Why Global Leaders Do Not Consider Education As An Emergency?

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Education has never been considered as an emergency, especially in developing and least developed countries, though everybody knows how important education is for the development of any economy. There is a need to change the way many underprivileged people perceive education.

Previous week, the UNESCO’s annual monitoring report into the millennium goals for education was

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launched in the UK. The millennium goals for education initiative include the promise that every child across the world would have a place in primary school by 2015.

The date is fast approaching but it does not seem that there is any chance of that promise to be kept.

According to the recent ‘Education for All’ report, almost 57 million children never start school and extra hundreds of millions get such low quality lessons that they pass out school hardly with a skill to ably read a sentence.

If the people thought this is a syndrome infecting the lives of a large population, there must be calls for urgent remedies. But, the deliberate, menacing deterioration of literacy, unawareness and detachment continues decade after decade.

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 In 1990, the international community assured that primary education for all would reach underprivileged 

population by 2000. In 2000, the assurance was shifted forward to 2015. And, 24 years after, the promises are being arranged for 2030.

Another 70 years

 

With the current progress rate, it would not be before 2080s that every child gets an opportunity to attend a primary school. Girls in underprivileged families in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to fail to benefit from primary school education. And, the recent crisis, like Syrian conflict, disrupted the educational prospects of thousands of youngsters in a way that will be felt for decades into the future.

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However, it would be unfair if the achievements made since the launch of millennium goals are left unacknowledged. There has been a sharp decline in the number of out-of-school children, and some countries like Tanzania and Ethiopia have written some success stories in this context.

Some major global partnerships, which include the Global Partnership for Education and UNESCO, are trying their best to do more.

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The UK too can claim credit, as the country is the biggest single direct donor to education offering more funding than other developed economies.

But, the biggest man-made disaster on the earth remains the lack of a quality education or no education for a number of families.

The political risks involving millions of unskilled, illiterate youths with modest employment opportunities can be felt and recognized by one and all.

These kinds of problems are not likely to confine within their own boundaries in today’s mobile, interconnected world.

Slow-moving problem

 

There are plenty of imminent questions to ask for: why world leaders are not forced to keep their promises? Is it because this is a slow-moving problem? Is it difficult to claim the responsibility? Why governments are not trying to train more teachers, provide them regular salary and construct more classrooms? 

It may sound uncomfortable to know that Nigeria has most out-of-school children in comparison to any other country, but the country boasts of fast-moving market for luxury private jets.

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                                                                           There are some big-spending countries with quality schools like China, but they are mere recipient of education aid rather than a big donor.

Governments in developing countries should take a cure from countries like South Korea and Vietnam that have successfully developed their education systems from scratch very rapidly. Though it may not be simple, but governments should treat the issues as emergency and come out with appropriate plans before it’s too late.

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Strong Need For Developing Nations To Focus On Education Development

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Most of the developing nations are currently facing a serious challenge in the field of education. In these countries only a few students complete their graduation from secondary school, while most of the learners do not complete even primary school. For instance, in Ghana barely 50 per cent of the young children finish grade 5; and among them less than 50 per cent can understand a normal paragraph.

Education Challenges In Developing Nations

                 

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 Education for All, a programme initiated by UNESCO, is included as an important part of the Millennium Development Goals that is focused on offering open and free access to primary education. The initiative has been effective in substantially improving enrollment across the region. However, many students are still dropping out of school before they complete their education, as per the annual Education for All reports. But why?

There are several reasons for this, which include the cost of education and challenges in commuting to school. Even if the government offers free tuition, most families are unable to pay for expenses for examination fees, lunch, books and uniforms. Moreover, as the education delivered is usually of poor quality, most parents feel compelled to use and pay for supplementary tutoring to help their children successfully pass the exams.

Lack Of Quality Education

On the other hand, opportunity costs are also very high for most students. As the children spend most of their time in schools, they are unable to generate income for their family by working in the family farm or selling produce in the marketplace. It only makes sense that when even after investing heavily in education, children don't receive any quality learning or basic numeracy and literacy skills, parents often feel discouraged to keep their kids in school.

In case, learning outcomes are hardly sufficient, only a handful of learners further their education to secondary school. Furthermore, employment prospects are also rather poor in many developing countries. The fact is, the job prospects of students barely increase even after continuing education post grade 5 or through grade 10. Academic programmes generally follow traditional western education models with main focus on language, science, social studies and maths. These educational programmes allot limited resources to topics such as prime numbers, tectonic plate movement or Greek mythology, topics which offer intellectual stimulation, but are almost irrelevant to the impoverished children.

Need For Relevant Education 

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Education is currently failing to offer the financial literacy which the children will require to manage the insignificant resources in their control. It also does not provide any the guidance necessary to generate opportunities for creating a secured livelihood or accumulating wealth. Additionally, schooling is also unable to provide any assistance to improve the physical health required for developing standard of living and economic stability. Due to dearth of quality medical care, preventable diseases causes serious damages to the financial stability of people in impoverished regions. This can be significantly enhanced through training on basic health behaviors.

The learners in impoverished regions do not need any additional academic skills; instead what they need are life skills which will empower them to boost their financial and career prospects and overall health. These skills include entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, management skills, health maintenance, and other administrative abilities like project management, problem solving and teamwork. This is undoubtedly the ideal time for us to not only redefine but also reinvent quality education across all developing nations.

What do you think? Add to the discussion by sharing your thoughts and opinions. We would love to hear from you.

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