Global Demand for Secondary Education Spikes

With global demand for secondary education on the rise, governments in places like sub-saharan Africa are struggling to supply the high demands due to the unavailability of the necessary resources.  The need for secondary education is essential for the growth and development of these countries in areas concerning (but not limited to) environmental security, child and maternal health, and HIV prevention.  These are their formidable years, they shouldn't be deprived of the opportunity to learn and better their understanding of the world around them.  These children are very valuable resources worth utilizing.  

The importance also lies at the societal and economic level.  According to Albert Motivans, Head of Education Indicators and Data Analysis at the Montreal based Institute, " Secondary education helps support a more skilled workforce.  This can lead to poverty reduction and economic growth goals.  It helps to support a population which is healthier and which participates more actively in society.  And thus, secondary education also acts as a kind of a bridge at the society level, from one level of development to the next."  Providing higher education for these youths promises hope of a brighter future not only for themselves but also for their nations.   

Here are some statistics to think about:

• In sub-saharan Africa, only 36 percent of children are enrolled in secondary education, more than 21.6 million children get turned away, and many will never have been in school
• Globally, approx. 100 million more students each decade are accommodated - total number has grown 60 percent between (1990 and 2009)
• The ratio of enrollment amongst gender shows that there is a higher percentage of male acceptance, however, the percentage of female enrollment is increasing
• Girls are more likely than boys to complete lower secondary education in three quarters of countries with available data

"Secondary education is the next great challenge." 

-Hendrik van der Pol, Director of UNESCO's Institute for Statistics  

-Georisa Chang

SOURCE: UN News

Education Brings Opportunity

Vittana, a fellow Seattle based non-profit, has successfully funded the education of 1,000 students in 10 developing countries. They have done this through micro-loans and donations from the public. The micro-loans are being paid from micro-donations from around the globe.

But these are not just donations, because education ultimately creates individuals that are better able to support themselves and their families. Vittana claims that its students earn nearly three times their original income after graduating. Bernarda Esmilsen Escobar, Vittana’s 1,000^th student, previously made $9 per day, but after graduating with a nursing degree, she should be making more than $20 a day. 99% of Vittana students repay their loans.

Now imagine this success on a larger scale. If donations can help fund the education of 1,000 students, imagine what money from a nation could do. Individual donors are extremely important in the fight against global poverty, but foreign aid from wealthier countries is also a necessary part. Countries have the ability to give much larger amounts of money. This means Vittana’s successes on a much larger scale.

-Sami Ressler

SOURCE: MASHABLE, VITTANA

USAID Funded Initiative Helping to Better the Lives of Young Mozambique Girls

Communities in Mozambique, like many other areas of Sub-Saharan Africa are fighting to better the lives of their children, who will come to endure the harsh realities of the AIDS/HIV virus, poverty, and lack of education among many others. According to the USAID, young women in Africa have increasingly become victim to the hardships of teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, and prostitution.

The Avante Raparigas! (Go Girls!) initiative is a local program in Mozambique that aims to educate and encourage communities in improving communication with young girls about topics such as risky sexual behavior, peer pressure and, alcohol abuse. All too often young girls are having to endure dangers and difficulties that affect the ability to better their futures. This initiative, funded by the USAID through PEPFAR (The U.S. President's Emergency Plan and AIDS Relief) and implemented by John Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, uses visuals, brochures, manuals and, training programs to reach local communities.

The Go Girls! program has been increasingly improving outlooks for the future of young girls in local communities. According to the USAID, "...just one year into the program, teen pregnancies in the Mogovolas District of Nampula Province...dropped all the way to zero." Such a great success provides a platform for young girls to continue schooling, improve community relationships and build trust. Participants of the program stated that, they felt a greater sense of safety at school if their teachers were in the program. This has prompted teachers from other communities to begin exploring the possibility of replicating the program across Mozambique.

Without continued foreign assistance funding and funding for the USAID, program successes such as these will be greatly affected, reducing the possibilities for young women to better their lives through continued education. Please continue to support foreign assistance funding by calling your congressional leaders weekly.

-Kelsey Christianson

SOURCE: USAID

UN Academic Impact Initiative

The United Nations' new Academic Impact initiative wants universities worldwide to help foster development. The UN Academic Impact will hold its first conference on Dec. 15 in Asturias, Spain. The initiative will include more than 500 institutions from more than 90 countries. Every university has agreed to actively support 10 principles taken from the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals. The 10 principles cover human rights, literacy, sustainability, citizenship, economic stability and conflict resolution.

According to the Academic Impact's website, the goal of this initiative is world peace. And world peace can be achieved through higher education in economic and social development with the above principles in mind.

-Clare O.

SOURCE: New York Times

Smart Design for Literacy

In rural Mali, adults often attempt to learn how to read during night classes. These night classes are conducted in dimly-lit settings - just a couple of kerosene lamps at times. MIT students and the organization, Design That Matters, came up with a clever solution to this problem and at a low cost. They created the Kinkajou Projector, which conveniently stores large quantities of information for lessons and projects images that are easier on the eye for reading at night. Thanks to this projector, more Malians have the opportunity to become literate and subsequently escape poverty.

-Clare O.

SOURCE: GOOD

READing from UK to Uganda

The award winning recycling charity called READ International has shipped its largest its largest shipment of reference and textbooks to Uganda from the UK. 33,000 books have been sent to schools in Uganda and Tanzania. Since 2006, the charity organization has been improving access to education across the region through the donation of over 1.3 million books.

The way it works: READ has many drop off boxes where people can drop their books off. Books can also be gathered from nearby secondary schools which are then sorted to make sure only relevant books are sent. All books that are not sent are sold online to cover the cost of shipping the book to Uganda and Tanzania. This simple and low cost model is what has made READ so successful. Through a number of key partnerships, the cost of shipping these books are very low (almost 50 pence each!)

All the books are written in English. The UK and both Uganda and Tanzania follow the secondary school system. The books that are sent almost mirror the classes that are taught in the UK and are perfect.

You can contact READ International at:
Contact: READ International,
Vintage House, 37 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, London, SE1 7TL
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3031 9116
Website: www.readinternational.org.uk

-Shereen Alibhai

SOURCE: Positive News

Back to School Campaign in Yemen Targets 500,000 Children

A recently implemented "Back to School" campaign in Yemen is working to make education a priority, sending 500,000 Yemeni children to school. The campaign is the result of collaboration between Yemen's Ministry of Education and various international development agencies, including UNICEF, Save the Children, and CHF International.

Currently in Yemen, over one quarter of school-aged children do not attend classes regularly. This is due to a number of factors, including armed conflicts between the Yemeni government and opposition groups. This has resulted in a number of internally displaced families within Yemen.

This campaign is an important step for Yemen toward Millennium Development Goal 2, universal education for the world's children. “Education is one of the most critical contributions to peacebuilding,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Representative in Yemen. “Many children in Yemen have been deprived of education for too long because of the conflict, and we welcome the commitment from all sides to actively contribute to the success of this campaign.”

-Elizabeth Newton

SOURCE: UN News Centre, UNICEF Press Centre

Intervention to Poverty

Have you heard? Malaria rates have been slowly declining! The current global investment in malaria is saving lives while contributing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The malaria net is one of the most popular and well-known inventions that have contributed to saving hundreds of lives. Providing these nets are not the only thing that helps to eliminate malaria. Education, reliable transportation, and pregnancy prevention also help a great deal.

1.Education and counseling for men, women and children about malaria, prevention techniques, causes, and outcomes have positively impacted the areas malaria targets making significant strides in decreasing malaria count.

2.Because pregnant women are generally more susceptible than other adults to malarial infection, prevention methods during pregnancy are also of immense importance so maternal anemia and impaired fetal growth may be avoided. A few low-cost interventions (recommended by WHO) are the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, participating in program activities, and effective case management of malaria during pregnancy.

3.Reliable transportation is necessary to reach those individuals in the most isolated areas to provide regular and predictable health care. www.riders.org

According to the new report from Roll Back Malaria, "An estimated 908 000 malaria deaths have been averted through ITN (insecticide-treated nets) coverage between 2000–2010, with three quarters of the deaths averted since 2006."

The things that are needed to achieve MDGs are not ouf of reach nor impractical!

-Shereen Alibhai

SOURCE: Change.org

Good News from Africa

In a world where the only news from Africa is of war, suffering, and heart-stopping poverty, Steven Radelet released a book this week giving the positive reports from 17 African nations that are showing good progress. Emerging Africa brings a fresh, dignifying approach to the African metanarrative and carefully examines the steps that some countries are taking towards growth economically, politically, and socially.

As the book illustrates, this time in global history is exciting and encouraging for Africa. The conflict and misery of the past decades is moving slowly out of reality with peace and opportunity are growing. Certainly, the challenges presented in Africa are far from solved and the progress made thus far is not assured. But Radelet tells a story that isn't being told enough. It's a story that builds confidence, fosters hope, and encourages transformation. It's Africa-grown but supported by international organizations and donor nations. This assistance is absolutely necessary, and The Borgen Project is building support among U.S. policymakers for more wise investment.

Check out the book, and check out important legislation that can help continue this growth at our website. You can also find information there about how to contact your representative. Let's go!

SOURCE: The Center for Global Development

-Erica Stetz

Letting Children Teach Themselves

There is still much to be done if the world wants to achieve the second goal of the Millennium Development Goals -- universal primary education for all of the world's children -- by 2015. While poor countries have made great strides toward reaching this landmark, inequality of class and gender still limits access to schooling for many children across the globe; girls, children in rural areas, and children from poor families are considerably less likely to receive primary education. Many obstacles stand in the way of ensuring universal education, among them a lack of qualified teachers in the areas that need them most. Frequently, this is because the most troubled areas of nations are places where teachers either cannot or do not want to go.

Education scientist Sugata Mitra recognized this problem. In a recently presented TED talk, he describes a unique and effective potential solution -- allowing children to teach themselves. In 1999, he performed a simple experiment in a New Delhi slum: He installed a computer with high-speed internet in the wall of a building and allowed the local children, who had never before seen a computer, to use it. His findings? In as little as four hours, the children taught themselves how to download applications, record their own music, and create videos. Inspired by the children's ingenuity, Mitra traveled extensively throughout India, Africa, and parts of Europe over the next decade, expanding upon his initial experiment. Enabled by access to computers, groups of students taught themselves English, studied science, and learned how to search for and synthesize information.

Mitra's experiments led him to make important speculations about worldwide education. His theory is that education is, or should be, a self-organizing system in which "learning is an emergent phenomenon." This challenges current ideas of formal education, in which students simply receive knowledge imparted by a teacher. He argues that following this model, within just ten years 1 billion children worldwide could receive the equivalent of primary education with a budget of $180 billion dollars. If that sounds like a lot of money, consider that the United States will spend $663.8 billion on defense for the year 2010 alone.

Of course, the role of a trained, committed teacher in a student's life cannot be replaced by a computer screen. But in the world's most extreme cases of global poverty, Mitra's experiments make clear what curious, engaged children can do to help themselves. As Mitra says himself, "If children have interest, then education happens."

-Elizabeth Newton

SOURCE: UN Millenniums Goals, TED, U.S. Department of Defense

Kindergartens to Help Achieve Millennium Development Goal

The Ministry of Education in the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau operates with a very low budget, so low in fact that it struggles to cover much more than teacher's salaries. However, the small village of Gantauda is serving as an inspiring example of what a community can do to further their children's futures.

Gantauda is not only home to the nation's first preschool center, but it has also succeeded in enrolling every child aged 3-6 in kindergarten. Such an accomplishment was achieved through a community based program funded in part by Plan International, a children's development organization. Villagers pay into a joint fund that is used for families who are unable to send their children to preschool, due to financial hardship, and pay 30 percent of the running costs. The Gantauda program then teaches children reading and writing techniques, hones motor skills, and encourages joint learning. It also provides children with a nutritious lunch, clean latrines and is in the process of implementing a basic health care center.

According to data from the World Bank, socio-economic differences effect early childhood development, with those living in poverty lagging behind their peers who do not. The hope is that preschool education will alleviate some of those disparities, enabling all children to go to primary school one day, and therefore achieving a UN Millennium Development Goal.

-Devynn Patterson

Source: "Guinea-Bissau: Kindergarten to help in MDG fight"-Relief Web

Madagascar Building More Schools Due to New Brick Technology

Due to efforts by the Madagascar government to improve children's lives and education opportunities, primary school enrollment rates have reached nearly 90%. While a success story, Madagascar is still struggling to build 2,000 new classrooms a year to keep up with demand. Luckily UNICEF and Madagascar's ministry of education have found a way to save both money and time.

Traditional bricks are baked in kilns, but new technology means that bricks can now be made with very little concrete and can be pressed on site and air dried. The new process will save $1,000 per school and eliminates the burning of wood - a shrinking commodity in an already impacted area. It previously took three months or more to build a school, but with the new machinery two workers can create 400 bricks in a day - cutting the process down to two months.

Along with the schools, UNICEF has also managed to build 19 children's centers in the country's capital, where children can get a free meal and be taken care of while their parents work. This is an alternative for families who can't afford school fees. Some funding comes from UNICEF directly, but local communities have collected money to give small stipends to volunteers and have donated food for nutritious lunches. The centers give children, that would otherwise have to work or beg, a safer option.

- Clara Hill

SOURCE: "Madagascar's children find safe havens" - CNN

UN Discusses How to Keep Girls in School

This week, Dakar is holding a U.N. Girl’s Education Initiative global conference in order to discuss strategies on how to send more girls to school for the long term. At this point, the number of children not attending primary school are still high with almost 72 million children not enrolled in 2007, most of who are living in areas like Africa and South or West Asia.

Despite the high number of children not enrolled in school, there has been some evidence of success in providing education for the world. For example, the gender gap in school attendance around the world has significantly decreased. In Senegal, the number of public schools has doubled in the last decade. There are, however, more issues of gender inequality in schools that must still be confronted. Girls in Dakar schools face violence, poverty, and a poor quality of education. Even with an increase in school attendance, the quality of education must also increase in order for attendance to be effective.

It is important to continue efforts aimed at increasing the number of children attending and completing school in order to help create a sustainable economy in which people can make a decent living. For girls, education can mean a decreased risk of violence, diseases, and exploitation. The cost of achieving universal primary education is about $16 billion annually - that is, less than 3% of the U.S. Defense Budget ($550 billion).

-Yashina Burns

Resource: VOANews

The Economics of Poverty

Esther Duflo talks about how to approach the issues of global poverty. Using scientific procedures to test out economic and educational benefits of aid, she provides an answer to three significant problems.

First, she addresses how to get people to provide immunization vaccines for their children. Setting up a camp increased full immunization rates by about three times the normal rate (17%), but with a kilo of lentils, the camps were able to raise the rate to approximately 38% of the local population.

Bed-net use (to help prevent malaria) similarly increased when provided for free originally. In fact, more people were willing to buy the nets later at $2 if they were given a free one previously.

Finally, school attendance increased average schooling years by about 40 years when children were dewormed or parents were educated on the returns of education. Thus, Duflo asks the world to not just guesswork their way through policy making regarding poverty issues, but rather, test out hypothesis on what could work and get the numbers on the comparative advantages.

Watch Esther Dulfo’s inspiring video here:

-Yashina Burns

Resources: TED

Incentives Not to Cut Class

A major source of lacking education in developing countries is the poor attendance rate of teachers. Independent studies show that in India, only 60% of the time children have someone standing in front of their classrooms. When child truancy rates are of most importance in countries like America, it is shocking to see that others must worry about the instructors actually showing up.

An incentive program was put in place in 120 villages of India to see if absenteeism could be reduced. Furthermore, the study was to see if reduced absenteeism correlated with better education for the kids.

Teacher salaries were directly linked to attendance and unalterable cameras were setup to monitor attendance. As a result, absenteeism fell from 43% to 24% and children's test scores one year later were 0.17 standard deviations higher than before. This is an experiment that could see widespread positive results with low-cost incentives. It really pays off when teachers teach!

-Nick Mohazzabfar

Source: Poverty-Action.org, Incentives

Improving Education in India

There is much debate on the topic of education disparities around the world. In the U.S. it is relatively good. But, in areas of the world less developed than us a good education is few and far between.

Rural India is the site for an educational improvement project designed by a couple of primary education NGOs and the World Bank. The 3 step intervention program has been randomly assigned to approximately 300 villages with low educational outcomes in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Step 1: Discuss school systems with the villagers. Experts are brought into these villages and spark conversations over the quality of schools, education laws, student to teacher ratios, infrastructure, meals, and available school funding. After initial meetings with the villagers, people are asked to attend village-wide meetings with Village Education Committee leaders and are encouraged to ask questions about improving schools.

Step 2: Conduct testing of children and distribute village report cards. The children are tested for basic reading and math skills. The results are then presented at the village-wide meetings.

Step 3: Volunteers receive training in teaching accelerated reading. The goal of which is to get illiterate children reading within 3 months. The results of this were encouraging. Many more volunteered for training to teach the accelerated reading program.

Overall, a lot more than just this project is essential to good systems of education and literacy rates in rural parts of developing nations. However, the movement to teach people that things can be done to change their current situations has begun. Now, people are becoming aware of the resources that should be readily available to them and how they can go about achieving their entitled education.

-Nick Mohazzabfar

Source: Poverty-Action.org

Invest in a Kid and They'll Do the Rest

In a conference addressing international development, South African Deputy Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini asserted that the key component to gaining an advantage over poverty is to stop the "inter-generational poverty".

Dlamini noted that "young people are viewed as our valued human resources, who must be assisted to find the necessary space of participation in the economy and the labor market."

In an effort to stop inter-generational poverty, Dlamini noted that the South African government has developed a strategy to increase the number of youth in education, employment and training by the year 2014-2015.

"We must show confidence and invest in them because they constitute the future of our country."

- Tiffanie Depew

SOURCE: All Africa

Granville-Abbas Girls School Opens in Kurmuk

In celebration of International Women’s day and the importance of female empowerment through education, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) opened the Granville-Abbas Girls' Secondary School in Kurmuk, Sudan last Monday.

The school is a multi-building complex that includes a library, theater, cafeteria, dormitories, and teacher offices. USAID is also providing books and Internet facilities with computer training resources, while the Blue Nile State government as pledged money for the teacher’s salaries and all operation costs of the new facility.

Although educational resources are broadly needed in the region, the Granville-Abbas school represents an acknowledged gap in the level of education between men and women, and is part of the USAID efforts in providing quality primary and secondary education for women. The school was designed in hopes of serving as a model for girls’ education throughout Sudan.

-Michelle Leung

Source: PR Newswire

MDG #3 - Promote Gender Equality

The above video highlights Millennium Development Goal #3 - Promoting Gender Equality.

2/3 of the world's population living on less than $2 per day are women. Why? Because they are often given fewer opportunities - education being one of them. Statistics have shown that educated women have fewer children, earn a higher income and invest more into their families health - all of which are vital for a countries economy.

World leaders from around the globe have come together in an effort to make gender equality available to all women and girls through such efforts as education, micro-credit, and better political representation.

To learn more watch the following video posted on YouTube.

- Tiffanie Depew

SOURCE: YouTube & End Poverty 2015

MDG #2 - Universal Primary Education

The above video highlights Millennium Development Goal #2 - Achieve Universal Primary Education.

With a proper education, an individual can acheive skills and the confidence needed to promote and sustain themselves and their families. But in the poor countries of the world one child out of three does not finish primary school because they either have to work to support their families or there isn't a school available for them to attend.

World leaders from around the globe have come together in an effort to make primary education available to everyone, regardless of gender, class, or economic standing.

To learn more watch the following video posted on YouTube.

- Tiffanie Depew

SOURCE: YouTube & End Poverty 2015