Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

, , , ,

What it Means to Educate the World

Educate the World

Teach the world. Fix its problems. Seems like pretty simple logic.

However, advocacy for education around the world may seem like a broad scope, and many times the necessity of “spreading education” comes across so vague that it gets lost in the web of international aid “talk”. In order to understand the importance of education and creating more opportunities for education around the world, everyone should know some of the educational programs being created around the world. Here are a few just to start the long list!

Health Education: Rampant spread of disease is a significant concern in many developing nations around the globe. Many illnesses in poorer regions of the world are preventable and treatable, yet people in said communities continue to suffer. Health education is instilled in many countries, teaching many about general health and sexual health. HIV/AIDS in particular, remains a main focus for many international aid organizations, and by teaching safe sex practices and overall safer health practices, there will hopefully be an end to the spread of these deadly illnesses. To learn more about these kinds of organizations, go to www.planusa.org.

Economic Education: Instead of simply giving money to poor communities, it is important to also teach sustainable and smarter economic practices in order to assure more long-term effects from international aid efforts. Certain education advocacy groups go into poor communities in other countries, teaching small business owners and families more efficient strategies of economics and savings. This not only builds up said business, but also puts more money in the homes and to the families of the small communities, and moreover stimulates the overall economy. To learn more about these types of programs, go to www.trickleup.org.

Women’s Education: Educating and empowering women around the world is a huge objective in many international education programs. Many women in developing nations experience extreme oppression, and in many cases, abuse. By educating women, in particular skills and safer health practices, they are given more of ability to be independent, and are less likely to stay in circumstances in which they are abused. To see more about these types of programs go to www.learningpartnership.org.

Education covers a number of interests and fields, especially when dealing with international aid and relief organizations. By educating the world, we do more than teach people how to read and write. Education is matter of sustainable living, health, success and happiness.

– Alexandrea Jacinto 

Sources: Learning Partnership, Plan USA, Trickle Up Organization
Photo: World Vision

Hope for the Rainbow Nation?

south_africa
It has been 21 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa. While the Rainbow Nation has made progress on many fronts, the education system is struggling.

While schools do not aim to disadvantage minorities as they did during apartheid, the quality of education some provide is still severely lacking. The glow of democracy has not spread to the education system, which ranks 140th out of 144 according to a report done by the World Economic Forum. The worst being math and science specifically, ranking dead last at 144th.

Schools are failing for a number of reasons. For one, basic infrastructure is a problem and many schools are without running water or fully equipped bathrooms. Some are built of mud or are otherwise not structurally strong, leading to safety concerns.

Teachers are often absent, leaving classrooms full students with no teachers to educate them. This has been found to be more prevalent in schools located in less social-economically privileged areas. Often, these schools are smaller and have access to fewer resources, disadvantaging learners even more.

In the final year of secondary school, learners must pass their matriculation exam. About 75 percent of students passed the matric exams in 2014, a decrease from the 2013 mark of 78.2 percent. However, to pass matric, students need only 40 percent in three of their classes, and 30 percent in their other four classes.

Most students pass with better marks, however, the standard is low and half of the 18 percent of “matrics” that make it to universities, will never graduate. Couple this with the fact that despite progress in racial equality, Indians and whites possess many more matric and tertiary education certificates than blacks, and you have an education system that is struggling.

What is causing the education system to fail? It is not a lack of funding. In the 2013/14 fiscal year, 232.5 billion Rand, or $21.8 billion, was spent on education. However, money and resources often do not reach schools, instead falling into the hands of corrupt officials or middlemen involved in the purchasing of items such as computers or textbooks.

Corruption is a big problem in South Africa, and within the education sector it is no different. A recent study found that 20 percent of corruption cases reported by the public were related to education, and included things like mismanagement of funds, theft of funds, and tender corruption. Pair this corruption with a general lack of resources, infrastructure and teachers absent from work, and it makes more sense why schools are struggling.

What is the outcome of a poor education system? South Africa’s Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene made the connection between high unemployment in the country and a lack of properly educated individuals. Unemployment hovers at 26.4 percent, but rises to 37.8 percent when those who have given up looking for work are taken into account. To combat this, jobs obviously must be created and if the education system is improved, more people will be able to find work and continue the Rainbow Nation’s progress forward as a country.

– Greg Baker

Sources: National Department of Basic Education, South African Government News Agency, Mail and Guardian, Mail and Guardian, Brookings, World Economic Forum,BBC
Photo: Africa Check

, ,

Educating Girls on Feminine Hygiene

Educating-Girls-on-Feminine-Hygiene
Women face challenges everyday across the globe, from discrimination to sexual harassment. However, their biggest obstacle comes once a month from their own bodies. Women and girls in developing countries find it hard to feel confident and practice proper hygiene. When girls are menstruating, they choose to stay home to prevent embarrassment from leaking. The Huffington Post found that some girls would go days without food or water sitting on cardboard until their period was over.

Women and girls in poor countries do not have easy access to sanitary pads, therefore the impact menstruation has on them affects their everyday lives. Indra, from Nepal says “I asked the neighbors to borrow some cloth, and I had to use it for five days without any chance to wash it,” according to Water Aid. In developing countries clean water and private bathroom facilities are another challenge girls face. When girls do not feel comfortable attending school and women refrain working in fields, it sets them back from achieving their full potential.

An important aspect of feminine hygiene is education. “One study found that nearly 70 percent of girls had no idea what was happening to them the first time they menstruated,” according to the Gates Foundation. This means their mothers lacked in educating their daughters on their bodies. With proper sexual education STD’s can be prevented and early pregnancy can be avoided. Girls can also learn to keep track of their cycle and prepare for their period.

Although women and girls face challenges with their bodies, the organization Days for Girls International is fighting to improve the lives of women across the world. Days for Girls sells affordable sanitary kits with reusable pads, travel soaps, panties, and a Ziploc bag for soiled items. The social business Ruby Cup, has innovated a reusable silicon menstrual cup lasting up to 10 years and can be used up to 12 hours.

Every day girls get their period and the struggles girls face in poor countries are sometimes over looked. Businesses making this issue a primary focus will create better lives for girls who are losing a chance at education or income. By 2022, Days for Girls wishes to see every girl around the world access hygiene and education. If women and girls can continue to work in school and on the fields, the world can come closer to ending poverty with their constant efforts.

– Kimberly Quitzon

Sources: Huffington Post, Water Aid, Impatient Optimists, Days For Girls
Photo: Too Little Children

Education Continues in Sudanese Refugee Camps

Sudanese refugee camps
South Sudan is a country that has been torn apart by war and internal conflict for over 20 years, having only brief interludes of peace. The violence continues today, pushing many people to flee to nearby countries like Uganda and Kenya. However, the violence disrupts more than just daily lives. Over one million South Sudanese children do not attend primary school. Many have fled to Sudanese refugee camps where an education is not offered, and for those who stayed, the conditions are too dangerous to hold or attend classes.

The decades of war have damaged several generations of young Sudanese students, denying them an education. As a result, there is a high illiteracy rate in South Sudan. The adult population that grew up under the first waves of conflict, is about 73 percent illiterate. In the age range of 15 to 40, more than two million people are illiterate. Females have a higher illiteracy level because they are less likely to receive an education due to traditional customs of marrying at a young age. About 65 percent of the illiterate youth are female. About 10 percent of children, ages 6 to 17, have never been to school, with the percentage being higher in rural areas versus urban.
 
Several individuals, and an organization known as Project Education South Sudan, are out to give the next generation the gift of knowledge both in the country and in Sudanese refugee camps. Many believe that creating schools and educating the next generation is the best way to heal a war-torn nation. Alaak, a teacher in a Sudanese Refugee Camp in Uganda told the U.N., “Education is crucial in raising a generation of informed and skilled people, and also as a way to help children deal with the horrors they have witnessed… If you give them [children] education, they will grow up with healthy brains.”
By building schools and providing the resources in refugee camps, the teachers hope the education can encourage these students to create a peaceful South Sudan.
 
– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: UNICEF, Project Education Sudan, NPR, UNHCR, World Bank
Photo: Flickr

,

Afghan Taliban Pledge Support for Women’s Education

Taliban-Supports-Women-Education
Historically, the Taliban’s regime in Afghanistan is notorious for its brutal oppression of women. Now, the Taliban has reportedly pledged its support for women’s rights.

The Taliban put forward this ‘softer stance’ on women’s issues at recent meetings with Afghan officials and activists in Qatar. Taliban representatives at the talks said that should they return to power, they would support not only women’s access to education, but also their right to work outside the home.

Many hope that these talks will lead to formal peace negotiations between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

After coming to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, the Taliban began a harsh crackdown on women’s rights. The group specifically targeted women’s education. Soon after taking over the Afghan capital, Kabul, in 1996, the Taliban closed the city’s women’s university and prohibited women from studying at Kabul University. In 1998, the Taliban banned all girls over the age of eight from attending school.

It is no secret that women’s education plays an integral part in a country’s economic and social development. It can both lift individual women and families out of poverty and increase an entire country’s GDP. Investing in girls’ education can also lower child and maternal mortality rates and reduce the likelihood of child marriages. By prohibiting women from attending schools and universities, the Taliban effectively ensured that Afghan women would lack the skills needed to participate in society and therefore sink deeper into poverty.

Though the Taliban fell from power in Afghanistan in 2001, its repressive views of women’s right to education are still widespread. In the years since, women have made only gradual progress toward reentering the educational system. World Bank reports show that as of 2014, 36 percent of Afghan girls attend school.

The three Afghan women who attended the talks in Qatar reported that they were pleased with the Taliban’s pledge to not roll back the progress Afghan women have made. Malalai Shinwari, a former Afghan member of parliament, said, “They said they won’t make the same mistakes that they made in the past. They said they would accept the rights we have today.”

However, many women’s activists remain skeptical about the Taliban’s statements. Shaharzad Akbar, a Kabul-based activist, revealed, “My worry is that the Taliban have a very different understanding of women’s right to education and political participation, and that it is based on their view that women are inherently inferior to men.”

Many delegates from the Qatar talks have expressed their surprise over the Taliban’s supposed willingness to compromise on both women’s rights and other political issues. However, whether the Taliban will follow through on its promises still remains to be seen.

– Caitlin Harrison

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, BBC, Global Partnership, U.S. Department of State
Photo: Blogging for Barakat

New Report Ranks Education Around the World

education
By ranking school performance in various countries, it becomes clearer which nation’s educational needs are not being met. In a report titled, “Universal Basic Skills: What countries stand to gain,” written by economists Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann, 76 countries were ranked by test scores. Asian countries ranked the highest and the United States trailed behind in 28th place.

Many developing countries were closer to the bottom of the list, with Ghana receiving the lowest score of all 76 countries. As Andreas Schleicher, the Education Director of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD,  points out, “the quality of schooling in a country is a powerful predictor of the wealth countries will produce in the long run.”

Hanushek and Woessmann believe that studying the discrepancies between nations can also lead to finding solutions to these discrepancies.

“This report offers a glimpse of the stunning economic and social benefits that all countries, regardless of their national wealth, stand to gain if they ensure that every child not only has access to education but, through that education, acquires at least the baseline level of skills needed to participate fully in society,” explain Hanushek and Woessmann. They also contend that if poorer countries try to emulate the educational practices of the more successful countries, they could meet the goal of “universal basic skills” within the next decade.

Hanushek and Woessmann also believe that if a country acquires these universal basic skills, poverty levels will decrease and the country will be able to better provide quality health care and technologies.

“Only improved knowledge capital makes these larger social goals feasible,” says Hanushek and Woessmann.

To the economists dedicated to studying this issue, it is not simply a contest to see which nation is smarter. An adequate education affects most, if not all, areas of a person’s livelihood. By prioritizing education, other problems stemming from poverty will consequently diminish, and people with higher education levels will have more resources and opportunities. If these findings gain traction, school systems around the world will benefit as they enact changes to prioritize the nation’s education needs.

– Melissa Binns

Sources: The Independent, OECD
Photo: Unicef

, ,

USAID Initiative to Educate Girls

educate_girls
Women from around the world are denied a proper education. The pressure to provide and help raise their families causes them to drop out of school early, leaving them uneducated. In developing countries, families often sell their daughters for child marriage or human trafficking. These decisions are made based on food insecurity and are a direct result of living in poverty.

Because of this continuous struggle for girls to finish school, “the Obama administration has embarked on a high-profile initiative to empower girls through education — saying the inability of girls to attend school worldwide should be a foreign policy priority,” according to Voice of America News. With education comes empowerment, and empowering girls to have a voice allows them more control of their lives.

USAID’s Let Girls Learn initiative works to educate girls. By letting girls learn, their lives and the lives around them are improved. When women are more educated they are more likely to live longer and take better care of their children. Educated girls often go on to pursue higher education and gain an income for themselves. This income is then invested in their communities and families, therefore creating more sustainable development.

USAID’s initiative page shares this information in a video featuring famous celebrities fighting for the cause. Bringing awareness to the affects of female empowerment across the world is the first step to helping girls gain an education. USAID has made tremendous progress in ensuring the success of their initiative. “Around $1 billion has been invested in education programs, provided 35 million textbooks, and helped train over 300,000 teachers world wide,” reports USAID.

The initiative focuses on an important aspect of ending world poverty. Empowering and educating women gives developing countries the opportunity to thrive and sustain their development.

– Kimberly Quitzon

Sources: Voice of America, USAID

Photo: FUTDteach

South Korea Sets Education Standards High

south-korea
With thousands of students vying for acceptance into top colleges, adolescent suicide rates in South Korea increasingly mirror rising scholastic pressure. These uncompromising education standards, as many suggest, continue to compromise happiness nationwide.

The bodies of two 16-year-old girls were found on a cement sidewalk in early March. A note reading, “We hate school,” was found following their jump from the multistory Daejeon hospital building.

Less recently, at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), students grappled with the loss of four peers and one professor to suicide. As the region’s most prestigious institution, test anxiety and copious amounts of schoolwork are part of the daily routine.

“Day after day we are cornered into an unrelenting competition that smothers and suffocates us. We couldn’t even spare 30 minutes for our troubled classmates because of all our homework,” the KAIST student council said. “We no longer have the ability to laugh freely.”

These grim narratives dominate headlines in South Korea – a country where the number of teen suicides has increased by 57 percent since 2001.

While secondary schools hold candlelight vigils and Seoul subway stations install barriers to prevent commuters from jumping, some are questioning the actual education system itself and its effects on adolescent suicide rates in South Korea.

For a typical high school student, class begins at eight in the morning and finishes at four in the afternoon. From there, however, military-style cram sessions at private institutions can last until 11 at night.

This pressure hits its peak in November, when students from around South Korea gather to take a single college entrance exam – the “suneung.” While mothers pray at churches or temples and the South Korean Air Force lands all planes, adolescents hunker over booklets and answer sheets for the nine hour test.

The “suneung” determines which university, if any, the student will attend. Most strive for the so-called SKY schools – Seoul National, Korea or Yonsei universities.

“To get admitted there decides what you can do in life and who you can marry. It determines your future,” Young Hwan Kim, a 17-year-old at Shinil High School said.

This race to success contrasts sharply with pre-World War II conditions. Though now an economic powerhouse, South Korea was once one of the poorest countries in the world, with only $64 per capita income.

Severely undereducated, only five percent of the population had attended secondary school or pursued advanced degrees.

Investment in infrastructure and human capital, in addition to foreign aid from both Japan and the U.S., pushed the country to its contemporary state. An unyielding focus was also placed on education, perhaps to make up for South Korea’s lack of tangible resources.

“We don’t have enough natural resources; the only resources we have [are] human resources,” said Kim Mee Suk, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

Now, in response to this mindset, roughly 75 percent of students attend a university – something many call the “Korean education miracle.”

This blessing, however, has also been a curse.

While overall suicide rates in developed countries are falling, adolescent suicide rates in South Korea continue to climb. A February survey released by the Korea Health Promotion Foundation even found that just over half of the country’s teens had suicidal thoughts this year.

Inchae Ryu, a 17-year-old student also at Shinil High School, spends 12 hours per day studying. Hunkered down in the library, clad in a navy uniform and green tie, he looks over notes for an extra English class he attends twice a week.

“I have no time to think about my future or my dreams,” Ryu said.

While attempting to stimulate the economy today, South Korean officials have blatantly disregarded what may happen in the future. In addition to overall drops in mental health, many parents are choosing not to have children because private tutors and lessons cost too much.

If this pattern continues, both in terms of diminished family size and augmented suicide rates, the country may face a deficit in that highly valued human capital. Numbers aside, South Korea may be facing an entire generation of unhappy citizens as well.

“It’s kind of alarming actually. If young students [are] not happy, we cannot guarantee their happiness when they grow up, so our future will be really dark,” Kim said.

– Lauren Stepp

Sources: Aljazeera, NPR, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
Photo: Flickr

,

Education Schools in Brunei

Education_in_Brunei
Education is an important part of a nation’s development and is a crucial key to unlocking an economy’s success. Quality education provides a bright future for a country and its citizens; a future above poverty lines, hunger and food insecurities. The education system in Brunei focuses on just that—ensuring quality education for all in hopes of achieving a better tomorrow for its citizens and the country as a whole.

What makes the education system different and possibly successful? It provides free education to children in not only primary levels, but secondary levels as well. As a result, more and more children are being educated. According to the World Bank Group, an estimated 94 percent of children are enrolled in school. There also seems to be a correlation between education and economy; Brunei also happens to be a high income country with one of the most developed economies in Asia.

Brunei is located in the southern region of Malaysia and has created a government that highly values education and places the responsibility of education upon its shoulders. The education system aims to develop its citizens’ knowledge, and by doing so, develop the country as a whole as well.

Schools in Brunei

Education in Brunei has previously been established to emulate Islamic forms of eduction. These Islamic schools, also known as Madrassas, serve as an important part of education in Brunei; however, in more recent years, the education system has slightly shifted to recognize western education as well. Although in recent years the education in Brunei has begun to encompass western learning, the education system remains closely rooted to the religious values of the region.

There are schools all over the country that provide free primary and secondary education to children. As more schools were being built, the country saw a substantial increase in not only the quantity of children attending, but the quality of education as well. Schools in Brunei provide comprehensive lessons in subjects involving history, language and geography, as well as the study of technology, mainly computers.

Brunei Ministry of Education

Brunei established a ministry of education that led the education sector with a key goal in mind: a proper development of the school system and of education. A five year plan was then implemented in 1954 in order to ensure this principal aim was reached. Additionally, the Brunei ministry of education formed and implemented several educational reforms such as the National Education Policy of 1962 and the National Education System (1985) that ensured quality education free of charge at every grade level. To do so successfully, the ministry governed the schools, funded the education programs and determined the curriculum. As a result, Brunei saw a substantial rise in literacy rates.

Following the establishment of Brunei’s ministry of education, the literacy rate improved from 69 percent to 92 percent. The implementation of the Brunei ministry of education has proven to be successful. As of 2012, 92 percent of children were enrolled in primary education, with an even higher 94 percent enrolled in secondary education.

Ultimately, education in Brunei has been established with a major purpose: to create quality education, free for all citizens, to be used by citizens as a means of achieving and living to their fullest potential. The education system in Brunei seeks to prepare citizens for the future and help them possess the skills and knowledge necessary to be able to excel in society and the changing demands society has on one’s livelihood.

There’s a known correlation between education and a nation’s success; more often than not, highly educated countries have a more stable economy and way of life than countries with limited education. Free education for all seems to also be a key component to Brunei’s successful and continual development.

– Nada Sewidan

Sources: APEC, Maps of World, World Bank
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Poverty in Sao Tome and Principe

Free Photo of People Walking Outdoors Stock PhotoTwo small islands off the coast of West Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, are known for their lush vegetation, Portuguese influences and warm island weather year-round. Guadalupe, a small town on the northern coast of Sao Tome and Principe, has become one of Africa’s premier vacation spots.

As one of Africa’s smallest countries, Sao Tome and Principe has experienced periods of dramatic growth and economic and political decline. However, about 45% of the country’s 223,561 residents face poverty, with those in rural areas with dense populations particularly affected.

Causes of Poverty in Sao Tome and Principe

The leading causes of poverty in Sao Tome and Principe are low income, lack of productive assets and means of production, lack of infrastructure and lack of social capital. Most of the country’s citizens depend on subsistence agriculture and farming; many work on cacao plantations, harvesting Sao Tome and Principe’s number one export. Approximately 80% of the country’s cacao production is sent abroad.

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the country has depended mainly on cacao production to generate national profit. However, due to poor agricultural practices and mismanagement, the quality of cacao coming from Sao Tome and Principe has decreased substantially, as has the quality of life for those who depend on its harvesting to survive.

Sao Tome and Principe also relies heavily on imports, possibly due to its lack of a skilled workforce and high national debt. This reliance on imports makes the country susceptible to fluctuations in global market prices. Similarly, it has a gross domestic product (GDP) of only $542.7 million and a vast amount goes to imported goods. Moreover, according to the African Development Bank (ADB), Sao Tome and Principe imports 50% of its goods and 100% of its oil. Hence, there is little room for emergency funding or poverty reduction spending.

According to the World Factbook, 55.5% (2017 estimate) of Sao Tome and Principe’s population lives below the poverty line. Furthermore, around 11.7% of its children aged less than 5 are suffering from stunting and 4.5% are suffering from being overweight.

Looking Ahead

Despite its lack of economic resources and small population, there are bright prospects for Sao Tome and Principe. In the last decade, the nation has made significant progress. In the education sector, nearly 100% of its children, including boys and girls, complete primary education. Overall, more than 90% of Sao Tome and Principe’s population is literate, leading to better job opportunities, higher productivity and economic growth. Though the country’s residents face poverty, illness and economic hardship, Sao Tome and Principe’s governing body places the utmost importance on education and finding better ways to sustain its integrity.

In the health care sector, Sao Tome and Principe has achieved a significant milestone against HIV/AIDS prevalence, reducing it to less than 1.5% from around 3% to 4% in 2005. The country is also on course to reduce stunting and wasting among its children. Like every other country, Sao Tome and Principe is facing its own challenges. However, it is working to improve the lives of its citizens.

– Candice Hughes

Photo: Pexels
Updated: May 27, 2024