PESHAWAR: 10th April 2023. It has been more than a month since The University of Peshawar (UoP) closed its gates indefinitely in a conundrum of protests from multiple stakeholders. The decision to close the institute came as a result of all the faculty and professors going out on strike following the tragic killing of security supervisor, Saqlain Bangash, by a security guard. The students have also resorted to the streets demanding the reopening of the college.
The decision for a complete boycott was made during a meeting of the Joint Action Committee, in collaboration with the Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) after the killing of the security supervisor. PUTA believes that the tragic incident is an eye-opener to the negligent security personnel employed by the institute, they demand a thorough investigation into the training and employment process of these personnel along with another 16 demands.
In response to the protest, University of Peshawar Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Mohammad Idrees, issued a detailed statement claiming that the administration had already accepted almost all the demands, and there was no justification for the protest. However, the protesting employees have dismissed his claims as baseless and are determined to continue the strike.
While speaking to a student union head, Muhammad Asfandyar, we learned that the ground realities were much different and nuanced in contrast to what was being reported. Asfandyar revealed an inquiry that had taken place which concluded the tragic incident as actually an accident. The continued strike by the staff is not for the peace and wellbeing of academicians but ‘to score leverage over the vice chancellor for sinister demands such as increased salaries’ he added. Perhaps the most alarming among these revelations was that PUTA was also given a green signal by the sitting governor of the interim government, Ghulam Ali, to continue striking which he would use as political pressure to remove the vice chancellor and appoint a new one of mutual choice, resulting in everyone’s demands being met. However, since the current government is an interim one, the governor soon realized that his powers were limited, and efforts made to remove the Vice Chancellor were in vain. Orphaned from their political backing, PUTA has no choice but to continue striking and hoping the Vice Chancellor could somehow be removed otherwise it would be their jobs and reputation in question if the university opens any time soon.
Amidst all this politicization of a tragic death for personal gains, the students are suffering. It is their fundamental right to education that is hindered as a consequence. Muhammad mentioned that in the last decade, the campus had closed 9 times before this. The student union is united under the opinion that, [considering the fragile conditions of the province], ‘the blatant denial of education is a form of educational, economic, and social terrorism, which in no form is acceptable’.
It is rather egregious to use a tragic death for vested interests, but it is considerably worse to continue living in the university’s houses allocated for the staff and getting full salaries at the expense of the most important stakeholders, the students, suffering. We hope that the institute can reopen soon, and the student’s education may resume.
The writer Ibrahim Zulfiqar was born and raised in Peshawar
Human Rights Watch is an international nonprofit organization whose goal is to conduct research and promote respect for human rights at a global level. Through its submissions to the UN Committee on the Right of the Child (the Committee), the organization aims to raise awareness and highlight critical elements of a country’s profile concerning its human rights conditions to make the Committee assessment as truthful and effective as possible.
In the report on Turkey proposed for the 93rd session of the Committee, Human Right Watch focused on three primary directives: the situation of migrant children, including their access to education and healthcare, the information on government-endorsed online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and the protection of education from attack.
Syrian refugee children in Turkey. Photo by UNICEF.
The situation of migrant children
The first of the issues analyzed are among the most relevant when contextualized in the Anatolian scenario: Turkey is known to be one of the major transit countries on the Mediterranean migration routes. The reasons for this go back mainly to the country’s geographic location: situated midway between the Middle East and Europe, Turkey is surrounded by a conspicuous number of countries facing political issues and security concerns constituting major push factors for migrating populations. In addition, cultural affinity with countries in the area, in terms of religious and social cultures, acts as a pull factor shaping migration routes.
Yet, the development of Turkey as an immigration country is relatively recent compared to the long history of emigration, involving at least the last three generations of Turkish citizens. In the early 1960s, the phenomenon of labour migration to Western Europe, especially to Germany, proved to be conspicuous, fostering the formation of extensive Turkish communities in most Western European countries.
However, the paradigm has reversed as Turkey has become a primary host country for people moving North. From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, irregular immigration into the country substantially accelerated, with the most important countries of origin being Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh.
As a direct consequence, in recent years, the Anatolian legislature has passed a vast number of measures aimed at regulating flows, imposing more penalties on human smuggling and strengthening border protections. In addition, over the years, stricter visa requirements have been implemented under EU pressure to combat irregular migration and control the influx of asylum seekers.
Indeed, it can be said that the role as a transit country has, in part, been politically constructed as a result of the concurrence of three main factors: the expansion of the European Union to the Southeast, the originally lax migration regime, and the difficulty of patrolling rugged land borders. Most importantly, the EU has played a crucial role in Turkish migration policies since the last decade, as evidenced by the EU-Turkey statement. The latter came into effect in March 2016, and it is the main agreement regulating the country’s external control policies. It further obligates the EU to provide a six-billion-euro facility to fund humanitarian aid, improve access to educational services and promote the socio-economic integration of refugees in exchange for a policy of curbing and closing borders by Turkish authorities.
Yet, it appears that both sides didn’t fully comply with the agreed conditions: while the Union has not paid the expected amount into Turkish coffers, Ankara has not shown itself capable, if unwilling, of effectively providing migrants with the promised humanitarian aid. The report of Human Rights Watch documents several cases of mistreatment, abuse and killing of migrant children. Children are locked up in detention camps and abused by authorities without any age assessment being conducted as prescribed by the UN guidelines on Policies and Procedures in Dealing with Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum.
Among the first actions that Turkish authorities should take when confronted with a situation in which a minor is involved, there is to ensure that unaccompanied children seeking admission into the EU are identified as such promptly and on a priority basis. This ensures that a guardian or adviser is appointed for each minor, an interim care regime is established, and procedures to introduce children into the educational system are activated.
In contrast to that, Human Rights Watch sources report that authorities, in breach of the principle of non-refoulment and respect to life and bodily integrity, subjected migrants to physical abuse of different kinds, starting from deprivation of food and water to beatings and imprisonment. The border guards’ abuse peaked with the murder of several migrants, including an unidentified minor and a 15-year-old Syrian boy.
Based on this, Human Rights Watch asks the Committee to call on the Turkish government to “immediately halt pushbacks from Turkish territory and at Turkey’s borders.” For the protection of young migrants by border officials, it is crucial to accept an individual’s declared age if there is a reasonable possibility that the person is a child. In such cases, the border police should expeditiously transfer those individuals to the care of child protection authorities and promptly assign them a guardian. The authorities should ensure age assessment examinations are conducted according to international standards.” Furthermore, it is urgent to “ensure that full and fair consideration is given to all claims for international protection, including age-appropriate examination of child asylum claims by specially trained adjudicators.” If the government is responsive to these demands, safeguarding migrant children’s rights will be improved.
The information on government-endorsed online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic
Another crucial aspect of the analysis reported by the organization concerns the resources and means allocated to online education conducted during the quarantine period due to Covid-19.
Human Rights Watch investigated two education technology (EdTech) products used by the Turkish government, Eğitim Bilişim Ağı (EBA) and Özelim Eğitimdeyim, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both apps tracked and identified children’s devices using techniques designed for advertising purposes and sent this information to third-party companies. These data practices were neither necessary nor proportionate for these products to serve educational purposes and were found to infringe on children’s privacy. Children who relied on these apps as their primary source of education could not object to such surveillance, and the education ministry did not take measures to prevent or mitigate these abuses.
In light of the report’s findings, the organization calls for, among other provisions, an amendment of the existing data protection law, “the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (2016), in order to adopt child-specific data protections that address the significant child rights impacts of the collection, processing, and use of children’s personal data.”
Moreover, it is imperative to ensure that children’s privacy is protected by removing all tracking technologies from EBA and Özelim Eğitimdeyim and deleting any data collected from them during the pandemic. Furthermore, providing solutions for children whose information was collected using these platforms is necessary.
In light of these recommendations, the organization hopes that the Committee will conduct a comprehensive evaluation, taking into account the most significant issues affecting young people residing in Turkey and that prompt action can be taken to address them.
Bibliography
Duvell, F. (2012). “Transit Migration: A Blurred and Politicized Concept.” Population,Space and Place 18: 415-42
Içduygu, A. and Yükseker, D. (2012). “Rethinking Transit Migration in Turkey: Reality and Re-presentation in the Creation of Migratory Phenomenon,” Population, Space and Place 18: 441-456.
Franck Düvell (2018) The ‘Great Migration’ of summer 2015: analyzing the assemblage of key drivers in Turkey, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2018.1468385
Kuschminder, K. et al. (2019) Decision Making on the Balkan Route and the EU Turkey Statement. WODC Report.
South Korea, or more officially the Republic of Korea, is a country in Southeast Asia, the tenth largest economy in the world and a middle power. To fully understand the educational challenges of contemporary South Korea, we need to remember the historical context: a former Japanese colony until 1945, the Korean peninsula is an underdeveloped region with an estimated adult literacy rate of 22%. Pre-1945 Korea was a peninsula with very rigid social classes, influenced by Confucian values. The democratization of education beginning in the 1960s – largely driven by the containment of communism – resulted in an increase in the adult literacy rate to 87.6 per cent in 1970, 93 per cent in the late 1980s and 98.8 per cent today. The Korean education system is now ranked 7th in the world in the PISA ranking (Average Score of Mathematics, Science and Reading, 2018) and 6 Korean universities are among the top 200 in the world (Times Higher Education, 2023). Despite all these statistics which show a spectacular evolution, the South Korean system remains deeply unequal: this inequality of opportunity inherited from elitist Confucian values is today the main challenge for the country. Fifty years of economic and industrial development have certainly made Korea the eleventh largest country in the world; however, the social question was completely overshadowed. While the demonstrations of June 1987 enabled the country to become a democracy, they did not introduce the notion of the Welfare-State.
Korean students during Suneung exam. Photo by Koreaners.
EDUCATION SYSTEM
The educational system in Korea places an almost inordinate emphasis on standardized tests. South Korea’s university entrance exam, called Suneung, is widely regarded as the most important test in the country. The exam, which is taken by high school seniors, determines a student’s eligibility for admission to top universities in the country. The emphasis on the test has created a culture of intense competition, which places a significant amount of pressure on students. The pressure to perform well on the Suneung has led to a phenomenon known as “exam hell.” Students are expected to spend long hours studying, attending cram schools, and sacrificing their social lives in order to prepare for the exam. This exam has no equivalent in Western educational systems. There is no national exam in the United States of America to get into higher education. In Canada and Europe, there are high school graduation exams: the High School Diploma in Canada, the Abitur in Germany, the Baccalauréat in France, the Maturità in Italy and the Bachillerato in Spain. In South Korea, the exam is portrayed as “having the opportunity to make or break your future.” According to the Ahn’s Presidential Advisory Council on Education, Science and Technology, more than 200 students committed suicide in 2009 and about 150 the following year. The course of this exam even gives rise to unique situations:
“14,000 police officers are mobilized to ensure good traffic flow. And there is even an emergency number for latecomers. They call it and a policeman comes to pick up the student at his home to take him to his exam center. […] landings and take-offs are banned in all airports during the language tests because the candidates are listening to recordings.” (Radio France, 2017).
Therefore, the pressure is not only on students, but also on parents who invest heavily in their children’s education, often leading to a financial burden. The emphasis on standardized tests has also led to a narrow curriculum. Schools focus on teaching the material that is likely to be on the test, leading to a lack of emphasis on critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. The result is a generation of students who may excel in memorization, but struggle when faced with real-world challenges.
We should also point out the lack of diversity in teaching methods. The country has a highly centralized education system, with a focus on rote learning and standardized testing. While this approach has led to high levels of academic achievement, it has also resulted in a lack of creativity and critical thinking skills among students. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to introduce more diverse teaching methods to encourage creativity and problem-solving skills.
One of the most significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Korean educational system was the sudden shift to online learning. Students were required to participate in virtual classes to continue their education. This shift to online learning presented numerous challenges, including access to technology, internet connectivity, and the need for teacher training in remote instruction. While many students were able to adapt to online learning, others struggled due to the lack of in-person interaction and support from teachers. The digital divide has been a longstanding issue in the Korean educational system, and the pandemic exacerbated this issue. The Korean government implemented several initiatives to address the digital divide, including providing laptops and tablets to low-income families and expanding access to high-speed internet. However, these efforts were not enough to address the disparities in access to technology and internet connectivity.
COMPETITION
One of the most significant challenges facing South Korea’s education system is the intense pressure that students are under. As a country with a Confucian tradition, there was an examination to become a civil servant in Korea called Gwageo. Similar to the imperial examination in China, this selection method was very long prized by the Korean elites until its abolition in 1894. The selection and competition between students is therefore ancient and deeply rooted in Korean society. From a very young age, students are expected to perform at an incredibly high level in order to gain entry into top universities and secure high-paying jobs. This pressure can be so intense that it can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Moreover, this pressure on students has led to a culture of cramming and rote memorization rather than a focus on critical thinking and creativity. The level of competition that exists in Europe has nothing to do with that in South Korea. Competition leads to two things among students: considerable inner stress A terrible degradation of human relationships. The other is no longer a fellow man. Korean students do not go to bed before eleven o’clock in the evening, and their school day is hectic. Their minds are focused on work and how to become the best in the class. Everything else is put aside: relationships, music, sports, etc. In the school environment, no one really is a friend. There are only competitors. This competition begins at a young age, with students vying for spots at prestigious elementary schools and continues throughout their academic careers. This competition can be so intense that it can lead to cheating and other unethical behavior in order to gain an advantage.
This competition leads to a number of problems. Firstly, it leads to a lack of diversity in the education system. Students are pushed to excel in certain subjects, such as math and science, at the expense of other subjects, such as the arts and humanities. This focus on certain subjects leads to a lack of well-rounded education. Additionally, the competitive nature of the education system leads to a lack of collaboration among students. Instead of working together to solve problems, students often view their classmates as competitors and are hesitant to share their ideas or knowledge. This lack of collaboration can hinder the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Focusing on the artistic representations of school in South Korean society makes us aware of the importance given to education. School and more generally school performance are over-represented in films and series (K-Drama). To perform poorly in school or to perform less well in school is perceived by society as a tare and something very shameful, which is the central element of the film Parasite (shooted by Bong Joon-ho, 2019). The main protagonist’s family lives excluded from this society of success, in an unhealthy basement, without money and living from day to day. As the film shows, being poor is a disgrace for the people concerned: if they are poor, it is because they have not worked well. To succeed, you have to work hard: this is the leitmotif of Korean culture. Without hard work, there is no salvation. The 2012 release of the film Pluto by director Shin Su-won caused a lot of reaction and controversy in the country. This highlights several issues of the Korean educational system. All the students in the film are doomed to succeed. And they will do anything to achieve it, even dehumanize the other person and stoop to animal behaviour. The main protagonist feels humiliated in front of prosperous children who are more confident of success than he is. It is this feeling of inferiority that will push him to commit the irreparable. Wealthy students are ready to kill their competitors which is the whole plot of the film: students go crazy, don’t sleep at night, commit acts of rape and humiliation on other students.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
The Republic of Korea has one of the highest rates of gender inequality among OECD countries. Women’s labor force participation in 2019 is 60%, 5 percentage points lower than the OECD average. The gender pay gap is a concern: while the OECD average is 12.5%, the gap is 32.5%. While this gap is decreasing (it stood at 41% in 2000), it remains indicative of the gender divide. The Republic of Korea has made progress in terms of gender equality, but still has a long way to go to reach the standards of other developed countries. Gender equality must be promoted from school onwards, which is currently not the case, if at all. If it is not able to ensure that young Korean women students have well-paid jobs with equal pay to men, then the country’s economic dynamism and social welfare will suffer.
Students from low-income families or rural areas often have limited access to quality education and may struggle to compete with their wealthier peers This gap in educational opportunities can lead to a lack of social mobility. Students from low-income families may struggle to get into top universities or secure well-paying jobs, despite their academic abilities. This can lead to a cycle of poverty, as these students may not have the resources or opportunities to improve their situation. The fact that tuition fees are very high (4 million South Korean won, or 3,500 euros per semester) is a serious impediment to education for all and prevents any social climbing. For comparison, the OECD average in terms of tuition fees is 2,800 euros per year.
The South Korean education system has been criticized for its lack of diversity and inclusion. South Korea is a homogeneous society, and this is reflected in its education system. The curriculum is focused on teaching Korean history, culture, and language, with little emphasis on other cultures or languages. The lack of diversity in the education system can lead to a narrow-minded view of the world. Students are not exposed to different cultures, religions, or ways of thinking, which can limit their ability to be open-minded and empathetic. The education system in South Korea has also been criticized for its lack of support for students with disabilities. According to a report by the Korea Institute for Special Education, only 31.6% of students with disabilities attend regular schools, while the rest attend special schools. The lack of inclusion can lead to a sense of isolation and stigmatization for these students, who may feel excluded from mainstream society.
CULTURE OF PRIVATE TUTORING
South Korea’s society is well known for the importance of private tutoring (hagwon). Private tutoring has become a necessary part of education in South Korea, as parents feel that it is the only way to ensure their children’s success. According to a report by the Korean Educational Development Institute, nearly 80% of South Korean students attend hagwon. Private tutoring is offered in a variety of subjects, including math, science, English, and Korean language. The cost of private tutoring can vary depending on the subject and the qualifications of the tutor, with some parents paying large sums of money to provide their children with extra support outside of school. The high demand for hagwon has led to a rise in the cost of private tutoring, which can be a financial burden on families. The pressure to succeed academically can be intense, with many students experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety. The cost of hagwon can be as high as 30% of a family’s income, putting pressure on parents to work longer hours or take on additional jobs to pay for their children’s education. The reliance on private tutoring has also led to a lack of trust in the public education system. Parents feel that the public schools are not doing enough to prepare their children for the standardized tests, leading to a loss of faith in the system. This has also led to a lack of support for teachers, who are often blamed for their children’s lack of success.
Students from wealthier families are indeed more likely to be able to afford high-quality private tutoring, which can give them an advantage over their peers from lower-income families. This leads to a cycle of disadvantage, with students from lower-income families struggling to keep up with their peers and falling further behind.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
While the Korean government implemented several initiatives to address these issues, the pandemic has underscored the need for greater investment in technology and support for disadvantaged students, as well as a greater emphasis on social and emotional learning. All things considered, the pandemic was the revelation of all the dysfunctions and challenges of the South Korean educational system.
The foremost concern of the Korean government should be tackling gender gap. should promote gender awareness and gender-sensitive education in schools, as well as develop educational programs that challenge traditional gender roles and promote gender equality. Violence against women is a significant issue in South Korea: the government should develop laws and policies that protect women from violence, as well as promote public awareness campaigns that challenge harmful attitudes towards women. The civil society and the government must work hand in hand to change cultural norms that reinforce gender inequality. This can be done through public campaigns, media messages, and the promotion of gender equality in popular culture. South Korea’s educational system could introduce policies to encourage more girls to pursue STEM fields. This could include offering scholarships and financial support to girls studying STEM subjects, as well as providing mentorship opportunities and career guidance. Additionally, schools could work to eliminate gender biases in the classroom and provide female students with positive role models in STEM fields.
The existence of an exam as stressful and complex as the Suneung is problematic. The fact that students are committing suicide demonstrates how this system poses a real threat to student well-being. The government should be inspired by foreign evaluation methods, either similar to the United States of America, where the final grade gives an important place to continuous assessment, or similar to the examinations held in Europe, where oral examination is more practiced.
To address the high cost of private tutoring, South Korea’s educational system could introduce policies to provide additional support for students who need it. This could include providing after-school tutoring and study sessions at no cost to students.
REFERENCES
Andrea Matles Savada and William Shaw, editors. South Korea: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990.
Hossein Sharif, “Suneung: The day silence falls over South Korea”, BBC News, November 2018.
Jiyeon Lee, “South Korean students’ ‘year of hell’ culminates with exams day”, CNN, November 2011.
Gérald Roux, « C’est comment ailleurs ? », France Info, Radio France, June 2017 [French].
Yongsoo Yang, “Gender equality: Korea has come a long way, but there is more work to do”, 12 ways Korea is changing the world, OECD, October 2021.
OECD, “Access to education, participation and progress”, Education at a Glance 2021, OECD Indicators, 2021.
Thomas Hatch, “Known for its intense testing pressure, top-performing South Korea dials it back”, The Hechinger Report, November 2017.
Arne Duncan, “Education Is the New Currency”, Mapping the Nation, Asia Society, November 2013.
Huiyan Piao & Yuna Hwang, “Shadow Education Policy in Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic”, ECNU Review of Education, vol. 4, 2021.
Agata Lulkowska, “An Oscar for Parasite? The global rise of South Korean film”, The Conversation, January 2020.
Choi Woo-Young « Condamnés à réussir », Arte, March 2017 [French].
Kazakhstan, a country in Central Asia, is facing significant educational challenges that hinder its progress toward a thriving and inclusive educational system. These challenges have far-reaching consequences, impacting student outcomes, workforce readiness, and overall socioeconomic development. In this article, we will explore and analyze the key challenges faced by the Kazakhstani educational system and shed light on the obstacles that need to be addressed to ensure a brighter future for the country’s students (Akhmedjanova 2018).
Unequal Access to Quality Education
The unequal access to quality education across different regions of Kazakhstan remains a major challenge. Disparities in infrastructure, resources, and qualified teachers persist, particularly in rural and remote areas. This inequality perpetuates social and economic disparities, hindering overall development and opportunities for students in these regions.
Outdated Curricula and Teaching Methods
The presence of outdated curricula and traditional teaching methods poses a significant obstacle to the Kazakhstani education system. Rote memorization and a lack of emphasis on critical thinking, problem-solving, and practical application of knowledge hinder the development of essential skills required for the modern workforce. The curriculum also needs to be updated to align with the demands of the 21st century. (Mukhametzhanova 2019)
Digital Divide and Technological Challenges:
The digital divide and technological challenges in Kazakhstan’s educational system pose significant obstacles to equitable access to quality education. The availability and accessibility of digital infrastructure, internet connectivity, and digital devices vary across different regions, with rural and remote areas facing greater disparities. This digital divide hampers students’ ability to benefit from online learning resources, digital tools, and educational technologies. Additionally, limited digital literacy skills among teachers and students further exacerbate the challenge. Addressing the digital divide and providing adequate technological support and training to educators and students is crucial to ensure inclusive and effective education in Kazakhstan (Hauge 2019).
UN Women in Kazakhstan launched a new project to strengthen STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Photo by UN Women.
Shortage of Qualified Teachers
The shortage of qualified teachers in Kazakhstan is a pressing challenge that affects the quality of education. High turnover rates, low salaries, and limited professional development opportunities contribute to difficulties in attracting and retaining highly skilled educators. This shortage leads to larger class sizes, limited individualized attention, and a decline in the overall instructional quality. (OECD 2018)
Insufficient Focus on Vocational Education
The lack of emphasis on vocational education opportunities is another challenge faced by the Kazakhstani educational system. The current system primarily prioritizes academic degrees, neglecting the importance of practical skills training. As a result, there is a shortage of skilled workers in various industries, hindering economic growth and diversification. (Tanirbergenova 2017)
Inclusion of Marginalized and Disadvantaged Groups:
The educational system in Kazakhstan faces the challenge of ensuring the inclusion of marginalized and disadvantaged groups. This challenge encompasses various groups, including children from low-income families, ethnic minority groups, children in remote areas, girls, and children with special educational needs. These groups often encounter barriers that hinder their access to quality education and limit their educational opportunities.
One aspect of this challenge is the limited resources available to support the education of marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Low-income families may struggle to afford educational materials, uniforms, and transportation costs, which can impede their children’s ability to attend school regularly and participate fully in the educational process. Additionally, schools in remote areas may lack sufficient infrastructure, resources, and qualified teachers, further exacerbating educational disparities for children in these regions.
Language barriers also pose a significant challenge for certain marginalized groups, particularly ethnic minority children. Kazakhstan is a diverse country with various ethnic groups, each with its own language and cultural heritage. However, the educational system predominantly operates in Kazakh or Russian, which can create barriers for non-native speakers. Limited access to education in their mother tongue can affect these children’s ability to fully understand and engage with the curriculum, potentially leading to lower educational outcomes.
Cultural biases and discriminatory practices can further hinder the inclusion of marginalized groups in the educational system. Girls, for example, may face traditional gender roles and expectations that prioritize their domestic duties over their education. This can result in lower school enrollment rates and limited educational opportunities for girls, impacting their long-term prospects and perpetuating gender inequalities. Similarly, children with special educational needs may encounter stigmatization, inadequate support, and a lack of inclusive educational settings that cater to their specific needs.
Inadequate Funding and Research
Insufficient funding for education, coupled with limited research opportunities, creates obstacles to progress. Inadequate financial resources hamper infrastructure development, access to learning materials, and the implementation of necessary reforms. Moreover, the lack of research funding limits innovation, knowledge creation, and evidence-based decision-making within the education system. (Rakhmatullayeva 2020)
Conclusion
Recognizing and addressing the educational challenges in Kazakhstan is crucial for the country’s sustainable development and the well-being of its citizens. Unequal access to quality education, outdated curricula, shortage of qualified teachers, insufficient focus on vocational education, and inadequate funding and research are significant hurdles that need to be overcome. By implementing comprehensive reforms, increasing investments in education, prioritizing teacher training and retention, modernizing curricula, expanding vocational education opportunities, and allocating adequate funding for research, Kazakhstan can pave the way for a brighter future. These efforts will empower Kazakhstan’s students to thrive in an ever-evolving world and contribute to the country’s sustainable development.
References:
Akhmedjanova, G. (2018). Challenges facing the education system in Kazakhstan. Journal of Education and Vocational Research, 9(2), 57-62.
Mukhametzhanova, Z. (2019). Outdated Curricula and Teaching Methods in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Solutions. International Journal of Educational Development, 75, 102178.
Rakhmatullayeva, G. (2020). Teacher shortage in Kazakhstan: Causes and solutions. International Journal of Educational Development, 64, 115-120.
Tanirbergenova, A., & Kupeshova, G. (2017). The challenge of vocational education in Kazakhstan. European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research, 9(2), 37-43.
OECD. (2018). Education in Kazakhstan: Moving towards 2030.
Hauge, T. E., & Prieto, L. P. (2019). Digital inequalities in Kazakhstan: Exploring socio-economic disparities in internet use. Information, Communication & Society, 22(7), 988-1005.
Recent events in Palestine have raised concerns and sparked outrage as Israel demolishes EU-funded schools, drawing widespread criticism from international bodies. These demolitions have intensified regional tensions and highlighted the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This article aims to provide an overview of the situation, exploring the reasons behind the demolitions, the reactions from various stakeholders, and the implications for education in Palestine.
A Palestinian school demolished by Israeli Occupation Forces in Hebron, occupied Palestine. Photo by Falastin-48.
On May 7, 2023, Israel demolished a Palestinian school funded by the European Union, prompting condemnation from the international community and eliciting strong criticism from the global community. The school, located in a Palestinian village in the West Bank, was part of a broader initiative to support and bolster educational opportunities in the region. This demolition has emerged as a pivotal moment within the highly volatile context, exacerbating the anger and frustration among Palestinians and their supporters. This incident has intensified the already heightened emotions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding to the grievances and discontent within the affected communities.
The Israeli authorities have put forth several justifications for the destruction. They have highlighted the lack of proper permits and non-compliance with building regulations as primary reasons for their actions. Israeli officials argue these structures were erected without authorization and pose potential security risks. However, critics of these demolitions raise significant concerns about the complexity and restrictiveness of the Israeli permit process. They argue that Palestinians face numerous obstacles in obtaining the necessary permits, creating a cycle wherein unauthorized construction becomes the only viable option. Consequently, the demolitions become an unfortunate consequence of the limitations imposed by the Israeli permit system, perpetuating a cycle of illegal construction and subsequent destruction of vital educational infrastructure in Palestinian communities. This cycle disrupts Palestinian students’ lives and undermines the prospects of stability and development in the region.
Israel’s demolition of EU-funded schools in Palestine has ignited significant international condemnation, with the European Union emerging as a prominent voice of criticism. The EU has vehemently expressed its profound apprehension regarding destroying educational infrastructure, considering it a clear violation of international law. The incident has strained the relationship between Israel and the European Union, leading to deliberations on potential ramifications and diplomatic consequences.
The condemnation from the EU underscores the gravity of the situation and emphasizes the urgency for a resolution to address the demolition of these vital educational facilities. School demolitions have far-reaching implications for education in the region. Beyond the immediate destruction of physical infrastructure, these demolitions infringe upon Palestinian children’s fundamental right to education. Access to quality education is vital for the holistic development of children, encompassing their social, intellectual, and emotional growth. By demolishing schools, the academic progress of Palestinian students is disrupted, depriving them of a fundamental human right.
Moreover, the demolitions undermine international efforts to improve educational opportunities in Palestine. The European Union and other international entities have been actively supporting and funding initiatives to enhance education in the region. These efforts aim to provide Palestinian children with quality education, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary for their future. However, the destruction of EU-funded schools undermines these collective endeavours, hindering progress towards achieving educational development goals. The denial of education impacts individual students and has broader consequences for the entire Palestinian society. Education plays a crucial role in shaping the future of communities, fostering social cohesion, and empowering individuals to contribute positively to their institutions. The demolition of schools obstructs these transformative processes, perpetuating a cycle of inequality and limited opportunities for Palestinian children. Addressing the implications of the destruction of education in Palestine requires collective action and international cooperation. Efforts must be made to rebuild and rehabilitate educational infrastructure, ensuring Palestinian children access safe and conducive learning environments. Additionally, advocacy for protecting the right to education, as enshrined in international human rights instruments, is crucial.
Human rights organizations and proponents of Palestinian rights have strongly emphasized the need for accountability and cessation of the demolitions of EU-funded schools in Palestine. These advocates assert that Israel must be held responsible for destroying educational infrastructure, considering it a violation of the right to education enshrined in international human rights frameworks. The call for accountability resonates with the broader aim of ensuring that all parties involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are held to the standards of international law. It emphasizes the significance of safeguarding the right to education as a fundamental human right, especially for vulnerable populations such as Palestinian children.
Additionally, these organizations and advocates urge international bodies to take tangible and proactive measures to protect and promote the right to education in Palestine, including monitoring and reporting on violations, engaging in diplomatic efforts to halt the demolitions, and supporting the reconstruction and rehabilitation of educational infrastructure.
The involvement of international entities in safeguarding the right to education is essential to create a conducive and secure environment for Palestinian students to access quality education. By advocating for accountability and appealing to international bodies, human rights organizations and advocates for Palestinian rights aim to bring attention to the violations of educational rights in Palestine. Their efforts seek to ensure that all children in the region have equal opportunities for education and the chance to develop their potential, contributing to a more just and equitable future.
The demolition has unleashed a powerful surge of criticism and alarm, casting a glaring spotlight on the enduring Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The obliteration of educational infrastructure stands as a formidable barrier to the aspirations of Palestinian children, impeding their path to quality education and hindering their overall development. In response, the international community, including influential players such as the European Union, has united in a resounding call for accountability and a relentless pursuit of resolution. These collective efforts aim to prevent further human rights violations, particularly the right to education, and ensure that every child in Palestine has an unimpeded opportunity to flourish academically, fostering a future of dignity and equality.
Yemen has ancient roots at the Middle East, Asia, and Africa crossroads, and the Republic of Yemen is a relatively new established state. It was created in 1990 following the unification of communist South Yemen with North Yemen.
The wave of protests in Yemen in 2011 was affected by the Arab Spring, Yemen has been suffering civil wars, jihadist violence, tribalism, and extreme poverty since then.
Furthermore, the suffering brought on by the current war since 2015 between a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, a Shia militia supported by Iran (World Bank, 2019). The Saudi-led coalition was provided logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK, and France. According to the UN, both sides in the war have committed war crimes. However, both sides refused the allegations (World Bank, 2023).
Long before the current crisis began, the politicization of education in Yemen was an issue. To begin with, neither a license nor any type of supervision was required for religious schools, which predate government-run public schools and higher education institutions (Nagi, 2021). Yet, the conflict exacerbated the collapse of education in the country which was already weak in its educational system.
In general, the North and the South each have their independent educational system (Taher et al., 2022). Each of the parties engaged prioritizes military development while ignoring every aspect of progress, such as education. To serve their own ideological and political objectives, each of these systems is making considerable changes to education, yet the quality of education is declining in both places. Children are unable to attend schools due to conflict, displacement, the spreading of diseases, lack of infrastructure, and gender discrimination.
A group of children, displaced by fighting in the Yemeni city of Hodediah, participate in catch-up classes in the Rabat camp near the Yemeni city of Aden. Photo by Peter Biro
Conflict-related Education Difficulties
Attacks against schoolchildren, teachers, and educational infrastructure, since the conflict started, have affected the educational system and millions of children’s access to learning opportunities. Yemen is experiencing a serious education crisis, which will have devastating long-term effects on children (Education in Yemen, UNICEF, 2023).
Around 11 million Yemeni children require humanitarian aid, and more than 2.4 million school-age boys and girls are not attending school (UNICEF, 2023). Many families are unable to bring their children to school because of the cost of food and other school-related expenses (Battling Hunger and Ensuring Yemeni Children Can Get Back to School, 2023).
According to UNICEF statistics, more than two million children are not enrolled in school, and many millions require assistance to enrol, and more than 20% of all primary and secondary schools are closed (ICRC, 2022). Students and teachers have been killed or injured on their way to school. Numerous families are no longer sending their children to school, especially girls, due to the danger and financial effects of the conflict. The psychological effects of violence mitigate the educational performance of the children since many children have only ever known life in conflict.
At least one out of every four educational facilities has been destroyed, damaged, or put to other uses over the past eight years. 58% of these schools are damaged by conflict and 30% are used as quarantine centres or occupied by armed groups (Save the Children International, Save the Children Yemen, 2021).
Under international humanitarian law, war parties are required to take all necessary precautions to safeguard civilians and civilian infrastructure. Long-lasting harm results from violence against students, educators, and institutions of higher learning. It also makes the education system harder to recover after the conflict.
Displacement Problem
Ongoing conflict forces people to move to other areas of the country. Displaced people have had their access to education cut off suddenly because of their displacements. The 1.5 million school-aged internally displaced children, the 870,495 girls and boys with disabilities, and the more than 2 million kids who are not in school are the most at risk (OCHA, 2023). Between September and October 2022, UNHCR and Deem for Development Organization renovated the classrooms at the schools with funding from a Quick Impact Project (QIP) (OCHA, 2023).
International organizations and communities are on a mission to reach children who need health and education assistance in the displaced and hard-to-reach places. OCHA, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, and others participated in the mission.
Lack of Access to Healthcare and WASH Facilities
Many people in Yemen also lack access to healthcare and nutrition services. 540,000 children live in a condition with acute malnutrition and insufficient health services. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) need for children are more common in the areas of new displacement and rural areas. Shelter and WASH assistance is the most important factor for children to pursue their education. In 2023, more than 8.6 million school-children will need assistance according to UNOCHA (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023).
The result of the war is damage to infrastructure and import disruption of fuel causing 61% of the Yemeni’s lack of access to water and 42% of the population to have not enough sanitation (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023). The sheer amount of time spent delivering water also harms the educational opportunities for children. With no choice but to go to the water points twice a day and carry plastic water containers on their heads, many children have been forced to quit school (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023).
The events to improve access to safe water were officially launched on February 2022 by IOM and YHF (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023). Many kids can go back to school and finish their education, particularly girls. The project also unlocks the ability of the people to engage in agriculture and other livelihood activities.
Spreading Diseases and Urgent Immunization of the Children
“The prolonged crisis and the lack of funding for the HRP threaten food insecurity, which could result in famine, disease outbreaks, and epidemics,” said Na’aem Al Khulaidi, program coordinator for the Tamdeen Youth Foundation (OCHA, Issue 2, 2023). For instance, polio has frighteningly returned to Yemen years after the country was declared free of the deadly illness.
Significant infectious disease outbreaks, including some that could have been prevented by vaccination, such as cholera, diphtheria, dengue, measles, and the reappearance of vaccine-derived polioviruses, were influenced by the conflict. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the health condition even worse.
A new level of complication was introduced for the millions of school children in Yemen with the Covid-19 pandemic. For the millions of boys and girls in Yemen, After many cases of illness were reported in March 2020, schools closed and stayed closed for six months. Although the reopening the schools, many children had not gone back to classes (ECW in Yemen, 2023).
Having suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic, Yemen is dealing with rising cases of poliovirus. 228 children have been paralyzed due to poliovirus in 2021 in Yemen. In Yemen, there were about 22,000 cases of measles in 2022, with 161 casualties. There have been 9,418 cases reported in 2023, and 77 children have died (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023).
Low immunization rates of vaccine-preventable diseases among children are a very dangerous situation for them to attend school. Many children’s families are not able to afford hospitalization costs (OCHA, Issue 3, 2023). While there have been numerous polio and measles vaccination campaigns over the past two years in the southern regions, children in the northern regions are particularly in danger due to the ongoing deadlock over additional immunization efforts there (OCHA, Issue 3, 2023).
A group of children, displaced by fighting in the Yemeni city of Hodediah. Photo by Peter Biro
Gender Inequality
The patriarchally-oriented cultural and religious institutions continue to be the principal opponent of female education. The government and international organizations strive to alter the mindset of the current families to forbid their daughters from pursuing education by launching various campaigns in rural areas, reinforcing the social norms that they have built (Ballout, 2023). Nevertheless, dropouts of the school-girls are at risk of child marriage, while boys are recruited by armed groups.
The most affected gender by the displacement is females. Bureaucratic obstacles prohibit women to travel without a company of a close family member. This has created a great impact on women to access and pursue education (OCHA, Issue 1, 2023). The increase in mahram requirements and mostly AA-controlled areas worsened the gender gap in education, resulting in a wide gender gap in literacy and basic education.
The country’s economic struggle plays a part in gender inequality too. Getting a very minimum income affects Yemeni households’ purchasing power. Weak economical conditions affect women’s conditions and children’s education. It will have a domino effect and raise the danger of gender-based violence and other abuses among women and girls. Children will have less access to school and more cases of family dissolution, child labour, child marriage, and child trafficking (OCHA, 2022).
Insufficient Incentives to the Teachers
Yemen’s education system is in danger of collapsing, which will have an impact on both school-age males and females. The conflict that has lasted for years, the economy’s downfall, and the COVID-19 pandemic have all restricted access to schooling. Structured learning is still impacted by the insufficient payment of teachers’ salaries.
Since 2016, the majority of teachers in governorates (or 61% of the teaching staff) have received poor allowances. When teachers are paid, the amounts are little and paid slowly, which disincentivizes them for work and forces them to look for side jobs to support their income (Education in Yemen, 2023). Also, most teachers lead to quitting their jobs which risks nearly four million children losing access to education (Nagi, 2021). Every year, a number of teachers and students flee from the country, and a large portion of these individuals are the most qualified ones.
Another important problem is that there are not sufficient teacher training programs, causing qualified teachers to remain very less. The gender gap between the teachers is also very wide. Teachers are mainly male with 80%, which creates a lack of female teachers.
Teachers as well as students have suffered from this constant struggle and even exploited it against one another. Teachers and students were recruited to collaborate with the tribes that were engaged in this conflict. Peace and education are being replaced by conflict and political beliefs that serve the interests of parties and tribes. The students quit school and decide to ally themselves with the tribes that will pay for their families basic needs. This includes teachers who have gone for years without receiving payment (Taher et al., 2022).
References
Ballout, A. (2023). Female Education in Yemen. Available at SSRN 4318578.
Battling Hunger and Ensuring Yemeni Children Can Get Back to School. (2023, February 1). World Bank. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2023/02/01/battling-hunger-and-ensuring-yemeni-children-can-get-back-to-school
ECW in Yemen. (n.d.). Education Cannot Wait. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.educationcannotwait.org/our-investments/where-we-work/yemen
Education in Yemen. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.unicef.org/yemen/education
8 years of crushing conflict in Yemen. (2023, March 24). UNICEF. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/8-years-crushing-conflict-yemen-leave-more-11-million-children-need-humanitarian
How and why to end the war in Yemen. (2019, May 7). Economist. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/11/30/how-and-why-to-end-the-war-in-yemen?utm_medium=cpc.adword.pd&utm_source=google&ppccampaignID=18151738051&ppcadID=&utm_campaign=a.22brand_pmax&utm_content=conversion.direct-response.anonymous&gclid=CjwKCAjwge2iBh
ICRC. (2022, October 13). Yemen: Conflict leaves millions of children without proper education. In News and Press Release. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-conflict-leaves-millions-children-without-proper-education-enar
Nagi, A. (2021). Education in Yemen: Turning Pens into Bullets.
OCHA. (2022, April 30). Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-2022-april-2022
Save the Children International, Save the Children Yemen. (2021, June). Report: Education in Crisis in Yemen.
Taher, A., Khan, Z., Alduais, A., & Muthanna, A. (2022). Intertribal conflict, educational development and education crisis in Yemen: A call for saving education. Review of Education, 10(3)(e3376).
Yemen: Why is the war there getting more violent? (2023, April 14). BBC. Retrieved May 26, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
Featured image: Yemeni children play in the rubble of buildings destroyed in an air raid, Photo by Biro
After the 2016 failed coup attack in Turkey, the Turkish government accused Fethullah Gülen and Gülen’s “Hizmet” movement as the masterminds of the failed coup attack. Then, many teachers, professors, government officials, prosecutors, army members, police officers and human rights activists were detained, persecuted, and oppressed for their alleged link to the Hizmet movement. But what is the Hizmet Movement? Who is Fethullah Gülen? In addition, why is the current Turkish regime accusing Gülen of plotting the failed coup attack in 2016?
Broken Chalk is a non-profit organisation that fights against all types of discrimination, particularly human rights violations in education. As a fast-growing organisation, Broken Chalk strives to remove existing barriers in the educational sphere worldwide, collaborating with communities and organisations that share a similar mission and becoming a leading organisation that sustainably addresses human rights violations.
As part of Broken Chalk’s mission to defend human rights in the field of education, the “Broken Chalk Talks” program, launched on Monday, is a mini-seminar series for a 3-week period, whereby Dr Ismail M. Sezgin gives a lecture. As the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Hizmet Studies and research assistant at Regent’s Park College, his purposes with this initiative are to educate people about Fethullah Gülen – a Turkish Islamic scholar who self-exiled in the USA since 1999 -, about Hizmet Movement, and on the oppression of Hizmet Movement members, for many of them have been detained and stripped away from their jobs and positions.
In the first week of the seminar, Dr Ismail briefly introduced Fethullah Gülen’s life and activism since an early age, the atmosphere in Turkey during the 1990s, and how he was forced to emigrate to the United States to protect himself from his potential assassination. Dr Ismail provided a brief history of the Hizmet movement and its activism and dedication to human rights and charity works to improve marginalised people’s education, health, and living conditions. For the next two weeks, the seminar will discuss the Hizmet Movement and the ‘AKP’ – the current ruling party in Turkey and explain the reason for the AKP’s accusations towards Gulen and the Hizmet Movement on the grounds of ‘terrorism’. He will additionally dive into the reason for the Hizmet Movement’s support for AKP and Erdogan from 2002 until 2013, why the Hizmet movement stopped supporting the AKP, as well as the persecution of the Hizmet Movement in Turkey after the failed coup attack in 2016.
Turkish President Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement since the corruption investigations of December 2013. According to data from January 2023, around 520 children under six are in prison with their mothers in Turkey. Around 14.000 women are in Turkish prisons; children accompany 470. The facilities and conditions in which these babies and children live are deplorable. No child should have to go through that.
After the aftermath of a coup attempt in July 2016, thousands of women were unlawfully jailed in Turkish prisons. The number of children accompanying their mothers in prison skyrocketed in Turkey after the coup attempt. Children and their mothers are being illegally held in prisons in poor conditions. The actual problem is not the conditions of the prisons, but the problem is that the babies are in prison. Prisons are not a place for babies and small children to grow up. These are the most fundamental years for children to grow up and enjoy life. Being held in prison and not exposed to real life can lead to traumas in later life. Children should be free and explore the world, not be stored in a place lacking the facilities to host these babies and children.
Turkey’s penal code states that mothers with children younger than six months should have their prison sentences suspended. This rule, however, doesn’t apply when individuals are convicted of having links to a terrorist organization. Many of these women are often being accused of being “FETO” members, which, most of the time, are baseless accusations. If the father is at home, the children are still forced to grow up in prison instead of with the child’s father.
Inmates are suffering from freezing temperatures, foul drinking water and poor treatment. The adverse effects were even worse during the Covid Pandemic, which lowered the already low prison standards. The research by the Rights of Life Association (published in September 2021) made several recommendations, including deferred sentences for women who have a child younger than six-years-old and access to gynecologists for pregnant women and pediatricians for infants and children constantly.
These babies and children have done nothing wrong and should not be punished for something their parents might have done. Children should not have to grow up behind bars.
Children are being cut off from the outside world and cannot participate in social and cultural activities. That harms physical and mental well-being and will cause problems connecting with society later in life. Turkey should consider how this impacts the child’s and the parent’s lives.
On March 28, 2023, the police arrested Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai, a 15-year-old student activist, for allegedly defaming the monarchy. Yok is detained in pretrial custody at the Justice Ministry’s Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Center for Girls in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok. She is facing up to 15 years in prison.
Yok is accused of violating article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code -defaming and insulting the monarchy- during a demonstration in October 2022 in front of the Bangkok City Hall.
Photo by @Leticia Cox
Why does Thailand have this law?
The monarch has an exalted status in Thai society. The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October 2016, was accorded an almost divine reverence, sometimes treated as god-like.
Adulyadej’s son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, does not relish the same popularity and has reigned since his father’s death, exercising limited rule since December 2016. He is the head of state, assisted in his duties by the Privy Council of Thailand, but still holds a sacred status in the country.
Today, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a democratic form of government. The monarch reigns but does not rule.
In May 2014, the military – greatly royalist- overthrew the civilian government. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has highlighted that the lese-majeste law is needed to protect the royals.
In November 2020, Prime Minister Prayut instructed authorities to use all laws against democracy protesters, bringing back lèse-majesté prosecution under Article 112 of the penal code after a three-year pause.
According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 1,895 individuals have been subject to various criminal charges for their involvement in rallies since 2020. Among these individuals, at least 237 have been charged with lèse-majesté for actions at pro-democracy demonstrations or comments on social media, including 18 children.
In addition, making critical or offensive comments about the monarchy is a serious criminal offence under the Computer-Related Crime Act. 2560. Authorities have since charged some political activists with treason under Article 116 of the penal code.
Judicial interpretation of lèse-majesté offences seems to vary according to interpretations by different courts, making convictions arbitrary and sometimes going beyond what is stipulated in the law. In September 2022, the Bangkok South Criminal Court sentenced Jatuporn Sae-Ung to three years on lèse-majesté charges for wearing a Thai national dress at a democracy protest in a context that authorities claimed was done to mock Queen Suthida.
Democratic Labor Organization Asking the government to help bail political prisoners. Photo by Prachatai
Holding Yok charged with lèse-majesté in pretrial detention violates her rights under international human rights law.
Under Article 2.2 of the Convention on the Human Rights of the Child, State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure a child -every human under 18 years of age- is protected against all punishments based on their express opinion.
In addition, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Thailand has ratified, also encourages bail for criminal suspects. Article 9 states: “It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial.”
Those whose charges have not been dropped should be tried without undue delay.
“The Thai government should permit peaceful expression of political views, including questions about the monarchy,” said the director of Human Rights Watch. “Thai authorities should engage with United Nations specialists and others about amending the lèse-majesté law to comply with international human rights standards.”
Yok’s case is not an isolated incident. In 2020, a 16-year-old boy was criminally charged under the same law after he was accused of dressing similarly to King Maha Vajiralongkorn and displaying offensive words on his body.
In January 2021, the Bangkok Criminal Court sentenced a 65-year-old former civil servant to a jail term of 43 years and six months—the country’s harshest ever sentence for insulting the monarchy.
On June 2022, three Thai influencers were arrested for insulting the royal family in a video campaign posted on TikTok.
On March 2023, a man was sentenced to three years imprisonment for selling calendars via a Facebook page that the authorities considered violating the lèse-majesté law. The calendar featured cartoon illustrations of a yellow duck, symbolising Thailand’s protest movement.
Thailand’s lese-majeste law, which prohibits any offence against the dignity of the monarchy, is among the most draconian in the world.
Amnesty International’s recent report “We Are Reclaiming Our Future” reported how children in Thailand face a wide range of severe repercussions for participating in mass demonstrations, including illegalising their activities and intimidation by the police.
The report calls for the Thai authorities to withdraw all charges against peaceful child protesters, end all forms of intimidation and surveillance and amend laws to deny children’s right to protest to ensure they align with international human rights law and standards.
Thai lèse-majesté law
— A Constitutional Court decision in 2012. Section 112 of Thai Criminal Code currently reads as follows: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.”
**Lèse-majesté or lese-majesty is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, where it means “a crime against The Crown.”
The World Trade Organization (WTO) reports that Bangladesh holds the position of the world’s second-largest exporter of ready-made garments, contributing to around 6.4% of global garment exports in 2020. However, this economic success comes at a grave cost, as children aged 5-17 are often exploited and illegally employed in the Bangladeshi garment industry. This unethical practice not only deprives them of education but also limits their future opportunities. Without access to basic education, these children are forced into low-paying jobs in factories, lacking the chance to acquire skills that could lead to better-paying employment in the future. As a result, they become trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and low-wage work, perpetuating the cycle of child labor. The absence of quality education deprives these children of their potential and severely diminishes their chances of breaking free from illegal and physically demanding labor.
As conscious consumers, it is imperative that we consider the entire supply chain of the garments we purchase, including the production side, and acknowledge the potential consequences of our buying decisions. We must inquire whether a t-shirt has been ethically produced and whether child labor was involved in any stage of its manufacturing. Reflecting on these questions could contribute to providing hundreds of children in Bangladesh with an opportunity to access quality education and break free from the shackles of poverty.
The purpose of this article is to increase awareness about the issue of unequal educational attainment in Bangladesh, which is exacerbated by the prevalence of child labor and inadequate government policies aimed at eradicating child labor.
Brief history of poverty in Bangladesh
After gaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh faced a significant challenge with 80% of its population living below the poverty line. However, over the years, the government has made poverty alleviation a key priority in its development strategy. As a result, the poverty rate has decreased from 80% to 24.3%, which still means that approximately 35 million people in Bangladesh are living below the poverty line (UNESCO, 2009).
The government’s efforts to tackle poverty have been supported by sustained economic growth, driven in part by sound macroeconomic policies and an increase in exports of readymade garments. As a result, the overall poverty rate has declined from 13.47% in 2016 to 10.44% in 2022 (Dhaka Tribune, 2022).
Despite these achievements, recent trends suggest a slowing down in the rate of poverty reduction in Bangladesh. Moreover, the impact of poverty alleviation measures has been uneven between rural and urban areas, as the country undergoes rapid urbanization. This indicates that while progress has been made in reducing poverty, challenges remain in ensuring equitable poverty reduction across different regions of the country.
Although Bangladesh has experienced rapid economic growth and is considered one of the fastest growing countries, income inequality remains a significant and pressing issue. In fact, income inequality in Bangladesh has reached unprecedented levels not seen since 1972. Despite the growth of the readymade garments export industry, the benefits of this economic sector have not been evenly distributed, leading to a low ranking of 133rd out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index.
One stark indicator of income inequality is the contrasting income shares between the bottom 40% of the population and the richest 10%. The income share of the bottom 40% is merely 21%, while the richest 10% enjoy a significantly higher share of 27%, illustrating a sharp disparity in wealth distribution (World Bank, 2023). These disparities in income distribution highlight the urgent need for addressing income inequality in Bangladesh, as it poses challenges to achieving inclusive and equitable development. Efforts to tackle this issue require a comprehensive approach that considers factors such as economic policies, social welfare programs, and targeted interventions to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared more widely among all segments of the population.
Child labor in Bangladesh
The inherent inequality and income disparities within Bangladesh have a clear impact on the educational attainment of children across the country. Child labor is unfortunately prevalent in many parts of Bangladesh, especially in rural areas where poverty rates are high and access to education is limited. Districts such as Chittagong, Rajshahi, and Sylhet have particularly high incidences of child labor, as they are located in the rural outskirts of Bangladesh, highlighting the aforementioned intra-country inequality.
The poverty resulting from this inequality has dire consequences for Bangladeshi children, who are forced to engage in illegal employment to combat poverty. Approximately three out of every five children are employed in the agricultural sector, while 14.7% work in the industrial sector, and the remaining 23.3% work in services (Global People Strategist, 2021). Although the government of Bangladesh ratified the International Labor Organization Convention in early 2022, which clearly stipulates the minimum age for employment in Article 138, children in Bangladesh continue to be subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor in activities such as drying of fish and brick production.
A troubling aspect is that the Bangladesh Labor Act does not apply to the informal sector, where the majority of child labor in Bangladesh takes place. Reports of violence against child workers in various sectors, including domestic work, have been documented. In 2018, over 400,000 children worked in domestic work in Bangladesh, with girls often being abused by their employers. Additionally, reports indicate that from January to November 2012, 28 children were subjected to torture while working as housemaids (Global People Strategist, 2021).
These children are compelled to join the workforce in both formal and informal sectors out of sheer survival necessity to provide for their families, and are unlikely to return to their studies. A UNICEF report revealed that children under the age of 14 who have dropped out of school for work are laboring an average of 64 hours per week. Putting this number into perspective, European labor laws limit working hours to 48 hours per week, including overtime (UNICEF, 2021).
The issue of educational attainment in Bangladesh exhibits significant inequality, which is attributed to both structural inequalities in the country and weaknesses in the governance of the education sector.
School participation rates also highlight disparities, with 10% of children of official primary school age being out of school. Among primary school-aged children in Bangladesh, the greatest disparity is observed between the poorest and the richest children, which can be linked to the broader inequality between households in the country. This disparity is supported by a 2019 UNICEF report that indicates completion rates for upper secondary school are 50% for the wealthiest children but only 12% for the poorest (UNICEF, 2019).
The Bangladeshi government has attempted to address education inequality at the primary level through a conditional cash transfer program targeted at poor children, which covers 40% of rural students. However, this program leaves a substantial proportion of poor children uncovered, despite their high levels of poverty. This initiative has resulted in a rapid increase in primary school enrollment, with 7.8 million children receiving stipends of $1 each.
Nevertheless, due to biased decision-making that favors the non-poor, the government’s
recurrent spending on education is disproportionately allocated, with 68% of total government spending directed towards the non-poor, despite this group representing only 50% of the primary school-aged population (World Bank, 2018). These statistics highlight that while there may be governmental intentions to improve educational attainment in Bangladesh, the reality presents a different picture, with rural children facing continued disadvantages in terms of national educational governance.
Conclusion
In short, quality education is essential for the eradication of poverty giving children the chance at a better life. Helping children turn away from child labor, requires the emphasis on the reduction on family poverty. Only quality educational attainment will become available for every child regardless of their socio-economic background can the future generation of Bangladesh flourish under the governments aid program. The primary purpose of the government of Bangladesh should be to protect children from the detrimental effect of child labor and ensuring their quality education.
The first solution to mitigate unequal quality educational attainment, is to make governmental policies broader thus ensuring financial inclusion of the marginalized. Adopting appropriate macroeconomic policy which priorities education equality. More transparency in the allocation of educational resources will force the government of Bangladesh to take on a more utilitarian perspective. This new allocation of resources will allow for more interest in soft infrastructure such as the recruitment of adequate number of teachers at schools.
An additional approach to address the issue would be for the government of Bangladesh to effectively promote awareness about the significance of quality education. This awareness campaign should not only target urban areas, but also prioritize rural areas where poverty rates are particularly high.
Furthermore, as a prerequisite to raising awareness, the Bangladeshi government should focus on providing the necessary infrastructure that enables people to access education information. This entails addressing the root causes of poverty in the country to create an environment where children are not forced into labor and can instead avail themselves of educational opportunities and experience a normal childhood.
Ensuring that every child has the opportunity for quality education and a safe upbringing is of utmost importance.
Hosen, Aoulad, S.M. Mujahidul Islam, and Sogir Khandoker. 2010. “Child Labor and Child Education in Bangladesh: Issues, Consequences and Involvements.” International Business Research Issues 3, no. 2: 1-8.
As a second-year undergraduate student at Leiden University, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in International Studies with a specialisation in Europe, I am excited about the opportunity to apply my academic knowledge and skills to practical research work in the field of human rights.
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