Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Homework, Not Housework

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Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the UN called for “free, compulsory education all over the world for every child.” Her speech was a reminder that back in her home country of Pakistan several million children are unable to attend school, exploited for their labor, and abused.

The most recent annual State of Pakistan’s Children report—published by the Islamabad-based NGO Society for the Protect and Rights of the Child (SPARC)—found that, out of 120 countries, Pakistan has the second largest number of children not attending school. 5.1 million Pakistani children ages 5 through 9 are not attending an educational institution. A large portion of these children end up in the workplace.

Child labor is a widely accepted social norm in Pakistan for both boys and girls. These children are denied their rights to education, protection, health, and development, and are also highly susceptible to abuse and exploitation. Figures on the exact number of child laborers in Pakistan are somewhat unreliable, with estimates ranging from 3.3 million to 12 million.

According to an estimate from The International Labor Organization, one quarter of these children are involved in the worst forms of child labor—slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, the use of children for committing crimes, and work that is harmful to the health and safety of children. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2010-11 Labor Force Survey estimates the number of child workers to be around 4.29% of the country’s children ages 10 through 14.

The only major law relating to child labor is the Employment of Children Act 1991, which regulates child labor for children under 14 years of age and prohibits it in specific occupations. However, the law is rarely enforced, especially in the area of domestic labor.

Earlier this month an incident was reported in which a wealthy employer had beaten her 13-year-old servant to death after he dropped a jug. The incident was widely covered by the media and confirmed by the police in the area. Such stories are not unusual. According to SahibaIrfan Khan, the program officer at SPARC, thousands of children working as domestic servants are deprived of their basic right to education and are often subjected to abuse and violence.

Other data compiled by the organization shows at least 18 confirmed cases of severe torture and abuse of child domestic laborers. 13 of these children died as a direct result of the violence inflicted upon them at the hands of their employers.

– Scarlet Shelton

Sources: IRIN, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
Photo: Dawn

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USAID Summer Start in Liberia to Educate 480 Students

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In Liberia, adults have received an average of only 2.5 years of schooling in their lifetime. According to the CIA World Factbook, approximately 85% of Liberian citizens are unemployed, and 80% live below the poverty line. In 2012, GDP per capita was only $700, making Liberia ranked 224 of 229 nations for GDP. But since the country held peaceful elections in 2005 the economic situation has been slowly improving with the help of private overseas investors in the mining and agriculture industries. More than ever, Liberia needs successful students who can run these industries to help pull the nation out of its extreme poverty. That’s why the USAID Excellence in Higher Education for Liberian Development Project (EHELD) was created in 2011.

The project aims specifically at helping faculty at Cuttington University and the University of Liberia to develop high quality agriculture and engineering programs for its students, attracting students to the programs, and working with local business leaders to create employer linkages for the students.

Currently the EHELD team is holding its yearly USAID Summer Start program for high school students that runs from July 15 – 26. The programs, which will focus on experiential learning, are being held at 6 different high schools, accommodating 80 students each. The programs, which will be taught by a team from the University of Michigan, Peace Corps Volunteers, and faculty of Cuttington University and the University of Liberia, will teach important life skills such as computer science and math, while also providing career counseling in agriculture and engineering.

In addition, the EHELD summer programs are partnering with the Cuttington University Upward Bound program to run at the same time under the same leadership. The Upward Bound program will specifically focus on educating 10th -12th graders, while the summer start program will focus on incoming engineering and agriculture students at Cuttington University and the University of Liberia and returning summer start students.

Superintendent of Bomi County (where the high schools are located) Samuel Browne spoke during the camps opening ceremonies, urging the students to appreciate the opportunity and take full advantage of it and telling them the “sky is the limit” when it comes to education.

USAID-EHELD is also currently providing scholarships for over 100 talented engineering and agriculture students at the two universities.

– Emma McKay

Sources: Nation Master, All Africa, Nation Master
Photo: Harvard News

What are CDA’s Collaborative Learning Projects?

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Without getting too technical, collaborative learning is essentially a highly applicable, catchall term for just about anything involving group efforts seeking a shared solution.  The inclusive nature of it fosters greater understanding of the issues at hand, inviting different ideas and problem solving methods.  There are no concrete answers to problems, only a continual coming together for improvement.  

We see collaborative learning in pockets in the developing world, sometimes fostered by nonprofit groups.  The goals of alleviating global poverty, having accessible and quality education for all, and possessing the right tools and technology to actualize that progress are all shared by many groups including those in the nonprofit sector.  However, it can be said that of these well meaning groups not everyone is exactly on the same page.  This is where the CDA Collaborative Learning Projects group steps in to amplify the effectiveness of active nonprofits and aid groups.  Think of them as NPO consultants.

By pouring over the experiences, findings, and work of a collection of organizations with shared goals and functions, CDA can pinpoint what could’ve been done better.  Based in Cambridge, MA, a small staff of highly trained professionals from government ranks, humanitarian groups, development organizations, and the private sector form these highly poignant assessments.  They’re funded by world governments and international agencies and championed for their pragmatic approaches to obstinate issues like global poverty alleviation.  CDA is most known for their “Do Not Harm” (DNH) conflict assessment approach, which helps actors in the field gauge how their effort affect societal conflicts where they work.  The goal of DNH is to ensure peace and as little sociocultural kerfuffle as possible.

The innovative approach CDA employs is rooted in fieldwork and not theory, combining the experiences of many aid organizations into a broad knowledge base.  The experience is obtained in the field by workers who author case studies which are later analyzed.  When a given amount of case studies are explored, CDA calls on aid groups for workshops where findings are shared and feedback is encouraged.  Tools like handbooks are developed to help in the field next time.

In January 2013, a report from IRIN News indicated that busy aid workers make time to speak with and most importantly listen to their beneficiaries.  One worker interviewed in Lebanon said that it took three weeks of listening to get an honest perspective from the community.  Responses like this from 6,000 aid workers operating in 20 nations were pooled and released in a CDA account entitled “Time to Listen.”  Results indicated that while their assistance was noted and appreciated by their respective communities, it wasn’t as potentially effective as it could be.  For instance, the arrival of supplies is a valued, momentous event for communities.  However, the manner in which it’s delivered is what dispirited them; it became very impersonal and fostered feelings of dependency from the community rather than cooperation with benefactors.  Aid was just dispensed with no thought to ask what the beneficiaries wanted.

If communities were part of the process, CDA posited that aid would’ve been streamlined, transparent, and correctly targeted.  Collaboration also would’ve allowed for future planning once projects concluded, eliminating feelings of desertion.  Many communities asked for less and wanted to eradicate notions of dependency.   Another issue is the misappropriation of funds.  With donors, there exists an idea that funding must be focused which earmarks money only for certain things.  Once the money makes it to the community, it can’t be applied to local priorities due to predetermined conditions.  “Time To Listen” calls for just that so that the proper aid is doled out, money is saved and spent correctly, and most importantly key emotional connections are made and partnerships between benefactor and beneficiary strengthened.  People don’t want money thrown at them, they want to play an equal part in the solution to poverty.

– David Smith

Sources: Oregon State, CDA, Time to Listen
Photo: Calvin

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What Malala Means to Women Worldwide

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In a piece on the Huffington Post website on July 8, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon highlighted the young Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai as an example of the empowering effect of education.

Malala entered the public domain in 2009 when she was in a BBC documentary about life under the Taliban. Three years later, in October 2012, she was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban who boarded her school bus because of her fight for girls’ education. The story gained international recognition. Since then Malala has been named one of TIME magazine’s most influential people of 2013, and has continued to advocate for girls’ education. On July 12, Malala was joined by hundreds of students from more than 80 countries in a unique Youth Assembly where they demanded quality education for children across the globe.

Ban Ki-Moon contended that violent actions against Malala, her teachers, and her fellow students prove how frightened extremists are of empowering women. For every year of schooling she attends, a girl’s future earnings increase by 20%. Ban asserts that Malala and her colleagues are teaching the world the lesson that “education is the pathway to saving lives, building peace, and empowering young people.”

With this in mind the Secretary-General enacted the “Global Education First” Initiative, a program with the goal of getting all children in schools with an improved quality of education that prepares them to grow up to be global citizens. The 57 million children out of primary school deserve a proper education because education is a fundamental human right.

July 12 marks the United Nations’ Malala Day, where Malala addressed over 500 youth at the UN and celebrated her birthday. The Secretary-General recognized in his article for the Huffington Post the importance of the courageous actions of students like Malala, and how the education which they advocate for is crucial for development and growth in the global system.

– Martin Drake

Source: Huffington Post, BBC
Photo: Mid Day

5 Quotes About Changing the World Through Education

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Education is another one of the things we tend to take for granted in this country. In fact we even frequently complain about having to spend so many hours a day and so many years of our lives in a classroom. But so many other people in the world never have the opportunity to enter the classroom let alone. These next 5 quotes are from some of the biggest proponents for providing everyone in the world a chance to get a good, and safe, education.

“I can promise you that women working together – linked, informed and educated – can bring peace and prosperity to this forsaken planet.” – Isabelle Allende

“Education…beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of conditions of men – the balance wheel of the social machinery…It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility toward the rich; it prevents being poor.” – Horace Mann

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

“From better health to increased wealth, education is the catalyst of a better future for millions of children, youth and adults. No country has ever climbed the socioeconomic development ladder without steady investments in education.” – Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

“‘I wish for a better life. I wish for food for my children. I wish that sexual abuse and exploitation in schools would stop.’ This is the dream of the African girl.” – Leymah Gbowee

– Chelsea Evans

Sources: Good Reads, UN
Sources: Global Higher Education

 

Read Humanitarian Quotes.

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No Education for Adults Seeking Asylum

No Education for Adults Seeking Asylum
In the last few years, Australia has become very popular with young adults seeking asylum from their dangerous and crime-ridden homelands. The total number of requests for asylum has risen from 668 in 2008-2009 to 7379 in 2011-2012, with about 65% of the people screened last year aged 30 or younger.

The result of this increase has been that the country’s border patrol has increased and possibly gotten out of hand. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s current policy holds that those arriving at the country by ship who are on bridging visas lose their right to attend school at the end of the school term during which they turn 18. So, the second someone becomes an adult, they lose the right to a proper education.

Those who are seeking asylum in Australia are generally suffering persecution in their country of origin due to race, religion, gender, economic standing, or political affiliation. Many of them may be refugees and are unable to seek an education as a result. They travel to Australia with hopes that they may be able to improve their lives and flourish outside the harsh environment they had been living in.

A 17-year-old Hazara boy fled to Australia after he was persecuted in Afghanistan and Pakistan by extremists groups due to his race and therefore unable to go to school. Leaving his family and life behind, he came to seek education and work in a better place. But he has been left in a lurch thanks to the Australian government. He told The Global Mail, “When I was in my country I worked so hard, I like to work … part of the time work … to study as well. I like that. Now I am not allowed to work and study.”

Upon his arrival in the country, he was not allowed to enroll in school because he would soon be turning 18. He is also not allowed to work, but is provided a small government stipend to meet basic needs. The Red Cross pays for him to study English several hours a week, but otherwise, he just waits for his asylum claim to be processed.

The government argues that children of mandatory school age, 5-17, are put through school regardless of their asylum status but that it would be unreasonable to expect adults to stay in school because of the extra costs that are incurred as a result. However, the education of young adults is arguably just as important as that of children. Going to school provides the asylum seekers with a focus for their lives, makes them feel like part of a community, and provides them with a chance at bettering themselves before either settling down in Australia or getting repatriated back to their own country.

There are schools that are known for going against the government’s demands and allow adult students to stay and continue their education, but without citizenship, those seeking asylum are still unable to get government assistance for higher education or get jobs while they wait.

And things could be even bleaker than initially imagined. The Prime Minister announced on the 19th that all those arriving by boat would be removed to Papua New Guinea and would not be allowed to permanently settle in Australia. Those who are found to be refugees may stay in Papua New Guinea but otherwise must leave. There is no word on what this would mean for those currently waiting for ruling on their asylum requests in Australia, but it is clear that soon education will not be the only thing at stake for those fleeing their country and seeking help in Australia.

– Chelsea Evans

Sources: The Global Mail, Asylum Trends, New York Times
Photo: Harris

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Girl Rising Spotlights Education

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“I feel as though I have power.” These are the powerful words of one of nine girls whose stories are documented in the critically acclaimed film “Girl Rising.” Released this year and featured on CNN recently, the documentary follows the struggles of nine girls in nine countries all striving to achieve the same goal: an education. The obstacles they faced were daunting. From forced marriage to war, from bondage to orphanhood, these girls were able to climb out of the depths of despair with a perseverance that has already inspired millions.

The film’s Academy Award nominated director, Richard Robbins, describes his film project’s founding goals as, “Change minds. Change lives. Change policy.” His vision has since led to the 10X10 organization, a campaign that strives to educate girls around the world. Centered around the film, 10X10 has spread its roots through partnerships with companies like Intel that run programs to educate the world’s women, and through networks like CNN that promote women’s education via featured programs and documentaries.

Among the inspiring stories told in the film are those of Sokha and Azmera. Sokha, an orphan from Cambodia, struggled for most of her life to find enough food to eat. And Azmera, one of two children in her Ethiopian family, was nearly married off at the young age of 13. But for each girl a guiding light,  a “series of miracles” in Sokha’s case, and an incredibly supportive brother in Azmera’s case, helped them get to school. Sokha and Azmera’s narratives are shared by those of their counterparts in the film originating from Egypt, India, Nepal, Peru, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Sierra Leone.

These girls have found fans in some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Kerry Washington, Salma Hayak, Cate Blanchett, Frieda Pinto, Liam Neeson, Priyanka Chopra, Chloe Moretz, and Alicia Keys have all joined the campaign and are featured in the film.  In Meryl Streep’s own words, “If to see it is to know it, this film delivers hope; reasonable, measurable, tangible hope that the world can be healed and helped to a better future.”

– Lina Saud

Sources: 10 By 10 Act, Girl Rising, CNN
Photo: WWeek

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Immersion: World Learning

Cultures, developed and developing, unite through immersion and connection. Dr. Donald Watt, a Syracuse University Professor, first came upon this idea during the Great Depression. It was his belief that the cultures and the people on Earth would thrive with a better understanding of each other, eradicating preconceived judgments and categorical placement of social status.

Watt knew this goal could only be achieved through cultural integration of young students. That is why he formed World Learning. A non-profit organization, WL focuses on the development of connections between cultures through three types of programs.

1.    Education

Offering study abroad programs to high school and college students, WL emphasizes full immersion into foreign cultures. WL offers summer programs that allow students to do field research abroad, while taking in foreign languages and all that the countries have to offer. An example of one of these educational programs is the SIT Study Abroad program. Students enrolled in this program often are assigned a critical issue of a culture, one that they must study to fully understand. They then address the issue through community projects and global service. SIT Study Abroad hosts over 70 programs in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

2.    Exchange

WL has developed connections with leaders across the globe, bringing them to the United States to communicate with young students. The insight and experiences of these leaders are beneficial to students in the program.

3.    Development

The programs WL have to offer to young students focus on the critical issues our world faces today. These include poverty, government accountability, the spread of disease and the malnutrition of women and children. Once the needs of cultures are identified, WL expects students to immerse themselves and help make a difference through the leadership skills they are taught.

World Learning has made a difference in 60 countries and changed the lives of over 100,000 people. This difference has been due to the engagement of the youth, whose immersion into developing countries has created important lifelong international bonds.

–  William Norris

Sources: World Learning, SIT Study Abroad
Photo: Flikr

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Malala Proves Education is Key to Empowerment

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Malala Yousafzai is a young education rights campaigner from Pakistan. Malala will soon be celebrating her 16th birthday, a miracle after she was shot by extremists for her outspoken beliefs on education. Malala will celebrate her birthday by traveling to the United Nations where students from more than 80 countries will join her.

Malala and the other young activists will be assembled to call for global education for everyone in the world. She and the other young diplomats believe that education is a right for all – one of the Millennium Development Goals, and a vital component of the path to global citizenship. This belief is well founded in the fact that universal compulsory education represents a future that the world wants. Malala was the first person to sign on to a new worldwide petition calling for urgent action to ensure the right of every child to safely attend school. The petition serves as an initial step in focusing the UN agenda on education.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon supports Malala’s mission to bring education to the world. He states that education is an essential step in a world without poverty, violence, discrimination, and disease. He also recognizes that in order to achieve these objectives, the global society needs to continue pushing forward. The secretary general recognizes that we, as a global society, have made progress on this issue, however, there is much more work to be done. Ban expresses that no child or woman should have to consider going to school as an act of bravery.

Ban states that too many girls around the world are subjected to extremist threats for trying to obtain an education. The benefits of educating women in developing countries have been proven time and time again. Ban explains that when women and girls are educated, a society develops at a more rapid pace than without their education. Additionally, education increases future earnings for women, allowing them to provide their families with additional resources, over time, lifting them out of poverty.

If education is key to empowerment as the path to economic stability and development, why is it so widely contested in many developing countries? The answer lies in fear. If we as a global community continue to fear education for all, we will fail to grow as a global economy. More steps must be taken to ensure each child has access to education.

-Caitlin Zusy
Source: Huffington Post, UN News Center
Photo: Stanford Bookhaven

How Private Academies in India Help Reduce Poverty

How Private Academies in India Help Reduce Poverty
Being one of the world’s most populated countries, India’s young workforce (age 25 and younger) is roughly double the population of the entire United States. While hundreds of millions of workers can be seen as an incredible resource, it also presents a pressing dilemma. India currently faces a huge problem of unemployment, which becomes more imminent as the young adult population rises.

In the next nine years, India must train 500 million people. To solve this issue, the Indian government has made practical job training a priority. Training centers such as Gras Learning Academy are becoming more popular as the demand for specific skills increases. Since the education offered at institutions such as Gras is so specific, it has a higher job placement rate. Due to this trend, Gras and other private academies are growing in number all over India.

However, Gras not only offers classes in specialized skills such as cellphone repair and computer networking. Academies like Gras offer classes in basic life skills for students from impoverished areas who may not have had the time or ability to attend secondary school. These basic life skills include the importance of punctuality, speaking professionally with managers, and presenting yourself in a well-kept manner.

In many cases, the needs of struggling economies are overshadowed by prescriptive solutions that are often based in theory. However, private academies in India have addressed poverty very practically by understanding the setbacks of the students, the demands of the workforce, and building a bridge from one to the other.

– Pete Grapentien

Source : The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal