Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Global Education Fund: Success in Kenya

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The quality of education and learning in Kenya is below that of what it should be, despite increases in student enrollment. Enrollment does not ensure attendance, and often times resources are not available to students to help them learn at the rate and level necessary.

The good news is that the Global Education Fund has implemented a program to address the quality of educational success in Kenya. With only 19% of sixth-grade students reading at the appropriate level, this program is much needed.

The program provides leadership training and scholarships for students living in Nairobi. A mentoring initiative for these students, the Young Leaders Program, was also developed from this project.

Global Education Fund scholars have achieved significant achievements: 100% of these students have completed secondary school, 86% have passed the national exam (compared to the average pass rate of 29%) and 55% have qualified for university courses.

The Young Leaders Program is unique because it combines the following components:

  • Scholarships for students who cannot afford to attend school
  • Leadership training
  • Mentoring for younger students
  • Experiential learning to increase career opportunities
  • Female role models for young girls
  • Community engagement

The Global Education Fund has worked with 140 high school students. Student progress is tracked and evaluated so that these students can have continued support throughout their development. This project is one example of many initiatives that can help break the cycle of poverty by securing quality education for young children.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: Global Education Fund 1, Global Education Fund 2
Photo: Extraordinary Journeys Africa

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Nigerian Startup Heads to MIT Workshop

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This August, MIT will host the 2015 MITx Global Entrepreneur Bootcamp, where students from all around the world are brought together in the spirit of entrepreneurship. Within a week, each student will create a business and pitch their idea to a panel of professionals, giving the visiting students a taste of the fast-paced, competitive MIT atmosphere.

MITx selected 50 candidates from 24 countries to participate in the boot camp. Chris Kwekowe from Nigeria is among the 50 to be accepted at the MIT workshop with his startup, Slatecube.

Chris Kwekowe is from southeastern Nigeria. He comes from a family of five, which are all boys. He currently studies Computer Science at the Nnamdi Azikwi University, Awka. He believes “the average African youth is the driving force for global impact,” which inspired the start of Slatecube.

Slatecube balances current knowledge with skill acquisition in a system of free, cloud-based learning courses. It focuses on “employability and social development”. It enables its users to learn and collaborate with professionals while developing relevant skills to give them an edge in the working world.

Kwekowe explains, “Essentially, what we do at Slatecube is really simple but very important. We help individuals develop new knowledge or build on already existing knowledge and then expose them to industry-relevant skills with hands-on training from real organisations in order to make them more employable and improve their social and economic relevance.”

Slatecube is designed to help students gain skills and obtain experience, both of which will help young, aspiring professionals when applying for a job. The courses are self-paced and the instructors are free-lanced.

With knowledge this accessible to young Nigerian students, Slatecube would empower the workforce and decrease the unemployment rate. In 2015, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is seven point five percent, an astonishing decrease since 2012, when the unemployment rate was 23 percent. Slatecube could further this decline in unemployment while empowering young professionals.

Kwekowe will attend MITx Global Entrepreneur Bootcamp at the end of August, ready and armed with Slatecube. Back with his newfound knowledge from MITx, Kwekowe and Slatecube could have a large impact on young, aspiring professionals around the world.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: IT News Africa, MITx, Slatecube, Trading Economics
Photo: IT News Africa

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Education in Costa Rica – A Progress Report

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Education in Costa Rica has been a hot button topic for many years. In 1990, the country pledged to work toward the targets set out by Education for All (EFA) under the direction of UNESCO. EFA is used to help achieve UNESCO’s education goals of quality education for everyone and for education being a fundamental part of development.

During the first years of the initiative to improve the standards of education in Costa Rica, the country faced numerous challenges. Some of these challenges included students repeating class levels, high drop out rates, and limited training courses for teachers. In addition, it was found that the education system suffered from a lack of innovative, and passionate teachers.

Poverty has also had a significant impact on education in Costa Rica. Families where the parents have less than six years of education tended to have a lower income and their children usually did not finish school. This only perpetuated the cycle and government support was required to improve the system overall.

In addition, providing quality teachers has boosted education goals. The government pays education professionals more to attract young bright high school and college graduates to go into education. It encourages students to finish school and have a decent paying job, which helps break the low-level education and poverty cycle. There are training programs aimed to improve the quality of teachers as well.

In rural areas, there are special programs to compensate for the lack of teachers. There is a movement to bring technology in and have one computer per student. This way the students can complete high school with a quality education.

Currently, Costa Rica has a 93.6 percent rate for access to education. For youth literacy (ages 15-24) there is an average of 98 percent. Primary school attendance is about 96 percent of the youth population. Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates and school attendance in Latin America and South America.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: Costa Rica Gold Country, HDR, Social Progress Imperative, Tico Times, ASCOA
Photo: Tico Times

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Chelsea Clinton Visits Haiti

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On July 28 and 29, Chelsea Clinton, the Clinton Foundation Vice Chair, visited Clinton Foundation-funded Haitian projects in Port-au-Prince to oversee agricultural improvement, health reform and female employment progress.

The Clinton Foundation’s slogan is “Partners in Haiti’s Future,” and the organization has definitely created many opportunities for the country to flourish in the present. The work of the foundation and its supporters has aided more than 85,000 farmers with new agriculture techniques. In addition, more than 350,000 people’s lives were bettered because of the organization’s social enterprises, and 9.9 million people have access to HIV/AIDS medication.

In total, the Clinton Foundation has helped raise more than $30 million for Haiti for its Trees of Hope program, Clinton Climate Initiative, Chakipi Acceso Distribution Enterprise, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and more.

Clinton visited Haiti to supervise the projects as well as inspire those who are being helped by the foundation. Clinton observed local artisans, posting an Instagram picture of herself holding a locally crafted doll with the caption “#ActionIsGreater through partnership and collaboration.”

This photo practices some of the Clinton Foundation’s guiding principles: “We’re all in this together,” and “The greatest good is helping people live their best life story.”

To further acknowledge these principles, Clinton hosted a meeting with the Clinton Foundation President, Donna Shalala, where the two discussed women’s success in the Haitian workplace and ways to create more opportunities for female employment.

Clinton said the implementation of new programs for the betterment of Haiti’s female youth is crucial to female empowerment and achievement.

“We need programs… to help close the gap, so that girls and young women who haven’t had the chance to get educated don’t live with the burden of illiteracy their whole lives,” she said.

During her stay, Clinton made it a point to visit local female-owned businesses to show support for successful female entrepreneurship. The business, Caribbean Craft, is supported by the Clinton Foundation where products are crafted and later sold in popular U.S. stores like Anthropologie and HomeGoods.

In support of other projects, Clinton visited the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership’s (CGEP) Acceso-Haiti depot. There, local farmers can store their peanuts for safe-keeping. The depot also serves to empower local farmers.

“Across Haiti, CGEP is helping more than 1,500 local smallholder farmers increase their peanut yields dramatically and better sort and store their peanuts,” Clinton said.

Because of depots like this, the Clinton Foundation has helped Haitian farmers grow higher yields of crops and improve market access. In turn, the organization’s help with agriculture creates greater opportunities for a healthy lifestyle.

To check up on the Foundation’s projects for better health in Haiti, Clinton visited Partners in Health’s Mirebalais Hospital. This hospital is the country’s top educational hospital because of the influence of one of the Clinton Foundation’s supporters, Paul Farmer.

Because of his commitment, Clinton said that the hospital employees were just as good as health workers in any developed country.

After leaving the hospital, Clinton said she took time to reflect on stories about the projects created by the Clinton Foundation in her heart. She said she feels confident that Haiti’s future is bright.

“I left with an even stronger belief in what’s possible in Haiti,” Clinton said.

The Clinton Foundation has many projects that have greatly benefited the people of Haiti, and the organization is continually editing and drafting plans to implement for the persistent improvement of the Caribbean country.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: ABC News, Caribbean Journal, Clinton Foundation 1, Clinton Foundation 2, Vogue
Photo: Jakarta Post

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Harry Styles Speaks In Video About Education

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On July 27, Harry Styles of One Direction spoke in a video sanctioned by his campaign, action/1D, about his views on global education and those who deserve a better quality of life.

“I want to live in a world where every child can go to school,” Styles said at the beginning of the video.

Styles, along with bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, recently launched the action/1D campaign to inspire fans and promote awareness for global education, poverty, climate change, disease and inequality.

With action/1D, supporters can get involved in the campaign by posting pictures and videos that correspond to a topic related to the cause. Fans of One Direction can also catch the boys in videos where each band member will begin with the phrase: “I want to live in a world where…”

In Styles’ video, he spoke about how much he enjoyed school, and the children that he met in Ghana who dream of getting an education. These children cannot afford school, Styles said, and they spend their days working instead of learning.

“At the moment, they have to work all day every day just to earn enough to eat,” Styles said.
The “What Makes You Beautiful” singer brings light to a continuing problem.

According to UNICEF, there are almost 624,000 children not in primary school. Those who do receive an education do not learn the tools required to be successful in secondary school or professional work.

“Often, the school environment is not conducive to learning: classes are overcrowded, water and sanitation facilities are lacking and trained teachers and school books are in short supply,” UNICEF reports.

For those children with disabiliites, education is even more difficult to attain. According to the 2010 national census, 20% of children with physical disabilities are not attending school.

In addition, gender inequality does not provide for an equal amount of girls in school as boys. The national average amount of education is seven years, and in Northern Ghana, girls attend school for just three years.

“Making education available to 100 percent of people around the world is one way to ensure that poverty declines,” the article said.

Along with The Borgen Project, Styles and other members of action/1D agree that education a key to ending extreme poverty. One Direction’s campaign, which is associated with a similar organization, action/2015, seeks to create a world where education, along with health, climate change and inequality, are no longer a problem.

This year, two U.N. summits will gather some of the most influential people in the world. During each conference, these leaders will formulate plans to fix these issues.

With the help of these conferences, numerous humanitarian organizations and Styles, extreme poverty just might end; as Styles pointed out in his video, this change can begin with education.

“Going to school could literally change their lives, but for now, all they can look forward to is a life of struggle, and they deserve so much more,” he said.

Action/1D asks fans of the band to group together to make a difference. To contribute to the cause and to learn more about the campaign, visit the action/1D website.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: Action/1D 1, Action/1D 2, Action/2015, The Borgen Project, United States Census, Twitter, UNICEF
Photo: Sugarscape

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Rotary International Continues Fight Against Poverty

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For the past 110 years, Rotary International has brought together business leaders, philanthropists and other individuals to promote interdisciplinary discussion to find solutions to the world’s biggest problems.

Started in the United States, the group now operates on a global scale. Through monetary donation or helping on the ground, Rotary’s 1.2 million members have positively impacted the world’s poor in a variety of ways.

Promoting Peace, Fighting Disease, Providing Clean Water, Saving Mothers and Children, Support Education and Growing Local Economies are Rotary’s biggest campaigns—made up of thousands of initiatives that work in different, but important, ways. Rotary International recognizes poverty is an intricate problem, and combatting it requires employing a litany of methods that enable individuals and countries alike to attain economic security.

Their greatest achievement is highlighted by the role they’ve played in the worldwide fight against polio. Launched in 1979, Rotary International has contributed $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to the campaign to eradicate polio. Since then, the number of polio-ridden countries has plummeted from 179 to three.

In January of this year, Rotary contributed an additional $35 million for immunization efforts that many believe will fully eliminate the disease.

Rotary can be just as effective on the ground. Their Clean Water campaign has provided millions with access to toilets, sanitation facilities and other water infrastructure.

Clean water also has many residual health and economic benefits. Healthy children mean less premature deaths, which stabilizes population growth. It also prevents the spread of infectious diseases, such as dysentery, diarrhea and ulcers. Access to local and clean water allows children to attend school instead of walking miles to retrieve it.

Since Rotary has expanded its Clean Water campaign in Ghana, the country has experienced a stark drop in waterborne diseases. Not surprisingly, 85 percent of Ghana’s citizens have access to a reliable water supply due to the newly drilled wells.

Rotary’s part in ending polio and bringing water security to Ghana are just the surface of what the group’s achievements. Its unique structure creates solutions at the local level, but change on a global scale. Going forward, they will have a substantial role in reducing and eventually eliminating global poverty.

Based on the past century, that role will be in safe hands.

Here is the link to Rotary’s website. Check it out to learn more about their mission and campaigns.

– Kevin Meyers

Sources: End Polio Now, Forbes, Rotary International 1, Rotary International 2, Rotary International 3

Photo: Rotary International

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The School Fund Connects Investors with Students

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There are 63 million secondary school-aged children around the world who are unable to attend school. In West and Central Africa, this number amounts to 40 percent of their youth population. In India, 16 million children of lower and secondary school age do not receive an education. The School Fund works with investors to provide resources and funds to developing regions to help children in need.

On average, an individual’s wage increases 15 to 25 percent for each additional year of schooling he or she receives. Girls and young women who receive an education are far less likely to become a child bride and typically grow up to be healthier and more educated about sex. Women who receive an education are more prone to have healthier children and smaller families. Education can also help girls grow up to become leaders in their communities.

The School Fund operates its services by first helping investors find students to support. This process is determined by selecting a student based on their country, gender, academic interests or fundraising deadlines. The second step helps the investors decide how much to donate, and step three allows the donators to stay in touch with the students they have helped in order to see how they are contributing the funds to their education.

The School Fund has been able to provide scholarships to over 1,100 students in Africa, Asia and Latin America, totaling over US$400,000 in funds used for tuition, uniforms, materials, exam fees and food. Students have been funded by over 3,500 donors, representing more than 1,500 years of education.

The organization was founded by Matt Severson and Andrew Perrault in 2009. Having been friends for many years and sharing interests in both traveling and development, the pair traveled to Tanzania in 2007 while still in high school. While there, they were both touched by how friendly and thoughtful the residents were. Even though many of them lived in poverty, they were still willing to share with the two of them.

During his travels, Matt Severson met a young boy named John Medo. Medo came from a family of seven who lived on US$45 a month. John Medo was intelligent — he had aced all of the exams necessary for secondary school, but his family could not afford the US$150 fee for tuition. When Severson met Medo, he was working to become a farmer. Matt Severson was inspired by John Medo’s kindness and decided to provide funds for his schooling. This marked the beginning of The School Fund.

Over the next two summers, Severson and Perrault worked to expand and build The School Fund from the ground up. Now The School Fund supports students in Tanzania, Haiti, the Philippines and many other places in the world. As Matt Severson puts it, there are many other “John Medos” in the world who need support to attend school. The School Fund plans to continue to connect investors with students in need.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: The School Fund 1, The School Fund 2, UNICEF
Photo: Ghana Culture Politics

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FC Barcelona Players Talk Education And Sports For UNICEF

UNICEFAt an event presented by FC Barcelona and UNICEF, soccer players Andrés Iniesta and Marc-André Ter Stegen met with Los Angeles kids to discuss the importance of children’s education.

The FC Barcelona players shared with the kids their thoughts and memories of playing soccer during their school days. Iniesta and Ter Stegen donned their red, yellow and blue team colors during the meeting and answered questions after their initial comments.

On the players’ jerseys, the UNICEF logo can be seen, signifying FC Barcelona’s involvement and association with the organization. Iniesta, FC Barcelona’s midfielder, said that he is proud to be linked with an important organization like UNICEF.

“For us as individuals, and as a club, it’s an honor to wear the jersey because of the values that UNICEF represents,” he said.

In addition, Iniesta voiced his and UNICEF’s similar opinions about the value of education in children’s lives.

“Alongside UNICEF, we want to reinforce the importance of providing the most vulnerable children with access to education,” Iniesta said. “Especially as parents, we are aware that children are the most precious things in our lives. It’s difficult knowing that there are children in other countries who don’t have the same opportunities.”

In agreement with his teammate, Ter Stegen, the team’s goalkeeper, noted the significance of education with his personal testimony.

“I had a lot of coaches and each of them advised me how to reach my goals,” he said. “But it’s not enough to have coaches or just to play soccer: education has been really important for me.”

UNICEF’s choice to partner with FC Barcelona was a strategic one. According to Quora, a question and answer website, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. An estimated 3.5 billion people are either fans of the sport or watch the sport.

By teaming up with one of the most popular clubs in professional soccer, UNICEF gains an unfathomable amount of notoriety by people who have the ability to make a change.

UNICEF and FC Barcelona first began their partnership in September 2006, and since then, the FC Barcelona Foundation has donated more than 12 thousand euros, or a little over $13,000.

The programs put in place by the organizations have aided in improvements in health for several countries in Africa and South America where sports are an integral part of a child’s physical and mental development. UNICEF and FC Barcelona have helped create better education systems for children and greater training programs for teachers.

Albert Soler, Director of Professional Sports of FC Barcelona, said that these projects have created a monumental amount of educational opportunity.

“Through these programs, more than 300,000 children are being reached,” Soler said.

According to a New York Times article, students who play sports in school tend to perform better later in life.

“Participating in sports, like playing in the school band or competing on the debate team, are cognitively and organizationally demanding activities that help convey self-discipline and leadership skills,” the article said.

In agreement with The New York Times, U.S. Fund for UNICEF Regional Managing Director, Amber Hill, said that the power of sports has helped children all over the world receive an education that fosters the skills needed to succeed.

“All children have the right to learn,” Hill said. “The focus of the FC Barcelona and UNICEF partnership is creating a world inspired by the power of quality education, where sports and play are key elements in the development of all children.”

With the help of Iniesta, Ter Stegen and all of the UNICEF and FC Barcelona supporters, thousands of children are receiving a quality education. Sports have always played an important role in a child’s development. Now it can be said that sports, like soccer, have helped children succeed in education and in life.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: FC Barcelona, Look to the Stars, The New York Times, Quora
Photo: Flickr

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Child Empowerment International Provides Education in Sri Lanka

Child Empowerment International provides schooling for underprivileged children in Sri Lanka
Children living in areas in Sri Lanka affected by war commonly do not have access to the resources and funds needed to receive an education. Many of these children suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder and issues due to their harsh living conditions. Child Empowerment International works to help children who have been negatively affected by war and other violent experiences overcome difficulties, cope with reality and receive an education.

Child Empowerment International establishes day schools in the refugee centers and communities these children live in. Over the past 17 years, the organization helped increase an individual’s future earnings by ten percent through education and training. Their staff of over 200 teachers prepares students for testing in Sri Lanka, which is based on the British education system. Studies conducted by Child Empowerment International have shown students graduating from their program score in the top five percentile on these standardized exams.

Students are taught basic school subjects like grammar and biology and receive career training to become carpenters, seamstresses, chefs, mechanics and hotel managers. Many students are also taught English and computer skills.

Child Empowerment International was started in 1998 to provide children living in war ridden zones holistic care. The organization started with 17 schools, but by the following year they were up to 29 schools. Child Empowerment International began by training teachers and counselors to mentor children who had suffered from sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences.

Founder Adam Salmon worked to establish a textbook-exporting company in Sri Lanka in 1994, but decided to change his line of work when he realized there were large numbers of abandoned children not receiving aid from other organizations. As the founder, he manages the hundreds of teachers working for Child Empowerment International and dedicates his time to improving the lives of the 6,800 children impacted by the organization.

The organization also dedicated themselves to helping the survivors of the tsunami that struck Sri Lanka in 2004. Several hundred students were orphaned by catastrophe and Child Empowerment International lost 126 of their students. The organization worked to find homes for children, provide resources and rebuild the schools lost to the storm.

Today, Child Empowerment International has over 80 schools established in Sri Lanka and other impoverished communities. Their newest project enacted in 2010 is working to provide education and healthcare to children in Uganda.

Students at their schools have successfully graduated from university and gained professional experience in the profession of their choice, with many of them becoming teachers or health professionals. Child Empowerment International is gathering quantitative data of the impact of their work on an individual’s success. Publication of this is set for 2017.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: Child Empowerment, Global Giving, Matador Network
Photo: Porticus

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Education System in Yemen Suffers in Conflict Zones

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Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, has experienced numerous violent conflicts over the past few decades. This is mainly due to an inequality in access to power and resources. Corruption is commonplace in Yemen’s relatively weak government, and conflicts are only exacerbated by poor infrastructure, high unemployment, food insecurity and limited social services. Currently, competing groups are fighting for control of the government, resulting in a scenario akin to a civil war. Those loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who was forced to flee the capital in February, have come up against a group of Zaidi Shia rebels called Houthis. Regional tensions and instability have increased.

Before the current conflict, many children were already out of school, and few completed secondary education. Primary enrollment stood at 73.8 percent, with a 60.4 percent completion rate. There was a large gender gap, with 85.2 percent of boys enrolled and only 62 percent of girls. Secondary enrollment was much lower, with only 33.5 percent attending. The gender gap persisted, with 43.6 percent of boys attending and 20.7 percent of girls. Literacy rates were also low: 65 percent of the population over the age of 15 could read and write.

The conflict has had a large negative impact on the education system in Yemen. 1.8 million children are out of school. 3,600 schools have been directly affected: 248 of these schools have been damaged, 270 have been repurposed for housing internally displaced citizens and 68 have been occupied by armed groups.

Because schooling has been interrupted for many students, UNICEF has been holding catch-up classes for over 200,000 students who have been unable to go to school for over two months due to conflict. These classes are intended to prepare students in grades 9 and 12 for their national mid-August exams, which they must pass to earn a basic or secondary school certificate. Yemen’s Ministry of Education has played an important role in mobilizing teachers and designating temporary learning spaces in areas where schools were destroyed. UNICEF has also been providing free resources such as notebooks and pencils.

Yemen’s school year is set to begin on September 5, but this could change depending on the security situation. UNICEF is currently trying to raise $11 million to help struggling students and fix schools that have been damaged by conflict. This money will go to rebuilding schools, supplying more teaching and learning resources, training teachers and community workers and running a back-to-school campaign. Education is crucial for Yemeni children to help themselves, their families, their communities and their country in the face of conflict.

– Jane Harkness

Sources: BBC, Index Mundi, UNICEF
Photo: USAID