Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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4 Efforts to Alleviate Child Poverty in North Macedonia

Alleviate Poverty in North Macedonia
When Yugoslavia disintegrated in 1991, Macedonia became an autonomous nation. However, standards of living have significantly decreased since the country’s independence. Unemployment rates are consistently high, which has directly affected children across the nation. Approximately 6% of children work and 12% marry before turning 18. The child poverty rate is 27.1%, with those from a Roma background at a much higher disadvantage. Fortunately, international organizations and the government are working to eliminate child poverty in the nation. Here are four efforts to alleviate child poverty in North Macedonia.

4 Efforts to Alleviate Child Poverty in North Macedonia

  1. UNICEF Solutions: Child poverty in Macedonia is a pervasive issue: an excess of 100,000 children are still in states of deprivation. Poverty affects children on every level, which includes faltering health, child marriage, abuse and lack of educational success. For instance, poverty affects one out of 10 children in Pelagonija when compared to one out of two in the Northeast. Moving forward, UNICEF has outlined solutions to aid the effort to end child poverty. These include offering accessible health care at no cost and supplying quality education to all children.
  2. Prioritizing Children: Poverty affects more than 100,000 children across Macedonia, 28% of the country’s youth. In 2018, leaders from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, UNICEF and the World Bank, as well as child poverty experts convened to formulate solutions that would eliminate child poverty. They agreed that social reform must prioritize the children to fight against poverty. All families with minimal income received an education and child allowance, helping to provide children suffering from poverty with the opportunity at an equal start.
  3. Inclusive Education: One out of 300 children living in poverty goes to preschool, while only two-thirds attend secondary education. North Macedonia’s education system is unsustainable due to a variety of factors. Low budgets, lack of ethnic integration among youth and limiting children who have disabilities are a few of the reasons education has fallen behind. In 2002, USAID implemented inclusive learning programs across all levels of education, which has helped children with disabilities and supported diverse ethnic integration.
  4. The Romani Children: Estimates have determined that the Romani population in Macedonia was around 260,000 as of 2020. Moreover, 73% of Romani children who attend school never complete their education. Roughly three to four children per household are of age to go to school, yet the costs of sustaining schooling for this many children have become a financial burden. To help curb these rates, the Roma Education Fund, founded in 2005, has been focusing on education reform for the Roma communities across Macedonia. It offers young Roma people living in Macedonia scholarships to assist with primary and secondary education.

These four efforts show the nation’s determination to support children in need, and, more broadly, to shift Macedonia from an impoverished nation to one of prosperity and equality. The success of these reforms will depend on governmental spending, as well as programs supported by nonprofits and international organizations. Moving forward, alleviating child poverty in Macedonia must continue to be a priority.

– Michael Santiago
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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How TikTok is Educating Millions of Indian Users

TikTok was founded in September 2016 and has since taken the world by storm. Designed for users to easily create and share short videos that are meant to entertain and inspire, the social networking platform has roughly 800 million active users and has been downloaded almost 500 million times in India alone. The founders of TikTok realized the immense influence the app holds within the country and thus launched an educational campaign called EduTok. Through this initiative, TikTok is educating millions of Indian users by providing important resources to India’s youth and encouraging the democratization of India’s digital community.

What Is EduTok?

Users of EduTok include the hashtag #EduTok in any educational, motivational or career-related content in order to spread intellectual information throughout the Indian community. The hashtag has shared over 10 million videos since its genesis in October 2019, receiving more than 48 billion views.

Developing Partnerships with TikTok

Many educational technology companies including Made Easy, Toppr and GradeUp have acknowledged the influence of #EduTok and have collaborated with TikTok to promote their content. These partnerships deliver subject-focused information via entertaining videos, centralizing users’ interests and encouraging them to explore specific career paths.

TikTok also established an #Edutok Mentorship Program with Josh Talks and The/Nudge Foundation, two Indian nonprofit organizations. Josh Talks is an Indian media platform that highlights educational and motivational speakers to encourage India’s youth to form connections and pursue their interests; The/Nudge Foundation focuses on improving poverty, unemployment and education in India. The #EduTok Mentorship Program provides specialized educational content to first-time internet users to improve their transition to the digital world. The program will accomplish this mission by hosting 25 workshops to provide users with hands-on learning experiences from popular #EduTok creators. With just 5,000 users invited to attend each workshop, this experience will be uniquely personalized and participatory, including tailored content like skill development, career planning and identity building. By personalizing content and providing in-depth, hands-on experiences, young Indians have a unique opportunity to advance their knowledge and explore various career fields.

Inspiring A Wide Impact

#EduTok is a multifaceted integrated campaign. Although the campaign has only been launched in India so far, cities in India have interpreted and utilized the campaign differently to create a diverse platform. For instance, users in Bhopal primarily watch motivational videos; users in Armistrar concentrate on language learning; users in Delhi focus on technology hacks. By allowing each community to cater content to its unique needs, the #Edutok campaign provides a sense of adaptability that has enabled its immense success.

#EduTok is not the only rising TikTok initiative. The company recently collaborated with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to promote the #Skills4All campaign, a program that provides Indian youth with vocational training and skill development opportunities. These two campaigns both work to support education initiatives and encourage creativity with the common goal of boosting India’s economy through its youth.

In the midst of COVID-19 and other global challenges, TikTok is educating millions of Indian users by exploiting its influence to do good. By providing free and entertaining educational resources to billions of Indian youth through #EduTok, the company is ushering in a new-age approach to learning that will help to democratize education. Because of the #EduTok and #Skills4All campaigns, TikTok transformed from a popular social media platform to a service with real social value.

– Ashley Bond
Photo: Pixabay

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Higher Education to Occupation Disparity in South Korea

Higher Education

South Korea has some of the highest education rates out of all the nations in the developed world; however, the distortion in their public higher education system has created a massive trap in unemployment for many young South Koreans straight out of college. Over the past three years, the South Korean government has made vital reforms to extend and deepen its teachings in higher education. This way, university students can reap all the benefits of their education, attaining financial and mental stability.

The Moon Administration

South Korea’s occupational and economic market is ruled with an iron fist by families and partners of chaebol — gigantic oliguric companies and corporations who use complete nepotistic bias when employing young South Koreans, holding grotesque control over both financial and political sectors of their society. In May of 2017, President Moon Jae-in was elected into power. He promised South Koreans that the corruption the chaebol had caused in their society was to be renounced, diminished and abandoned, leading the way for South Korea to be more equal and equitable in employment and social politics.

Moon knew the most effective way to bring a major change in the job market was to make adjustments to the higher education system to decrease favoritism and competition between universities and employers. One form of action Moon pushed was “blind hiring,” or limiting the amount of information employers could request concerning an individual’s university ranking and GPA in their initial application. This would decrease the amount of profiling and preference which has been rooted in the South Korean occupational world.

SKY Universities

More than 80% of higher education institutions in South Korea are privately owned and have rigorous admissions, requiring students to pass a test that most individuals can pass only with a professional tutor or prior private specialty science and mathematics schooling. The three most prestigious universities in South Korea, known as SKY, are Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. These schools are the only noted educational institutions for chaebol employers. This makes it extremely difficult for individuals from low-income homes to ever attain such professions because they don’t have the funds for a private tutor or prior elite schooling to be admitted to a SKY university.

In attempts to have a more socioeconomic diverse population of students at SKY universities, in 2018, the Moon administration ordered the SKY universities to make their admissions testing far less extensive and detailed to increase the number of applicants who would be able to pass the entry exam. The current government administration also put limitations on the number of students the SKY universities could accept so that more public universities in South Korea could build their reputations on the job market. Both of the SKY initiatives placed by Moon were very innovative in disassembling the distorted educational promises of South Korean society.

Elimination of Elite Education

The Moon administration has aimed to eliminate all elite high schools to equalize the kind of education that young South Koreans are receiving, creating a more fair college admissions process by 2025. Thirteen universities in Seoul that had more than 25% of students from elite secondary schools were evaluated to examine their admissions systems level of integrity by being impartial when admitting students.

How Education Will Repair the Job Market

President Moon has made a tremendous effort by being the first political leader to go against the ancient, corrupt societal standards in employment and hiring practices. By placing more regulations on the educational private sector, both the political and social sectors will begin to be dismantled as well, creating even more building blocks for young South Koreans to move up the socioeconomic ladder. With the inequality of private educational institutions becoming more publicized through governmental action, a more secure and bright future is developing for the classist poverty trap of South Korea.

– Nicolettea Rose Daskaloudi
Photo: Flickr

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Projects That Have Boosted Development in Guyana

development in Guyana
Guyana is a nation that is full of rich history. It received its name from its early indigenous populations who named it “Guaina” or “land of water.” Guyana was its own land for many centuries before the Age of Exploration. However, in 1498, Christopher Columbus was the first European to see the country and he claimed it for Spain. It was not until numerous decades and many European leaders later that the nation declared its independence in 1970.

Since declaring its independence, the nation of Guyana has faced many struggles including widespread poverty and hunger, however, throughout the past three decades, there have been significant improvements in both of these areas. The Guyanese government’s development projects as well as numerous nonprofits have made lasting changes throughout the country. Here are two examples of projects that have helped advance development in Guyana.

Guyanese President Desmond Hoyte’s Economic Recovery Program

Due to long-lasting droughts, high rates of emigration, political uncertainty and many other factors, the nation of Guyana has experienced many economic stalls throughout its time in independence. In addition, competing parallel markets and decreases in agricultural production have played roles in Guyana’s economic struggles. In the 1980s, the country faced a complete economic collapse, while also having almost 50% of its population living in extreme poverty.

In an effort to address these issues and approach development in Guyana from an economic standpoint, Guyanese President Desmond Hoyte announced his Economic Recovery Program in 1988. The goal of this project was to restore economic growth, absorb parallel markets, eliminate payment imbalances and to normalize international financial relations. In order to meet these goals, the government liberalized harsh regulations on foreign exchange relations, removed price controls on key goods and devalued the Guyanese dollar to match market rates. These were only some of the decisions and changes that Hoyte and his government made while implementing his program, however, each of them was very impactful in its own ways.

Almost no positive change occurred within the first two years of the project and there were even some negative effects. However, by 1991, Guyana’s debt had lowered to a point at which the nation could receive international loans and foreign investment had surged. This program was the foundation for the nation’s sustained economic stability and opened the door for further development and growth.

The Guyanese Government and Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) Long-term Investment in Early Childhood Education

The Guyanese education system has lacked sufficiency for decades. There is a significant disparity between the education that students living in the more urban and populated parts of Guyana receive and the education that students in the more remote regions receive. For example, it is very common for students living in remote areas to lack the necessary resources to facilitate adequate education as well as to have teachers with less training.

In an attempt to address these issues and disparities and to approach development in Guyana from a human capital standpoint, the Guyanese government and the GPE decided to make a long-term investment in the nation’s education system. This program focused on strengthening teacher forces through training, constant monitoring and evaluation. It also provided students with learning materials in the form of resource kits and teacher use manuals. The project also held training sessions for the primary caregivers of students across the nation in order for them to be able to support their children’s education at home. This project took a very well-rounded approach to mitigate education disparities and issues in Guyana and continues to have a lasting effect today.

According to the Guyanese Ministry of Education, this program helped improve literacy rates within students living in the hinterland and riverine regions by 139% and improved numeracy rates by 133%. There were also significant improvements within coastal and urban populations. Although this project ended in 2018, the Guyanese government made sure that it could provide identical services going forward in perpetuity.

A Bright Future Lies Ahead

Guyana has proven to be a model for development and growth. The projects and programs that have emerged throughout the nation have turned the country around and set it on a positive path towards continuous success. These projects and many others have accelerated development in Guyana and have made clear that the possibilities are endless for this small South American country.

– MacKenzie Boatman
Photo: Flickr

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The Effects of School Closures in Kenya

School closures in Kenya
As a means to control the rampant virus that is COVID-19, Kenya closed all of its schools in March 2020. Although school closures in Kenya have occurred to maintain citizens’ safety, there are problems and concerns. George Magoha, Education Prime Minister of Kenya, stated that, due to schools closing just three months into the school year, students will be a year behind in their studies once school resumes in January 2021. The school closures could further marginalize certain children and families. Additionally, teenage pregnancy is another problem that learning at home could bring.

Further Marginalization of Kenyans

Once schools shut down worldwide, many students seamlessly transferred to online learning. This, however, was not the case for rural, remote areas in Kenya like Kajiado and Samburu county. According to the World Economic Forum, only 17% of Kenyan households had internet access as of 2016. With little to no access to internet connectivity and technology itself, online learning is nearly impossible. These children are at a strikingly harmful disadvantage in comparison to students residing in more urban areas, like Naibori country. Students in rural areas cannot academically progress like other students who have the means to learn online.

Not only are students with little internet access often behind, but school closures in Kenya also greatly impact refugee students. For many refugee students living in the Dadaab refugee complex, for example, going to school and receiving an education is their best opportunity for future success. Considering lower retention rates and even being a year behind, this success may prove to be more difficult to attain.

School closures in Kenya also place a heavy burden on parents and guardians. With little to no preparation for home-schooling, parents and guardians now have to teach their children. Little to no academic planning creates major problems with information retention, causing students to be even more behind in school.

Teen Pregnancies

Only 10% of teenage girls who leave school ever go back. Due to the virus, young girls cannot attend school, thus potentially lowering this percentage even more. The longer teenage girls are out of school, the worse the consequences may be for their futures. One example is teen pregnancies.

According to a Kenya government-administered health survey, teen pregnancies are rapidly increasing. As of 2015, Kenya had the largest number of teen pregnancies in East Africa. According to Plan International, “98% of pregnant girls were not in school, and 59% of the pregnancies among girls aged 15-19 years were unintended.” Prior to the pandemic, education and resources for young teenagers were not readily available for many. Now, those resources are even more difficult to receive.

Moreover, going to school every day was an escape for teenage girls from predatory family members in the home. With school closures in Kenya, young women do not have the protection from family members and neighbors that their schools provided. Sexual violence in Kenya affects about 33% of girls; due to school closures, this number may rise.

Solutions

Although many students do not have access to necessary resources, learning by the radio has been a very helpful resource for both Kenyan and refugee students. For the 100,000 students who reside in the Dadaab refugee complex, radio lessons have been able to reach all 22 of the complex’s schools. This allows refugee students to continue their education, thus, continuing their mobilization in society.

To promote the health and safety of all Kenyans, UNICEF delivered many basic needs to Kibera in April 2020. Kibera is the largest informal settlement in Africa where nearly 1 million individuals live on less than a dollar a day, according to UNICEF. The delivered supplies included 26,000 bars of soap and 100 disinfectant sprayers for the Nairobi City Government’s use in public spaces. Aid like this keeps Kenyans safe and should later create safer conditions for schools in Kenya.

School closures in Kenya have created countless problems and concerns for its citizens. With delayed schooling, lack of necessary technology and the potential of increased teenage pregnancies, the effects of school closures in Kenya may persist for years to come. However, organizations like UNICEF are working to provide compulsory resources, like proper education.

– Anna Hoban
Photo: Pixabay

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Look to Join These College Organizations Fighting Global Poverty

Look to Join These College Organizations Fighting Global PovertyThe start of college is indeed a daunting one. With hundreds of student organizations to choose from, freshman and transfer students often feel lost and confused during the orientation process. However, student organizations are a good way not only to make a positive social impact, but also to meet people with similar interests. College organizations fighting global poverty are popular among students, and the opportunities they offer can enrich the college experience.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is a well-known nonprofit which focuses on the idea that everyone deserves proper shelter. Campus chapters are student-led college organizations that primarily engage with local poverty-stricken areas. The four functions of direct service, fundraising, advocating and educating guide nearly 500 campus chapters. Each chapter must partner with a local Habitat organization and be charted by Habitat for Humanity International to be officially recognized. The chapters also offer a Collegiate Challenge. In this volunteer program, a group of five or more selects a location and builds a home over the course of a week.

UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund works in over 190 countries to continuously improve the lives of children in impoverished areas. Specifically, UNICEF Clubs is a grassroots movement that believes the U.S. must play a vital role in children’s rights advocacy. These clubs aim to train students to think and act as global citizens, crafting the skills necessary to support the most vulnerable groups.

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross has a number of opportunities for students. One example is the Red Cross Clubs, which hold regular service projects and leadership training to benefit members and their communities. Internationally, Red Cross and Red Crescent teams respond to natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts and health epidemics. On top of this, they also preemptively prepare communities for future disasters and perform health-related services in remote areas. Other opportunities include 10-week internship programs for undergraduate and graduate students.

ONE Campus

ONE Campus is an action-focused college organization designed specifically for college students. It mobilizes students around the nation to fight extreme global poverty. Additionally, it strives to combine the crucial elements of advocacy campaigns with the energy and activism unique to the college experience. Unlike other college organizations, it exclusively targets advocacy and campaigning strategies to help polish skills for those interested in government relations and funding. Working closely with African activists, ONE Campus brings a community of young activists together to fight corruption and prioritize global poverty relief funding.

Human Rights Brigades

For those interested in law, the Human Rights Brigades is an international legal empowerment team with campus chapters. It helps families in rural areas that may not have access to the resources available in more populated areas. Specifically, it provides financial resources and legal education for remote and vulnerable communities in Panama and Honduras.

Internship Opportunities

Students often find that doing meaningful work at a nonprofit educates them about advocacy and sharpens their awareness. The Borgen Project offers part-time, three-month internships year-round for students in a number of categories, from Political Affairs to Journalism Internships. More information can be found here.

 

Joining any of these college organizations fighting global poverty can bring students closer together and implement positive global change at the same time.

– Elizabeth Qiao
Photo: Unsplash

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Brazilian Initiatives that Support Favela Children


Brazil has experienced urbanization and subsequent economic growth in recent decades, as suggested by its annual GDP growth. However, residents of Brazilian slums, located in the outskirts of urban hotspots, are continuously marginalized.  These slums are known as favelas, with impoverished populations passing 1.5 million in the greater São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro areas. Characterized by high drug-related violence rates, poor infrastructure and lack of opportunities for socio-economic mobility, children of favelas are especially vulnerable to dire living conditions. In particular, favelas struggle to offer quality public education that allows children the opportunity to break away from the poverty cycle. Recent civil society initiatives that support favela children work to combat the root causes of persistent poverty by offering safe spaces and incentivizing further education.

Favela Children and Education

In comparison to students from wealthier communities, most of whom are able to access the country’s superior private system, favela children experience failure rates by third grade over seven times higher than their wealthier peers. Moreover, lack of incentives to pursue education contributes to higher dropout rates. Rather than graduate high school and settle for an average weekly salary of 950 BRL ($177 USD), some favela children end up joining drug gangs in the pursuit of making a sufficient income.

For the many children in favelas who do wish to attend school, violence on the streets between drug factions and police has proven to be a disruptive barrier. When crime makes it too dangerous for children to go to class, school is canceled.  Moreover, trauma due to widespread armed violence negatively affects children’s abilities to effectively learn.

Two Brazilian Initiatives That Support Favela Children

EduMais is a Rio de Janeiro-based NGO offering a variety of free after-school educational programs, ranging from English to web and game design. The diverse subjects offered, allow children to engage in extracurricular classes relevant to their interests, and each program incorporates favela-specific methodologies to best ensure enthusiasm and commitment. For example, “positive discipline” avoids punishment and instead adapts children to a classroom by having them help create rules at the beginning of the year. A trauma-sensitive approach ensures that lesson plans are catered toward children’s cognitive abilities. In addition, children enrolled in after-school programs remain in a healthy environment off the streets, and are therefore less likely to use drugs or fail out of school. EduMais encourages its students to value education as an important curiosity that remains useful beyond the classroom setting, and into adulthood.

Favela INC teaches English and business courses to adolescents living in the favela of Vidigal, located in southern Rio de Janeiro. Recognizing the region’s lack of entrepreneurial education opportunities, which contributes to residents’ limited abilities to achieve socio-economic mobility, the organization offers young residents free teaching and mentorship programs.  The programs seek to foster well-rounded students ready to face the business world by focusing on four core areas: project planning, financial literacy, digital marketing and personal development.  These programs offer students the tools, resources and newfound entrepreneurial spirit to transform their favelas’ economic and cultural ecosystems. Additionally, Favela INC aims to incentivize its students to pursue higher education after schooling, as only 1-3% of favela residents currently hold a university degree. Students are also connected to networks that they would not have been able to attain without the program, leading to a greater number of job opportunities moving forward.

Looking Forward

The historical exclusion of favela residents, as evidenced by the slums’ lack of quality education and widespread drug violence, has prevented many individuals from being able to escape from impoverished conditions. The grassroots initiatives of Favela INC and EduMais in Brazil’s favelas support favela children by providing educational opportunities, incentivizing and inspiring a passion for learning and offering the learned tools to succeed in the 21st-century job market. Through the power of education, community-based teaching aims to alleviate economic insecurity for the next generation of favela adults and tackle Brazil’s root causes of widespread poverty.

– Breana Stanski
Photo: Flickr

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Tusome: Powering Childhood Learning in Kenya


Kenya, a country in East Africa, has made strides in battling poverty by reforming childhood education. In 2003 Kenya established a free primary school education program meant to ensure that young children receive a basic education. However, the Kenyan school system still has challenges to overcome. Teachers often lack proper training and support, and students often do not have enough school supplies. These obstacles ultimately contribute to low learning outcomes for students. Tusome, which means “let’s read” in Kiswahili, is a national literacy program powering childhood learning in Kenya that attempts to address these education shortfalls.

Origins of The Tusome National Literacy Program

Despite previous efforts to improve childhood learning outcomes by the Kenyan government, assessments from the years 2010-2014 showed no significant change in literacy and 40% of primary grade students could not understand their reading material. Tusome was built on this prior research and “was one of the first experiences of taking a piloted literacy program to national scale through government systems.” Tusome is funded by both the Kenyan government’s Ministry of Education and the USAID organization. The program was implemented in January of 2015 and will run until 2020 with a goal of improving reading for 6.7 million students.

Training and Support of Faculty

Two of Tusome’s key goals are to address the need for faculty training and support in the Kenyan school system. Tusome educates teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff on the Ministry of Education’s expected learning outcomes. The program also provides Curriculum Support Officers that regularly visit schools to coach and monitor teachers in learning outcomes, though these are not professionals trained in general classroom instruction. Youth associations are also working to help to tutor children and develop a reading culture in their area.

School Supplies and Integration of Technology

One of the Tusome program’s notable achievements is that is has provided 26 million textbooks and supplementary materials for primary school students, ensuring that each student has a textbook of their own. Tusome also offers its students tablets with digitized learning materials, which can also provide feedback and progress monitoring for teachers. The performance of each student is uploaded to a cloud-based network system which is meant to promote greater responsibility within the school system.

Conclusion

Tusome has been able to improve teacher support, training and availability of school materials in Kenyan primary schools. This is, in part, due to the integration of technology in the form of digital materials, tablets and cloud-based technology. Learning outcomes have been promising, even in the early pilot phase. In 1,384 schools, children who reached the Tusome standard for an understanding of the English language increased from 8.6% to 43.7%. Overall, Tusome is considered a successful example of large-scale governmental implementation of a national program that can power childhood learning in Kenya, and serve as a model to education systems around the world.


– Joseph Maria
Photo: Flickr

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#PassTheMic

#PassTheMic

The coronavirus has impacted our world more than one would have guessed. Not only are hospitals overflowing, schools closing and countries going on lockdown, but our minds are confused with the mixed information being spread on the internet. Today, people receive their news from Twitter and Facebook, sometimes not even bothering to check the facts they read against reliable sources. In order to spread truth about the global pandemic, an organization called ONE created a small movement called #PassTheMic on social media. The movement began on May 21, 2020, and it lasted through June 11, 2020. Celebrities gave their platforms over to health experts, front line workers and policy experts as a way to spread facts instead of fiction.

ONE is a global movement co-founded by Bono and other activists who believe fighting against global poverty is about justice and equality for all. The global #PassTheMic movement aims to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by the year 2030. ONE has raised $37.5 billion in support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and to fight against AIDS, TB and malaria. ONE has also participated in passing poverty-reducing legislation. This has included the Electrify Africa Act of 2016 and other laws ensuring money from gas and oil revenues be used to fight poverty in Africa.

The Age of Information

In past decades, our grandparents would sit at the kitchen table every morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and a large newspaper in the other. This is how people would receive their daily news, and they were confident that their news came from a reliable source. Fast forward a bit; our parents would sit in front of the television after dinner, the 5 o’clock or 7 o’clock news blaring with talk of war, politics and the weather. This is how they would receive their news. Today, we lie in our bedrooms and scroll for hours on social media. We have no clue if these posts are fact or fiction. All we know is that our favorite celebrity is talking about it, so it must be a big deal. ONE took notice of this new way of receiving information and took action.

As a way to spread awareness on the current pandemic, celebrities are handing their social media accounts over to those more qualified to speak on the topic. Celebrities participating in the #PassTheMic movement include Hugh Jackman, Shailene Woodley, Penelope Cruz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts and many more.

Experts Weigh In

Participating experts included Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia, who learned from the Ebola pandemic of 2014-2016; David Anderson, Director of Quality at Nightingale Hospital in Manchester; Aya Chebbi, Youth Envoy of the African Union; and many more. Each expert discusses a new topic revolving around our healthcare systems, sanitation, poverty, how to handle a pandemic and where to donate. All of the experts have shared that the world needs a global response to COVID-19, as this is affecting each and every one of us.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was the first to participate in the movement on May 21, 2020. Fauci is director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and he took part in Julia Roberts’s Instagram and a YouTube interview. Fauci shared that the United States had made little progress flattening the COVID-19 curve. At the end of May, the U.S. had more than 1.5 million infections and 100,000 deaths, and these numbers have only grown. Fauci noted the importance of listening to health experts and the practice of social distancing. In addition, he has posted on his personal Instagram about vaccine research and how to cope with COVID-19.

Many experts have taken a moment to discuss the importance of helping those who may not be able to help themselves. Gayle Smith, president and CEO of ONE, stated that the virus is outrunning us, meaning that countries and leaders need to share strategies and expertise with each other. Additionally, she said something to consider is the economic impact this pandemic has had on every nation. Healthcare and supply chains alike have taken major hits. Smith noted that not every country has the ability to prevent and protect the virus. At the same time, many have become unemployed and are unable to provide food for the table. Thus, the world needs to come together and fight rather than countries fighting for themselves.

 

These experts will reach millions through various social media platforms as they speak directly to celebrities’ followers. As an organization created to fight global poverty, ONE understands the importance of sharing resources. Through the #PassTheMic movement, people worldwide will have access to scientific facts about the coronavirus and information about staying safe, providing for their families and helping their communities.

 – Ciara Pagels
Photo: Pixabay

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Recent Reforms in Girls’ Education in Algeria

Girls’ Education in AlgeriaAlgeria is a country in North Africa with Mediterranean coastline and an interior of the Saharan desert. Over the years, the education quality in Algeria has been improving and statistics show more girls are graduating with university diplomas. While the recent reforms have been an improvement, more work is needed to improve girls’ education in Algeria.

The Algerian Education System

The education system is divided into a nine-year primary foundation school, followed by a three-year secondary and then university level. Algerian education is still focused on the French philosophy of fact-acquisition, and instruction is almost entirely in the form of lecture and memorization. As of 2015, there are 92 post-secondary institutions in Algeria including 48 universities.

Past Statistics of Algerian Students

Back in 1996, the ministry reported 15,426 state primary schools with 4,674,947 students, 46% of which were girls. There were 3,038 middle schools, which were for children 7 to 9 years of age, with 1,762,761 students, only 38% of whom were girls. This led to less than 50% of female citizens getting university degrees during the time. According to CountryMeters, in 2016, the literacy rate for the adult male population is 87.17%, or 14,318,494 men; literacy rate for the adult female population is 73.13%, or 11,949,007 women. Literate females made up around 14% less than the literate male population.

Recent Statistics of Algerian Students

Statistics of graduate Algerian women have been more than men since the late 2000’s. In 2011 and 2012, around 60% of the 1,090,592 students on track to graduate from Algerian universities were females. Ever since then, recorded data shows a positive trend of girls obtaining their university degrees. In 2018, Algeria reported that 64.46% female residents have graduated from universities in the country. There are currently no recent updates on the literacy levels of Algerians.

Education Reforms

Recently, Algeria has made education mandatory and free of charge for all children from age 6 to 15. Also, the British Council works in collaboration with the Algerian Ministry of National Education (MoNE) to support their joint focus on improving education. This is a continuous project that began in 2016. As a result, 40,000 teachers have been recruited each year for Algeria schools. In addition, the project focuses on addressing leadership and ensures the quality of the education system.

Due to this project, in 2018, approximately 596,000 students took the BEM, or the intermediate school certificate examination. The average score was 56.9 percent, which was up from 56.3 percent in 2017. The positive statistics ultimately led to the increased percentage of female university graduates in 2018.

The amount of females graduating and obtaining a university degree are gradually increasing each year. Since 1996, there has been more than a 10% increase in the amount of females graduating from a college. On top of that, the quality of the Algerian education system is slowly improving each year, and the government is encouraging all young girls to attend primary school.

– Megan Ha
Photo: LH4