"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world."
- Nelson Mandela
*photo courtesy of USAID (Sorry about the formatting, after adding the picture it deleted all the paragraphs, 3 edits later they are still lacking!) Waking up early in the morning, putting on a school uniform and spending the day learning- elbow to elbow with other children is a privilege, a dream. Many organizations, such as the World Bank and UN, recognize the value of free schooling. In fact, the UN has pledged to provide free primary education (FPE) worldwide by 2015. Some studies in Africa, have shown that children who stay in primary school have a 40% less chance of contracting AIDS. Although most Africa countries have free primary education families must still supply their children with a uniform or appropriate clothing and shoes, school supplies or even pay additional feeding or building fees in order for their child to attend school. Once children get to the secondary level school fees apply (an average of $25 per term, with families earning about $30 per month. In Canadian terms, that would be roughly $9,000 per year for a family that earns $60,000) making higher levels of education out of reach for most Africans. For orphans, free schooling aside, education is just not accessible. FPE is provided in all African countries with the exception of the Congo, Chad, Sudan, Angola, Gabon, Cote de Ivorie, and Cameroon. A worthwhile endeavor, it comes with significant challenges. When FPE was introduced there was a lack of planning for physical and personnel resources at the government level. - As enrolments soared the current infrastructure was overburdened. Some areas were able to build new school buildings complete with teacher housing and toilets, some areas just constructed or converted existing buildings into school "structures". - There is usually a severe lack of furniture and school supplies (a lack of basic notebooks and pencils let alone, grade or subject appropriate books). - Class sizes are often reported to be 45:1, 70:1, or even 98:1. - Some countries decided to hired unqualified teachers to meet the demand. Many "teachers" say they took the job just to avoid unemployment, which contributes to a negative public perception of the teaching profession and poor parent-teacher relationships. Contributing to the lack of qualified teachers is the AIDS epidemic which decimated the number of professionals in the mid-2000s. It is also a challenge to pay teachers a decent wage, even the trained ones, and there is often a lack of teacher supervision or opportunities for professional upgrading or development. All of these issues have contributed to a low quality of primary education and an increase in private schools for the rich. Ironically, at the expense of quantity the quality of schooling has decreased and there is a high drop out rate. Thankfully, there are a large number of organizations that help address the critical needs surrounding education in Africa. I looked into the following: - African Children's Trust in Ethiopia (based in the UK, focusing solely on building schools, providing support for vulnerable children, training Ethiopian people to carry on the work in their country) http://www.a-cet.org/ - Education Africa in South Africa http://www.educationafrica.com/ - Education Uganda (a group that trains Ugandan teachers in an interactive teaching model using slates/blackboards which has shown to improve the quality of teaching) http://www.educationuganda.org/ - A US funded education program (supporting teacher training, school supplies, water/sanitation) http://www.usaid.gov/ - Aid for Africa, a program specifically targeting girls and providing scholarships for schooling beyond the primary years www.aidforafrica.org/girls
Education is powerful, but quality education can make a world of difference.
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