Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Germany’s Dual System Integrates Syrian Refugees

Germany's Duel System
Germany has gained worldwide acclaim for its joint education and vocational training programs. There are tens of thousands of asylum-seekers participating throughout the country, which signals concerted government effort to create a path to employment.

What is Germany’s Dual System?

Germany’s vocational education and training (VET) programs combine practical and theoretical training with real-life work experience. Those enrolled typically spend part of the week in vocational schools and the rest work directly at specific German companies. After two to three years, certification and sufficient language preparedness all but guarantees job placement, which is critical in the refugee integration effort.

After the influx of refugees in 2015, Germany’s dual system has become an essential part of the country’s integration strategy. The number of refugees entering tradecraft apprenticeships, both through vocational school and otherwise, increased 140% during 2018. Given the success of these vocational schools, many other European countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark have adopted similar frameworks.

Syrian Asylum-Seekers in Germany

Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in particular benefit from Germany’s undertakings. Of the more than 1.4 million asylum applicants, the majority come from Syria.

Enrollment in a government-sponsored language program is necessary for participation in the dual system. While this may seem like a barrier to integration at first glance, asylum-seeker status guarantees the right to attend subsidized language courses.

These social measures are helping to lower barriers to employment for Syrian refugees. Germany’s dual system has positive social and economic outcomes in its own right, but it’s just one part of an ongoing, historic effort by many actors throughout the country. Participation in language courses and vocational training doesn’t guarantee quick integration into society for all, but it is a step in the right direction.

A Positive Impact

Thanks in part to this system, half of all refugees living in Germany will find steady employment within five years of arrival. The influx of asylum seekers, which initially caused much concern, has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the German economy. More importantly, the opportunity to study German and find employment has improved the lives of Syrian asylum seekers.

As the most important aspect of integration, employment reduces feelings of alienation and creates a brighter path for Syrian families. By giving refugees the chance to immerse themselves in the language and culture as well as enter the workforce, Germany makes escaping poverty a reality for many.

– Rachel Moloney
Photo: PxHere

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4 Nonprofits Encouraging Education in the Philippines

Education in the PhilippinesIn the Philippines, education has grown continuously over the years. However, the country continues to need improvement and educational reform throughout the provinces. Only half of children 3 to 4 years old are enrolled in daycare, and only 78% actually complete basic education. Only 13 out of 100 who enter Grade 1 complete their education, and less than 1% of Grade 6 children are academically ready for high school. The number of children out of school in the Philippines has reached 2.8 million. Furthermore, 40,000 teachers are sorely needed in the country.

These numbers show that there is still room for improvement. Educational access is vital for every child, and providing that for Filipino youth is a mission that many nonprofit organizations have taken up. Here are four organizations that are working to equalize and encourage education in the Philippines.

Education Foundation of the Philippines

Education Foundation of the Philippines has sponsored many elementary schools throughout the Philippines through its projects and has provided various resources to hundreds of students and teachers in the area. It has worked with Calapacuan Elementary, Batiawan Integrated School and Salvasion Elementary, and has also partnered with other organizations in the country to provide for the students. The resources it has provided are science materials that are used by all grades, math and reading materials and general school supplies.

The organizations it has worked with are God’s Little Lambs, Child Evangelism Fellowship and Quezon Hill Community Church. These partnerships work to provide their respective communities with adequate resources to help students succeed in their educational paths. They also advocate and raise awareness for the needs of school children in the Philippines. Together, they help to provide better education in the Philippines.

Teach for the Philippines

Teach for the Philippines believes in providing access to adequate education for Filipino children through enlisting young leaders as teachers in public schools. The country has a shortage of teachers, with 40,000 teachers needed in the Philippines. They focus on improving the quality of teachers and addressing systematic educational challenges. Teach for the Philippines uses a three core program to create teachers who improve student learning and spark the reform needed to transform public schools.

Teach for the Philippines has engaged over 300 leaders working toward expanding educational access and fostering change for education in the Philippines. Through its fellowship program, in place since 2013, over 10,000 public school students are reached annually. Its work has enabled children across the country to have better educational outcomes and access to previously inaccessible opportunities.

Room to Read

Room to Read reaches students all across Asia and Africa, with over 18 million children helped in 16 countries. It is an organization that focuses on children’s literacy and girls’ education. With the goal of encouraging learning and ending illiteracy, one way they have reached students is by distributing books. The group has recently published books in its 36th language, Filipino.

Room to Read provides books in Filipino to encourage Filipino children to develop reading skills and have confidence. The organization unveiled 20 new books at an event with the Department for Education, publishers, authors and more. These books share themes of personal challenge, inclusion and gender inequality. Room to Read has impacted children across the country and helps to reduce illiteracy through accessible books, helping education in the Philippines to flourish.

Save the Children

Save the Children has been working in the Philippines for over 30 years better children’s lives through access to equality education. They work with the government to develop policies and plans to ensure access and protection of children’s rights.

Sace the Children creates mother tongue books that have developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive content. It established a Book Development Review Committee (BDRC), which ensures the process of choosing topics and languages includes tribal chieftains, community leaders. It also advocates and spreads awareness for educational issues, reaching over 145,000 people on its platforms. This organization also helps with other areas such as health and sanitation and natural disaster aid. Their programs have helped access to education in the Philippines.

In Conclusion

These four organizations show various ways people are working towards education equality in the Philippines. While the work they are doing is admirable, education equality for Filipino youth is an area that requires more aid and effort. Education in the Philippines will grow more robust and accessible as more organizations are created and  equalize the playing field for elementary and high schools students throughout the country.

– Kiana Powers
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Past and Future of Education Reform in Mexico

Education in Mexico
One of the most fundamental features of poverty and inequality in Mexico comes in the form of educational corruption. Despite its size and economic power, Mexico’s education system is rampant with inequality and inefficiency: according to recent rankings in 2018, among OECD countries, Mexico’s national higher education system ranked a mere 46 out of 50. As a result, education reform in Mexico has reemerged as a major focus of national politics in recent years.

The victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, better known as AMLO, has highlighted education reform in the country’s 2018 general elections. Although AMLO and his MORENA party had promised to bring about seismic change and reform to Mexico’s public education system, ongoing corruption and the country’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic may halt any hope of bringing change to this important issue.

Nieto’s 2013 Reform Plan

The contemporary debate over education reform in Mexico dates back to the beginning of Enrique Peña Nieto’s presidency in 2012. During the campaign, Nieto had promised to tackle the deep-rooted corruption in Mexico’s national teacher’s union. The national teacher’s union in Mexico is the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, or SNTE, an organization ubiquitous in the country for its kickbacks, bribery, record manipulation and various other forms of corruption.

Nieto’s reform aimed to restructure the distribution of salaries and the overall payroll policies of the SNTE, which entered law soon after his ascendancy to the presidency. Primarily, the reform enforced performance-based criteria for hiring and salaries, with promotions and bonuses being based on students’ testing results. Furthermore, the reform has placed more control over school management and bureaucracy in the hands of the federal government instead of the SNTE.

Criticisms of Nieto’s Education Reform in Mexico

Nevertheless, a significant wing of the SNTE and Mexican teachers, in general, have found Nieto’s education reforms to be inadequate or outright malevolent. Even with a new performance-based structure, the issues of a bloated bureaucracy and unequal spending continued to be a significant issue.

Importantly, Nieto’s reform did not address the inequalities of the education system. Five years into Nieto’s education reform policy, many of the same differences in quality of instruction and schooling between Mexico’s rich and poor remained the same. According to Patricio Solís, a professor at the Center for Sociological Studies of the National Institute, young Mexicans in the highest income group have seven times greater access to higher education than those in the lowest income group.

Nieto’s popular mandate in fighting corruption in Mexico’s education system came to a sudden halt in 2016 when violent protests broke out between dissident teachers and Mexican police in the southwestern state of Oaxaca leaving six people dead. Many of these demonstrators were members of the SNTE who viewed Nieto’s education reform as inadequate; they criticized the redistribution of funding, the recently adopted merit-based philosophy for promotions and the arrest of several union leaders on charges of money laundering.

AMLO’s Reform in 2018

AMLO, Mexican’s first left-wing president of the 21st century, made discontent with Nieto’s educational reform a central tenet of his 2018 campaign. The 66-year-old often said on the campaign trail that Nieto had “turned education into a business.”

The scrapping of Nieto’s education reform under the new administration had two primary components; firstly, repealing the merit-based structuring to salaries and promotions which had come under fire from Mexican teachers and the public at large, and, secondly, expanding access to free higher education among the country’s most impoverished children. This latter part involved the construction of over 100 new public universities and the introduction of public scholarships for 300,000 students.

Nevertheless, many ordinary citizens and experts alike have criticized these new policies under AMLO. For example, Alexandra Zapata, director at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness in Mexico City, views the repeal of the merit-based system as a way for corruption to grow internally. She believes educational achievement criteria may be less trustworthy than under the previous system. Furthermore, much of the revenue for free higher education came at the expense of funding for early learning and primary care, resources that many rural and impoverished Mexican families desperately need. Zapata believes that the greatest efficiency for upward social mobility comes at the beginning of education, not at the university level. The question of to what extent this balance between earlier education and higher education can alleviate the issue of inequality in Mexican education can only be determined down the road.

COVID-19 and Education Reform

Like many other places around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown have created a paradigm-shifting challenge for public education in Mexico. Stay-at-home orders early in the spring shut down Mexican public schooling; the access to resources for learning at home, such as internet connection and computer hardware, has further exacerbated the educational and economic gap between Mexico’s richest and poorest.

However, some experts view the chaos stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to kickstart real, lasting reform in Mexico’s public education system. Julia Coyoli, a Ph.D. candidate from Harvard focusing on educational reform in Latin America, believes that home-schooling and remote learning will shine a public light on the underlying inequities in the country’s public education system. Once these blatant injustices come into the light, it should force the Mexican government to take more of a stand-in specifically targeting low-income students’ education.

– Jason Beck
Photo: Flickr

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Private Education in Developing Nations

Private Education in Developing Nations
Education can make or break someone’s ability to be successful. It is important to provide education universally, but education must be of quality. Private education has been able to provide this higher quality education to children in low-income areas internationally. Here is some information about private education in developing nations like India.

Private Education in India

In a study involving 918 schools in three “slum” zones in Hyderabad’s Old City, 24% of people receive public education while 11.4% attend private schools while receiving assistance with funding. Meanwhile, 23.1% attend private schools (unregistered) and 41.5% attend private institutions (registered). The majority of funding for private schools comes from charitable trusts, societies or community groups.

The student to teacher ratios for private schools was much less than public schools. In fact, registered private schools had a 27:1 student to teacher ratio while public schools had a 42:1 ratio. Teacher absenteeism was also higher for public schools than private schools. In recognized private schools, teachers were absent 2.5% of the time, whereas public schools had a 25.4% absent rate among teachers. Private schools also had better access to resources including clean drinking water with 99.5% of private school students having access to clean water while only 57.5% of public school students have clean water access.

In India, there is a pattern of private schools having better access to resources. These resources include desks, chairs, fans, technology, blackboards, playgrounds, toilets, libraries, lighting, televisions and computers. With better access to resources, one can see why private school students scored 22-23% higher in maths than public school students and even higher in English. The lack of resources could also explain why private school teachers tend to have more dedication to their work, even though they receive less pay. One can surmise that a teacher may find it difficult to dedicate themselves to their work without the correct tools to do their job.

India is no outlier. In fact, countries like Ghana, China and Nigeria have also seen significantly better results and quality of education for students attending private schools rather than public ones.

Why Do People Go Private?

Many can acknowledge that the key to economic prosperity is education. For many developing nations, this involves investing in public education. If the investments that governments make are not enough to provide good quality schooling, then the people attending public schools simply have to wait for the government to invest more. This is inefficient and has led to the creation of many private schools globally. These frequently exist in developing nations’ poorer neighborhoods.

A misconception is that private education in developing nations would cost more to low-income families than public schools. Though this may be true in some cases, public schools often operate so poorly that parents still have to pay for school supplies, transportation and tutors because of high rates of teacher absenteeism. Private school is a better investment. Additionally, many of these private schools have given scholarships to orphans or children of the heavily impoverished. In Hyderabad’s slums, 20% of children attend private schools on a need-based scholarship.

How Do Private Schools Succeed?

The reason that private schools can succeed is that they provide more resources to their teachers. Children taking part in private education perform better than those in public schools, despite costing a third of what public schools do. Even though private education can be extremely cheap, sometimes at $1 per week, they can budget and invest in resources. This might be because private schools pay their teachers less so they can reallocate funds to resources. This is not necessarily bad for the teachers as they are able to do more in their job with more resources, which means they enjoy it more.

An Example

Peace High school is a private school with 285 students and 13 teachers in Hyderabad run by Mohammed Wajid. Wajid began teaching in 10th grade while attending another private school in the area. The school has a courtyard, slides and pet rabbits. The school used to be an old home, and though the infrastructure needs much work, the school’s staff has a genuine desire to better the lives of children in the neighborhood through education. Many of the staff dedicate their weekends to science competitions and cyber-Olympics. Many of the challenges with the school were external including pollution, loud streets and temperature. The school charges $1.33 to $2.22 per month which many parents have been able to pay.

The Role of Donating

Some private schools do very well with philanthropic aid from charities and organizations globally. Education is a key tool in being able to invest in countries, create jobs and help people provide for themselves in the long term. It is important to acknowledge that many of the issues public schools face are because of their poor funding and inability to attract students who can spend more time studying. The world must not only invest in private education in developing nations but also support developing nations to invest in public education.

– Hope Arpa Chow
Photo: Flickr

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5 Ways to Improve Intergenerational Poverty

Ways to Improve Intergenerational Poverty
Intergenerational poverty is the relentless cycle in which poverty is passed down from one generation to the next, indicating that impoverished parents have impoverished children. This cycle occurs because of the lack of resources that poor citizens receive, such as inadequate healthcare and education. The most salient way to prevent the progression of intergenerational poverty is to invest in helping impoverished children around the world. Children who grow up in poverty are significantly more likely to have low incomes later in life compared to children who do not fall below the poverty line. However, providing support for impoverished children is not enough to improve intergenerational poverty. It is imperative to also invest in women’s rights as their parental contributions have a major impact on children and their future societal status. By providing resources and support to impoverished women and children, we can help stop the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty and promote a more just, sustainable world.

5 Tangible Ways to Improve Intergenerational Poverty

  1. Provide more educational opportunities for poor women and children. Education is a major factor in improving intergenerational poverty as it enables greater social mobility. For instance, each year of college equals a 10% annual income increase compared to individuals who did not attend college, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Additionally, education and schooling teaches children to be independent but also encourages children to form important social connections. These connections would help provide impoverished individuals with more opportunities and resources to improve their social standing. Some educational interventions that would improve intergenerational poverty include investing in free and accessible preschool programs, providing free childhood interventions for low-income homes, and designing scholarships specifically for impoverished students.
  2. Encourage women to own assets. Another trigger for upward social mobility is owning assets. Asset ownership helps improve intergenerational poverty as it is an important investment that will provide future generations with an inheritance, automatically improving their social ranking and economic worth. The most valuable asset in low-income countries is land. However, “women hold only 1-2% of individually titled land,” which limits their agency and well-being. Therefore, it is important to support public policy interventions that enable poor populations to accumulate and preserve assets, as the transfer of assets to future generations will help to improve intergenerational poverty. Some specific policy interventions to promote female asset ownership include supporting the co-registration of land by both spouses, improving access to legal services, and reforming marriage laws so women receive a share of assets and inheritance.
  3. Support social protection for impoverished women and children. When an unexpected shock or crisis occurs, poor women and children are the most vulnerable in society as they do not have adequate resources to respond to the shock. For instance, when spouses get divorced, women often lose housing and other productive assets, and they are unable to provide for their children. As a result, it is very common for women who are experiencing downward mobility to withdraw their child from school which has lasting impacts on their career and societal status. Some examples of social protection measures for women and children include disability grants, access to healthcare, social pensions and child support grants.
  4. End discrimination and empower women. Many countries and cultures still consist of largely gendered and discriminatory societal norms. Fighting back against discrimination and promoting women’s empowerment has significant consequences for intergenerational poverty as it increases the number of resources and supports a mother provides for her child, and it improves the child’s well-being. Sexism is a deep-rooted societal issue that requires intense and drastic collaborative interventions to be resolved. Although they do not fix the issue, the following short-term solutions would empower women and improve intergenerational poverty by promoting equality. The solutions include organizing initiatives with men to promote equal parenting practices, providing more income-earning opportunities for women, and granting women access to financial services without having to receive permission from their husbands.
  5. Support programs and policies that promote good health, nutrition and sanitation practices. The health status of mothers has huge implications on the societal and health status of their children. This correlation needs to be addressed as children’s health is directly related to their social and cognitive development. For example, many impoverished children perform poorly in school due to their delayed development, which prevents them from receiving high-paying jobs, and as a result, continues the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Some specific policies that address global health issues and would improve intergenerational poverty include providing free healthcare for children under 5 years old, fee exemptions for low-income homes, supplementary nutrition for pregnant mothers, and providing free contraceptives and advice to women around the world. By promoting beneficial health practices, women are more likely to teach those practices to their children which will help to prevent illnesses, promote healthy development, and hopefully improve economic standing.

In order to address the intergenerational transmission of poverty, we must first acknowledge the societal norms that are contributing to the vicious cycle. By counteracting the suppressive standards with progressive policies, children are better able to escape poverty and contribute to the world economy.

– Ashley Bond
Photo: Pixabay

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Intel’s Tech for Good Initiatives During COVID-19

Intel creating Tech for GoodThe COVID-19 pandemic has been an accelerator for collective innovation and partnerships. One example has been Intel’s Tech for Good initiatives. Intel has played a big role in using its technology to combat COVID-19 in two main ways: medical (Response and Readiness Initiative) and educational (Online Learning Initiative). So far, Intel has worked on close to 200 projects in collaboration with more than 100 organizations. Intel’s efforts have made a huge impact, both during the original pandemic response as well as within the early steps toward recovery.

Intel’s Tech for Good During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In April 2020, Intel pledged $50 million to COVID-19 relief in the form of supporting research efforts, technology for medical infrastructure and help for low-income students’ online learning needs. Collectively, $40 million focuses on improving patient care, scientific research and online learning. The other $10 million focuses on funding new ideas and technologies with external partners and employee-led relief projects to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Intel also donated $10 million, which went toward masks, gloves and PPE for local communities.

Medical: Response and Readiness Initiative

An example of Intel creating Tech for Good was during the initial period where Intel and Medical Informatics Corp (MIC) provided ventilator manufacturers with vital parts and created virtual intensive care units (ICUs). These remote ICUs operate on the MIC’s Sickbay™ platform. They protect front-line healthcare providers by reducing the risk of exposure to the virus. Additionally, they provide an efficient means of monitoring critical care patients through a single dashboard on a computer. This effort helps hospitals ease the strain on their manpower during the pandemic. Intel has agreed to fund the initial implemental fees and waive the first 90 days of software subscription licensing. This will help hospitals access the products needed to upscale their workforce and meet the demands of treating patients promptly.

Furthermore, as a multinational company with an international focus, Intel has donated funds to countries that require help to combat COVID-19. In collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia (AMCHAM), Intel Malaysia pledged to donate more than RM2 Million to help healthcare professionals in combating COVID-19. The funds donated will go toward buying COVID-19 test “kits, ventilators, patient monitors and air purifiers” for government hospitals in the states of Penang and Kedah. This is all done in an effort to reduce the burden on the Malaysian healthcare system during the pandemic.

Education: Online Learning Initiative

Challenges to study from home during the pandemic are affecting thousands of needy children globally. According to an American survey, only 60% of children in the United States have access to reliable Internet connectivity. Furthermore, approximately 40% of children do not have electronic devices to facilitate their studying from home. Hence, recently Intel partnered with First Book to launch the Creating Learning Connections Initiative that supports Title I supports children in “school districts affected by the pandemic.” Through the initiative, Intel and its partners are funding $5 million for the purchase of personal computers and digital resources. Furthermore, the initiative is awarding $4,000 to each “district in an effort to set up stable internet connectivity for children who need to study from home.”

Another example of Intel creating Tech for Good is through Intel’s Online Learning Initiative. This program provides “PC donations, online virtual resources, study-at-home guides and device connectivity assistance.” It will start in the U.S., but Intel plans to expand the program around the world. The technology allows students that do not have access to technology with devices and online learning tools. By partnering closely with public schools, Intel will enable many students to continue learning despite the national lockdown. Hence, the pandemic has been a clear catalyst for technological innovation in the interest of social good.

Creating Hope for Future Generations

According to Intel VP Rick Echevarria, “people’s health will be critical to the world’s economic recovery, just as the economic recovery will be key to everyone’s health.” He emphasizes further that the technologies developed by Intel, such as digital health and online learning, will outlive the pandemic. This creates hope that technological innovation and collaboration in the interest of public health will be continued throughout generations.

– Mariyah Lia
Photo: Flickr

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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