Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Sexuality Education in Côte d’Ivoire Revamped by the Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign

Youth pregnancies in Côte d’Ivoire declined by an astounding 20 percent since the Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign began in 2013, according to the United Nations Population Fund. This campaign is part of a nationwide plan, supported with technical and financial assistance from UNFPA, to enable young people to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

During the 2012-2013 academic year, 5,076 students became pregnant in primary or secondary school, reported the Ivorian Ministry of National and Technical Education. While the teen-age birth rate globally is 50 per 1,000 girls, in Côte d’Ivoire, the number is 125.

The 2013 UNFPA State of World Population report found that 7.3 million girls, 18-years-old and younger, give birth each year in developing countries. This reality is both a health issue as well as a development issue. Many pregnant girls are forced to drop out of school creating downward-spiraling repercussions of limited prospects.

“It is deeply rooted in poverty, gender inequality, violence, child and forced marriage, power imbalances between adolescent girls and their male partners, lack of education, and the failure of systems and institutions to protect their rights,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.

The high birth rates in Côte d’Ivoire undermine the country’s ability to take advantage of a demographic dividend. A demographic dividend is a window of opportunity to hasten economic growth when a population’s age structure shifts from one with fewer people of working age (15 to 65) to one with fewer dependent people (under 14 and over 65).

In response to this situation, the Ivorian Council of Ministers formally adopted the accelerated pregnancies reduction plan on April 2, 2014. The plan is a comprehensive program that integrates sexuality education in Côte d’Ivoire, teaching over several years starting in 4th grade to provide age-appropriate information at each stage.

Based on human rights principles, sexuality education encompasses more than sex education. The fundamental components of the curriculum feature the information about the human body, contraception and sexual and reproductive health. This includes knowledge about sexually-transmitted diseases and the effects of early pregnancy. The curriculum also addresses the issues of child marriage and gender-based violence so that human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of young people is advanced.

The comprehensive program offers other school activities beyond the classroom. Nationally, student clubs are being formed to raise awareness, and an arts and culture festival is planned where students can display their creative endeavors, such as plays, poems, stories and drawings about pregnancy in school. UNFPA has helped the government open a call center that provides free, confidential information. To disseminate information about health and services, various media, such as leaflets, videos, radio announcements and SMS messages will be disseminated.

Much of the needed education involves demystifying contraception and pregnancy. Amina, a pregnant student, revealed: “I did not take contraceptives because my mom told me that it might make me sterile.” Some girls are also told that not getting pregnant by age 15 or 16, “is a problem,” remarked Clarissa, 22.

The Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign was launched in Bondoukou, the most affected area in Côte d’Ivoire. Students in the region brought banners to the event with such messages as “Zero pregnancy in school, I endorse it,” “You don’t get a child pregnant” and “I am a child. A child doesn’t bear a child. A child goes to school to succeed.”

The government is making even further changes. Laws have been introduced that increase penalties for the sexual abuse of minors. Most significantly, this includes sanctions against teachers who abuse their students. Girls are often pressured into sex with teachers in order to get good grades.

Additionally, the government is planning to build better housing for the 10,000 to 15,000 students in cities that must board. This will enable the young students to have proper housing where boys and girls do not have to share a room.

The government also no longer expels girls when they are pregnant, and girls are returning to school after giving birth. Amina told UNFPA, “My mom takes care of my baby when I come to school.” Clarissa’s mom also takes care of her son. Clarissa explained to UNFPA that she still has her dreams: “I lost a school year,” but “I want to become a teacher.”

– Janet Quinn

Sources: UNFPA, UNFPA, Demographic Dividend, UNFPA
Photo: Flickr

Rebuilding Education in Sierra Leone

Rebuilding Education in Sierra Leone
Before the Revolutionary United Front crossed from Liberia into Sierra Leone and started the 12-year war, Sierra Leone had one of the best education systems in Africa. Rebuilding education in Sierra Leone since has been a challenge and Ebola has made it even more difficult.

Only 48.09 percent of the population above the age of 15 in Sierra Leone are literate. Primary school enrollment is over 130 percent due to the amount of non primary school aged Sierra Leoneans who are attending classes because they missed out on educational services during the war. The UN estimates that 64 percent of primary aged children are enrolled in school.

During the 12 years of the war, there was no education unless the families fled to Guinea or Liberia. Out of the crisis of the civil war came an opportunity to ensure education would grow and enhance the livelihoods of Sierra Leoneans.

The Netherlands provided funding to the Cross Border Schools Project in Sierra Leone and has trained over 3,000 educators. After completing the training programs, teachers plan their own lessons and find their teaching methods are making a bigger impact.

Education in Sierra Leone is taken seriously by the government. Sierra Leone spends 14 percent of its national budget on education, which is much higher than most other countries in the region.

Other improvements have been made as well. 76 percent of Sierra Leonean children complete primary school and many go on to junior secondary education. However, 50 percent of primary school teachers still have no qualifications.

It cost $20 to send a Sierra Leonean to school and 70 percent of Sierra Leone families are living on less than a dollar a day. Poverty, child marriage, pregnancy and sexual abuse are the most significant barriers to education for girls in Sierra Leone.

UNICEF works on ensuring girls are attending school through building classrooms, providing sanitation facilities, training teachers and providing learning materials. The rights of girls in the classroom are protected through rights-based and gender-sensitive environments that helps girls succeed in the classroom.

Sierra Leone is still healing from the wounds left by the Revolutionary United Front during the civil war, but education is gradually improving and the youth are benefiting from the revival of education.

– Donald Gering

Sources: Al Jazeera, Global Partnership, Social Progress Imperative, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2, UNICEF 3
Photo: Just Giving

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The CERIA Project Targets Early Childhood Education

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In the Indonesian district of Malaka, children are finally being provided with an opportunity to create a better future for themselves. Save the Children has partnered up with the H&M Conscious Foundation to improve educational conditions for children within this impoverished region of the world.

Malaka used to be part of the Belu district in East Nusa Tenggara province. It was so severely underdeveloped that the government decided to establish Malaka as its own district in 2012, hoping to finally spur development. Unfortunately, the district’s citizens are still fighting to break out of the poverty cycle.

Malaka contains 15 elementary schools filled with children seeking a quality education. Most children cannot afford to wear shoes to school. When they finally arrive on foot to their classrooms, they typically face deteriorating walls, lack of access to water and collapsing roofs.

Poor personal hygiene and health combined with the schools’ poor physical conditions often results in prolonged student sickness. To make matters worse, children are oftentimes juggling a language barrier as well.

Hailing from places like East Timor and belonging to ethnic groups that rely on different languages, many of the students do not speak Indonesian. The people of Malaka use five local languages representing the region’s indigenous tribes. Regardless of lack of comprehension, however, the material is taught primarily in Indonesian.

Primary school teachers often employ physical punishment as they deem necessary, causing many students to live in fear. In lower grades especially, it is not uncommon for students to fail their studies or have to repeat a grade due to some combination of the aforementioned factors.

In August 2014, Save the Children pledged to embark on a three-year project focused on improving education for around 2,850 children in the area. Since then, the charity has been working side by side with the H&M’s Conscious Foundation to build 15 new preschools and renovate the 15 existing Malakan schools.

Like Save the Children, the H&M Conscious Foundation seeks to improve children’s education. In addition, the independent organization works to empower women and provide access to clean water in developing countries.

The Conscious Foundation teamed up with STC to launch the Children in Early Grades Reach Incredible Achievements (CERIA) Project three years ago. CERIA also doubles as the Indonesian word for “cheerful.”

The CERIA project is targeting early education in order to achieve long-term effects. It aims to increase enrollment and attendance at quality preschools, improve teaching methods and school readiness for young students and reduce first-grade repetition rates.

The program is targeted at a total of 30 poor rural communities scattered throughout Malaka. Within each early childhood education center, there will be two classrooms able to accommodate 20 to 30 students. Some students are already benefiting from the progress made on renovations last year.

CERIA also offers free teacher training programs to improve the quality of education. Since the majority of teachers in Malaka are volunteers lacking a background in education, this has been an especially effective tool for improvement.

By its conclusion in 2017, the CERIA project is expected to benefit Malaka’s 2,400 elementary school teachers, 450 preschoolers and 180 primary and preschool teachers. There is no telling what accomplishments these properly educated children and teachers will be able to achieve in the long run.

– Sarah Bernard

Sources: Jakarta Globe, H&M
Photo: Compassion International

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Five Facts About Education in Tunisia

5 Facts About Education in Tunisia
Since the 1980s, Tunisia has experienced success in increasing its human development index score through investments in education and improving the quality of life. However, there are challenges to providing quality education in Tunisia due to unorthodox practices, such as private tutoring practiced by educators.

Here are five facts about education in Tunisia:

1. Tunisia ranks ninth in the world in private tutoring and 70 percent of students participate in tutoring services. About 54 percent of these students received private tutoring from their own teachers. Many of these private lessons include parts of the curriculum that are only available through payment.

2. In order to combat corruption in the education system, Tunisia has an external integrity analysis of education. This allows the country to take appropriate actions to reduce corruption. Recommendations to Tunisia’s government include implementing a new code of conduct for teachers and reforming the admission process for universities.

3. Tunisia ranks 69th in the world in access to basic knowledge. Basic knowledge includes literacy, primary school enrollment, secondary school enrollment and gender parity in secondary school enrollment.

4. About 82 percent of people over the age of 15 are considered to be literate, which ranks Tunisia 93rd in the world in literacy. In 2008, the World Bank reported that 96.79 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 24 were literate, which provides a strong foundation of hope for the future of literacy in Tunisia.

5. The mean years of schooling in Tunisia have increased 4.5 years since 1980 and Tunisia remains one of the top countries in Africa for access to information. Around 43.8 percent of the population has access to the Internet, which contributes to a better education for students.

Education in Tunisia is showing remarkable progress in enrollment numbers for higher education and access to primary education. It will remain important in Tunisia to engage students and their parents to ensure educational reform is successful.

– Donald Gering

Sources: Open Society Foundation, Social Progress Imperative, Trading Economics, UN, UNDP
Photo: Tunisient Tunisia

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Congress’s Newest International Basic Education Caucus

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Last week, Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL) officially launched the newest caucus in Congress: the bipartisan International Basic Education Caucus.

These two members came together across party lines to encourage a commitment from both Republicans and Democrats in support of basic-quality education around the world. The caucus, officially launched on June 24, 2015, is encouraged and supported by several partner organizations, including the Global Campaign for Education (GCE-US), RESULTS and the Basic Education Coalition. It aims to promote understanding in the 114th Congress of the many global issues associated with inadequate primary education in developing countries — including increasing economic and security issues in the United States. The caucus is intended to encourage its members — and Congress at large — to think of universal education not just as an altruistic good, but as a critical strategic advantage for the United States.

With over 121 million children and adolescents out of school around the world, U.S. funding for international education in developing nations has become increasingly important. Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty in these nations. The caucus will not only promote understanding of the types of challenges that arise from a lack of quality, universal education, but will also encourage bipartisan legislation to address these challenges.

One such piece of legislation is the Education For All Act, which has been introduced in previous sessions of Congress, most recently in 2013 by Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Congressman Reichert (R-WA). The bill, which had 76 cosponsors in the House and the Senate, was intended to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to include further assistance for developing nations in order to promote universal primary education around the world. It simultaneously strengthened the U.S.’s commitment to global education and supported the means by which developing societies could become sustainable and independent. Though the bill did not pass when introduced, it is possible that the new caucus will bring about increased support for similar pieces of legislation in coming sessions.

While there are numerous congressional caucuses that do very little, there appears to be a reason to be optimistic when considering the future of the International Basic Education Caucus. The caucus will take part in numerous activities, including sponsored briefs on basic education issues, congressional receptions in coordination with partner organizations and letters to the presidential administration and to various world leaders. Such activities are intended to help increase support in Congress for basic international education programs, improve understanding of the seriousness of global education issues among world leaders and establish the means with which to respond to attacks on education, such as recent attacks on schools by Boko Haram in Nigeria or by the Taliban in Pakistan.

Representative Reichert commented upon the caucus’s launch, saying, “If we are going to spread freedom, promote economic growth, enhance stability and security and alleviate poverty around the world, the best way to do that is by first ensuring every young child […] has access to basic education.”

An innovative and historic effort, the bipartisan International Basic Education Caucus has the potential to make a real impact in developing nations and the world at large.

– Melissa Pavlik

Sources: Basic Education Coalition, Congressman Mike Quigley, National Education Association
Photo: Flickr

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Massive Open Online Courses Take the World by Storm

Massive open online Courses
The New York Times declared 2012 the year of the MOOC – Massive Open Online Courses. They have made a huge splash since then. Organizations like EdX and Coursera have spread knowledge online to millions across the world. Where are these online courses most common? The developing world.

Both Coursera and EdX are based in the United States but are more popular in places like China, Rwanda and Brazil. A lot of the popularity in the idea of MOOCs is their ability to reach everyone, especially those that might not have access to the knowledge and content divulged by the online courses.

Interestingly, MOOCs have only recently jumped on the radar of policymakers in governments of low-income countries. Electrical engineering professor in El Salvador, Carlos Martinez, took an electrical circuits class on EdX and thought it was so good that he began an adventure around El Salvador advocating for MOOCs.

Why did he have to advocate? Because his own university did not support his ideas about the online courses. After his journey, he enrolled 50 of his electrical engineering students and ran the class ad hoc, without grades or official assignments, with an experiment in a hallway every week instead of a proper lab.

There have even been reports of the developing world being “MOOCed out,” that they were not effective and that very few individuals who began a course online actually completed it. However, if utilized correctly, MOOCs can be a powerful tool for education in the developing world.

Martinez explained the best benefits of MOOCs —“I want to let the new ideas in, raise the bar and change the curriculum.”

This is exactly what MOOCs can be used for. While online courses are valuable opportunities for individual learners, they are even more useful when utilized in small groups of informal learners to supplement already existing education, according to Martinez. More and more, users of MOOCs in other countries are creating a new education model by “combining screen time with face time.” By mixing the two, small groups of informal learners foster a learning environment through sharing ideas with peers and mentors. It gives learners a taste of education from the first world.

A perfect example of the power of MOOCs used in a group is Kepler University to supplement formal university education in a group setting in Rwanda. They hope that their blend of MOOCs and lecture-style courses can make an impact on the education of potential undiscovered talents.

One of the huge advantages of MOOCs is that they level the playing field. They bring elite education to anyone with Internet access. With the growing spread of the Internet, more and more will have access to the great wealth of online courses.

— Greg Baker

Sources: Slate, New York Times, World Bank, Technology Review, Al Jazeera, The Verge

Liberian Schools Closed Again

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On July 31, Liberian schools were closed again after having been reopened for only five months. Students, parents and teachers were alarmed, since they had expected school to continue through the summer to make up for time lost to Ebola. An announcement regarding closing was made in June.

Schools had reopened in March after having been closed for six months due to Ebola. Now, they are closed in order to prepare for the next school year, according to Education Minister George Werner.

Werner further explained that in March schools reopened without having been completely ready. Textbooks and other learning materials had not been delivered. Teachers hadn’t had enough training to complete a whole school year. The government now believes it would be better to close and become more prepared for a full school year. Students, parents and teachers are concerned about finances.

A grade 11 student in Monrovia, Conference Harmon, told IRIN that it’s a nightmare.

“How can the government do this?” she said. “Just imagine, I have paid my entire school fee [for the year] and now the government says schools should close. I am not happy about this.”

A mother, Martha Ernest, agrees: “Where does the government expect us to look for more money to pay school fees again?” she asked IRIN. “Why do they want us to suffer? I just cannot get over this. Money business is hard in this country. This is bad.”

A primary school teacher, James Tamba, was also concerned about money. He told IRIN, “We are worried that we will run out of money while we are on break because schools will not pay us for the rest of the months that we will be sitting at home. How do they expect us to feed our families? This decision is too harsh.”

A developing country, Liberia depends immensely on foreign aid. Eighty-four percent of the population live in extreme poverty. The country has been recovering from devastating civil wars for the last 14 yearss. Its education system is still being rebuilt; civil unrest obliterated most of the trained workforce. Among the many challenges to the education system is preparing teachers. About a third of primary school teachers in 2014 were not qualified. Forty-three percent of the population age 15 and older are illiterate.

When schools closed last year, parents were already voicing concerns about having the money to pay for fees once school started, yet most acknowledged the importance of education. Teachers were able to continue lessons at home for their children, and older children were able to help siblings, but most parents were uneducated and could not teach their children at home. Lessons on the radio were introduced in October 2014 for those students who were able to access them.

For the start of the coming school year, the government will allow eligible students to be promoted to the next grade. This concession is in addition to the 9th- through 12th-grade students who must take placement exams anyway. This announcement, however, has caused another kind of concern: the method for grade promotion has not been made known. Many wonder how a mix of students who have completed a half year and students who have been advanced will be accommodated, especially in crowded classrooms.

Still others are worried about the corruption already present in the school system. They fear that this will only cause even more bribery by parents who seek to promote their students. Werner acknowledged the poor state of the education system: “It is no exaggeration to say that education in our country is a mess.”

However, Werner reiterated that “in some places, the education system has collapsed.”

“I am not willing to put off the hard decisions, to just sit at my desk and watch the problems become ever more entrenched,” he said.

A parent, James Peewu, told IRIN that he agrees with Werner: “I think we need to go back to the normal school year. Sometime[s] we just have to make the sacrifice … I know it won’t be easy, but we have to sacrifice.”

Whether schools should have stayed opened or shut down to better prepare for the coming school year is a topic of debate in Liberia. Most agree, however, that missing school has a negative long-term effect that must be avoided.

– Janet Quinn

Sources: IRIN, IndexMundi, USAID, Liberian Observer, Human Development Reports
Photo: IRIN

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Educating Children in War and Disaster Zones

Education
School. An aspect of our lives that is usually a source of unwanted stress; more often a place we begrudgingly go, crankily absorbed in our own tired eyes and mandatory Monday mornings.

But what we have come to expect as a place of permanence doesn’t exist for others around the world. Instead of bemoaning the undoubtedly hard work receiving an education entails, we should be cherishing it for what it is: an opportunity many do not receive.

This year, more than 37 million children and adolescents live in circumstances surrounding emergency and conflict which have forced them out of their schools. Children are finding themselves in the middle of warzones or natural disasters, which disrupts any hopes of receiving a sound education. According to the organization which advocates for primary school children, Dubai Cares, attacks on education are the highest they have been in the past 40 years and the greatest since the height of the second world war.

The ongoing education crisis was a topic of discussion at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development which convened in July of this year, where it was agreed upon that efforts in investment and attention towards children in these circumstances are inefficient. In fact, in 2014, only one percent of overall humanitarian aid and two percent of humanitarian appeals went towards educating children.

In a Huffington Post article written by Dubai Cares, Chief Executive Officer Tariq Al Gurg said “With the average length of displacement for refugees now approaching 20 years — and over 70 percent of those children out of school — we know that these emergencies are no longer brief blips in the life of a child. Thus, we need a new platform and funding model that enables an immediate and sustained response.”

Currently, Dubai Cares’ program reaches 14 million children across 39 developing countries and recognizes a tremendous public support system, with over eight million individuals endorsing the #UpForSchool campaign, a petition supporting the belief that every child should have access to an education. Dubai Cares will continue to endorse efforts which help the humanitarian aid at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly Week in September 2015.

However, there is good news for some of the most under-funded areas in the world currently experiencing emergencies and disasters. The United Nations has allocated $70 million in funds for aid to places like Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

– Nikki Schaffer

Sources: Dubai Cares, A World at School, Huffington Post, Brookings
Photo: Flickr

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Etta Projects Addresses Poverty in Bolivia

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Etta Turner was 16 years old when she traveled to Bolivia as an International Rotary exchange student in 2002. Known for her compassion and commitment to social justice, the teen was prepared to provide for the less fortunate and help them change their lives. What was supposed to be a year away from her home and family in the States, however, turned into a lifetime when Turner was tragically killed in a bus accident.

The following year, in 2003, Turner’s friends and family founded Etta Projects, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the life and service of Turner. The organization works with the people of Montero, Bolivia, helping members of the community lead sustainable lives and achieve improved health conditions. Etta Projects supports projects that provide clean water, healthy food, quality education and stable income.

In the western hemisphere, Bolivia is the second poorest country after Haiti, with nearly 70 percent of its population living in poverty. About 23 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day and 42 percent on less than $2 a day. Furthermore, about 90 percent of Bolivia’s children attend primary school, but only for a year or less: the average literacy rate of a 16-year-old Bolivian is at the third-grade level.

Etta Projects is dedicated to changing these statistics and helping the people of Bolivia. The organization is unique, however, in that it does not simply send money or resources to Bolivia. Rather, it connects with the Bolivian people to understand what they need and teaches them how to personally meet those needs.

To address and eliminate poverty in Bolivia, Etta Projects provides forums in which members of the community can identify their own problems and create plans to solve them. The organization forms strong, fundamental relationships with the communities it helps and the local governments that run them. They use their own resources and the available resources of the community to empower the communities to tackle their problems and issues.

The organization has five main projects: safe water and sanitation, health, nutrition, leadership and U.S. community outreach. Etta Projects is making a lasting difference in many Bolivian lives by listening to community needs, providing resources to meet those needs and leaving the community with valuable skills to lead sustainable lives. Miss Turner’s legacy of compassion and social justice absolutely lives on in the mission of Etta Projects.

– Sarah Sheppard

Sources: Etta 1, Etta 2, Etta 3
Photo: Doctors Without Borders

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Education in Japan to Favor Business Skills

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Japan is rethinking its higher education programs, forgoing liberal arts subjects in cooperation with a business-first society keen on better-skilled graduates.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s aspiration is to change Japan’s government-sanctioned universities into global frontrunners in scientific exploration or vocational training schools. Abe has called on Japan’s higher educational programs to “redefine their missions” and transform their expected criteria.

The 86 Japanese public universities were instructed by the ministry of education to send their plans to restructure their educational format by the end of June to continue receiving their funds contributed by the government.

In accordance with this decision for adjustment, many of the country’s companies have altered their training programs, counting on universities to train more for business skills. The expectation for young professionals with teamwork, managerial and social abilities is higher than ever in Japan.

This change is inspired by Abe’s decision to rejuvenate the country to become a world leader. The Prime Minister wants universities to include innovative schooling techniques that are more demanding of students for the betterment of the Japanese economy.

Despite Abe’s assurance of this success, many feel as though exempting liberal arts subjects will be detrimental to the experience and value of learning in higher education. This debate started long before Japan’s educational reformation, earning a lasting presence in the United States’ arguments over education. Nevertheless, Japan’s critics are worried about the quality of educational instruction because of the miscommunication between expectations of Japanese employers.

The Dean of Temple University’s Japan campus, Bruce Stronach, said that society needs people who contribute to all aspects of humanity, including social issues.

“That’s why those traditional fields like arts, literature, history and social sciences are also—and will always be—important,” Stronach said.

Despite Stronach’s negative reaction to these changes, not all Japanese educators are displeased with Abe’s declarations.

Katsushi Nishimura, a law professor at Ehime University in Japan, said that students need to learn how to work according to society’s expectations.

“We also need to come out of the ivory tower and listen to the real world,” he said.

According to Nishimura, the university’s funding for the humanities and education departments’ courses will be cut and given to an improved business training plan created by a board of business and academic leaders. Originally, according to Nishimura, the teaching staff was in charge of altering education courses.

In addition, Nishimura said that the new programs will highlight training for local industries such as tourism and fisheries.

Like Nishimura, Japanese educators will likely abide by Abe’s decisions. Education in Japan fueled the country’s rapid economic growth and is one of the driving forces toward the production of high technology.

No doubt, even without liberal arts courses, Japan will continue to be a large contributor to the international economy.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: Ehime, OECD Observer, The Australian, Wall Street Journal
Photo: GaiginPot