Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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The Effects of Poverty on the Adult Brain

effects of poverty on the adult brain

A recent study examined the effects of poverty on the adult brain and how it is influenced by childhood development. Results of the study showed that children from poor families performed more poorly on academic tests later in life. Furthermore, the study found that children who dealt with stress inducing factors, such as poor housing, in addition to poverty performed the worst of all tested subjects.

What does this mean for the future of children that are presently living in extreme poverty? With more than 1 billion children worldwide who lack one or more essential needs critical to survival and development, this can present even more problems in the future.

Most children living in extreme poverty face stress-inducing factors in addition to poverty. According to UNICEF, 101 million children currently do not attend primary school, and 148 million children under the age of 5 are underweight. A total of 270 million children worldwide do not have access to health care, and one out of five do not have access to clean drinking water, according to CARE, a nonprofit aiding in the fight against extreme poverty.

With more than 300 million children worldwide chronically hungry and 90 percent suffering from long-term malnourishment, these stressors can have lasting effects on their intellectual performance, and subsequently their financial stability, as adults.

For every additional year of primary school in developing countries, a girl’s wages are raised by 10 to 20 percent. This shows a direct correlation between education and income.

Children from poorer households are three times more likely to not attend school than those from wealthy homes. The largest population of non-attending school aged children is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 45.5 million children do not attend primary school. Much of this is caused by poverty, as many parents and families cannot afford required school fees and supplies to send their children to school.

Extreme poverty certainly involves several stress inducing factors besides lack of money, and these issues compound the problem of intellectual performance further. According to Professor K. Luan Phan, the author of the study, “the stress-burden of growing up poor may be an underlying mechanism that accounts for the relationship between poverty as a child and how well your brain works as an adult.”

By this same logic, helping these children out of extreme poverty today will lead to more intellectual men and women of tomorrow – men and women who will have the education needed to help other children escape poverty.

– Christopher Kolezynski

Sources: PsyBlog, The Borgen Project, CARE, Compassion
Photo: Flickr

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AME-SADA’s Health Work

AME-SADA
Many churches around the world donate to charities to fight poverty. However, the African Methodist Episcopal Church  created its own agency to support the poor in Africa and the Caribbean. Its Service and Development Agency (AME-SADA) has been providing humanitarian assistance and development aid in Haiti and Africa for decades.

Though AME is an American church, it was founded by those of African descent. The church has three stated purposes, and the third addresses its work through its Service and Development Agency : to “provide continuing programs which will enhance the entire social development of all people.”

AME-SADA was founded 28 years ago, with the aim to “help people help themselves.” However, the church itself has been working in Haiti for more than 125 years. AME-SADA receives financial support from its own church members, the American government, donators and foreign institutions. In 2011, the agency was awarded the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to help their Cholera Prevention Program in Haiti.

In line with its motto of helping people help themselves, the Service and Development Agency provides health, education, and micro-credit programs. However, in emergencies such as the Haitian earthquake in 2010, AME-SADA provides quick relief.

In Haiti, AME’s  Service and Development Agency has a Child and Maternal Health Program that offers services such as pre and post-natal care for women aged 15-49, newborn care, disease and malnourishment care, family planning and counseling. The agency also supports outpatient clinics for treatment, health education and counseling. It provides water purification tablets, cleansers, disinfectants and oral rehydration packets for the treatment of cholera.

SADA-KREDI is closely related to AME-SADA’s healthcare programs. Some groups in the Haitian communities asked the agency for help supporting the clinics, and so AME’s Service and Development Agency brought members from clinic support groups to work at village banks. Three thousand women participate in an orientation for business and group dynamics, which lasts for 9-12 months. Then they are given loans of $500 in local currency for nine months.

AME-SADA also provides health care in Port-au-Prince in Haiti for 30,000 elementary school children.

Though the majority of AME-SADA’s work is in Haiti, the church has other programs in South Africa. AME has had churches and schools in the country since 1896. The agency’s college, Wilberforce Community College, provides higher education and encourages younger students to stay in school.

 – Kimmi Ligh

Sources: African Methodist Episcopal Church 1, African Methodist Episcopal Church 2, AME-SADA 1, AME-SADA 2, AME-SADA 3, Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Our Health Ministry
Photo: Our Health Ministry

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The Education Development Center

In the fight against global poverty, it is important to acknowledge some of the more successful combatants. The Education Development Center (EDC) is one of these. As a global nonprofit, it recognizes the correlation between the lack of education and increased global poverty and helps give those marginalized in the world — either due to poverty or war — the chance of leading a better life by means of education. As their website states, over 100 million children do not attend school, and it is this statistic that the EDC is fighting to combat and reduce.

With offices based in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Waltham, Mass., the Education Development Center commands a global staff of 1,350 members. It has over a $190 million budget and over 250 programs spread throughout 30 different countries and across all 50 U.S. states.

Through grants from both private foundations and federal agencies, the EDC creates and implements projects to improve educational and economic prospects of those worldwide. According to the EDC, these projects have ranged from “seed projects to large-scale national and international initiatives.”

Notable donors to the EDC include: the Ford Motor Company, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Education, UNESCO and the World Health Organization. Recently, the EDC has received three grants from the U.S. Department of Education, one for $3.5 million and two for almost $400,000 each, all meant for education development projects within the U.S.

Founded in 1958, the EDC’s first project was to design a new physics curriculum for American high school classrooms. This was partially a reaction to the Soviet Union’s new space program as well as a response to a perceived discrepancy between Soviet Union and American science educations.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, this project became highly successful, and the new curriculum was incorporated into roughly half of American high schools by the early 1960s.

Following the implementation of this first project in the United States, EDC soon began to establish a more global reach. In 1961 and 1966 it began work on advancing mathematics and science programs in Africa. These projects would eventually end up creating, as stated on EDC’s website, “the continent’s first indigenous education research and development organization, Science Education Programme for Africa.”

However, one of its most effective and interesting international projects is the Radio Education or Interactive Radio Instruction.

This radio program that began in 1985 (and still exists today) was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. It uses radios to educate large swaths of people, including adults and children from over 30 developing countries, that would otherwise be unable to receive a basic education, either because of war or poverty.

This dedication to improving the world and combating poverty through education has been sustained throughout the organization’s entire existence. As a result of projects from 1997-2007, for instance, student enrollment in Guinea has doubled.

More recently, the international work of the EDC has focused on reducing youth unemployment in both Rwanda and Macedonia. More vocational training centers, concentrated on teaching technical and interpersonal skills, are being created for these youths.

As 2015 draws near, so does the end of the Millennium Development Goals, eight goals signed in 2000 by 191 countries designed to drastically reduce global poverty. As the international community debates and draws up the next set of goals to target poverty, the EDC will be remembered and depended on for the continued positive change it has enacted since 1958.

– Albert Cavallaro 

Sources: EDC 1, EDC 2, EDC 3, EDC 4, EDC 5, IRIN
Photo: Sasaki

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Pakistani Town Offers Sex Education Classes

Despite censure, a small village in Pakistan is defying social norms. Tucked away in the ultra-conservative Sindh province, the village of Johi is doing something extraordinary and radical: they’re providing sex education classes for girls.

To a Westerner this notion may seem far from revolutionary, but it is a gigantic leap forward for Pakistan. In the Muslim nation of 180 million people, sex education is taboo — in some places it has even been outlawed. Women who expose their sexuality in the slightest and most harmless of ways can be sentenced to death.

The pioneers behind the movement are bravely looking forward, teaching girls what they feel is just and necessary. They have established the Village Shadabad Organization where sex education classes are taught to girls starting at age 8. Thus far, there are 700 girls enrolled in eight different schools. The topics range from changes in the female body, to what a women’s rights are, to how she can protect herself. The lessons are an addition to regularly taught classes.

From the teachers’ experience, sex education is vital knowledge these young girls are deprived of. When they begin to menstruate, for example, they are ashamed and think they are sick. Pakistani girls are largely uneducated about puberty and do not know when they will begin to menstruate. Furthermore, many girls get married without understanding the mechanics of sex.

The lessons are not only useful in educating the girls about the natural functions of their bodies, but they are also a means of teaching self-defense. The girls learn that they have a right to their bodies; they learn how to defend themselves if someone violates their personal space; they are taught that even if they are married, their husband cannot force them to engage in sex if they are not willing.

Surprisingly, most families in Johi support the implementation of sex education in the public school curriculum. Unfortunately, the movement is far from reaching a national arena. In fact, the government recently shifted in the opposite direction, forcing the elite Lahore Grammar School to eliminate sex education courses from its curriculum. Many people argue that sex education is a violation of Pakistan’s constitution and an obstruction to their religious beliefs. For now, sex education in Pakistan is still a fringe idea, but nonetheless, the idea demonstrates an outward display of government defiance and a step in the right direction for women.

– Samantha Scheetz

Sources: UN Women, Huffington Post, Reuters
Photo: Wikimedia

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Education in Tanzania: 10 Important Facts

Tanzania has seen tremendous growth and progress in the education sector over the last decade. However, despite rapid expansion in primary and secondary school enrollment, the country’s education system continues to struggle to deliver quality education and to keep its children in school. Below are some facts about education in Tanzania:

1. Growth in Education

According to a census report, 94 percent of children aged 7 to 13 were enrolled in primary school in 2011. Only 59 percent of children were enrolled in primary school in 2000.

2. No Fees

This incredible jump in enrollment is due in part to Tanzania’s abolition of primary school fees in 2001.

3. MDGs

Today, Tanzania is said to be on track for meeting the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal for male and female enrollment in primary and secondary schools.

4. Class Size

Due to rapid enrollment numbers, Tanzania faces extreme overcrowding within its classrooms. The average government primary school classroom holds 66 pupils. In some areas of the country, there can be as many as 200 pupils in a single classroom.

5. Student:Teacher Ratio

While the number of enrolled students continues to grow, a corresponding increase in qualified teachers does not. The pupil to qualified teacher ratio remains 49:1 in Tanzania.

6. Student:Latrine Ratio

The pupil to latrine ratio is an even larger culprit when it comes to factors that hinder Tanzanian children’s education—for girls, especially. On average, there is 1 toilet for a collective 54 boys and 51 girls. This ratio — far below the normal pupil:latrine ration of 25:1 — affects not only attendance but also performance in Tanzanian schools.

7. Special Education

There is no system today in Tanzania for the identification of, assessment of, or support for children with mental or physical disabilities within government schools.

8. Drop Out Rates

In 2010, 68,000 children dropped out of primary school, and 66,000 children left secondary school early.

9. Pregnancy

Also in 2010, 7000 girls dropped out of primary and secondary schools due to pregnancy.

10. Exams

Only half (53.5 percent) of students passed the primary school’s leaving examination in 2010; the majority of children who passed the examination were boys.

Though the statistics that reflect the enrollment growth are impressive, the system supporting education in Tanzania is decrepit, if not dysfunctional. With one of the highest net enrollment ratios in Africa, there is much potential to empower Tanzanian children and adolescents, helping them to attain the education necessary to break the cycle of poverty. For the thousands of children who begin, but never finish, their schooling, education reform must remain at the forefront of the Tanzanian government’s agenda.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: UNICEF, USAID
Photo: HNKC News

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Julia Gillard & Female Education

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is no stranger to education reform. Before her term of service from 2010 to 2013, Gillard was the minister of education in Australia. As prime minister, she drew upon her work experiences to improve many of Australia’s policies for the country’s educational system.

Having accepted the position of Board Chair for the Global Partnership for Education in February, Gillard has since expanded her desire to promote high quality education to countries across the globe.

One of Gillard’s primary focuses is female education. The global leader has voiced her concern with the lack of funding and attention that female education typically receives. As Board Chair, Gillard has set out to instill a greater sense of gender equality in discussions regarding educational aid.

Gillard received a great deal of press in 2012 when she became engaged in a heated debate with opposition leader Tony Abbot during a meeting of parliament about the concept of sexism. Julia Gillard accused Abbot of behaving and speaking in a misogynistic manner and highlighted the evils of sexism.

The video of her speech from parliament that day went viral, becoming an online symbol of female empowerment.

Today, Gillard is continuing her passion for gender equality by accepting a partnership with the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI). At the GPE Replenishment Conference in June, Gillard opened the “Girls’ Education: Moving Beyond Access” session.

Gillard commented on the state of female global education saying, “There are more girls in school today, but there are still millions who are still not in school. There is a lot more that needs to be done.”

The session offered discussion on the most effective ways to respond to gender inequality in schools in the poorest areas of the world. The transition from primary to secondary education became a popular topic of conversation because so many girls drop out of school between the two levels.

The session also pinpointed the recent reasons behind female education’s success. For example, women are gaining land ownership rights more often in Nepal because daughters as well as sons can inherit family land now. Representatives from Nepal at the GPE conference believe that the opportunity to own land has affected female enrollment in schools because it has shifted the attitude toward women in the country.

Gillard advocates for complete equal access to education. As Board Chair for GPE, she leads initiatives to fund education for children with disabilities, children in rural and impoverished areas and girls dealing with oppression. Though female education is not her only focus, the fact that she, a prominent global symbol for both feminism and education reform, is leading these initiatives, seems like good news for the future of female education.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: BBC, UNGEI, GPE, Huffington Post
Photo: Eight Women Around the World

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Search for Teachers in the Philippines

Since 1985, the Metrobank Foundation has carried out an annual search for the best teachers in the Philippines. Every year, the foundation accepts applications from teachers around the country for its Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT) program. After multiple rounds in an extensive search process, the Metrobank Foundation selects 10 teachers to honor for their contributions to education in the Philippines.

The Metrobank Foundation states that the program is designed to promote a culture of excellence in the field of education in the Philippines. The award is meant to motivate educators to be the best possible teachers.  As a result, students receive a higher quality education and many teachers receive credible reviews.

Teachers of all grade levels from public and private schools can apply for the SOT program. The application comes out in January each year. After all applications are received, the Metrobank Foundation narrows the competition down to about 50 teachers. These 50 teachers undergo a thorough interview process so that by July, a selection committee can pick just 10 teachers to celebrate that year.

The award is quite prestigious, and comes with an enticing prize. Aside from winning a medal, a trophy and a plaque for the teachers to display at their schools, winners also receive 500,000 Philippine Pesos, which translates to just over $11,500. This is extremely enticing for teachers in the Philippines, where the average monthly salary for those in the teaching profession is 33,374 Philippine Pesos, or $767.60. Finalists that do not make it to the final 10 receive a smaller, but noteworthy, cash prize as well.

The 2014 search began in January, as it does every year. This year, however, was particularly special for the Metrobank Foundation because it marked the 30th anniversary of the SOT program. To celebrate 30 years of recognizing outstanding teachers, the theme of this year’s search was “Launching Dreams toward Nation Building.”

Any teacher selected for the prestigious honor of a 30th anniversary SOT winner will be not only an outstanding teacher, but also an educator dedicated to empowering Philippine youth for the betterment of the country’s future.

The Metrobank Foundation has created an honor society comprised of all previous SOT winners.  The society is called the Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators Inc., but is often shortened to “NOTED.” NOTED ensures that SOT winners continue proving their commitment to excellence in education after they have received their awards. NOTED fosters collaboration among the top educators in the Philippines to increase creativity and professionalism in their classrooms. Additionally, NOTED provides a group for these knowledgeable educators to discuss national concerns in the field of education.

The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education in the Philippines aid the Metrobank Foundation every year in the search for 10 well-deserving teachers. In the past, winners have included Mitchel Rodriguez, who single-handedly organized a reading program in her school to improve students’ reading habits; Rodel Sampang, a teacher that makes lessons relatable by comparing them to real-world situations; Emilyn Espiritu, an environmental scientist and educator that helped her students make environmentally conscious decisions based on her own discoveries.

The point of the SOT program is to generate a desire for all teachers to do something meaningful just like the previous winners of the competition. If every teacher in the Philippines strives to achieve the same level of excellence required to be recognized by the Metrobank Foundation, Philippine students can receive quality education.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: Inquirer, Metrobank Foundation, Phil Star, Salary Explorer, Sunday Punch
Photo: Inquirer

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World Learning: Connecting Minds Across the Globe

World Learning, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering youth and advancing leadership in 60 countries worldwide. With three specific and unique programs—in education, development and exchange—World Learning’s initiatives cover a broad range of issues to comprehensively address critical needs in the global education sector.

The Experiment in International Learning program offers high school students opportunities to take part in “immersive, life-transforming” experiences in more than 20 countries through three-week or five-week summer abroad programs.

At the graduate and undergraduate levels, World Learning’s School for International Training (SIT) is an accredited higher education institution that provides undergraduates with semester-long programs in 30 countries, each with a focus on critical global issues.

Additionally, SIT aims to offer deep cultural immersion through fieldwork, language courses and urban and rural home-stays with locals. SIT’s graduate institute offers masters degrees in conflict transformation, international education, sustainable education, and teaching English as a second language.

International Exchange programs enable World Learning to address larger worldwide issues in education such as teacher professional development, community and school enrichment, and English language/literacy improvement. Additionally, these programs work with policymakers and education reform programs, working to achieve the support and resources necessary to promoting sustainable development in education.

In addition to education programs, World Learning brings together emerging leaders from 140 countries around the world to the United States. on exchanges. These exchange programs are unique in that they are short-term, but offer high-value learning experiences for leaders who are eager to gain professional development by connecting with U.S. and international colleagues to gain a broader view of U.S. culture and values. This program provides people of all ages with the opportunity to learn together about leadership, current issues and peace building.

World Learning’s International Development programs work to educate communities worldwide to address issues relating to poverty, such as education access and disease prevention. Working with local partners, World Learning’s grassroots programs identify specific needs, challenges and resources within communities, customizing development plans.

One example of these projects is the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Grants Solicitation and Management program. World Learning’s development goal is to ensure that partners invest deeply in projects and provide the necessary support for successful, long-term improvements.

World Learning’s work is essential to global policy and affairs because, in essence, it pulls back the curtain from many cultures and communities and allows people to examine not only their own cultures and communities, but others as well. Education is key not only in breaking the cycle of poverty, but it’s crucial in the preserving of peace and in the building of understanding, trust, and respect across communities worldwide.

World Learning’s promotion of global communication through education, development and exchange programs and higher education opportunities are making strides in the effort to eliminate conflict and achieve equality across the board when it comes to worldwide education.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: World Bank, World Learning, Inc.
Photo: World Learning

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5 Ways Mobile Tech is Fighting Poverty

mobile tech
As mobile technology continues to rise and expand across our nation, it has also begun to play an important role in poorer, less fortunate countries as well. Mobile tech is becoming a crucial part in alleviating poverty, helping both the individual and the community of these areas in need. Here are five ways that mobile tech is improving lives.

Education

While mobile tech has been increasingly implemented into curriculums in the United States to increase efficiency, so it has been in poorer countries as well. One educational, nonprofit company named Eneza Education has been participating in this effort. The mobile platform has over 100,000 students in 400 schools all over Kenya, and aims to increase enrollment to over 200,000.

Banking

According to The World Bank, some 2.5 billion people — half of the adult population — do not have a bank account. As a result, it is harder for individuals to accumulate wealth or save for the future. However, mobile banking is allowing more and more people around the world to have access to an electronic money saving system. Individuals are now able to take out insurance policies, set up loans and transfer money to one another. By allowing poverty-stricken individuals to save, overseas markets are being strengthened.

Tracking

Tracking, by means of mobile technology, is something of a double-edged sword, but many analysts agree that the pros outweigh the cons. One major drawback is that mobile tech is a powerful tool in organizing human trafficking. Traffickers have the ability to streamline, organize and, yes, even advertise their exploits through this technology. Despite this unfortunate use of tracking, officials are becoming increasingly able to crack these codes to bust traffickers. In fact, The Polaris Project has been able to harness data analysis to ensure the safety of people who have been kidnapped.

Health care

Without access to health care, it is nearly impossible to alleviate poverty in some regions of the world. Mobile tech is helping improve the quality of health care at a rapid pace. “Malaria No More” is an example of one NGO using mobile tech to improve health care conditions. One of “Malaria No More’s” campaigns has soccer star Didier Drogba dispatch a text message to millions of Kenyans that asks, “Are you and your family sleeping under your nets tonight?” Safety sleeping nets are an incredible way to reduce the contraction of malaria. The NGO reports that this campaign has increased the number of individuals sleeping under tents by 12 percent.

Agriculture

Mobile tech is at it’s best when it is transferring small amounts of data quickly between individuals and groups. This is proving invaluable to farmers. Take the Kenyan mobile platform SokoniSMS64 for example. The program uses SMS text messages to unload details about the wholesale price of crops to farmers. In turn, farmers communicate among one another and with traders to negotiate fair pricing. There are also services such as “iCow from M-Farm” that assists farmers who have livestock. The app can set schedules, helps organize feeding routines and even has a built in weather app, so that farmers can adequately prepare for upcoming days

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: huffingtonpost.com, businesssolutiontopoverty.com, womendeliver.org
Photo: Scribe

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Fighting Terror with Education Investments

The Global Partnership on Education (GPE) held a “replenishment summit” on June 25, where it asked donor countries to provide funding for another four years. By disbursing billions of dollars in donations from 20 countries toward educational programs in 50 developing nations, GPE has become one of the most influential global education organizations.

As the chairwoman of GPE, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Guillard has been advancing the message that “it is enlightened self-interest to invest in education.” Her argument ahead of the summit has been that whoever is interested in promoting economic growth and reducing extremism should start by building classrooms and training teachers.

“Ms. Guillard says the abductions of schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram militants should act as an alarm bell for the threat of extremism and also a catalyst for protecting education.” It is “the subject of such dedicated assault by terrorists and extremists shows the potency and importance of education in such communities,” she says.

However, skepticism is still in the air as to how much impact educational programs are having on reducing extremism and terrorist threats. Moreover, the question remains as to why industrialized nations should dedicate part of their budgets toward educating children in developing nations.

Guillard argues that organizations like GPE can really make a long-term difference and that it cannot be expected that change will happen overnight. Additionally, she asserts that it cannot be expected that donor countries and organizations like GPE bear all the weight of educating children in developing countries. It is imperative for recipient nations to step up their game, she says. This is not only about just allocating funding for the public schooling system. Guilliard states that each country should be an active participant in the development and implementation of the various educational programs.

In this realm, it can be said that the summit was a success. The $22.85 billion raised from donor nations also comes with a commitment by recipient nations to increase their own investment in public education.

While there have been many missed promises when it comes to global public education, one of them being the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, the latest GPE summit promised and delivered a new round of funding for public educations. Now it is about the implementation of adequate measures and programs.

– Sahar Abi Hassan

Sources: BBC News 1, BBC News 2 Photo: VIP Properties