Tag Archive for: Education

Posts

,

7 Facts About Education in Nepal

education in nepal
While education in Nepal greatly improved throughout the twentieth century, Nepal still faces many struggles, to date. The education challenges largely relate to poverty in Nepal.

1. The current education system in Nepal is one of the youngest in the world. Until recent years, Nepal followed a three-tier education system, modeled on the traditional Indian system, which ear-marked ten years for school education, four years for college education, and two for a Masters program at university.

2. Education in Nepal improved throughout the twentieth century. In 1951, Nepal only had 9,000 students in primary school, 1,700 in secondary school and about one hundred in two undergraduate colleges. There was no university, and adult education stood at only 5 percent. From 1971 to 2001, primary school numbers grew from 400,000 to 3.9 million, secondary school increased from 120,000 to 1.5 million and post-secondary level increased from 17,000 to 210,000. Literacy rates improved greatly, from 23 percent in 1981 to 54 percent in 2001.

3. School attendance has been unequal across income and gender groups, due to poverty and lack of value on education. As of 2006, 76 percent of the Terai Dalits, 62 percent of Muslims and 45 percent of the Hill ethnic group had not been to school. The Dalits have the lowest rate for completing primary school, trailed by the Muslims. The national enrollment for females between the ages of six and ten is 67 percent, compared to 78 percent for males. On top of families not valuing education for girls, girls themselves do not want to attend school because they may not understand the dialect there, there are no toilets for them to use, and as they get older, they feel it is not appropriate for them to use the fields to “tend to their menstrual cycles.”

4. Nepal’s education system is of poor quality, especially in public schools. Studies reveal that hardly any learning and teaching occurs in rural public schools. There is very little testing and no help for students who are struggling.

5. There is a shortage of funds. There is a shortage of funds for learning tools such as extra classrooms, libraries, scientific equipment, laboratories, field work and research. Nepal spends 16 percent of the national budget on education. Nepal’s share of higher education in the education budget was 6% in 2004, which was one of the lowest in the world.

6. Families in Tibetan villages have been sending their children away for better education. Nepal has also been struggling with families in Tibetan villages in Nepal sending their children away for better education. An estimated 1 percent of Nepal’s population is estimated to leave the country every year for better schooling. This is a severe blow to education in Nepal.

7. There is hope for education in Nepal. Despite current struggles for education in Nepal, UNESCO has pointed out that there are ways to remedy the situation. Different policies have helped countries as diverse as Nepal and Nigeria get more children into school. Organizations such as the Global Partnership for Education and Reach out to Asia (ROTA) are raising funds to support educational projects in Nepal and other countries. The Global Partnership for Education will be holding a summit in Brussels, where governments will pledge funding for education. The global summit is seeking $3.5 billion in education pledges. ROTA raises funds to support educational projects in Nepal, Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine and Pakistan. In Nepal, 50,000 children will benefit from ROTA’s project, which aims to enhance the quality of education resources and facilities. ROTA’s on-going project focuses on rural communities, as well as education training, emphasizing the empowerment of the youth of Nepal.

While facing many current struggles, there is hope for a bright future for education in Nepal. ROTA’s Executive Director, Essa Al Manaai, stated “Our aim is to secure a better future and provide hope to these vulnerable children to ensure they can receive support for their educational needs. Together with our valued volunteers and esteemed partners, ROTA will once again make a difference to disadvantaged communities in all of our neighbouring countries during the Holy Month of Ramadan.”

– Colleen Moore

Sources: Educate Nepal, Himalaya, Quartz India, Huffington Post, BBC, The Guardian, Zawya
Photo: Quartz India

Education in Colombia

education in columbia
In the past decade, resource-rich Colombia has risen to become one of the second world’s emerging powers. Its resource production and role in global trade have increased rapidly, and in turn, education is in the process of reform. While education in Colombia has improved in recent years, the government is continuing to make reformative change.

Only 37.2 percent of young Colombians continued their education past high school in 2010. In response, the government made a goal for half of young Colombians to continue their education after high school by 2014. College degrees have been shown to make a significant difference in individual incomes: Colombians who get bachelor’s degrees generally earn about 3.5 times more than those who only graduated from high school.

The Colombian government formed the Everyone Learns program in 2012, which focuses on elementary students in public in schools in the country’s poorest areas. Everyone Learns is primarily geared toward mathematics and language and has reached approximately 2.4 million students. Education Minister Maria Fernanda Campo lead the program, which selected more than 3,000 of Colombia’s best teachers to bring in another 90,000 in the countrywide initiative.

Colombia is very focused on improving early childhood education. The country and its neighbor Ecuador have joined with Italy and the United Nations to support their desire for new childhood development goals to be included in the Millennium Development Goals. The countries are primarily interested in increased and accessible programs in early childhood education.

In a 2012 report titled Education for All, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) explained that the rapid growth of Colombia reveals existing inequalities in social class, gender and ethnicity, which is aggravated in large part due to a lack of access to education. The UNESCO examination reports that while Colombia has a good adult literacy rate, there is a low rate of education among children and an even lower index in post-secondary studies.

While many students in wealthier households might have access to education, those from families living in poverty often have less accessibility to schools. Forty-two percent of children from the poorest households start late, as opposed to the 11 percent who start late from more affluent families.

From when they begin school on into secondary school, the large majority of students from wealthier families have access to education, whereas about only half of youth from families in poverty attend school. “Colombia has been one of the fastest growing countries in Latin America, but growth is volatile, affected by conflict and discrimination,” the report said.

Colombia is in the process of evolving: the disparities revealing themselves as Colombia develops have left some of its poorer citizens with less access to education. However, the government is focusing on making change and is promoting initiatives to increase accessibility to schooling.

– Julia Thomas

Sources: OECD, World Bank, Colombia Reports
Photo: The Guardian

,

The Effects of Civil War on Education in Tajikistan

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan, a small country between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and China, erupted in a civil war between the Moscow-backed government and Islamists.

The war lasted for five years, greatly hurting the nation’s economy. Around 50,000 people were killed and more than 10 percent of the population fled the country. The war only came to an end in 1997 when the United Nations facilitated a peace agreement.

Since the civil war, the economy of Tajikistan has not recovered and the country is currently Central Asia’s poorest nation. Almost half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is earned by its citizens working out of the country. Meanwhile the nation itself relies on the economies of Russia and China, as well as oil and gas imports.

During the war one in every five schools were destroyed. Since the war, Tajikstan has worked to improve the country’s education.

Tajikistan currently has an enrollment of 97 percent for primary school, 80 percent for secondary school, and 17 percent for tertiary school. Late entry, combined with the early dropout of school aged children, especially girls, lower Tajikistan’s attendance for later schooling.

Although there is a very high rate of literacy, other issues affect its educational system.

Salaries paid to teachers are very low, which leads to low staffing and poorly qualified teachers in schools. This is in part due to the lack of government spending on education. In 1991, 8.9 percent of the GDP was spent on education. In 2005, this figure was down to 3.2 percent.

Due to the negative effects of the civil war on the Tajikstan economy and the immense loss of life, the school systems have been suffering ever since. Although the government has been working to improve access to education, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

– Lily Tyson

Sources: BBC, UNICEF, Eurasia
Photo: Asianews

,

Poor Quality of Education in South Asia

According to a report released by the World Bank on June 30, 2014, the poor quality of education in South Asia is holding the region back. Weak education systems act as a snare, keeping many young people in poverty and preventing economic growth.

The World Bank performed its first comprehensive study to assess the effectiveness of the education in South Asia. It found low levels of student learning in the region despite the increase in enrollment.

In South Asia, a region which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sir Lanka, countries have committed significant resources to increasing access to education. The recent push to raise enrollment comes in an effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of universal education for primary education by 2015.

The effort has been largely successful, as the enrollment rate in the region has grown from 75 percent in 2000 to 89 percent in 2010. The percentages, however, are just an average, and education access varies greatly from country to country. For example, Sri Lanka achieved almost complete universal education over 10 years ago while Afghanistan and Pakistan are considerably behind.

Despite the increased enrollment, the systems of education in South Asia prove to be achieving below the standards. The World Bank concluded this after measuring the student learning in each country. Part of the problem is that many children who attend primary school do not complete the final grade. For example, in Bangladesh only 55 out of 100 students complete the last grade of primary education. Gender inequality is also a contributing factor as evidenced by the fact that over half of world’s illiterate women reside in South Asia.

The poor quality of education is, according to the organization, also due in part to the large increase of first-generation students in the classroom. The curriculums lack important lessons on measurement, problem-solving and writing. More than one quarter of students who complete primary school do not have fundamental number and literacy skills. This deficit severely impairs their ability to complete secondary school and to secure higher paying jobs.

The World Bank surveyed employers in the region and the results supported the findings that students lack many skills essential for the work place. As a result of the poor education systems, there is a lack of a skilled and qualified labor force.

To help address the issue, the World Bank presented a multi-faceted strategy in order to improve the quality of education. One factor calls for the countries to ensure that children receive proper nutrition. South Asia has one of the highest rates of malnutrition, which inhibits children’s ability to learn. Another aspect includes improving the quality of teachers by establishing and upholding academic standards that every educator must achieve. Additionally, more investments should be focused on improving the learning goals for students and not simply expanding facilities and raising teacher salaries.

Part of the World Bank’s strategy also includes bringing in the private sector to help. The governments of South Asia have very little money, and companies could provide a source of capital to improve education. In addition, the strategy calls for and improvement in the measurement of student progress by bettering the quality of student assessments.

The hope is that with the World Bank’s model for improvement, children will be able to receive better education. Literacy and mathematical skills are key for accessing skilled labors jobs. With more young people getting these jobs, individuals will be able to escape poverty. And an increase in the skilled labor force will also help the individual countries prosper as the country will be able to produce more and have more potential consumers. In starting with education, the World Bank hopes to help the entire region grow.

– Kathleen Egan

Sources: World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO
Photo: World Bank

,

Harmful Impact: Children Living in Poverty

Children living in poverty often have negative long-term emotional, educational, health and mental issues.

There are billions of children living in poverty throughout the world. Living in poverty directly impacts a child’s education. A child living in poverty is most likely to perform poorly in school and drop out of school at an early age.

Living in poverty also has a social and emotional impact on children. Children develop behavioral and emotional problems often acting on impulse. They are more prone to disobey rules and their elders and may develop problems getting along with their peers. Living in poverty also makes it hard for children to develop normal emotions and creates low self-esteem, making them feel powerless and voiceless. Living in poverty often creates stressful situations for children, which children often do not know how to deal with. Since they do not know how to deal with these situations, children often are led to be more physically violent in stressful situations.

Children living in poverty often carry an antisocial character that is psychologically described as a protection mechanism against their hostile environment.

Children living in poverty are also more likely to have health issues. Newborns are more likely to be underweight which most of the time leads to them be malnourished. They often suffer from poor nutrition because their families and communities do not have the proper resources to get nutritional foods. A lot of times children in developing countries also do not have correct medical care. Children with poor health often end up missing school or drop out of school because they are too sick. There are higher death rates in children living in poverty because of health issues that are curable, which is not okay. One of the most common curable diseases that children die from each year is diarrhea.

It is important to address child poverty at its early stages to stop the poverty cycle and the negative impacts it has on children.

— Priscilla Rodarte

Sources: Poverties.org, CPAG, U.S. News, Livestrong
Photo: Pixabay

Education in the Middle East

The Education for All goals, as part of the Millennium Development Goals, aim to ensure that children everywhere, boys and girls, have basic access to education in the Middle East by 2015. However, certain places in Middle East such as Iraq and Yemen are unlikely to achieve this goal.

Iraq

Decades of war and a poor economic situation in Iraq exacerbated the local education system. According to IRIN news, at least five million of Iraq’s almost 30 million total population cannot read or write. Fourteen percent are school-age children who work to feed their families or simply have no access to education. Also, Iraq has the highest adult illiteracy rate, with almost 30 percent of its rural population unable to read or write.

Yemen

As the civil war between the government and the rebel groups goes on, education in Yemen has been seriously disrupted. In the North of Yemen, where most of the conflicts took place, schools were destroyed or damaged during fighting. According to IRIN, a reallocation of 10 percent of the military budget to education would afford 840,000 children to go back to school.

A video, getting thousand of hits on youtube, shows a Palestinian child carrying a weapon and claiming that he wants to become a martyr and take revenge on Israeli soldiers for killing his uncle. The anti-Semitic rhetoric teaches children violence in the name of Islamic Honor. However, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Palestinian Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs, condemned the efforts to teach children violence and revenge. The belief of “an eye for an eye” will only generate more hatred instead of peace.

During times of conflict, children are afraid to go to school and parents are afraid to send their children to school. Most of the time, children suffer psychological trauma and witness losing their family members. The ultimate method for returning children to school is to stop local violence and regain confidence in education to provide hope for the future.

– Jing Xu

Sources: i24 News, IRIN News
Photo: Learning for Peace: UNICEF

, ,

Effects of Hunger on Education

Effects of Hunger on Education
Increased funding for education in developing countries is a chief concern of foreign aid efforts. Providing a child with an appropriate education gives him or her the tools to be more successful later in life and, consequently, the potential for economic mobility. Unfortunately, enrolling children in formal schooling does not guarantee that they are retaining the information from lessons. What is one of the most prominent obstacles hindering the child’s learning process? Hunger. The effects of hunger on education are startling.

Chronic hunger can prevent students from making the most of a formal education, no matter how hard they try to ignore its effects. The sad truth is that hunger can have physical and psychological effects on young people that make learning substantially difficult.

 

The Crippling Effects of Hunger on Education

 

Food is the fuel necessary to get through a normal day. Calories in food provide energy to carry out regular day-to-day activities. Without an adequate amount of this energy, students may fall asleep in school or lack the energy to pay attention to an entire day of classes.

The brain, like the lungs, heart, arms and legs, is a part of the human body. It requires energy to function properly. Children experiencing hunger are more likely to have problems with memory and concentration because they do not have the energy to carry out these functions. Malnutrition can tamper with sleeping patterns as well, making a child too tired to get anything out of a full day of school.

Additionally, the brain develops rapidly at a young age. Without the right nutrients, the brain cannot develop properly, resulting in long term effects on learning abilities.

Malnutrition makes children more susceptible to illnesses. Certain vitamins and minerals are needed to maintain a strong immune system, but, many times, poverty cuts off an individual’s access to these nutrients. Starving children get sick and cannot attend school. Because their immune systems are weak already, they cannot return to a healthier state for a while. Children cannot learn from an in-school education when they are absent for an extended period of time.

Studies from the American Psychological Association reveal the psychological effects of hunger on education. Hunger has been observed to cause depression, anxiety and withdrawal, all of which are obstructions to a child trying to focus on education.

Hunger can also cause behavioral problems. In a classroom setting, a single child’s behavior can affect the rest of the students, the teacher’s attention and the overall learning atmosphere. In this case, hunger not only disturbs the affected child’s learning, but the learning of others as well.

Food, more specifically nutrient-rich food, is necessary for a school-aged child to make the most of a formal education. Though foreign aid efforts to increase funding for educational programs are extremely important, their effects may not have a significant impact if the problem of hunger is not addressed first.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: The Food Effect, Livestrong(1), Livestrong(2), Livestrong(3), Imagine Learning
Photo: CBC

Education in Swaziland

Swaziland is a lower middle-income country with a population of about 1.2 million people. Most citizens are ethnic Swazis. The official languages are both Swati and English. Its ruler, King Mswati III, is one of the world’s last absolute monarchs, and a man who is not too keen on handing his throne over entirely to parliament.

About half of Swazis live in poverty. Forty percent of Swazis are unemployed and 70 percent of the workforce is employed in sustenance farming. In 2009, there were 0.17 physicians for every 1,000 people.

But it’s not all bad news. Roads are well-paved and far-reaching. The literacy rate is over 91 percent, which might be expected when 8.3 percent of the GDP is spent on education.

Primary school education in Swaziland is not compulsory, but is fully government-funded. Students receive textbooks, stationary, exercise books, meals and school furnishings free of charge. At age 6, students begin Grade one, followed by two and then followed by Standards one through five. At the end of the seven years, children take the Primary School Examination, which determines eligibility for future schooling. Over 90 percent of children in Swaziland complete their primary school education.

From there, things become a little bleaker. Many students forgo secondary education in favor of working to support their families. Only 20 percent of students who attend primary school go on to Forms one through three. There are two main goals of secondary education. The first is to complete schooling and join the skilled workforce in an entry-level position. The second is to take and pass the exams for the Swaziland or International General Certificate of Secondary Education. Both exams are accredited by the Cambridge International Examination and certify preparedness for university.

A tertiary education is a rare thing indeed. Just 5 percent of students go on to attend university. Students looking to stay close to home have the choice of three main universities, all government sponsored. The University of Swazliand offers bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. degrees in education, commerce and science, as well as health science and agricultural fields.

Swaziland’s Department of Education manages curriculum and assessment procedures. Education is so centralized that it can ensure the implementation of its policies. It is not responsible, though, for its budget. That is allotted by the Ministry of Finance, which has caused internal friction.

Still, Swaziland’s educational system seems to be improving. Achievement scores have, in the past, been quite low. In 2000, 76 percent of grade six students read below a grade six level. Ninety-six percent were below grade six level in math. This has improved significantly in recent years. In 2007, the 76 percent in reading decreased to 62, while the 96 percent of struggling math students dropped slightly, to 94 percent. These are projected to continue dropping.

From the investment of the Swazi government in education, to the monitoring of test scores, there are many things that Swaziland is doing right. One of the best things has not yet been mentioned: There is virtually no gender disparity among students. Education is clearly a priority in Swaziland, so improvement seems happily inevitable.

— Olivia Kostreva

Sources: Swazi Legacy, SACMEQ
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Pure Water for the World

Pure Water for the World (PWW) is an international nonprofit organization helping end the world water crisis. The organization currently works in Haiti and Honduras, bringing “water filtration, safe sanitation and hygiene education” to struggling communities.

Almost 1 billion people around the world do not have access to clean water, and according to PWW, “Lack of clean water, lack of sanitation and unfamiliarity with good hygiene practices kill more people every year than all acts of war and violence, auto accidents and HIV/AIDS combined.”

It is clear the state of water is dismal, and PWW is doing something about it.

The organization has a community-based approach, with 90 percent of its employees operating on the ground in Haiti or Honduras “changing lives by empowering people to be a part of the solution.”

Functioning mainly in rural areas, PWW first scouts out potential communities by meeting with community leaders and assessing which areas need the most improvement.

In order to maximize the number of people that benefit from its work, PWW identifies key locations, often schools and health clinics, where it installs its water filtration technology and sanitation facilities.

While installing new technologies to create clean water is a useful strategy, educational training is the backbone of PWW’s programs.

In target communities, an individual is chosen by the locals to be trained to maintain and fix PWW’s systems. This allows for the region to become self-sufficient, so that when the organization leaves, the improvements can be maintained.

In addition to recognizing one community member as a sanitation leader, hygiene education is also given to communities at large.

If just one person misuses a central water source, contamination can occur; PWW makes efforts to ensure that all are educated about how to properly sustain hygiene. Education is essential to create long-term improvements.

The organization epitomized the importance of education when it said, “PWW can deliver safe water to a village, but without the knowledge of how and why this improves their lives, and the tools to reduce disease, water will be temporary medicine at best – treating the symptoms without rooting out the underlying causes.”

To ensure that all installations have gone as planned, PWW returns to communities three months after the initial work is finished to ensure that everyone has received proper training, and again after seven months to assess the overall effectiveness of its program.

These final evaluations allow for the organization to adapt to new challenges and to learn how to better tackle water crises.

As stated by PWW, “Improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices saves lives and has significant implications in reducing poverty.” By installing technology to create clean water, and by educating people about how to maintain clean water and prevent water-borne diseases, Pure Water for the World is helping eliminate poverty, and is making a difference in people’s lives.

— Emily Jablonski

Sources: Classy, Pure Water for the World
Photo: Pure Water for the World

,

10 Facts About Children Living in Poverty

There are millions of children living in poverty throughout the world. Children living in poverty are often malnourished, do not get proper education, lack safe drinking water, and do not have access to essential vaccines. They are more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, violence, discrimination and stigmatization. Children are deprived from their childhood due to living in poverty. Not only does living in poverty affect a child’s nutrition, but it also damages their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development.

Here are 10 quick facts about children living in poverty:

  1. There are 1 billion children worldwide living in poverty; this is every second child.
  2. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day from poverty.
  3. In 2011 there was a reduced growth and development rate in 165 million children under the age of 5 due to chronic malnutrition.
  4. Every year, 2 million children die from preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia because they cannot afford proper treatment.
  5. As of 2011, 19 million children worldwide are not vaccinated.
  6. 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries.
  7. Every year, 3.1 million children die ( 8,500 children per day) due to poor nutrition.
  8. About 72 million children who are primary school aged were not in school in 2005.
  9. Every year, 1.4 million die from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
  10. A child dies every 10 seconds from hunger-related diseases.

If less money were used on weapons for military purposes, then there would be billions of dollars available for better education and health for impoverished children. It is possible to end child poverty. Everyone needs to get together as a community and voice their opinions and interests in helping children living in poverty to their respective governments.

— Priscilla Rodarte

Sources: Do Something, Global Issues, The Hunger Project, UNICEF
Photo: Wikimedia