Information and stories on education.

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John Legend: Singer, Songwriter, Humanitarian

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As a nine-time Grammy award winner, John Legend is well known as a singer, songwriter, and humanitarian. His vocals have earned him a multitude of worldwide fans and a string of Top 10 platinum-selling albums. His most recent release, Wake Up! (2010) is a compilation of music from the 1960s and ’70s including songs with underlying themes of awareness, engagement, and social consciousness. Legend, while a talented musician, seeks to be an agent of change in society. He is a member of several boards including Teach for America, Stand for Children, and the Harlem Village Academies.

As he spoke to a crowd of interested attendees in Southern Indiana, Legend focused on education equality and social awareness. Legend was inspiring, motivating, and very real in his comments. Early in his career, Legend had the opportunity to travel to Africa and it forever changed his life. He realized that his position in life granted him a platform to spread awareness and raise the standard for education and community involvement. Legend tirelessly works to promote education equality, which he believes is key to raising people out of poverty. By providing access to quality education for all individuals, we can ensure that being poor is not a life sentence but that there are opportunities to escape poverty and improve one’s life.

Legend gave the audience several tips on how to get involved in fighting for education equality from right where they sit.
His ideas included:

1. Join local boards and organizations working to improve education

2. Tutor students in local schools.

3. Encourage others to invest in schools.

4. Choose political leaders who take meaningful action within education.

The evening ended with the challenge from Legend to go and do something. The time for sitting still has passed and now the call to the work for education equality and diminished global poverty has arrived.

– Amanda Kloeppel

Source: Evansville Courier and Press

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Students Simulate Life in a Refugee Camp

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The Universities Fighting World Hunger organization seeks to “create an academic hunger model that is suitable for replication or adaptation by universities around the world.” It is partnered with the UN World Food Programme and hopes to involve universities and to take action against world hunger through hunger awareness and education, fundraising, advocacy and academic initiatives.

In April, students at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) and members of Universities Fighting World Hunger sought to educate participants about the harsh realities that refugees face every day while living in a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. The event was held on campus and was open and free to the public.

The annual event reenacted life in a refugee camp that harbors nearly 400,000 refugees mostly from neighboring Somalia. By using the bare bones of a camp, tents and a grill, and retelling true stories about refugee’s lives and daily activities, members of the organization hoped to spark interest and action. Participants were exposed to the extreme living conditions in a refugee camp including chronic food insufficiency. Members created fliers and pamphlets that outlined how individuals could get involved, answering many of the participants questions of “What can we do to help?”

– Kira Maixner

Source: Student Media at University of Alabama in Birmingham
Photo: Guardian

USAID and the Skye Program

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been working with the Skye program to help workers in the Caribbean become more employable through training and education.

The Skye program is organized by the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. The program recently graduated 36 students from the Skye training program. The program teaches the participants important skills and behaviors to make them more employable and helps them find and keep job after completing the program. Many of the participants have been unable to find or keep jobs because they have not finished high school, have been in a juvenile correctional facility, or have had poor behavior in the workplace. Completion of the training program shows employers that the participants are ready to change their lives for the better and be reliable employees.

There are currently about 400 participants enrolled in the program and the effort will continue to help train and educate youth in the region with the goal of creating a better prepared, more efficient pool of workers for the local economy.

– Kevin Sullivan

Source: Stabroek News
Photo: Picasa

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UNICEF’s Global Education First Initiative

UNICEF's Global Education First Initiative
Josephine Bourne is the Associate Director of UNICEF. She sat down for an interview with the Inter Press Service to give her thoughts on the upcoming meetings to be held in Washington D.C. on the Global Education First Initiative.

The meetings will bring together Ministers in Finance from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Bangladesh. The topic of conversation will focus on sustainable solutions between the private sector and civil society organizations. The meetings will center around the importance of education on the global economy.

Bourne believes that the initiative will provide an increased pressure for political commitment in the field of education.  She stated that UNICEF would like to continue to work towards ensuring education for the most vulnerable children, particularly girls, with disabilities as well as children living in conflict territories.

When Bourne was asked if there was one thing in particular that greatly diminished a child’s opportunity to obtain an education, she bluntly stated that being born into poverty as a girl in a rural area is a huge disadvantage. The longer a girl is able to attend school, the fewer children she will have – an incredibly important factor in poverty reduction.

Around the world, girls who have seven years of education have 2.2 fewer children than those that do not. When those girls have children, those children will be healthier and better educated, helping to lower the poverty percentage in their given communities. Bourne believes that this environment leads to economic growth, more female leaders, and more sustainable development.

In the interview, Bourne was also asked about gender equality and education. She said that girls from disadvantaged groups are oftentimes the most marginalized because of the special risks that could take them out of school. She believes that there is serious inequity in schools around the world.

Women’s education and empowerment have been a popular theme in the media lately with the recent release of the documentary “Girl Rising”. While this is a very positive thing, Bourne was quick to note, however, that the increased media attention to gender and education inequality, as well as the empowerment that comes with it are not enough to bring about social change. In her opinion, in order to create lasting change, we need the complete commitment of all duty bearers; from organizations such as UNICEF and the UN to parents and communities; to be involved in the promotion of the human right of education for all children around the world.

– Caitlin Zusy

Source: Inter Press Service
Photo: UNESCO

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Free Meals for Indian School Children

Free Meals for Indian School Children
Imagine what it’s like to have to choose between attending elementary school or harvesting wheat as a means of preventing starvation. Sadly, for many children in India where –according to UNICEF – upwards of 40 % of the population under five is underweight, this choice is one that many of their students have to make on a daily basis. However, thanks to the efforts of The Akshaya Patra Foundation and some assembly line ingenuity, free meals for Indian school children are now a reality for many elementary and middle school students.

The free meals for Indian school children program were incorporated following a 2001 Supreme Court Ruling institutionalizing free meals for all children under the age of 13. The Indian Government – in cooperation with The Akshaya Patra Foundation – has been able to feed 1.4 million children a day, resulting in greater attendance and a heightened ability to focus in class. The Foundation’s Vice Chairman, Chanchalapathi Dasa, remarked that “If a child is hungry in the classroom then he or she will not be able to receive all this education.”

But how does the government-run a program to provide that many free meals for Indian school children in one day? The answer is through an ingenious “gravity flow” kitchen that utilizes the technologies of mass production and efficiency. Basically, the kitchen is divided into 3 floors where food is prepped on the third floor, sent down –via a chute – to the cauldrons for cooking on the second floor, and sent down a final chute to be packaged and shipped to the schools on the first floor. Vice-Chairman Dasa added that the organization knew the scope of the problem that they were trying to address and “realized that in order to see a significant impact we have to do it in scale and that we have to use modern techniques of management and innovation” to make a difference.

Programs such as these serve as a much needed shot in the arm in combating global poverty and chronic undernourishment for much of India’s youth. By providing free meals for Indian schoolchildren, investments made by the government today will result in greater technological innovation through educational achievements in the future.

– Brian Turner

Source: CNN
Photo: UNICEF

UC Berkeley & Global Poverty

UC Berkeley & Global Poverty
The Global Poverty Project was founded by Ananya Roy, a professor of city and regional planning at Berkeley, Tara Graham, an International and Area Studies lecturer and digital media expert and Abby VanMuijen, an artist with the goal of spreading the curriculum of Berkeley University’s most popular minor, Global Poverty and Practice. The three UCal alumni are utilizing digital media and twitter to create a multilayered broadly accessible curriculum that they call critical thinking + improv art + new media. This creative curriculum is being used to spread knowledge about global poverty beyond the classroom.

A project is a new approach to traditional online education that is sweeping the world. While the traditional method of online education tends to simply stick a video recorder in a classroom, the Global Poverty Project seeks to create numerous forms of media and material for students to utilize as a whole or in parts. Eventually, there will be a textbook that utilizes matrix barcode technology that will link to other related information. Each video that is posted also links to useful sites and information. By generating discussions on Twitter, Roy’s classroom, already full with 600 pupils, has expanded, potentially exponentially, and has become a place where students, people on campus and anyone in the world can exchange ideas.

More than creating a groundbreaking approach to online education, Roy, Graham, and VaMuijen are looking to create new and interesting internet videos that spark discussion and critical thinking.“Most of them, I think, are really patronizing and oversimplify the very complex aspects of poverty action. They’re a call to action, but they don’t necessarily explore all the political and ethical issues that smart young people know are at stake,” said Roy about most internet videos that attempt to address poverty.

Each video starts with a question and offers a scholarly argument for a way of thinking about it. VanMuijen then takes video to a whole other level with visual note-taking and creates the videos. Like the minor itself, the videos are framed to encourage thinking about solutions to poverty that steer clear of what Roy sees as two extremes: “The hubris of benevolence, young Americans thinking ‘I’m going to solve poverty during my alternative spring break,’ and the paralysis of cynicism, which we have a lot of at Berkeley, really smart kids who know how to critique everything in the world but they’re not really sure what to do after that critique.” Later, the project, new media, curriculum, and critical thinking about global poverty come together. While Roy lectures, the Twitter feed is projected behind her in the classroom and the videos are being played and igniting discussion all over the world.

– Kira Maixner

Source: UC Berkeley News Center

USAID Helps Nicaraguan Students Graduate

USAID Helps Nicaraguan Students Graduate
Universidad Centroamericana celebrated as 125 students graduated on April 5th. Many of these students had received scholarships from the USAID’s Enterprise and Employment program to study business and technical studies. Nicaragua’s Victoria Fountain, an organization that encourages young people to pursue technical degrees, also supported the students.

These graduates completed courses in “strategic planning, human resources, negotiation techniques, human relations and customer service” for business majors and technical majors took “mechanical drawing, electricity, mechanics, hydraulics and pneumatics.”

USAID and the Victoria Foundation each contributed $107,000 to the University. This money went towards providing books, uniforms, meals, and teachers’ salaries. The two organizations hope to team up to create a food technology degree. Students graduating with this degree would greatly contribute to Nicaragua’s effort to improve its food security. U.S. Ambassador Phyllis Powers, the head of USAID’s Enterprise and Employment Program, and several representatives from the Victoria Foundation attended the graduation celebration. These organization members were thrilled to see their financial contributions utilized to benefit these hard working students and the country of Nicaragua.

As more young people receive a higher education, Nicaragua’s economy and standards of living will begin to improve. Many of these students would not have had the financial means to attend Universidad Centroamericana without the help of USAID and the Victoria Foundation. Now, they have the opportunity to change their lives for the better.

– Mary Penn

Source: TND

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USAID to Expand Its Teacher Training Project in Pakistan

USAID to Expand Its Teacher Training Project in Pakistan
The USAID Teacher Education Project in Pakistan has expanded to provide teaching services to every province in the country. This $75 million project has been working since 2011 to modernize Pakistan’s education system. With the help of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC), over 2,600 students have enrolled in 15 universities and 57 colleges across the country. USAID hopes to see this number increase as more teachers emerge from the Teacher Education Program.

In order to reach out to more potential teachers, USAID realized the need to enlarge its program. Not only will the Teacher Education Project offer more locations, it is also giving 1,900 scholarships to students based on merit and financial need.

This higher education program will be implementing suggestions from a study conducted in 2006 that found flaws in Pakistan’s current teacher training system. The study discovered a trend of the government setting unrealistic goals for its education system and then, when it fails to meet those goals, creating new, also idealistic targets that are never reached. By making its goals more realistic, USAID is confident in its ability to improve Pakistan’s education system by producing high quality teachers.

As Pakistan trains more well qualified teachers, the country will begin to experience higher quality of education for its younger students as well. Javaid Laghari, chair of the HEC, is optimistic about Pakistan’s future, “We hope for a good change, when today’s students become tomorrow’s teachers.”

– Mary Penn

Source: UWN
Photo: BarakatNews

Egypt and USAID Welcome New Educators

Egypt and USAID Welcome New Educators
Congratulations are in order for the graduates of The Technology for Improved Learning Outcomes (TILO) program. These 234 graduates are a distinguished group of educators in the Greater Cairo area who are work to improve education and technology in classrooms. USAID and a few other private companies provide funding for TILO.

TILO offers training on new teaching methods, like how to incorporate technology and digital resources into lessons and ways to encourage their students to think actively and critically. Lisa Franchett, director of educational activities for the TILO program, is very confident in the positive impact TILO is having on young students. She explains, “The program has really helped improve the level of education in the schools. One of the important things happening in Egypt at the moment is the improvement in early grade reading because a few years ago we took a sample from early grade students, grades 4 and 5 they couldn’t read at all.”

The program continues to gain momentum. So far, over 255,000 students, 21,000 teachers, 192 elementary schools, 58 experimental language schools, and 127 preparatory schools have participated in TILO. This program may spread to places other than Egypt. Yemen officials have observed Egyptian classrooms in hopes of improving the reading skills of their own young students.

Egyptian colleges are also interested in employing some methods used by the program. Since TILO has been so successful for young students, universities would like to see their instructors incorporate more technology in their classrooms. TILO is scheduled to continue until late 2013 and the Egyptian government is eager to see even greater improvements up until then.

– Mary Penn

Source: Daily News Egypt

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USAID Attacks Poverty At Its Root: The Educational System

USAID Attacks Poverty At Its Root: The Educational System
In line with goals to lower its global footprint, USAID has brought together faculty leaders from leading universities in Pakistan to develop syllabi to increase the quality of education for fourth and final year education majors completing their bachelor’s degrees.

Among the topics discussed were panels on focusing on trends and models of curriculum development. The faculty and leaders worked in accordance with one another to share their notes and syllabi. This workshop was one of many being held to complete course designs. USAID has hosted this event in an effort to strengthen international and national curriculum development in Pakistan and neighboring countries.

Many border communities in Afghanistan have benefited from the increased push to strengthen educational support systems by USAID. Educating communities in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan helps develop the infrastructure of the entire community. This leads to a strengthened economy and higher standards of living. In turn, a more educated community with access to food and clean water is a community that is less likely to susceptible to terrorist persuasion.

Another benefit of educating people in impoverished communities such as those that lie on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan is that with a well education populace is more able to contribute to the global economy. By assisting educators in strengthening educational systems and educational support systems, USAID is attacking poverty at its root.

– Pete Grapentien

Source: International News
Photo: rawa.org