Tag Archive for: Education

Posts

, , , , ,

Economic Growth: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats?

Developing countries around the world face the tremendous challenge of promoting sustainable growth while also reducing poverty and increasing the living standards of their populations.

Around the world, conventional wisdom holds that by focusing development policy on economic growth, inequality will be reduced and incomes of every segment of society will increase–a rising tide lifts all boats.

While poverty has been reduced dramatically all around the world (700 million fewer people live in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990), big challenges still exist to further reducing this number. One of these challenges is rising inequality within and between nations.

Listed below are three reasons why income inequality must be addressed in both the developed and developing world in order to ensure long-term economic growth benefits for everyone and not just a select few.

1. Economic growth is not always equal

China, one of the countries where poverty reduction has been dramatic, is astoundingly tolerant of large gaps in inequality in exchange for growth. Deng Xiaoping, a top Communist Party leader from 1978 to 1992 who initiated economic reforms, is thought to have acknowledged, “It is good for some people to get rich first.”

While this may be true in some cases or at the beginning of market reforms, recent studies undertaken in Indonesia, South Africa, India and China reveal an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. This gap in income inequality can not only prevent further reduction in poverty, but it also has long term implications in the ability of large parts of the population of each country to be able to contribute to the country’s economy and growth.

2. Education, health, and job creation policies must be pursued simultaneously with growth policies

In order for a country’s population to contribute to and participate in the country’s economy, individuals must have the skills. Pursuing policies only focused on increasing GDP may improve growth outlook in the short run. However, in the long run, without education initiatives to match, a large segment of the population will remain poor.

In the 1990s, Brazil pursued a pro-equity growth policy in which it provided grants to help boost education. Average years of school for the poor shot up and when growth hit; they too were able to take advantage of the better jobs.

Just as an overall boost in education and health is important, so is robust job creation. People must have the opportunity to input the skills they have learned back into the economy.

For this reason, inequality cannot be solved without government involvement. The market left as is does not ensure that growth is shared equally. A combination of strong government programs and a strong private sector ensures better opportunities for more people.

3. Positive GDP growth can hide underlying inequality

The main measure of inequality within a given country is through the gini coefficient. The gini coefficient is a variable that measures how equal a country’s income is with zero representing an instance where everyone’s income is exactly equal, and one representing an instance in which one person has all of the income and the rest have none.

In South Africa, while the government is vocally committed to fighting poverty and inequality, between 2003 and 2008 overall income inequality increased. During this period, South Africa’s gini coefficient rose from an already high .66 to .70 – one of the highest in the world. So despite an average GDP growth rate of 3.2 percent (1994-2012), steps still need to be taken to ensure that the bottom segment of society is able to contribute and benefit from that growth.

Today, nearly 80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 per day and over 3 billion live on less than $2.50. High levels of inequality exacerbate problems of poverty and reduce opportunities for the poor to move beyond their circumstances. Fewer opportunities for children to rise up economically means that inequality becomes more exaggerated over time and can affect the social structure of a country – leading to unrest, crime and violence.

Developed and developing countries alike all face the challenge of reducing their gini coefficient while also promoting growth. While each country faces unique challenges, this is one problem that can benefit from collaboration at the international level. From the information above, it becomes clear that poverty cannot be fully eliminated without measures in place that simultaneously address income inequality.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Science Mag, Global Issues, Global Issues 2, Politics of Poverty, United Nations, South Africa, Hvistendahl, M. (2014). While emerging economies boom, equality goes bust. Science,344(6186), 832-835.
Photo: PBS

Amped for Education

Since discovering the need for functional schools in Nicaragua, Jeff Pluta has been inspired to combine his love for education and desire to impact the developing world.

In 2009, Pluta started “Amped for Education,” a volunteer organization based in Massachusetts that works with Nicaraguan communities to facilitate the continuation of education beyond the primary level. Five years later, Amped for Education has completed and is working on various projects to improve education in Nicaragua.

Where does “Amped for Education” get its name? Aside from being a catchy tagline, “amped” is a play on words according to Pluta.

In Spanish, “ampliar” is a word meaning “to expand.” Pluta’s organization does just that; it expands educational opportunities in Nicaraguan villages. “Amped” implies the organization’s mission and the founder’s excitement for the projects.

Amped for Education aims to eradicate poverty in Nicaragua through education. Like many other organizations of its kind, Amped believes that education provides people with the tools needed to improve sustainability, create a more competitive job market and integrate into the global economy.

Education to do all of these things cannot happen at the primary level, though.

In Nicaragua, students are required to attend six years of school only. In other words, students only have to complete primary education. Amped for Education’s programs make secondary and tertiary education more enticing to citizens of rural Nicaraguan villages so that they will learn the material necessary to lift themselves out of poverty.

There are several ways to contribute to Amped for Education’s cause. The website includes a link to sponsor a Nicaraguan student.

Many students cannot attend school in Nicaragua because they cannot afford essentials such as backpacks, supplies, uniforms and books. By donating $185 per year, sponsors can send a child in Nicaragua to school with these essentials and dental and eye examinations as well.

Amped for Education asks sponsors to commit to five years of donations so that they can send the same student through the full five years of secondary education. In return, donators receive updates about their students’ grades, photos and letters. Sponsors also have the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua with one of the organization’s service trips to meet their individual students.

Teachers in the United States can donate without having to give any money. The website also provides a link for high school teachers to create lesson plans for teachers in the Nicaraguan schools to use. Because many of the teachers do not have the same degree of training as teachers in the United States need, the lesson plans are very helpful for the secondary schools in Nicaraguan villages.

Amped for Education leads service trips for volunteers to travel to Nicaragua to complete projects and meet the community members. The organization realizes how important tourism is to the Nicaraguan economy and, therefore, attempts to combine tourism with volunteer opportunities. Volunteers may help build secondary schools, create roadways to make the schools more accessible and experience the more typical tourist attractions in Nicaragua.

Pluta is a full-time high school teacher and baseball coach in Massachusetts. As a result, a good number of volunteer trip participants are students from his school. In July, students from his school and surrounding schools traveled to Nicaragua to build houses and play baseball with locals. The students learned from observing the severity of the poverty levels in Nicaragua and carried their knowledge and experiences back to Massachusetts.

The next baseball and volunteering combined experience will take place in February of 2015. Participants will build a new learning center with Amped for Education and play games against teams from Granada and the Corn Islands.

The Nicaraguan educational system has great potential, but it needs support to make the most of that potential. Organizations like Amped for Education can provide necessary support to rural areas of Nicaragua while raising awareness within the United States.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: Amped for Education 1, Amped for Education 2, MassLive, WGBY
Photo: MassLive

,

Education in Cote d’Ivoire

Education in Cote d’Ivoire is present and plentiful for those who can afford it. While there are free public schools available to Ivoirians, families are still required to pay for books, uniforms and supplies.

Additionally, over two-thirds of native Ivoirians work in agriculture, and children are often needed as part of the work force. The unfortunate reality is that most students who receive a proper education in Cote d’Ivoire are not natives of the country.

Zeina Jebeile, a current student at Boston University who grew up in Cote d’Ivoire but was not born there, says that the private school education she received was comparable to the education received by her friends in the United States. “We learned a lot of similar things, it was just in a different language,” Zeina explained. She continued to clarify that public schools are only available to those born in the Ivory Coast, and people like her who were born in other countries must attend expensive private schools.

Due to the French colonization of Cote d’Ivoire the vast majority of schools run on the French system and have the exact same curriculum as high schools in France. While being a native of the Ivory Coast holds the benefit of free primary education, students have a much higher chance of attending university if they graduate from one of the French, American or Lebanese private schools.

Due to the high cost of schooling, “not everybody gets access to education, and it’s sad because a lot of them are really interested in doing so,” Zeina explained. “Education is about $7,000 a year for high school, which is kind of ridiculous, but that’s what you get for the ‘French Prestige.’” In order to combat this, small tutoring centers have popped up throughout the country. The centers operate on a volunteer basis, with classes usually taught by Americans and Europeans travelling abroad to teach languages.

Language is a problem within the private schools as well. Zeina, who attended a French school, said that there is little emphasis placed on learning English. “You have the option between German, Italian and Spanish…. And the English is very, very basic. In the last year of high school they literally teach you things like ‘my dog’s name is Bobo.’”

Despite her classmates’ limited knowledge of the English language, a diploma from a French private school almost certainly leads to an acceptance into a French University, as well as easier access to a French visa. Those who graduate from Ivoirian Schools must either be the very top of their class or come from wealthy families if they wish to continue their education in college. “The system is very limiting for most people who live in the Ivory Coast,” Zeina admitted. “At the end of the day if you don’t have money you don’t really get access to education.”

The Ivory Coast has a population of 15 million, approximately one third of which are non-Ivoirians. Out of the 128,318 students enrolled in high school, 42 percent attend private school. In addition to high poverty rates among Ivoirians and the necessity for child labor, there are other factors which can prevent children from receiving the best education possible.

Cote d’Ivoire has suffered through two civil wars in the past 15 years. Political conflict instigated outbreaks of violence in 2002, leading to a five-year civil war that killed and displaced thousands. Just three years after the call for peace, violence broke out once again leading to a second civil war that lasted from 2010-2011. The physical and emotional damage inflicted upon residents of the Ivory Coast during these wars contribute to days of school missed.

–Taylor Lovett

Sources: Interview with Zeina, Our Africa, University of Szeged, Kuno Library
Photo: Unocha

, ,

Life to Life Building Group

In their own words, the Life to Life Building Group, Inc. (LTLBG) is “in the business of providing for people.” The company has been in this business since 2004, when founders Tim Mooney and Eric Brookhart developed, coordinated and ran a program in which high school students traveled to Uganda.

During the day, Mooney is a high school teacher and Brookheart is a firefighter and builder, so it is no surprise that together, the pair believes LTLBG has a dual effect that mirrors its profession. On a concrete level, the company builds schools and housing in poorer African countries. It also seeks to diversify the experience of American high school students.

While the construction of buildings speak for progress, the students must also prove they are ready to go abroad. Volunteers are required to complete an application that includes an essay portion. They must also launch their own fundraising campaign and are expected to pay for the entirety of their journey.

The program began organically, so it was small. It is also tightly run, so efficiency is quick to increase. In summer 2007, the founders led two groups that saw 50 total students build first a secondary school and then housing units. The company has their eyes on partnering with local businesses in Africa in an attempt to give back even more.

Like so many organizations and services that elect to operate and work in Africa, LTLBG is often asked “Why? Why go to Uganda?” One cheeky response is as follows: “How would our local school district react when, full of excitement, we attend a board meeting and announce we have worked to raise $25,000 to build a school? Perhaps we can add more mulch to the playground.” Wit aside, the founders have plenty of reasons to go.

The truth is that rarely do projects come around as organically as this. Subsequent to earning his degree, Mooney worked in Uganda as a missionary for three years, forming long bonds with educators, doctors and leaders of NGOs in the country. After returning home, an individual reached out to Mooney who brought Brookhart on a home building trip.

After several summers of working in Uganda, a class of Mooney’s students came to him and suggested that they be included on the next trip. The next summer they traveled together under the company name.

Even with all this, LTLBG should not feel the need to answer the question as judgment. The Sub Sahara is home to the most disadvantaged individuals in the world and it is one of the most important places in which to build.

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: Global Building Group, TeleSoft Partners
Photo: Global Building Group

,

The Link Between Poverty and Education

It is a well-documented fact that children from low-income households are significantly less likely to be successful than their middle and upper class counterparts. Studies have repeatedly shown a link between poverty and education. Family income is one of the strongest predictors available for measuring success, both in the classroom and later in life.

With fewer resources and less of a focus on education at home, children growing up in poverty are behind from the very beginning. Household stresses from living in poverty build up in the child, making it extremely difficult to concentrate on education.

Even if they are going to school regularly, children in poverty often fail to get an adequate education due to the stress of destitution. Since they have such a difficult time in the classroom, the kids fall into the poverty trap, in which their lack of education prevents any rise on the social ladder.

Until recently, it was unclear exactly what biological process made that the case. However, recent studies have pointed towards working memory as the key psychological factor linking poverty and education, specifically in academic achievement.

 

Working Memory Links Poverty and Education

 

Working memory is a “temporary storage mechanism” that lets us hold information and facts in our head for short-term usage and manipulation. The process of using working memory is central for reading, problem-solving and learning new languages.

A number of studies have shown that children with the best working memories also tend to have the highest test scores and the best grades. Children in poverty consistently have a less developed working memory than those above the poverty line.

With a dearth of educational resources in poor countries, an underdeveloped working memory often goes unnoticed and untreated.

This means that in addition to dealing with stress at home, children in poverty also have trouble remembering basic facts and instructions at school. Unable to stay on task, and struggling to keep up, their failure at school only adds to their stress level.

What’s more, a study published in the Development Science journal showed that, “Stress in early childhood negatively affects a child’s working memory in adulthood.”

The problems for children in poverty become even bigger problems in their adult lives. While a poor working memory for a child only means bad grades, it spells unemployment and crushing poverty for an adult.

The answer must come well before adulthood. With properly trained educators, an underdeveloped working memory can be easily spotted and rectified before it becomes a larger problem.

The lack of a proper education makes up a major part of the poverty trap — a phenomenon in which people living in poverty cannot rise up due to scarce resources, depression, lack of opportunity and other issues. The poverty trap can start before the child ever enters the classroom, and it has long-term psychological consequences.

Even from early childhood, poverty can create both a biological obstacle and an inescapable trap that collectively reduces the likelihood for academic and monetary success.

– Sam Hillestad

Sources: PsyBlog, PNAS

,

Canada’s Approach to AIDS Prevention

Since its discovery in the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS has been the subject of intense study and extensive prevention efforts, and for good reason. AIDS, the advanced condition that causes the human immune system to shut down, makes people vulnerable to infections that would otherwise not be life-threatening. As a result, the disease has claimed millions of lives in the last several decades and continues to wreak havoc today, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where 70 percent of AIDS cases now occur.

Significant progress in AIDS prevention has been made since the discovery of the condition in 1981, but Canada has especially contributed to prevention efforts. Though it is often overlooked, Canada is actually a research and technology powerhouse in the fight against AIDS and was among the first countries to understand the urgency of prevention, especially as it relates to development.

What has made Canada so successful? Largely, it’s the country’s varied and unrelenting approach to designing and implementing prevention programs. AIDS first appeared in Canada in 1982, but even before it was detected there, Canadian researchers were hard at work devising prevention strategies.

Canadian research teams were instrumental in the realization that extended periods of breastfeeding dramatically increase an infant’s chances of contracting HIV from its mother. Together with Kenyan researchers, Canadians were responsible for bringing about education and counseling programs for African mothers with HIV in order to prevent both the mothers and their babies from eventually having AIDS.

Other innovations in the AIDS prevention field that were largely funded by or produced by Canada include affordable diagnostic technology, diagnostic education for health care workers in developing countries and the use of anti-retroviral therapy in preventing HIV transmission.

Canada was also one of the first nations to recognize and publicize the link between AIDS and food insecurity. AIDS as a cause of food insecurity is widely understood, but the transmission of HIV/AIDS as a result of food insecurity was an idea that was cutting-edge at the time Canada’s research teams pitched it.

For decades Canada has been committed to using youth education as a tool to prevent AIDS. Its educational programs have been responsible for saving millions from AIDS, as it equips at-risk youth with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves in situations where HIV/AIDS transmission is possible.

Canada’s dedication to fighting AIDS has been particularly commendable. Continued contribution from Canada and other countries alike will only bring closer the day that HIV/AIDS transmission is merely a memory.

– Elise L. Riley

Sources: IDRC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Health
Photo: Wikimedia

, ,

Women in Science: Developing Countries

The role women play in the world’s technology and science movements has become increasingly prominent. Years ago, this field was primarily only led by men. Although education for women in general has improved in recent years, it still remains a problem around the globe.

A UNICEF study that researched the barriers to primary education revealed that 75 percent of children who are out of primary schools have mothers who did not receive any education, due in large part to poverty. In Asia, the Middle East and Africa, that number has risen to 80 percent of children who are out of primary school. This project reveals the importance of getting girls into education and supporting them in doing so.

In developing countries, women play an essential role in making change to communities. Mahatma Ghandi once said, “When a man is educated, an individual is educated; when a woman is educated, a family and a country are educated.” Historically, women have played a minor role in science-related fields, but many countries are making efforts to change that precedent.

Supporting women in science through funding, programs and scholarships is essential to building the next generation of women leaders and increasing science literacy in developing countries. Here are three nations creating increased opportunities for women in science, agriculture and technology:

1. South Sumatra (Indonesia):

Indonesia’s national program, Warintek Multipurpose Community Telecenters, focuses on promoting sustainable development through science and technology for women farmers located in South Sumatra. The program provides a variety of informational kiosks, available in both distance and in-person forms, for women to utilize regarding any farming needs of their local areas. In large part, the education aims to provide information on successful marketing and sustainable farming.

2. Burkina Faso:

Through the UNESCO Chair, Women, Science, and Development in Africa, the country is working to provide informal programs on health, water supplies, management and agriculture. University professors and students work in conjunction with women in communities, discussing topics and building relationships. The country has also connected with universities in other countries.

3. China:

The Women and Gender Development through the College of Rural Development at China Agricultural University is working to promote discussions on gender roles in agriculture and farming.

– Julia Thomas

Sources: Inter Academic Council, UNESCO, China Agricultural University, TWAS
Photo: Unesco

, ,

Three Influences of Poverty

Poverty has many causes. While some factors exacerbate poverty, there are five predominant causes of poverty: social inequality, conflict and political instabilities, education, debt and environmental conditions. Here is a closer examination of three of these causes.

Social Inequality

The United Nations Social Policy and Development Division reports that “inequalities in income distribution and access to productive resources, basic social services, opportunities, markets, and information have been on the rise worldwide, often causing and exacerbating poverty.” Countries where inequality is rampant display poor social indicators for human development, insecurity and anxiety. Inequality keeps the poor from moving out of their socioeconomic status.

Inequality limits access to opportunities that can provide the means to escape poverty. In a speech by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kahn explains that Adam Smith, often considered the founder of modern economics, “recognized clearly that a poor distribution of wealth could undermine the free market system.” An example of this is the former apartheid government in South Africa.

Apartheid laws assign rights and space to individuals on the basis of race. In South Africa this meant that while one group was persecuted and forced into poverty, the other group was given access to opportunities that allowed them to advance economically. This increased the gap between economic classes and the amount of people in poverty.

Environmental Conditions

Environmental degradation is the decline in the quality of the natural environment through its atmosphere, land, oceans and lakes. Indigenous groups are among the worsetaffected by such degradation. These groups often depend on the environment to survive and easily fall into poverty when that environment is harmed. A major cause of environmental degradation is climate change.

One of the outcomes of climate change is hunger. The changing climate is responsible for the destruction of harvests and other resources critical to survival. Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University explains, “crop yields have detectably changed. As time goes on the poor countries that are in the warmer and drier parts of the planet will feel the crop yield decreases early.” In Oxfam’s report Suffering The Science: Climate Change, People, and Poverty, the organization warns that “Without immediate action 50 years of development gains in poor countries will be permanently lost.”

Recent U.N. reports on climate change noted that “for the first time” that climate change is a threat to human security. The UN notes that the increased migration and the decrease in food are conditions that lead to conflict. The reports warn also that unless the issue is addressed, “nobody would be immune to climate change.” The report reads, “Climate change can indirectly increase risks of violent conflicts in the form of civil war and inter-group violence.” Environmental degradation can not only result in poverty, but can also lead to war.

Lack of Education

Education has lifted people out of poverty and empowered communities to grow economically. A lack of education could maintain or create poverty. Senior Fellow of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Jared Bernstein explains, “economists may disagree a lot on policy, but we all agree on the ‘education premium’—the earnings boost associated with more education.”

According to the Network for international policies and cooperation in education and training, a main priority for poverty reduction is primary education. In developed countries almost all children have access to primary education, while in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa approximately 40 percent of children do not attend primary school due to poverty and a lack of access to education. Many people living in poverty in undeveloped countries must give up an education in order to make “a minimal living.” Furthermore, many families cannot afford school fees to send their children to school. This limits skill development and opportunities to escape poverty and create generational poverty.

There are many situations that lead to poverty. As we understand the causes of poverty, we can eradicate it more strategically. These are only three of many causes that must be understood to successfully meet the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. We created poverty, so we can eliminate it as well.

– Christopher Kolezynski

Sources: Poverty at Large, The Borgen Project, Oxfam, The American Prospect, The Guardian, NORRAG
Photo: The Daily Star

, ,

The 5 W’s of Rural Morocco

Who?

Over 30 million people live in Morocco. The population is disproportionately young, and 4 million of the people are impoverished. Almost half, or 43 percent, of the population lives in rural areas. The rural population is made up of “people engaged in artisanal fishing, landless people, rural wage earners, unemployed young people and women in all categories.”

What?

Morocco has an income disparity between the richest 20 percent and the poorest 20 percent. The income disparity between rural and urban areas is also very significant. The poverty rate is almost 15 percent in rural areas, but in urban areas, the poverty rate is a third of that. Furthermore, illiteracy rates are nearly twice as high in rural areas as in urban areas.

Between 2003 and 2004, 12 percent of the rural population was underweight; this is double that of the urban population.

Maternal mortality rate is 130 per 100,000 live births, and the maternal mortality rate is almost twice as high in rural areas. A very small number of rural children receive an education. Compared to the 44 percent of urban children who attend secondary school, 16 percent of girls and 22 percent of boys attend secondary school. Amongst this percentage, over 300,000 children drop out every year, and almost half of the children must repeat a year.

However, the status of Morocco is rapidly improving. From 2000 to 2010, the poor population decreased by nearly half. A slowed population growth, improved economic growth, infrastructure development, microcredit and contributions from non-government organizations have reduced poverty rates.

When?

From the 1990s until the early 2000s, the Moroccan government engaged in economic reform and deregulation of the economy. Over 100 companies were privatized by 1998, resulting in a significant growth in the country’s gross domestic product. However, the population in rural areas still experiences high rates of poverty, which results in high levels of migration to urban areas.

Where?

The high poverty rates, as evidenced, are seen mostly in rural areas. Coastal regions tend to have lower poverty rates, while Morocco’s mountain and south regions have the highest poverty rates.

Why?

As detailed by the gaps in education and maternal mortality rate statistics, the cycle of poverty rages on in rural Morocco. According to the Carnegie Papers, Morocco faces high illiteracy, and its economic growth is inconsistent. If the economy continues to improve and extend development programs to the rural population, the rates of poverty will decline. Should access to education or economic opportunity decrease, rates of poverty, particularly in rural areas, will increase.

– Tara Wilson 

Sources: Rural Poverty Portal, UNICEF, Third World Centre for Water Management, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Photo: AdventureCompany

Modern Education in Pakistan

Education in Nicaragua
When it comes to education in Pakistan, there’s no beating around the bush: the country is home to one of the worst education systems in the world. Over 5 million children in Pakistan are out of school. This is the second highest number of out-of-school children in the world, amounting to one in 12 of the world’s out-of-school children.

All told, nearly 50 million adults in Pakistan are illiterate. That represents the third largest illiterate population globally.

And worst of all, Pakistan’s meager spending on education is declining. Education spending in Pakistan dropped from 2.6 percent of the nation’s GDP in 1999 to 2.3 percent in 2010.

The ramifications this has on the people of Pakistan are devastating. Twelve-year-old Fatma goes to school in an abandoned brickyard, one of about 20,000 “shelterless” schools in Pakistan.

“I study at the Government Primary School in Lahore,” Fatma said. “I study English language, and I like it. There are no chairs. We have to sit on the ground. It’s a problem in the winter. When it rains there is nowhere to sit.”

Those schools that are bonafide buildings are not much better off. Sixty percent of these buildings have no electricity, while 40 percent lack access to drinking water.

According to some, the abysmal state of education in Pakistan is the result of a war between the powerful elite and the impoverished masses. Some claim that the rich in Pakistan are purposefully keeping the poor illiterate to stay in power.

Frustrated, one of Fatma’s school council members has said, “Government officials send their own kids to air-conditioned classrooms. Let’s see them make their kids sit here and see what it is like!”

Indeed, disparities in income mean that the most privileged group will receive a far better education in Pakistan. Ninety-one percent of the richest members of society complete their primary education, while only 26 percent of the poorest can say the same.

Still, education in Pakistan for the rich and the poor alike remains dismal. The poor hold classes outdoors, while the main luxury for “rich” schools is air-conditioning.

Yet there is hope for education in Pakistan. USAID has established a set of lofty goals that would significantly improve the quality of education in the country. The organization plans to “bring 3.2 million children to read at or above their grade level by 2018.” Furthermore, USAID has pledged that 120,000 children will get access to new schools. For many of them, it will be their first time in a school with a roof.

There is reason to hope that USAID can accomplish these goals. In the past three years, the organization has built or renovated over 600 schools while also supplying those schools with new computers and books. Similarly, USAID has trained 15,000 teachers and administrators since 2009.

In the end, only time will tell if Pakistan can overcome its pervasive inequality and government spending issues to turn its failing education system around.

– Sam Hillestad

Sources: UNESCO, USAID, PBS, WIDE
Photo: Pakistan Today