Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Vocational Education Training in India 

Vocational Education Training in IndiaVocational education training in India is different from formal education in some ways. It is “skill-based,” as it involves learning real-life expertise. This type of training or education prepares individuals for specific skills involving crafts, trade and other practical activities.  Vocational training can qualify as “teaching procedural knowledge” as it teaches technical skills and abilities compared to formal education.

Why is Vocational Education Training Important?

Many skills that individuals need to compete in the modern work industry are technical and vocational abilities. Vocational skills could be especially impactful in impoverished communities, offering a more affordable or cost-efficient path to education. Specifically, individuals do not need to attend college to obtain vocational skills. In fact, vocational training is quite accessible in most local settings. The accessibility and affordability make it especially important, as it could lead to a path of stable income for participants.

As of April 2023, India’s unemployment rate went up to 8.11%, which considering the country’s high population, results in many Indians having no jobs. With vocational education in India, there is a potential to reduce the unemployment rate. Moreover, more Indians could receive not just access to employment, but also skills that could increase their chance of remaining employed.

History of Vocational Education Training in India 

In 1950, India established Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to provide vocational training at full capacity. After this establishment, more than 13,000 ITIs opened across the country. The Standing Committee on Labour noted that around 64% of trainees in ITIs were employed, which is significant as more than 40% of individuals enrolled in ITIs are below the poverty line. This was a significant leap of progress for India’s labor and employment rates.

STRIVE Program

The Skills Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement Operation (STRIVE) Program is a five-year government-aided organization that aims to improve the quality of vocational education training, according to the World Bank. Specifically, STRIVE aims to improve the quality of vocational education training that is provided in ITIs and other apprenticeships in India. The program intends to increase government support, improve teaching methods and expand apprenticeships nationwide. As of 2017, STRIVE has supported 300 ITIs and 100 industrial apprenticeships nationwide.

Impact of Vocational Training on Women

In India, 30% of the population lives in extreme poverty, with women and children being “the weakest members” of Indian society. This evident gender disparity combines old Indian tradition and female access to education. While the bias against women working and gaining education is gradually subsiding, there is still room to make education more accessible for women.

By emphasizing the importance and adequately funding vocational education training, the gender disparity could decrease significantly. Not only would this allow poverty rates to decrease, but it could also provide women with the basic skills they need to make a living. For example, vocational education training in India can teach women the skills to become receptionists, carpenters, cosmetologists, clothesmakers, cooks and other positions that can provide a steady income. 

India’s labor force could experience increased productivity by significantly raising the rate of female employment, which currently stands at only 31%. Shockingly, more than 50 million women in India neither attend school nor participate in the workforce, as reported by the World Bank. Additionally, women constitute less than 9% of the enrollment in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). Studies indicate that women are less inclined to pursue training due to concerns about family responsibilities.

Varthana’s Help

Steve Hardgrave and Brajesh Kumar Mishra founded Varthana in 2013. It is a private company that provides financial assistance to students interested in vocational education training in India. It specifically provides aid through loans. The National Skill Development Center (NDSC) partnered with Varthana to lessen the gap between low-income families and enrollment in education. While vocational training is rather accessible and does not require prior education, it can still be costly for many individuals. There are many that avoid vocational training because of financial obligations. With Varthana’s help, vocational education can be even more accessible with supplied funds and support. 

Particularly, Varthana has funded approximately 4,500 private schools, providing education for more than 3 million students. Additionally, Varthana has partnered with more than 500 institutions helping fund 5,000 financially challenged students. Varthana made an inspiring and motivational goal to make education in India accessible to more than 10 million students by 2025.

Looking to the Future

In India, vocational education training holds immense potential to address unemployment and poverty rates, providing individuals with practical skills that can lead to stable employment. Initiatives like the STRIVE program and organizations like Varthana are actively working to improve the quality and accessibility of vocational training across the country, benefiting both men and women. By expanding vocational education opportunities and reducing financial barriers, India can empower its workforce and uplift communities, ultimately fostering economic growth and reducing inequality.

– Samsara Shrivastava
Photo: Unsplash

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How Morocco is Ending Learning Poverty  

Learning Poverty
Within the past decade, the Moroccan government has begun working to improve the nation’s education system. Its goal is to minimize learning poverty by 2030. This looks to be a challenging feat, as Morocco consistently ranks among the worst countries for education.

In 2019, a World Bank study found that 66% of Moroccan 10-year-olds have trouble with simple reading comprehension. This is partially due to ineffective schooling methods. In 10 years of schooling, Moroccan students only complete approximately six years of effective learning. COVID-19 has pushed Morocco’s learning poverty to the edge, with educational progress decreasing to only five years.

Learning poverty leads children into a cycle of intergenerational poverty. Children with poor reading skills are more likely to fall behind in education and eventually drop out. This results in poverty, limited job opportunities and emotional strain.

In 2019, Morocco passed the Education Act to pursue education reforms to address the primary causes of the learning crisis. With the help of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank, Morocco comes a step closer to achieving its goal by 2030.

USAID’s Work with the Moroccan Ministry of Education

USAID is an organization leading “the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.”

As early as 2015, USAID worked with the Moroccan Ministry of Education (MOE) to incorporate ways to improve reading instruction and language teaching in a national teaching preparation program. Together, the two organizations launched a five-year Higher Education Partnership to improve pre-service training for teachers in hopes of sustaining a large supply of well-qualified, highly-trained educators. The Reading for Success program develops and tests effective methods to increase students’ reading and comprehension skills.

In addition, USAID signed a memorandum of understanding that lays the groundwork to formally recognize Moroccan Sign Language as a real language. This aims to strengthen Deaf education in primary schools in order to make education even more accessible and inclusive.

The World Bank’s Moroccan Education Support Program

In 2019, the World Bank created the Moroccan Education Support Program by loaning $500 million to the nation’s 2015-2030 Educational Sector Vision initiative. The program’s goal is to better support Morocco’s efforts in improving the lives of children.

The first component of the plan is to create an environment for quality pre-primary education. This means providing educators with the necessary training, set standards and incentivizing early childhood education both regionally and provincially. Secondly, the initiative aims to enhance teacher training by upgrading teachers’ training and creating solid career paths to ensure that they are well-equipped to teach children positively. And lastly, it aims to have a better system set up to deal with educational and operational issues by strengthening sector professionals’ capabilities in leadership and management at the financial and human resource levels.

Looking Forward

So far, with the World Bank, the quality of early childhood education has seen some improvements. Also, the support for the primary and secondary teaching workforce has grown and schools have maintained higher operational capacity. In March 2023, the World Bank allocated an additional $250 million to the Program, which is to aid in alleviating pandemic-induced burdens as well as to achieve more ambitious results.

With these programs ongoing, the resulting achievements in the educational system could be of great benefit to Moroccan children and the future of Morocco. Overall, putting an end to learning poverty carries the potential to end the cycle of intergenerational poverty affecting many people in the country.

– Kenzie Nguyen
Photo: Flickr

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Fighting Generational Poverty with Trust Funds for Babies

Trust Funds for Babies
The immensity of the wealth gap in both developing and developed nations is a daunting and cyclical contributor to global poverty. Without an influx of capital, those who have lived in generational poverty lack the fiscal autonomy and security to climb upwards. However, trust funds can make a difference.

Statistics suggest that hard work and luck are not enough to escape generational poverty. In the United States (U.S.), for example, only 4% of poor Americans climb the rungs of the economic ladder toward wealth. The majority of Americans born into the lowest income bracket remain there for life. Economist Darrick Hamilton confidently stated in The Journal that “Wealth is the paramount indicator of economic security and wellbeing.” Accepting this philosophy, the key question becomes: How does a society accumulate and distribute wealth to people born into the throes of poverty? And the answer just might be establishing trust funds for babies.

Looking to Babies to Address Generational Poverty Through Trust Funds

In 2002, the United Kingdom (U.K.) piloted a long-term savings account for minors called the Child Trust Fund (CTF). CTF was a tax-free savings account parents could open for their kids without facing any decrease in government benefits or tax credits. The parents of any child born in the U.K. between 2002 and 2011 received a £250 voucher to launch a CTF — they could then contribute an additional £9,000 per year. Once the child turned 18, they could access the funds in their account for any combination of reinvestment and spending they saw fit.

The government knew this was a small step in the direction of addressing generational poverty — a £250 stipend would not be enough to solve the nation’s fiscal inequity — but the hope was that a tax-free savings account for children would promote the possibility of home ownership, higher education and healthy investment practices for many who never thought such would be attainable.

Beyond the UK: Child Trust Funds in Canada

In Canada, every family is eligible to open a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP): a low-tax, long-term saving account to help guardians save for their child’s future education. RESP funds can go toward any post-secondary education including colleges, trade schools, universities and formal apprenticeship programs.

While Canadians from all income brackets are encouraged to open an RESP for their children, Canada provides direct capital to low-income families’ RESPs. Any Canadian child born into a low-income family after 2004 is eligible for the Canada Learning Bond (CLB). The Canadian government provides an initial payment of $500 in the child’s first year and continues to add $100 each year until the total governmental contribution hits $2,000.

The Canada Learning Bond, much like the U.K.’s CTF, aims to chip away at the generational wealth gaps that prevent low-income youth from actualizing their full intellectual and economic potential.

Extrapolating the Baby Bonds Model to the US

In Connecticut, nearly 15,000 children are born into poverty each year. To help close the state’s wealth gaps and encourage innovation, investment and long-term economic growth, Connecticut recently implemented a Baby Bonds program modeled on the U.K. and Canada’s previous successes.

Any child who is born into a family on Connecticut’s public health insurance — on or after July 1, 2023 — will be automatically enrolled in CT Baby Bonds. The government will contribute up to $3,200 to each child’s trust, and at 18, after completing a financial literacy course, the child can claim their capital. The funds are to be used for home ownership, business investment, education or retirement planning. Despite the program name, CT Baby Bonds, Governor Ned Lamont backed off of the original idea to fund the program using money from investors in exchange for bonds. He worried about debt accumulation. Instead, the state will be funding the program through a deposit of $381 million of state budget surplus — meaning there will be no inflated state debt or increased tax.

The Potential Impacts of CT Baby Bonds

While a leg-up of a few thousand dollars is certainly not the end-all-be-all for leveling the playing field, it is a powerful tool in revolutionizing saving philosophies in low-income communities. “You’re more focused on possibly going to college if you see a pathway, if there’s a fund,” Former Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn Wooden shared. “You’re more focused on one day owning a home, which some people in poverty never aspire to because they don’t think it’s ever achievable.”

Shondell Vann, a mother living in Bridgeport, Connecticut with a two-year-old daughter, sees earnest hope in the Baby Bonds program. “I feel like the program would give her a little bit more of a leg up,” she said of her daughter, Maria, in an interview with The Journal. “If she wanted to have a business just like me, she would be able to fund it with no problem. Just anything she wanted to do with that money to be able to be a little bit more successful than she was or just be a little bit better off than she was, is better than nothing.”

– Elena Unger
Photo: Flickr

Poverty and Higher Education in Iran

Higher Education in IranThe Islamic Republic of Iran is a developing nation that sits along the Persian Gulf in Central Asia. Currently, it has an estimated population of more than 87.5 million, and as of 2019, about 27% of people were living below the international poverty line, according to the World Bank. With that percentage on the rise in recent years due to the devastating impacts of COVID-19, higher education in Iran has suffered significantly. Fortunately, several organizations are working to provide a fair chance at higher education for underserved people.

A Brief History of Higher Education in Iran

The 1979 Islamic Revolution redefined the political structure of Iran by creating the Islamic Republic. As the nation began to desecularize, almost all universities stopped operations until 1983 during the revision of curricula. Simultaneously, post-revolutionary policy emphasized funding for creating rural infrastructure but invested little in ensuring equal access to secondary education and creating job opportunities. Consequently, employment prospects have faced limitations, even for students who completed higher education in Iran.

For instance, the 2016-17 Iranian census reported unemployment rates of 34.6% and 45.7% for college-educated men and women, respectively. Therefore, Iranian young people have increasingly left the country to pursue higher education elsewhere and university enrollment rates within the country have substantially dropped. For example, in 2014-2015, there were 4,811,581 students enrolled at Iranian universities, and this number decreased by more than a million to 3,616,114 students in 2017-2018.

Growing poverty in Iran has only exacerbated the dropping rates of college graduates, with many families unable to afford even basic education for their children. As of 2019, an estimated 7 million Iranian children were “deprived of education” due to poverty. Furthermore, financial difficulties forced about 25% of enrolled students, especially females, to drop out of school.

Particularly in rural communities, a lack of sufficient educational facilities, funding to maintain schools and increasing tuition rates are heightening barriers to secondary education. Simultaneously, low university admission rates, high college graduate unemployment rates and nominal government support for college students are dissuading struggling families from applying for higher education in Iran. Equally, exorbitant international fees make education abroad an impossibility for some 33% of Iranian families who, according to estimates, are now living in extreme poverty.

Improving Accessibility

In light of recent sanctions and other economic shocks, Iran’s GDP growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has been modest. While this has limited the government’s ability to provide support for college students, organizations like A More Balanced World (AMBW) have remained committed to providing funding and opportunities for students who cannot access education due to poverty.

With programs in 11 countries around the world, AMBW’s Iranian program funds first, secondary and university-level education for students from struggling families. Its scholarships and sponsorships are having a profound impact on Iran’s youth. For example, AMBW supported Siavosh, a student from Iran’s Hamadan Province, beginning in the eighth grade, making it possible for him to complete his education at an elite school and pursue his dreams as a weightlifter.

Another organization investing in higher education in Iran is Keep Children in School (KCIS), which is working “to break the cycle of poverty by providing financial support for educational needs of underprivileged children.” Focusing specifically on countries including Iran and Afghanistan, KCIS supports primary through university-level education and offers opportunities for donors to provide individual sponsorship for children in need. To date, the organization’s financial assistance has facilitated the education of more than 1,800 young people.

Looking Ahead

Education, especially higher education, can be a gateway out of poverty, allowing disadvantaged young people to gain control over their futures and secure meaningful livelihoods. While there appears to be a need for efforts that focus on creating a more sustainable job market within Iran, organizations like AMBW and KCIS are helping the country’s youth obtain the higher education needed to reshape the future.

– Inaya Lala
Photo: Flickr
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Artificial Intelligence Teaching Robot Improves Education in Vietnam

Artificial Intelligence Teaching Robot
Robotics using artificial intelligence have become increasingly prolific over the past decade. Usually, the programs power the execution of rudimentary tasks such as walking or holding items, and the robots often have sensors that make them aware of their surroundings. Additionally, the actual programming software that developers use for AI robots is a simulation of human intelligence. This allows the robot to process and analyze information and data, as well as “think,” communicate with and respond to humans. AI robots can also accumulate experience through special algorithms which allow them to learn rapidly. Here is some information about Vietnam’s artificial intelligence teaching robot.

Vietnam’s Artificial Intelligence Teaching Robot 

EdTech startup Open Classroom recently developed Vietnam’s first artificial intelligence teaching robot, Tri Nhan. In addition to the typical features and functions of traditional artificial intelligence robots, Tri Nhan stands at 1.8 meters tall and has synthetic human organs such as lungs, a heart, a simulated DNA double-helix structure and “good” and “evil” circuits, making it seem even more human-like. 

Tri Nhan means both “artificial intelligence” and “wise man,” and the world’s first robot, Sophia, meaning wisdom, inspired it.

Tri Nhan is also equipped with five “senses” — vision via cameras in its eyes, hearing via long-range microphones, smell via air quality sensors, touch via temperature and pressure sensors and taste via a meter attached to an anti-toxic device. These artificial “senses” have merged with a Google search engine, allowing the robot to conduct various tasks. 

Additionally, Tri Nhan has also been equipped with an artificial “personality,” which is almost human-like, according to Pham Thanh Nam, the AI expert who developed the robot. Tri Nhan has a certain level of emotional intelligence and even tells jokes. 

How Does This Improve Education? 

Tri Nhan can recognize voices speaking both Vietnamese and English and process natural human conversation, as well as translate sentences from other languages. Currently, Tri Nhan’s main purpose is for teaching assistance. It can answer questions from teachers and students and cater to many different subject areas, as it recognizes a question and then searches for the information online using search engines. This artificial intelligence teaching robot can also solve mathematical equations and read poetry, making it a useful tool in any classroom. Using its high-level programming, Tri Nhan helps to actively teach children, as well as give them assessments and correct their mistakes. It can also help students learn from their mistakes and use the skills they have learned in lessons. Parents can also receive reports and track their children’s grades via an app linked to Tri Nhan. 

This helps both students and teachers in Vietnam significantly, as teachers are often overworked due to the shortage of teaching staff in the country, and students lack a high level of personalized attention from the overworked teachers. The Vietnamese education authority stated in 2022 that Vietnam needed more than 94,700 teachers across all levels of education. Many areas that lack teachers are remote, but even high schools in Ho Chi Minh City are suffering from overcrowding and staff shortages.

Innovations such as artificial intelligence teaching robots have improved the quality of teaching for many students and teachers who have had the opportunity to use them, which is a welcome advantage in less developed countries such as Vietnam. 

Education and Poverty

Lack of education is one of the main factors perpetuating poverty and impeding economic development in many countries. Inadequate education prevents people from acquiring the fundamental skills and knowledge to obtain meaningful employment and financial stability. Higher levels of education can break cycles of poverty and improve people’s standard of living. 

Although there is still a certain amount of technological development required to produce a fully-functional teacher in Tri Nhan, it is highly feasible that an AI-teaching robot such as Tri Nhan could be educating children in the future, and it is clear that the Vietnamese EdTech sector has established a solid foundation in this sphere.

– Molly Wallace
Photo: Flickr

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Higher Education in Yemen

Higher Education in YemenFor the past eight years, the civil war between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi rebels has plagued Yemen. More than half of the Yemeni population is below the poverty line, and women are most vulnerable with a 26.1% unemployment rate compared to the 12.3% of men. This ongoing conflict severely affects Yemeni citizens and students. As for higher education, the estimated 20% of Sana’a University students cannot afford to attend class without transportation and books, having to stay home instead.

Effects of War on Higher Education in Yemen

As the war escalates, universities lack funding, rendering attendance unaffordable for potential and current students. Around 100 universities have suffered damage from air strikes and bombings, as of 2018, and military forces are utilizing dozens more. Professors in public universities suffer from a 40% reduction in salary, resulting in a shortage of professors. Students face challenges with displacement and injuries sustained from the war, financial burden from lack of employment, increased living costs, and possible abduction into soldiering. Nevertheless, various organizations have come forward to offer funding and support for Yemeni students, lowering the cost of education and ensuring that future generations can access learning opportunities.

Organizations that Lower the Barriers to Higher Education in Yemen

  1. The Scholar Rescue Fund – The Institute of International Education initiated the Scholar Rescue Fund in 2002. It collaborates with universities worldwide to offer secure academic placements to Yemeni scholars. Universities across Europe, North America, Malaysia and nearby regions accommodate these placements, enabling students to actively engage in their studies using their native language, maintain connections with loved ones and establish relationships with colleagues and peers in Yemen. Since its launch, the Scholar Rescue Fund has supported 1,059 endangered and displaced scholars, providing assistance to 470 universities.                                                                                                                                               
  2. The Hadhramout Foundation – The non-profit foundation actively collaborates with universities globally and offers scholarships for higher education in Yemen. It also conducts language training programs and provides technical and vocational training opportunities, ensuring Yemeni students receive a comprehensive education. The Hadhramout Foundation has more than 1,859 alumni in its alumni club.
  3. Al-Khair Foundation – This Yemeni non-profit organization actively focuses on social development efforts throughout Yemen. The foundation implements development programs that specifically target education, humanitarian response and the improvement of livelihoods. Through these initiatives, the foundation significantly contributes to reducing the cost of education in Yemen. One of its notable endeavors includes funding more than 850 grants for marginalized Yemeni students, enabling them to attend universities and prioritizing inclusivity and equal access to education.
  4. Lavazza Foundation – In 2016, the Lavazza Foundation established the “Scholarships for Education of Young Yemenis” project, aiming to provide 22 scholarships to Yemeni students. The foundation actively strives to eliminate socioeconomic barriers that hinder educational access, empowering deserving students to pursue their academic aspirations. The project ensures an equal distribution of 50% female and 50% male scholars. All students receive material assistance, job search training and access to professional opportunities.
  5. EducationUSA – EducationUSA actively promotes studying in the U.S. by offering opportunities and information about more than 4,000 U.S. universities on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Moreover, Amideast facilitates the EducationUSA Competitive College Club (CCC), a program designed for Yemeni high school students. The CCC assists students in navigating U.S. college applications, securing scholarships, and developing their academic and professional resumes. Notably, the program is free of charge.

Looking Ahead

The organizations mentioned above actively take steps to ease the financial burden on Yemeni students and guarantee access to education during the ongoing conflict. These organizations accomplished this through scholarships, temporary learning programs, academic placements and comprehensive educational initiatives, scoring significant progress in lowering the cost of higher education in Yemen. These efforts empower students, dismantle socioeconomic barriers and contribute to fostering a more educated and resilient Yemeni society.

– Clara Swart
Photo: Flickr

The Biggest Education Crisis in Ethiopia

Education Crisis in EthiopiaEthiopia has recently suffered from a two-year-long civil war that has caused thousands of deaths, millions of people becoming homeless, and countless people facing famine. In November 2022, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reached a peace agreement to declare an end to hostilities. Nevertheless, the civil war has left deep scars on the country, one of which is the impact on the education system.

Now, Ethiopia is facing an unprecedented education crisis. According to a 2022 UNICEF report, the number of out-of-school children in Ethiopia has soared from 3.1 million to 3.6 million in just six months, making it become one of the biggest education crises in the world.

Destroying Schools

The war has resulted in the severe destruction of schools. The United Nations (U.N.) estimates that the war completely or partially destroyed 9,382 schools across Ethiopia, as of August 2022. The state of educational facilities in Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions is even worse, with many schools needing provisions such as furniture to continue operations.

The COVID-19 Outbreak

The global pandemic has produced a significant impact on the education and future prospects of children in Ethiopia. Within the three years since the COVID-19 outbreak, about 2.3 million children could not attend school because the pandemic was causing significant economic losses to the already impoverished country. More than 22,500 teachers in Tigray did not get salaries for up to two years, and this resulted in difficult financial situations for them and their families. Unfortunately, such circumstances make come in the way of how well teachers can focus on educating children and providing them with the support and guidance they need.

Drought

The most severe drought in more than 40 years has affected 24.1 million people in Ethiopia, including 12.6 million children, according to Education Cannot Wait (ECW). In the Somalia area, there are 1 million people who have to leave their homes to find food and water due to drought. The harsh living conditions leave parents unable to make plans about how to send their children to school. According to the U.N., 20 million people in the country need food assistance. The drought has brought about challenging economic and social pressures to the whole country, causing hardships and poor living conditions.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW)

Since 2017, ECW has provided $55 million to assist the education crisis in Ethiopia, along with the Ethiopian government, UNHCR, UNICEF and Save the Children Fund. This education fund is helping Ethiopia build schools by offering school facilities and meals. Moreover, the program also provides psychosocial support to children who suffer psychological setbacks under multiple crises, including war, pandemic and drought. Through the construction of gender clubs, environmental clubs and remedial education, the fund has enabled more than 250,000 vulnerable girls and boys in Ethiopia to receive comprehensive educational support in the past three years.

Since the inception of the program, the enrollment rates in some schools have quadrupled. In addition, the U.N. is continuing its efforts and hopes to boost the response to drought through a new $5 million grant that will provide more extensive aid in Ethiopia and support more people to overcome the natural disaster.

Looking Ahead

ECW, in collaboration with the Ethiopian government and other organizations, has made significant strides in addressing the crisis by providing financial assistance, building schools and offering support to vulnerable children. Enrollment rates have seen remarkable improvement, and the U.N.’s commitment to providing additional aid demonstrates a continued effort to overcome the challenges and ensure access to education for Ethiopia’s children.

ECW promises to persist in its support for the education crisis in Ethiopia and plans to renew the multi-year program in 2023. Currently, the program is calling for significant funding from public and private donors to expand its aid model in a way that enables every child in Ethiopia to have access to quality education.

– Mingjun Hou
Photo: Unsplash

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Access to Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Access to Education in Sub-Saharan AfricaMany see education as one of the most important variables when it comes to a country investing in its future. The proliferation of educational institutions, resources and syllabi contribute to a well-rounded, literate populace capable of working in a wide range of fields and actively participating in their local communities. Unfortunately, there have been difficulties with access to education in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, particularly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Challenges

The technological solution to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic posed is uniquely impacting sub-Saharan Africa, as more than half of the region does not have access to electricity. A 2018 UNESCO Fact Sheet revealed that nearly 20% of primary school-age sub-Saharan children are not in school, with that number rising to 58% for upper-secondary age (high-school-aged students). UNESCO predates the onset of a global pandemic that made it difficult for schools to continue to supply quality education to students, even with the support of technology. The low educational participation rate in sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with the technologization of education worldwide, has made this region of the globe an important focus of educational development going forward.

Despite advancements in technology that have supported the education of millions of students worldwide, it is difficult to argue that technology could adequately replace the teacher’s pedagogical relationship with their students when operating in person. With the closing of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rise of “private operators” in sub-Saharan Africa. These groups exist outside of government-funded compulsory education programs and take advantage of parents concerned about the education of their children.

For example, in Cameroon, private operators created tools “for the sole purpose of generating profit, to the detriment of the public education service.” This may be profitable in the short term, but it could ultimately harm the public education system by promoting state disengagement. This practice ignores the need to preserve education as a universally accessible public good, rather than a privilege afforded to the wealthy and elite.

UNESCO and SDG4

The rise of private operators poses a hindrance to UNESCO’s goal, which aims to make universal primary and secondary education accessible by 2030. When a country starts to rely on private education to provide support for national literacy and civilian competence, it could lead to the reallocation of government spending away from education and into other sectors. This is precisely what happened in Cameroon when private operators became increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) is UNESCO’s initiative that focuses on education, leveraging partnerships with governments, policy guidance and monitoring to meet the goals listed on its roadmap.

SDG4 is a bold and ambitious undertaking, and yet all the more important due to the global educational setbacks that the pandemic posed. Despite the recent complications, a broader overview of the development of education in sub-Saharan Africa shows the positive trend the region has been on for the past few decades. From 1970 to 2010, the percentage of children who were able to complete primary school increased by around 50%, from 46% to 68%. Furthermore, the incorporation of research-based educational strategies, such as increased teacher accountability, structured, predetermined teacher guides, scripted lesson plans and school-provided food programs have all had positive impacts on literacy rates in countries like Kenya and Uganda.

Looking Ahead

Access to education in sub-Saharan Africa has come a long way in the past 50 years. With African participation and cooperation in programs such as UNESCO’s SDG4, as well as the incorporation of new pedagogical methods based on research findings, there is room for optimism toward the future of education access and quality, an essential preliminary step to combating a range of other social challenges, from job insecurity to political stability.

– Lucas Bunting Giordano
Photo: Flickr

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Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance

Girls Opportunity AllianceDuring her time as first lady, Michelle Obama took part in many charitable causes. Her work promoting children’s health is the most well-known, but there were many other issues she was advocating for as well. Domestically, she has supported many charities like Partnership for a Healthier America and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In 2015, the Obama administration began a global initiative named Let Girls Learn, promoting education for girls and women all over the world. After serving as First Lady, Michelle Obama continued this work, founding the Girls Opportunity Alliance.

About the Alliance

The Girls Opportunity Alliance is a program of the Obama Foundation, founded in 2018 after the Obamas left the White House. It is a philanthropic organization that anyone can donate to and promotes others who look to advance female education. It works with GoFundMe to distribute these donations. Those in poor and underserved communities receive the most amount of money.

Organizations

On GoFundMe, the Alliance is listed as a project and hosts a network of many different organizations for donations. One is Chhori, which means “daughter” in Nepali. This nonprofit supports girls who are survivors of gender-based violence in the country and helps them advocate for themselves.

Based in Colombia, Origin Learning helps indigenous and migrant women in the La Guajira region achieve their goals using modern technology. Many of these women have the ambition to achieve higher goals but face poverty-related issues in the region.

There is also the Secondary Education for Women’s Advancement in Tanzania, part of a more extensive female empowerment campaign in that nation. A boarding school began its journey in 2008 for girls who could not afford education and it offers services to the beneficiaries as they get older.

Success Stories

Despite the fact it began in 2018, there are already great testimonials on the Girls Opportunity Alliance website. The first comes from Kiran, a girl from Northern India, who could not attend school after her mother died. Dr. Urvashi Sahni, who was helped by the Alliance, accepted Kiran into the girls‘ school she founded.

In Vietnam, Mang Thị Hay is able to go to school, which is, unfortunately, a rarity for girls in her village. She got help from the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund, another organization that the Alliance supports.

Thuba Sibanda is a soccer coach for younger girls in Namibia and is looking to attend university. In addition to working with Physically Active Youth Namibia, Thuba was selected to participate in the Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program in 2019.

Looking Ahead

The Girls Opportunity Alliance may need some time to fully develop, as it is a new program. However, with the successes it has already had in helping local organizations, there are promising signs for the future. And the accomplishments of girls that benefitted from the Alliance continue to be a source of hope for even more progress.

– Josh Sobchak
Photo: Flickr

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Education and Poverty in Jordan

Education and Poverty in Jordan
It is well-known that investing in children through education can drastically alleviate poverty in the long term. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE), for example, found that if all children left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty. It also reported that “for each $1 invested in an additional year of schooling, earnings increase by $5 in low-income countries.”

A worthy investment, this is a core reason the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has advocated for the education of more than 600 million children worldwide who have not had access to basic education. In Jordan, the Government and UNICEF Jordan are working to reduce the impact of poverty on children’s access to education.

Education and Poverty Levels in Jordan

Quality of education and poverty in Jordan, like many other countries, go hand in hand. Currently, 97% of children are in school in Jordan. However, inequality within the education system means that children have different experiences with respect to the quality of education, and this is primarily due to differences in socioeconomic background. Out of Jordan’s 3.16 million children, one-fifth live in poverty. Children who are in poverty have disabilities or suffer child labor and are at much greater risk of lacking access to education.

The pandemic has also made matters worse. The 2022 UNICEF report revealed that already vulnerable households are more likely to send their children to work to reduce the economic hardship that COVID-19 brought on. As a result of reduced in-person learning, fewer children have had the time and resources to engage in education. Overall, these trends suggest that education and poverty in Jordan have clear links.

Addressing the Relationship Between Poverty and Education

With the pandemic and the knowledge that education is vital in the alleviation and long-term reduction of poverty, both the government and NGOs have taken several initiatives to address this problem. Primarily, the Government of Jordan has been working with UNICEF to make education both more accessible and inclusive and to ensure better quality education to increase the future prospects of children.

The government also released its Education Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 (ESP). It outlines its Priority Domains which include Early Childhood Education and Development, Access and Equity, System Strengthening, Quality and Human Resources and Vocational Education. It outlines the situation of poverty a lot of children are facing and how this impacts their education. Its ESP takes into account that many children do not have access to education due to poverty and integrates initiatives aimed at tackling poverty into the Plan. For example, it affirms the School Feeding Program that has been ongoing since 1999 in its importance in providing a daily meal for children in underserved areas. The Plan ultimately aims to support children and ensure that they have access to education.

Making Progress

The government also supports UNICEF’S Non-Formal Education initiative and delivers education to those aged 9-20 that do not have access to formal education. Part of this initiative includes the Catch Up program that targets 9-12-year-olds that have missed three or more years of school or have never attended school. Since 2016, almost 5,000 children have taken part in the program and 1,700 children have reintegrated into formal education as a result.

UNICEF is also working with the Government of Jordan to build inclusive education by training 1,600 Education Ministry teachers. This initiative aims to make education services inside public schools more accessible and inclusive. The organization is also supporting the enrolment of 4,000 children with disabilities.

Looking Forward

Efforts to address the relationship between poverty and education in Jordan are showing progress. The government, along with UNICEF, has implemented various initiatives to make education more accessible, inclusive and of better quality. These include non-formal education programs, training for teachers, and support for children with disabilities. By prioritizing education and tackling poverty, Jordan is taking positive steps toward providing a brighter future for its children and breaking the cycle of poverty.

– Rosie Lyons
Photo: Flickr