders. These campus groups also aim to promote leadership and global citizenship within the campus community.

What are the benefits of improving education for young women? She’s the First says that a girl is likely to make “20 percent more per year of schooling she finishes”, is less likely to marry young and more likely to have fewer, but healthier, children.

Want to get involved? There are different levels of donor programs. You can become an Academic Ally, Equality Advocate, or a Girl Champion. There have also been more than 300 fundraisers to help raise money for the cause.

Since 2009, this organization has been able to help many young women finish school and give them the resources they need to do so. It has mobilized others across the country, specifically in communities and at universities. This organization’s message of investing in education to better the futures of these young women and girls is an amazing cause to help fight global poverty.

– Emilia Beuger

Photo: Pixabay