Neslihan is a refugee from Turkey who came to the Netherlands to build a new life with her husband and two children.
In August 2018, Neslihan left her life in Turkey behind and fled to Greece. There she spent three months before coming to the Netherlands. She has lived with her family in social housing in Amstelveen for a few years. She lived with her family for 19 months in different AZCs throughout the Netherlands. “I know the Netherlands better than an average Dutch person”, Neslihan claims.
In Turkey, Neslihan had long worked as a chemistry, physics, and biology teacher. She was eager to start teaching again when she came to the Netherlands. Fortunately, finding a job was not difficult. Through the “Statushouders voor de Klas project,” she was taught how the Dutch school system works, which eventually helped her secure an internship. In addition, Neslihan has worked as a volunteer at a school. There she was working as a technical teaching assistant at the Apollo high school in Amsterdam. At the same school, she was able to grow and, after a while, was also allowed to teach two days a week. Next year she will only teach and no longer work as an assistant.
Why did you decide to become a teacher at the time?
“I enjoy teaching; I don’t see it as a job because it’s a passion of mine.” She has been teaching for 18 years now and still really enjoys it. After completing her education, she started teaching right away. She chose to become a chemistry, physics, and biology teacher because she had the highest grades in these three subjects and found them fun topics.
Why did you decide to come to the Netherlands?
“We read through on the Internet and the news and often heard that in the Netherlands, people are free and can share their opinions or ideas. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Turkey, where you are not free and cannot say what you want. Even children often go to prison for revealing their opinions”. Because of this, Neslihan’s brother and sister also came to the Netherlands with their families. Neslihan sees her family every week.
What challenges did you face when you came to the Netherlands?
Neslihan is a political refugee and was considered a Terrorist in her own country because of her views. With her whole family, she had to flee Turkey by boat. The journey to come to the Netherlands was intense. She had to pay much money and negotiate with people smugglers, which can be pretty dangerous.
In addition, Neslihan wanted to learn Dutch; this was quite difficult at first. Because she was not obligated to integrate then, she could not take a free Dutch language course during her stay in the AZC. However, she learned some Dutch from friends and volunteers in the AZC. For this, she is very grateful. Neslihan wanted to integrate and assimilate, so her language understanding was fundamental. After a long struggle, she finally managed to borrow money with which she was able to take a course.
Occasionally she still has trouble with the Dutch language, especially ‘er’ plus the different prepositions she finds difficult. In addition, she does not yet understand certain Dutch expressions, but she believes this will eventually work out.
What are the differences between the Turkish and Dutch school systems?
“There are not many differences, I think. Of course, some things are quite similar. For example, adolescents are just adolescents and behave the same in certain ways, but the students in the Netherlands always have the chance to move on because of the different school levels. Therefore, the system in the Netherlands is better because that chance is available.” Neslihan explains that in Turkey, there is only one level and that every student has to learn the same subjects and take the same exam. So, if this level is too high, you don’t have another option to continue studying, which is why many young people drop out of school.
Another big difference is that there is little hierarchy in the Netherlands. “My director and my team leader are just my colleagues. We are seen as the same and treated the same. I can call them by their name. In Turkey, you have to address everyone by sir or ma’am. I want no more hierarchy in Turkey; I would like to change that”.
Is there anything you would like to share?
“I would like to say that we are all people who can just live together; you just have to have respect for one another. You must treat everyone respectfully and create a safe and nice atmosphere. We came here for our freedom, and Holland has given us many rights. Therefore, you have to do something for the Netherlands; you have to use your skills to help here, to integrate. Taking that first step is easy: saying hello to your neighbours, for example, or just chatting with someone and being nice.”
Neslihan also wanted to remind everyone that many people are still threatened in Turkey or forgotten in prison. You can always do something for them, for example, by sharing something on Twitter or talking about it.
In the past months, there have been approximately 300 separate attacks taking place in more than 100 girls’ schools across Iran, elementary, middle, and high schools. The first reported attack took place on November 30th, 2022, in the city of Qom a city that is home to important Shia Muslim shrines and the religious leadership that forms the backbone of the Islamic Republic[i]. Then, on December 13th another attack was reported in the same schools, poisoning 51 schoolgirls and most of the girls were hospitalized. However, authorities dismissed the girl’s symptoms as stress, excitement, and mental contagion. But when asked, they answered that they sensed a unusual gas smell in school leading to shortness of breath, numbness, pain in the legs, and difficulty in walking. This led to an increase in the gravity of the matter. The attacks are being clearly directed at girls which is damaging to their human right to education and health safety.
In addition to the problem, there is a lack of transparency about the tests that were made on the girls which don’t allow more investigation and clarity over the causes of poisoning. When asked about the results, authorities refused to release the toxicology results citing respiratory viral disease and kidney disease as causes of death. [ii]
One of the girls was an 11-year-old girl that died citing respiratory viral disease and kidney disease as causes of death. There has been a lot of controversy about this due to the pattern that the Iranian authorities are covering the issue and pressuring families to release certain press information. Amnesty International received information from a medical doctor inside Iran that the Ministry of Health has issued a protocol to medical centers in the country ordering medical staff to attribute symptoms suffered by schoolgirls from the chemical gas attacks to “stress”[iii]. In this case, the authorities have already arrested an Iranian journalist that reported poisonings.
Another factor is that in the past months, the clerical establishment has been challenged by mass protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini a Kurdish woman who was detained for not wearing her headscarf, this created social anger especially in schoolgirls when it started circulating in social media videos of girls taking off their headscarves and singing anti-establishment slogans. “It became evident that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed down,” the deputy health minister said on Sunday.[iv]
The available information only indicates the possibility of criminal acts directed at girls’ schools in those regions. As the attacks are being directly targeted to them, by using chemicals that are publicly available.
The failure of the administration not only in stopping the causes of the poisonings but also in providing information to the families and citizens has led to increasing public criticism and protests mainly organized by teachers’ unions. Some of these protests were stopped through physical violence including pepper spray and tear gas by the security forces. Some of these attacks were done to mothers that protested outside the schools. There have also been arrests of professors after the attack of March 8th.
We can conclude that the authorities’ opinions and roles have been ambiguous, showing their incapacity to defend the rights of the girls and not being able to clearly divide the political and social situation that Iran is facing with the lives of hundreds of innocent girls.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, known as well as North Korea, is one of the most oppressive systems in the world. It is a dictatorship with a bad track record in respecting human rights, access to education included. An important aspect to remember is that the country’s regime stems from the Juche [1]ideology, which has at its center auto sufficiency and lack of communication with the external world. Therefore, the amount of data on the actual actions of the government in DPRK is limited, impacting the quantity of information in this article. The following testimony, of one of the survivors of the regime that imposes child labor, suggestively portrays the everyday fight of North Korean citizens:
“There were also soldiers who worked with us as well. They made us work harder. They could start their work only after we finished our tasks, so they made us hurry. When boys got angry and acted impolitely to the soldiers, they were beat up.” – Koo Dong-Su [2]
North Korean school system has three stages: Elementary and Middle and High School[3]. At least in theory, North Korea has a series of internal documents that should ensure children are protected. One of them is the North Korean Children’s Rights Protection Act (2010), which supposedly prioritizes the well-being and happiness of children. Furthermore, the state`s constitution promotes free education[4]. However, from the reports created by various organizations, one thing is clear: there is a very problematic infringement of human rights on the North Korean people, and the field of education is included. As one would expect, problems in North Korea regarding access to education are vaster and more internalized than in other countries. Problems include severe breaches of human rights, such as child labor.
As previously stated, North Korea is a dictatorship, in which human rights are not the regime`s priority. Unsurprisingly, because of its policy of self-sufficiency, the state is not a member of various treaties meant to protect citizens. While signing a treaty does not guarantee the respect of the clauses, it portrays the willingness of the people in power to at least account for international norms. A proliferation of treaties concerning children’s rights took place in the 20th century, with documents that highlight the importance of education for the fruitful development of youngsters.
North Korea is heavily criticized for its refusal to sign documents that, at least in the eyes of international law, would prevent the regime from infringing human rights. The regime still insists that resolutions of the UN are just the product of the policy of “hostile” Member States [5](2023 report).
In the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, under the UN Period Cycle Review, various organizations and international bodies urge North Korea to accede to various legal documents[6]. A relevant request in the context of education rights comes from the Committee on the Rights of the Child. They recommend the State ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Family. Furthermore, UNESCO encourages the state to ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education and to seek the support of UNESCO in implementing it. The names of these conventions might be overwhelming, but they were stated here to portray how far behind North Korea is situated in the talk of respecting the right to access education. While other states might try to improve their curricula or implement technology in the learning process, North Korea first has to ensure it can provide basic access to education, without discrimination.
Access to education
This photo shows daily life for students in Pyongyang. Photo by (stephan)
The population of North Korea is divided into different social statuses based on their affiliation with the government[7]. This has implications not only for the standard of living of citizens but also for the access to education of children. Children from lower-status families are sometimes forced to pay informal school fees. They live as well in areas that lack educational infrastructure. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has information, although limited, on the situation of children from remote areas[8]. A massive problem is the lack of educational facilities, schools in certain areas not being fully functional, therefore causing drop-out rates. Furthermore, the dire situation of the common North Korean, where basic survival becomes a privilege, puts children in a situation in which they have to work in order to support their families (report 2019).
The Committee on the Rights of the Children urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to implement comprehensive measures to develop inclusive education, regardless of social class[9]. However, this recommendation, which promotes educational reform, could be hard to implement in such a closed state, with a regime that refuses any outside help in improving the quality of its educational system. Furthermore, UNESCO recommends the implementation of legislation that prohibits work for minors, in order to ensure children get to develop properly. Unfortunately, the non-binding character of these recommendations makes their chance of success less realistic.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on most countries around the world and the standard of living of the majority of people in North Korea is considered to have become particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, not only because of the disease but also of the strict closing of borders[10]. Food scarcity increased throughout the country. The lack of access to basic resources pushed children to work in order to be able to survive. As explained in the previous section, the problems in North Korea are much deeper than in many other areas of the world, due to the looming threat of starvation. While this has been present for many years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the strong regulations caused by it intensified the ongoing trend of minors being forced by circumstances to do labor.
Students leaving their school. Photo by Matt Paish.
Child labor
As presented above, children throughout North Korea need to work to achieve basic sustenance. However, the problem of child labor is much more institutionalized than one would hope, despite the fact that according to the North Korean constitution child labor is forbidden[11]. Educational institutions mobilize children for seasonal work that is unpaid and mandatory. One of the programs is “Agricultural Labour Support”, in which children go to work on local farms partnered with their schools. The North Korean economy is primarily based on agriculture, with almost no trade, which leads to a strong need for cheap labor. One of the so-called solutions found by the regime is the use of students for agricultural work. Besides the mobilization done by the state, a PSCORE report states schools themselves send independent students to work, in order to be able to finance the school. The North Korean government tries to excuse this blatant display of child labor with the pretense of instilling a work ethic in pupils. Children from rural areas are the ones that usually physically contribute to farm production.
Another widespread form of forced labor is the “Long-term Agricultural Labor Support”[12]. Children do not just perform activities after school, but they have to remain within the perimeter of the farm for a certain amount of time, usually a couple of months during the harvesting season, to contribute to the state`s production. This is implemented regardless of the area of the country the child comes from, meaning that even children that study in cities need to go to a distant farm to perform agricultural labor.
A significant issue of this practice is that it is not only mentally and physically draining, but it can lead to severe injuries. The PSCORE report states that despite the North Korean Constitution, which promises access to free health care, injured children during agricultural work do not receive any medical treatment whatsoever[13].
Furthermore, children receive corporal punishments if they do not comply with their obligations[14]. In theory, North Korea`s Children’s Rights Protection Act of 2010 prohibits the physical punishment of children. Unfortunately, the reality is different. Students get harmed by their own teachers during the labor programs supported by the school. An institution that is supposed to be a safe environment, in which children can grow, becomes in North Korea a place of psychological and physical harm, in which everything is in the name of the regime.
This situation goes against well-established treaties, such as the International Labor Organisation Conventions on Child Labor. Both Convention No.138 on Minimum Age and Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour prohibit the forcing of children to do manual labor[15]. However, North Korea is not a member of the International Labor Organisation or a signatory of its conventions, which makes it impossible to hold the state accountable in the face of international law. Nevertheless, the widespread practice of child labor in the country should be criticized as heavily as possible, given the repercussions on the well-being of youngsters and the impairment of their educational formation.
The politicization of the school curricula
Even when children can attend classes, despite the obstacles presented above, the undemocratic character of the regime creates issues in terms of the subjects approached in school. An authoritarian state needs to derive its legitimacy from the support of the people, something done through various mechanisms, such as coercion. In North Korea, the cult of personality is a method of creating legitimacy for the regime. This has direct implications for the quality of education. The school curricula become a political instrument, children being taught more about the so-called greatness of their leader, than quality information. All schools demand students to be part of different organizations under the authority of the Youth League[16]. The main aim of the Youth League is to offer ideological education, a process through which children are supposed to be indoctrinated from a young age to become supporters of the regime. Obviously, these organizations are supposed to respect the desires of the party, whose main aim is the mobilization of the population.
Conclusion
Despite the limited information on what happens inside its borders, it is clear that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea violates basic human rights. Amongst them, we can count education, which is probably one of the most forgotten areas in the country. Due to the scarcity of food and water, children are forced to contribute to sustaining the family. Even when children are able to attend school, they are used for free labor and shaped into becoming avid supporters of a regime that prevents them from reaching their full potential. Unfortunately, at the moment the problem of North Korea seems to be an unsolvable one.
References
Human Rights Council Fifty-second session Agenda items 2 and 4 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Promoting accountability in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. (2023).
Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-third session Compilation on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights I. Background II. Scope of international obligations and cooperation with international human rights mechanisms and bodies. (2019).
Hyo-Kyung, L., Heidi Hee-Kyung, C., & Young-Il, K. (2018). Unending Toil: Child Labor within North Korea (pp. 1-311, Rep.) (N. Bada, Ed.). Seoul, Republic of Korea: Y People for Successful COrean REunification.
[5]Human Rights Council Fifty-Second Session Agenda Items 2 and 4 Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human Rights Situations That Require the Council’s Attention Promoting Accountability in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
[6] (Human Rights Council Fifty-Second Session Agenda Items 2 and 4 Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human Rights Situations That Require the Council’s Attention Promoting Accountability in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
[7] (Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-Third Session Compilation on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights I. Background II. Scope of International Obligations and Cooperation with International Human Rights Mechanisms and Bodies)
[8] (Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-Third Session Compilation on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights I. Background II. Scope of International Obligations and Cooperation with International Human Rights Mechanisms and Bodies)
[9] (Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-Third Session Compilation on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights I. Background II. Scope of International Obligations and Cooperation with International Human Rights Mechanisms and Bodies)
[10]Human Rights Council Fifty-Second Session Agenda Items 2 and 4 Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Human Rights Situations That Require the Council’s Attention Promoting Accountability in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Every individual has a right to education as it is the cornerstone of human progress. The ancient Greeks, who created the notion paideia, namely the holistic formation of the pais (young man) and the Romans, who eventually translated it into humanitas, were already aware of its significance. In fact, Cicero himself clarified the content of the latter concept by drawing a fundamental connection between the passion for knowledge and the elevation of human nature (Nybakken, O. E., 1939).
Throughout the centuries, the right to education underwent a number of changes before landing at its current formulation in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Modern society has now recognized its universal, accessible, and mandatory nature, at least in its early phases, and this is of fundamental importance when contextualized in contemporary culture.
Brief history of the Saudi education system
Saudi students study in the Prince Salman Library at the King Saud University in Riyadh. Photo by Tribes of the World.
Saudi Arabia, as outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030 growth plan, has recognized this relevance and has been at the forefront among MENA countries in the field of education.
To be able to understand this plan of innovation, it is necessary to outline at least the most general features of the historical and political background.
The three identity lines constituting the core of Saudi society are Islam, tribalism, and oil trade (Ochsenwald, W. L., 2019). As far as education is concerned, of the three the most interesting element is certainly the religious one: Saudi Arabia is an Islam Sunnite theocratic state whose citizenship can only be obtained by professors of the Muslim religion (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior Ministerial Agency of Civil Affairs, 1954).
The greatest support of such a close link between religion and State is surely the educational system, which since the seventh century has been articulated in various institutions related to the religious sphere. The most prominent examples are the kataatiib, elementary schools where young Saudis are taught the principles of the Quran (Esposito, John L., ed., 2003). Over the centuries, particularly under Ottoman rule, schools and teaching methods underwent numerous changes, culminating in modern times in a radical centralization of the system, presided over by the Governmental Directorate of Education (Rugh, W. A., 2002).
Oil business revenues played a key role in financing government educational projects. Particularly, in the late 1970s’ the State championed a series of development plans resulting in the extraordinary increase in school enrollment by 192% at the elementary level, 375% at the intermediate level, and 712% at the secondary level (Anon, 2020).
Now, in the context of Saudi Vision 2030, the education sector is being swept up in a new wave of investment aimed at equipping Saudi students with the tools they need to tackle “the jobs of the future” (Vision 2030, 2022). In concrete terms, the considerable public spending (17.5 percent SAR 1.1 trillion in 2019) has resulted in the construction of 719 new schools and in a substantial school staff re-training program (KSA budget report, 2018).
The entire modernization process has thus culminated in the establishment of a system that nowadays looks like this: the country is equipped with an extensive network of public education centers segregated by gender and divided into three basic levels, elementary (six years), intermediate (three years) and secondary (three years) (Barry, A., 2019).
Accessibility
In terms of accessibility, the system can be said to be quite advanced: looking at the three regions with the lowest human development index in the country (0.855 HDI), namely Sourth Narjiran, Asir and Jizan it can be noted that the ratio schools – population is even more favorable than in the Riyadh province, the most prosperous in the country (Subnational HDI, 2023).
In fact, while the southern provinces have about 1 school for every 600 citizens residing in the territory, the populous capital region, although home to 38.9 % of Saudi educational institutions, has a value of 1 to 1392 in terms of school-citizen ratio (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).
Another determinant factor of accessibility is affordability: government schools are free for the entire population. However, the presence of numerous international private schools and the renown associated with them risks undermining equality in achieving the best schooling, on the basis of economic discrimination (Anon, 2020). However, it is pointed out that the public system, by virtue of the aforementioned centralization, is the most frequented by the population and therefore this constitutes a minor problem (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).
Overall, the Saudi education system can be said to enjoy good accessibility, as evidenced by the growth of the student population by more than 6 percentage points in just four years (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).
For economically disadvantaged students
However, formal equity does not necessarily correspond to substantive equity: while on paper the school system is equally accessible to all citizens from all income brackets, studies show that, in essence, students from economically disadvantaged families do not enjoy the same privileges.
Data report that the percentage of students under the age of fifteen coming from disadvantaged economic backgrounds who repeated an academic year amounts to 24.2 percent, compared with an average of 20.3% reported in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
In contrast, economically privileged students who found themselves having to repeat a year of their course of study amounted to only 3.3%, compared with 5.0% recorded in OECD countries.
These data highlight how the range of inequality regarding educational opportunities is eminently wide in KSA, where 20.9 percentage points divide disadvantaged students from privileged ones (compared with an average of 15.3 percent in OECD countries).
Other relevant indicators concern the student-teacher ratio among students in either socio- economically disadvantaged or advantaged schools. Here, too, the measured disparity rates are worryingly high when compared to the OECD average and motivate the poor performance of disadvantaged students in both mathematics and the humanities (Education GPS, 2018).
In light of the above, it is clear that the Kingdom still needs to take many steps to succeed in smoothing out the aforementioned differences so that every individual can fully enjoy his or her right to education.
For women
Another peculiarity to be taken into consideration is gender segregation, which in itself is not an obstacle to the use of educational services but may in some cases be a pretext for degrading education addressed to a gender, often the female one. Yet the data speak for themselves: in Saudi Arabia, female students follow the same curricular program and put to the test they outperform male students in all areas surveyed, including math, science, and curriculum subjects (Abdourahmane , B, 2021).
Such a result seems to support the hypothesis that, particularly in the MENA area, the division between males and females allows the latter to emancipate themselves more easily and express their intellectual qualities free from the social pressures related to the male-female relationship (Eisenkopf, Hessami, Fischbacher, & Ursprung, 2015).
The choice of curriculum subjects is a perfect example of this: in an all-female school it was found that female students felt more comfortable choosing science-oriented subjects, even though usually perceived as “boy stuff” (Sanford, K., & Blair, H., 2013).
In view of this, it can be inferred that the gender segregation system is not a detriment to the education of young Saudi women, quite the contrary.
Additionally, enrollment rates in primary and secondary educational institutions are reported to be almost the same for men and women (Abdourahmane , B, 2021) and in 2018, 66 percent of natural science, mathematics and statistics graduates were women (OECD, 2019).
However, the real issue for a Saudi woman arises once she completes her studies. The unemployment rate for women stands at 21.5 percent, compared to 3.5 percent for men (World Bank Data, 2013). As reported by the OECD women are still less likely to work despite improving gender equality in tertiary attainment levels due to the “regulatory barriers of a conservative society,” combined with endemic discrimination against women and a gendered educational system (Alfarran, A., Pyke, J., & Stanton, P., 2018). The latter, while it does not prevent women from obtaining an adequate education, it does in part prevent them from employing the knowledge they have acquired in the labor market.
In this respect, the data on the accessibility of the educational system for women should be read in conjunction with that on the labor market, so as to have a more complete picture of its critical points.
Saudi Ambassador Visits His Children at ASIS. Photo by Lwi932.
Quality
One of the methods used to assess the quality of a school system is to conceive it as a production system divided into inputs and outputs.
By inputs we mean the stimuli provided to students through curricular programs, methods, staff, and teaching materials, while outputs are student performances, not only in terms of academics, but also participation and long-term impact on society wise (OECD, 2000).
Looking at the case of the KSA, the first critical issue related to inputs provided by the system concerns schools whose principal reported that the school’s capacity to provide instruction is hindered to some extent or a lot by a lack of educational material, which amount to 44.4 percent against an average of 28.4 percent in OECD countries.
A similar figure is found in relation to the lack of teaching staff: 49.5 %of schools complain of such a shortage, compared with an average of 27.1% in OECD countries.
These shortcomes result in relatively lower academic outcomes than the OECD metric. Saudi students scored on average 100 points lower than their OECD peers in tests on reading, mathematics and science. However, it is indicated by PISA that the average for OECD countries amounts to 500, with values ranging from 400 to 600. Therefore, it can be said that KSA falls within a good range of achievement.
Based on the above, it can be concluded that in general the Saudi system, although not without critical issues, boasts an adequate overall quality resulting in fairly good academic preparation and cultural training of students.
In conclusion, Saudi Arabia has faced many challenges in the education sector in recent decades. However, the government has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving the quality of education and providing educational opportunities for its citizens. The expansion of public schools and the establishment of new universities are just some of the positive steps taken by the country. Despite this, there are still some issues to be resolved, such as gender inequality and the need to develop a more equal educational system in terms of economic opportunities. This is why it is necessary for government authorities to give absolute priority to the issue: education is a basic human right, and only through quality, inclusive and equitable education Saudi society will progress and prosper.
Bibliography
Nybakken, O. E. (1939, January). Humanitas romana. In Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association (Vol. 70, pp. 396- 413). Johns Hopkins University Press, American Philological Association.
Marx, K. (2005). Grundrisse: Foundations of the critique of political economy. Penguin UK.
McMahon, W. W. (2000). Education and development: Measuring the social benefits. Clarendon Press.
Barry, A. (2019). Gender Differences in Academic Achievement in Saudi Arabia: A Wake-Up Call to Educational Leaders. International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, 15(15). https://doi.org/10.22230/ijepl.2019v15n15a890
Eisenkopf, G., Hessami, Z., Fischbacher, U., & Ursprung, H. W. (2015). Academic performance and single-sex schooling: Evidence from a natural experiment in Switzerland. Journal of economic behavior & organization, 115, 123-143.
Sanford, K., & Blair, H. (2013). Engendering public education: Single-sex schooling in western Canada. In Gender in Policy and Practice (pp. 96-114). Routledge.
Alfarran, A., Pyke, J., & Stanton, P. (2018). Institutional barriers to women’s employment in Saudi Arabia. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal.
Broken Chalk is an Amsterdam-based non-profit human rights organisation focusing on the global development of human rights and education. By submitting this report, Broken Chalk hopes to contribute to the 44th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and further the efforts made by the Republic of Azerbaijan to structure its education sector continually and positively.
In its third UPR cycle, the Republic of Azerbaijan received 19 human rights and education recommendations from 15 reviewing countries. Azerbaijan had diligently received and responded to some suggestions in its follow-up mid-term report of the 2018 UPR.
Obstacles to education still exist in Azerbaijan with the surfacing of COVID-19 challenges worldwide. According to national statistics, education in Azerbaijan needs more inclusivity and non-discrimination policies.
Over the past five years, from 2015 to the present, the expenditure on Education varied between 8.1 to 9.1 AZN. As of 2021, state expenditure is at 8.29% of GDP. [i] This figure is higher than in 2013 and 2014, at 7.5% and 8.3%, respectively.[ii]
Broken Chalk drafted this report to contribute to Bangladesh’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Since Broken Chalk is specifically concerned with human rights and inequalities in education, this report focuses on human rights, particularly in the education field of Bangladesh.
This report first explores the main issues in education in Bangladesh while also reflecting on the recommendations Bangladesh received in the last review and its progress since 2018. Then, Broken Chalk offers some practical suggestions to Bangladesh on further improving human rights in education.
In the last review, Bangladesh received 251 recommendations and accepted 178. 11% of the recommendations focused on reducing inequalities, 17% on gender equality and 7% on reducing poverty, all interconnected with education.
High-quality, accessible and inclusive education is essential for a country’s long-term sustainable development. Education shapes the people of future society, helps integrate minorities and foreigners, and enables innovation and growth. According to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative, Bangladesh is doing 82.5% of what it could do with its national income to ensure the right to education[1]. Although this score is relatively high, it still illustrates the gap between actual and feasible states regarding education.
The Russian Federation has provided free state education since its formation in 1991. The Ministry of Education and Science centrally regulates education, while regional authorities may regulate and control education within their competencies and the helpful framework of federal law.
In recThe Russian Federation has shown significant progress in early childhood education rates in recent years. Enrolment of 3–5-year-olds has increased from 53% in 2005 to 83% in 2017, only slightly below the OECD average of 87% in 2017 (although there are still regional inequalities among enrolment rates). [i] 99% of children in early childhood education attend a public institution.
It is also impressive that 95% of adults between 25 and 64 have completed upper secondary education, well above the OECD average of 79%. [ii]
Broken Chalk is pleased to note that the share of people with tertiary education in the Russian Federation is among the highest among the OECD countries: 63% of 25–34-year-olds, compared to an OECD average of 44%.[iii] Moreover, in 2018, 63% of young adults aged 25-34 in the Russian Federation had completed tertiary education, the second highest rate after South Korea and significantly higher than the OECD average of 44%.[iv]
Despite all the improvements, the country’s educational sector does show severe issues. Problems often relate to regional inequalities, socioeconomic inequalities, and discrimination based on ethnicity.
The Russian Federation still spends one of the lowest amounts per student (USD 8 4791 in 2016) among the OECD countries: merely half the amount of the OECD average (USD 15 556).[v] Despite this, Russian students score 481 points in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, just below the OECD average of 488 issues in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). [vi]
As the Russian Federation ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, the state must commit to carrying out its duties and obligations, including the insurance of free compulsory education and equal opportunity for all children. Broken Chalk urges the Russian Federation to address all issues which prevent the realisation of the rights set out in the Convention.
In Uzbekistan, almost 60% of the population is covered under the education system. In 1992, a policy decision was made, providing that education is mandatory for at least nine years for both men and women. After the required nine years, there is a compulsory two years of studying for 10th and 11th grades and attendance to the vocational institution. After attendance and graduation from secondary education, students are expected and allowed to join higher education institutes for their bachelor’s, master and even doctoral degrees.
Public and private education
Public schooling in Uzbekistan is inconvenient because of the language barrier; for instance, most of their population is taught in Uzbek; hence, most school curricula are in Russian, the second most spoken language. No public schools teach in English, therefore inconveniencing most families who primarily understand English.
Private schools in Uzbekistan have been legalised recently. The government started issuing incentives before 2017. With this, there is a growth in private education in Uzbekistan. Through the active development of private schools, an improved record of highly performing students has been observed through their persistent curriculum. English as a language has advanced through private schools as these schools teach in their preferred language. International schools have been embraced in Uzbekistan, which is regarded as very expensive.
Broken Chalk drafted this report to contribute to Turkmenistan’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Broken Chalk is an organisation that fights against violations of Human Rights and improves the quality of Education around the globe. This report will discuss the main challenges Turkmenistan faces regarding Education and what those issues could be enhanced through Finally, Broken Chalk will offer some recommendations for Turkmenistan in the field of Education based on the problems raised.
In the 2018 review, the Turkmenistan side supported 74 out of the 90 recommendations. Overall, Turkmenistan accepted 172 submissions, representing 90% of the total.[1] Those were related to the legal and general framework of implementation, universal and crosscutting issues, civil and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, women’s rights, and rights of other vulnerable groups and persons.
Turkmenistan has stated that efforts to guarantee the most comprehensive coverage and highest possible quality of education at all levels have been intensified. In that line, the share of total government expenditure increased a 3.01% per cent in 2019, concerning 2012. Twenty-three per cent of the government budget is addressed to Education[2]. This is a relatively high figure compared to other European Countries, such as Germany, Spain, Italy, and France[3].
Accordingly, completion rates are generally high for all school levels. Turkmenistan has a 100 per cent of completion rate of primary education, and lower and upper secondary education completion rates remain high. In line, the out-of-school rates remain quiet at all levels of education. Despite this, improvements are still being made, especially in the fields of Education and inclusion and accessibility to equal resources.
Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of any country.[1] As a developing country, Pakistan has faced many critical problems when it comes to education and has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children (OOSC). There are various factors responsible for the educational situation in Pakistan. This article explores some of the challenges that Pakistan faces when it comes to the educational sector.
The Pakistani educational system
The Pakistani educational system exists of public schools, private schools and madrassas. Madrassas are working as Islamic Seminaries; they are imparting Islamic education at graduation level and are often found in more rural areas of Pakistan. These different institutions all have different mediums of teaching, curricula, and also examination systems. This is a barrier in the countries education sector, because it has become a dividing force between the privileged and underprivileged people in the society, leading to economic disparity.[2]
Across all levels of education, the public sector remains the main provider for educational services in Pakistan. Except for the pre-primary level, total enrollment in public schools is almost double compared to private schools.[3] The majority of public schools in Pakistan are primary schools; only 20% are middle and secondary schools. Limited and uneven school access is one of the most daunting challenges for augmenting school enrollment and completion.
Image 1
As can be seen from Image 1, The United Nations Development Program mentioned that in 2020, 64% of the Pakistani youth lived in urban areas and 26% in rural areas. 70% of the Pakistani youth was literate, while 30% was illiterate in 2020. Furthermore, 39% of the youth was employed, while the majority (61%) was unemployed and only 4% looking for a job. Another issue is the access to internet. Only 15% of the youth had access to internet in 2020, while 85% did not. 48% of the youth did not even have a mobile phone. The latter was a huge issue during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan.
Another important issue is that of gender disparity. Throughout Pakistan’s educational system, there is a gender disparity between males and females. According to the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, Pakistan was ranked the second worst country in the world regarding gender inequality.[4] This is of most concern in more rural areas where access to education for girls is limited.
Out-of-school children (OOSC) and literacy rates
Another major problem that Pakistan faces is that it has one of the world highest numbers of OOSC. Estimated is that 22.8 million children between the age of 5-16 are not attending school; representing 44 per cent of the total population in this age group.[5] The disparities based on gender, socio-economic status and geography are significant. In Sindh for example, 52 per cent of the poorest children (of which 58 per cent are girls) are out of school. The figures are even higher in Balochistan, where 78 per cent of girls are out of school.[6]
Image 2.
On image 2, one can see the different stages of education; the number of children enrolled in the type of education and the number of out-of-school children in that stage.
The socio-economic disparities in Pakistan do not only exist between rural an urban regions, but also between the different provinces in Pakistan. This has an impact on educational outcomes, including gaps in access to education and overall education attainment. A good example is the literacy rate in Pakistan. In the bigger cities, such as Lahore and Islamabad and Karachi, the literacy rates are almost 75%. On the other hand, we have the tribal regions in Balochistan (Pakistan’s poorest and largest province) where the literacy rates can be as low as 9%.[7]
Quality of education
According to a report of UNESCO, the quality of educational institutions and teachers in Pakistan is very low. In remote parts of Pakistan, the availability of teachers is drastically lower.[8] There are also a lot of so called ‘ghost teachers’ that sap public payrolls by not showing up for work. While most of these problems are worse at the elementary level, where most of Pakistan’s students are enrolled, they have ripple effects for the entire education system and depress enrollment rates at all levels.
Furthermore, teachers are often not provided with the necessary equipment’s and training for the knowledge and skills. The main reason is the poor management, lack of finding and improper training standards. In addition to this, the curriculum is often outdated, resulting in a major lack of professional development.
Most students in Pakistan attend public schools. Public schools often do not contribute to a positive learning environment. The classrooms tend to be overcrowded, the electricity and air conditioning is not always working, insufficient use of playgrounds and libraries and most schools do not have commuting systems in place, which exacerbated female drop-out rates. Long home- to-school distances and poor transportation and communication facilities are among the important causes of dropout at the primary level in Pakistan. Poor children, especially girls who are not allowed to travel long distances alone, suffer the most as commuting costs and time increase.
In an interview with TCM Originals, Tariq Banury (a Pakistani educationist, professor and economist), opens up about the current struggles of the Pakistani educational system. He explains that a lot of students, after finishing their degree, do not have the basic skills they should possess. He blames the process in which professors are hired and the outdated curriculum. He continues to explain that professors and curriculum should not stand still, but should evolve with time and science available.[9]
Another major issue is the government’s annual spending on the educational field. Most of the United Nation’s agencies recommend countries to spend a minimum expenditure of 4% on education. Pakistan had only spent 1,77% of GDP on education in 2021-2022. In recent years, the highest percentage of GDP Pakistan has spent on education was in 2017-18, when education expenditures were raised to 2.12%. The usual argument given for lack of spending on education has always been and still is that Pakistan does not have the resources to increase the level of spending on the educational field.[10]
The effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 Pandemic also had its effect on Pakistan and its educational system. Because of COVID-19, Pakistan had to consider using online classes. However, many students, especially in rural areas, do not and did not have access to the Internet. Students who are on the lower ladder of the economical circle and students who live in rural areas had been greatly disadvantaged by this new learning method. Many students did not have access to a laptop or even internet. This has greatly impacted the lives of many students in Pakistan, who therefore could not access their education online.[11] This has also resulted in high drop-out rates across the various levels of education in Pakistan.[12]
Low-income families have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. High rates of poverty have put more burden on adolescent girls to stay at home to reduce schooling costs. Coupled with household chores and early marriage, many may never return to the classrooms.[13] Pakistan was already struggling with high illiteracy rates, the Pandemic has made this situation even worse and has affected the learning of approximately 40 million students across Pakistan.[14]
Conclusion
Pakistan’s educational system has improved over the years, but still tends to rely too heavily on outdated teaching and examination methods. While great strides have been made in improving literacy and participation rates, the education system remains largely elitist with access to the best educational opportunities available only to the more affluent or well-connected students. Furthermore, the COVID-19 Pandemic has had a great impact on the lives of many students who could not access education at the time and increased the drop-out rates across all educational levels in Pakistan. Additionally, Pakistan does not spend the suggested minimum amount of 4% of GDP on education, the percentage is not even half of the suggested amount by the United Nations Bodies. Pakistan does have the intention to increase its annually spending on the educational field. Is this a feasible goal? Only time can tell. In the meantime, many students will still struggle to access the educational system of Pakistan.
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