Educational Challenges in Bangladesh: Consequences and Future Trends of Child Labor

Written by By Anna Kordesch

Women working at a garment factory – Image by Maruf Rahman from Pixabay

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).

Visiting Subornogram’s school for the Dalit Cobbler children. Matthew Becker, 2012 Peace Fellow, Subornogram Foundation, Sonargaon, Bangladesh

Current Educational Picture

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.

References

UNESCO. 2009. “Governance and Education Inequality in Bangladesh.” Accessed April 16, 2023. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000180086/PDF/180086eng.pdf.multi#.

UNICEF. 2021. “The future of 37 million children in Bangladesh is at risk with their education severely affected by the COVID-10 pandemic.” Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/press-releases/future-37-million-children-bangladesh-risk-their-education-severely-affected-covid.

UNICEF. n.d. “The Challenge.” Accessed April 2023. https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/education.

Global People Strategist. 2021. “Facts About Child Labor in Bangladesh.” Accessed April 13 2023. https://www.globalpeoplestrategist.com/title-facts-about-child-labor-in-bangladesh/.

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.

Dhaka Tribune. 2022. “Report: 35m Bangladeshis still live below poverty line.” Accessed April 13, 2023. https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2023/01/22/report-35m-bangladeshis-still-live-below-poverty-line.

World Bank. 2023. “Poverty & Equity Brief.” Accessed April 10, 2023. https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/poverty/987B9C90-CB9F-4D93-AE8C-750588BF00QA/current/Global_POVEQ_BGD.pdf.

Bureau of International Labor Reports. 2021. “Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports.” Accessed April 10, 2023. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/bangladesh.

UNICEF. 2019. “Bangladesh Education Fact Sheets 2020.” Accessed April 13, 2023. file:///Users/annakordesch/Downloads/Bangladesh-Education-Fact-Sheets_V7%20(1).pdf.

World Bank. 2018. “National Education Profile.” Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC_NEP_2018_Bangladesh.pdf.

Anna Kordesch

Anna Kordesch

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.

Challenges facing the Education system in Mali

Written by Ruth Lakica

 

Introduction

Education is a fundamental right for all humans around the globe. Regardless of one’s economic or social status, they should be able to have access to Education. Even though this seems obvious and like common knowledge, it is not the reality for many Malians. Nevertheless, the government has and is making significant efforts to cab illiteracy.  For instance, the government split primary education into two cycles which allowed Malian students to take examinations to gain admission to secondary, tertiary, or higher education.  However, Mali has still been facing a security crisis for several years now, which has severely compromised access to education for thousands of school-age children, particularly in the north.

Threats against schools and destruction of school infrastructure and equipment led to a shortage of teachers in affected areas and a breakdown in the pedagogical support system due to massive population displacements[i].

 

School children in a classroom in Gao, Mali – Photo by UN/Marco Dormino

Conflicts and insecurity

The country is increasingly recording serious human rights and international humanitarian law violations. Violent attacks by armed groups now affect civilians throughout most of the country.

Threats from armed groups remain the main factor behind the closure of 1,700 schools in Mali today[ii]. Over the past two years, the country has been among the three African countries whose schools are most attacked, along with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA).

In addition to insecurity, emergency education in conflict zones is severely underfunded. Since the beginning of the year 2022, 1 in 10 schools in Mali has remained closed due to a lack of infrastructure and school equipment. Mali’s national budget cannot cover the needs and education is one of the least funded sectors in the humanitarian response, accounting for only 2 percent of funds received in 2022.

For schools in conflict areas that are struggling to stay open, having funding to build and rehabilitate school infrastructure is vital. According to the Norwegian Refugee council article about the insecurity in Mali, “In some schools in the region, a single classroom can often accommodate up to 300 children due to a lack of infrastructure,” said Ibrahim Ag Bijangoum, Acting Director of the Ménaka Education Academy. It is impossible for school-going pupils and students to have a taste for learning in such a condition.

Household poverty

Access to and completion of schooling is inequitable, with girls and children from the poorest families at highest risk of school dropout: According to UNICEF in 2020, only 73.8 percent of girls are enrolled in primary basic education, compared with 85.8 percent of boys. By the time they reach secondary education, the proportion of girls enrolled is only 15 percent, compared with 21 percent of boys.[iii]

Among children that do attend school in Mali, the absence of qualified teachers, textbooks, and low-quality school environments all adversely affect learning outcomes: most students in fifth grade in Mali are not able to master basic mathematics and reading skills.

A classroom full of students engage in class and look toward the teacher while seated at their desks
Credit: GPE/Michelle Mesen

Impact of Covid-19

The school closures and the loss of household income, particularly in rural areas, restricted access to education for school-aged children. Many students abandoned school permanently due to their parent’s loss of income. Girls did not reintegrate back into schools and were exposed to early marriage and pregnancies. According to the world bank, in Bamako August 2021, a senior poverty economist at the World Bank and co-author of the report, who adds that school-aged children today are likely to experience lower lifetime income due to the pandemic[iv].

Water, sanitation, and hygiene

Access to safe and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene protects children against common water-borne diseases such as diarrhea and reduces stunting, which affects more than 26% of children in Mali.

According to UNICEF in 2015, in Mali, only about one-half of schools have an improved water point, and less than 20% of schools have functional, separate toilets for boys and girls. In addition, more than one million people in Mali still practice open defecation, which has a direct impact on the health and safety of communities. While 80% of Mali’s population now has access to improved sources of drinking water, this number drops significantly in rural areas, where it is only 70%[v]. Displacement in conflict-affected areas of Mali has further limited the access of families on the move to clean water and sanitation.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite the challenges facing the education system in Mali, the government of Mali and other organizations have been working hard to improve education. UNICEF in Mali and other partners have been working in communities, schools, and health centers to improve access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation in all areas of children’s lives.

According to European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, the EU has provided more than €472 million in humanitarian aid in Mali since the beginning of the crisis in 2012. It is currently a leading donor of assistance in the country[vi].

[i]Global Partnership for Education. (2021). Education in Mali. Retrieved from: https://www.globalpartnership.org/where-we-work/mali.

[ii]Norwegiann Refugee Council. (2022). Mali: Insecurity and lack of funding force over half a million children out of school.  Retrieved from: https://www.nrc.no/news/2022/june/mali-insecurity-and-lack-of-funding-force-over-half-a-million-children-out-of-school/[iii] UNICEF (2020). Harnessing children’s potential through quality education for every child. Retrieved from:https://www.unicef.org/mali/en/education

[iii] UNICEF (2020). Harnessing children’s potential through quality education for every child. Retrieved from:https://www.unicef.org/mali/en/education

[iv]The World Bank. (2021). Mali: Understand COVID-19’s impacts for better actions. Retrieved from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2021/08/11/mali-understand-covid-19-s-impacts-for-better-actions

[v]UNICEF. (2023) Water, sanitation, and hygiene: Improving children’s lives through clean water and clean environments. Retrieved from: https://www.unicef.org/mali/en/water-sanitation-and-hygiene

[vi]European Commission. (2023). European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations: Mali. Retrieved from: https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/africa/mali_en

Educational Challenges in Chile: A society protesting for change

Written by Ana María Ocampo C.

With research and collaboration from Joan Vilalta Flo.

Students protest in Chile. Photo by Simenon.

Students, teachers, and experts all agree that the education system in Chile needs some deep changes for it to maintain its relevance and traditional position at the top of the region. Some of the pressing challenges include existing segregation, differentiated quality, and high levels of indebtedness, all of which were heightened and highlighted by the pandemic and its effects. But the how and where should be addressed to remain at the center of the heated debates about the topic in the past years.

Some context and background

To understand some of the reasons behind the current challenges and demands, a look into the past proves to be helpful. Back in the 1980s, the Chilean education system underwent a major transformation. To change the regressive and unequal access to education, as well as to promote the creation of more schools and universities to assess the high demand and increase in the number of students, the government redistributed its investments in the area.

The project also included the involvement of the private sector, which would assure better coverage in the entire country, and would offer students and their families more options to choose from. With this approach, private education institutions increased across the country, allowing the wealthiest members of society to access higher-quality education. Despite the original idea of increasing coverage, this privatization of the system proved to deepen the social and economic divides in the country, as education was now “understood as a private investment by the family of the young person”, according to Ruben Covarrubias, former president of the Universidad Mayor in Chile.

Since the economic possibilities of the general population were still a big restriction for some capable students with low income, the estate created a credit system that aimed to assure every Chilean had access to education regardless of their economic situation. Ever since, the system has also increased the number of scholarships and payment agreements, allowing students and recently graduated professionals to pay back their loans in accordance with their income levels.

These profound changes in the system gave Chile a privileged position in the Latin American context. Two decades after the implementation Professor Jose Joaquin Brunner, UNESCO expert in comparative studies of education, acknowledged that “The Chilean population has 11.6 years of schooling, against 9.4 in the rest of Latin America; 28.6 % of people complete at least one year of tertiary education compared to 15.8% in the rest of the region. Among young adults between the ages of 25 and 34, Chile can boast that 41% are professionals, compared with 39% in OECD countries, to which we belong, and less than 20% in Latin America (UNESCO).” And, comparatively speaking, Chile was one of the countries with the highest spending on education relative to the GDP, going above the OECD average.

But the situation for students and families in the country was not as picture-perfect as the numbers showed. In 2011, a student movement emerged with the purpose of taking the demand for a free and high-quality education to the center of the national agenda. The movement’s demands focused on effectively addressing the unequal access and poor quality of education in the country, as well as the indebtedness that lower- and middle-class families were forced into to access higher education.

Protests were constant in the following years, a time when the students’ movement gained strength and organization. In 2014, for instance, a group of its leaders, all under the age of 30, secured spots in Congress, creating a coalition that pushed for some of the most relevant reforms in the area. And last year, in March, one of the leaders of the movement, Gabriel Boric, was elected president of the country. He has promised to keep discussions on reforms to the system among the priorities of his government’s agenda.

Colegio Municipal Marcela Paz, La Florida, Santiago de Chile. Photo by UNESCO/Carolina Jerez

Segregation: two realities that do not meet

When asked about the main challenges that Chilean education faces, experts like Álvaro González Torres, a researcher at the Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, point out at the general social context in the country, where strong demands for “justice, liberties and rights” are still being discussed and demanded. One of those, education, is at the heart of the protests for equality in Chilean’s recent history, including the Constitutional reform that is underway.

“It is not because we have a critical situation, compared to other countries in the South American region; the problem in Chile is beyond educational attainment”. Instead, Mr. González explains, the problem is rooted in the design of a system following a neoliberal approach: “The privatization of public education has been a major obstacle, as well as the flourishing of a cultural environment that strengthens values that are dangerous for democracy: individualism and excessive competitiveness”.

As he describes, the stronger involvement of private capital and the business mindset behind educational institutions has resulted in a segregated system. So, while in the country the coverage of primary and secondary education reaches almost 90% of the corresponding population, once inside the system differences are stark. “Students coming from lower income groups are concentrated in institutions with lower quality, while those students from the wealthiest groups can access better quality education and, in the end, have almost direct access to power”, as Álvaro González describes.

The Research Center for the Socio-educational Transformation, which Mr. González directs, points out that this segregation leads to a reinforcement of “cycles of social and opportunities inequality”, which has also been sustained by a “systemic deficiency”, where resources are not equally distributed amongst the institutions across the country. “Overall, there is an education for the rich and another education for the poor”, Mr. González concludes.

The lingering ghosts of the pandemic

This differentiated reality was made more evident during the pandemic when a large section of the population faced issues with the lack of access to technological tools and internet connectivity, proper spaces, and/or parental accompaniment, not only in rural areas but even in urban centers. Chile was one of the countries in the world where schools were closed the longest, and the effects of these measures have also been seen in the mental and physical health of the students and teachers.

The immediate reaction from the government and the institutions has been focused on promoting a return to schools, reverting the dropout rates, and increasing evaluation processes to measure basic abilities in reading, writing, and math. “For a long time in Chile, we have implemented standardized tests to measure quality of the education, and schools focused their energy on preparing students for these tests. But the pandemic put a halt on these evaluations, and schools and institutions realized that there were other abilities and areas that needed more attention”. As Álvaro González explains, the emotional and psychosocial well-being of students is now a critical point for the design and development of education reforms for the future.

Students protest with a hunger strike. Photo by Hans Peters.

Education for the new century

Students took the streets with an additional demand: the curriculums need to be updated to address the challenges and requirements of the current times. Their claims, as described by the leaders of the students´ movement, criticize the disconnection between the education system and the workplaces of the 21st Century, where they are demanded new abilities that the traditional schooling system falls short of offering.

“A current approach is that of nuclearization of curriculums, where elements like a gender perspective, citizens competencies, critical thinking, or skills for the 21st Century are included ins a transversal way. However, we have seen that not all teachers and educators have the capacities or confidence to take this to their classrooms. We have inherited a system of evaluation of teachers that hinders their innovation since the students’ results reflect on their own evaluation”, Álvaro González explains.

Some reforms, yet not enough

The current government, which has been in power for just over a year, has tried to implement a series of reforms to address both the demands already described and the challenges that came with the pandemic. However, some of these reforms have been a source of controversy.

For instance, as Mr. González explains, a system for admissions, aided by an algorithm, has been introduced to randomly assign students to schools, increasing diversity in the institutions. However, criticism from both ends of the political spectrum has not been absent, and in practice, institutions are failing to provide enough tools to successfully integrate students with lacking or deficient academic backgrounds.

Nonetheless, “The Chilean situation is not as pronounced as in other countries”, says Mr. González, who acknowledges that in the past decade, access to higher education by students in rural areas has increased at the highest rate in the continent. And, in an effort to provide contextualized education for these communities, institutions have developed specialized programs overviewed by the National Ministry of Education to secure their quality.

There are also efforts from both the public and private sectors to improve the conditions of access and permanence of indigenous communities in the country. “These past years we have seen affirmative actions that acknowledge diversity in the students. For instance, there are adapted curricula, particularly a program of intercultural and bilingual education for these communities”, but what Mr. González describes has not proven to be enough. Intercultural approaches also demand the acknowledgment of traditional knowledge as valid. And this is currently an element of debate in the constitutional process in the country, where new ideas about the future of Chile are put on the table.

 

References

  • Interview with Álvaro González Torres, director of the “Centro de investigación para la transformación socieducativa” from the Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez in Chile. Conducted by Joan Vilalta Flo.
  • DeLevie-Orey, R. (2014). Chile’s education system is the best in Latin America – so why is it being overhauled? Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/latamsource/chile-best-education-system/
  • Educación, C. (2020, March 2). Estos son 5 desafíos de la educación chilena en la era digital | Educación 2020. Educación 2020 | Educación 2020 Trabaja Para Asegurar Una Educación De Calidad, Equitativa E Inclusiva Para Los Niños, Niñas Y Jóvenes En Chile, a Través Del Impulso De Políticas Públicas Y La Transformación Desde La Sala De Clases. https://www.educacion2020.cl/noticias/estos-son-5-desafios-de-la-educacion-chilena-en-la-era-digital/
  • Home. (n.d.). https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/27fc15ff-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/27fc15ff-en
  • Los desafíos de la educación en el siglo XXI. (n.d.). https://www.educarchile.cl/los-desafios-de-la-educacion-en-el-siglo-xxi
  • Ministerio de Educación. (2015, November 6). Ministerio De Educación. https://www.mineduc.cl/
  • Montes, R., Montes, R., & Torres, J. (2022, January 22). La generación de la protesta chilena entra en La Moneda por la puerta grande. El País. https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-01-22/la-generacion-estudiantil-chilena-entra-en-la-moneda-por-la-puerta-grande.html
  • Salazar, P. (2022). Siete desafíos en materia educacional que deberá enfrentar el nuevo gobierno. Pontificia Universidad Católica De Chile. https://www.uc.cl/noticias/siete-desafios-en-materia-educacional-que-debera-enfrentar-el-nuevo-gobierno/
  • Staff, R. (2014, May 8). Miles de estudiantes marchan en Chile para presionar a Bachelet por reformas. S. https://www.reuters.com/article/latinoamerica-chile-estudiantes-idLTASIEA4704I20140508
  • Stuardo, G. M. (2021). Entre la emergencia y la transformación: ideas para recuperar la política educacional en Chile. CIPER Chile. https://www.ciperchile.cl/2021/01/04/entre-la-emergencia-y-la-transformacion-ideas-para-recuperar-la-politica-educacional-en-chile/
  • Suarez, P. S. (2023). El sistema escolar chileno. Educación En Chile. https://elplande2020.cl/el-sistema-escolar-chileno/
  • There is a lot that is good about Chilean higher education. (n.d.). University World News. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20131127210704421

Educational Challenges in Italy

Written by: Matilde Ribetti

Photo by Michela Serventi on Unsplash

“Courage… little soldier of the immense army. Your books are your weapons, your class is your squad, the battlefield is the whole earth, and victory is human civilization” (Heart book). This is how de Amicis, author of Cuore, one of the most important works of nineteenth-century Italian literature, approaches the theme of education.

Stripped of the patriotic tone typical of the post-unification period, De Amicis puts down on paper one of the simplest but also most fundamental concepts underlying the educational theme: human civilization.

Culture is one of the founding elements of men’s identity, which is why education is recognized as a fundamental right to be guaranteed to every individual in a universal and unequivocal manner.

This concept is even more relevant when dropped into contemporary society, which places labor at the center of the production-consumption paradigm. Article 1 of the Italian Constitution states that Italy is a democratic republic, founded on labour, which is why, albeit with due reservations, it is interesting to reflect on the Marxian postulate on non-forced labour as a means of liberation.

Labour freed from exploitation is “real freedom”: regardless of the political connotation, a socioeconomic interpretation of this thesis highlights the relevance of education in the contemporary world (Marx, K., 2005). If a sound education, from a pragmatist perspective, is preliminary to obtaining a skilled job, then it can be said to form the basis of an individual’s economic independence and thus personal freedom.

History of education in Italy

In this perspective, it becomes even more evident how much education constitutes the fundamental core around which human civilization has developed for centuries.

Starting from the cursus honorum in ancient Rome to the Christian monasteries of the Middle Ages, education has always been considered an instrument of elevation. Italy was the cradle of Renaissance culture as well as the place of birth of the first university centers and scientific academies (Biagioli, M., 1989).

From the earliest days immediately after the unification of the Italian kingdom, among the main objectives was to unify the Italian people under one language through an extensive literacy campaign. In 1877 an extensive school reform introduced by the Coppino Law began, which stipulated that the two years of free elementary school previously introduced by the Casati Law became compulsory. In addition, normal schools were established to educate teachers, teachers’ salaries were increased by 10 percent, and new schools were built. The Coppino reform made schools secular: catechism was removed from the school curriculum and replaced with civic education.

However, the law had fallacies: the costs of elementary schools were borne by the municipalities, and those of high schools by the provinces.

This brought out the first among the biggest problems related to the Italian educational system: the gap between north and south due to the different economic resources of institutions (De Sanctis, F., & Cappelletti, 2020).

A few decades later, in addition to the territorial one, the social divide emerged as another problem of fundamental importance.

Under the fascist regime, the issue of consensus building was crucial: propaganda and repression of dissent were the two main tools through which the masses were nationalized. With this in mind, from the very beginning the regime realized the importance of the educational mean and thus began a process of fascistization of schools: the Gentile reform redefined the structure of the educational path on the model of the fascist social hierarchy, routing the children of workers, peasants and the ruling class into different schools on the basis of social background.

This is where the current Italian school system derives its still classist approach in some respects (Gabrielli, G., & Montino, D. (Eds.)., 2009).

La Paranza Cooperative, Naples, Italy – Photo by Paranza photographic archive

General definition and conditions of education in Italy

An Italian student’s schooling is divided into three different stages: elementary school (5 years), lower secondary school (3 years) and finally upper secondary school (5 years).

The first two grades are unified, while the last comprises different types of schools, including licei, vocational institutes and technical institutes. Once the type of school is chosen, the student must take courses specific to that track.

School choice, unlike other European systems, is not based on address of residence and therefore allows for greater student mobility and less social segregation. There are 10 years of compulsory schooling covering the age group of 6 to 16 (Obbligo scolastico. (n.d.)).

This means that the attainment of a high school diploma is not compulsory, which is why the share of the population aged 25-64 with at least an upper secondary education is 62.9 percent, which is significantly lower than the European average (79.0 percent in the EU27) and that of some of the largest EU countries (ISTAT, 2021).

The issue of the South

This fact is aggravated if we focus on the southern area of the peninsula, which, as already reiterated, enjoys less economic and industrial development.

The educational system in Italy’s Mezzogiorno has long been the subject of criticism and concern. Indeed, the region has a number of problems related to education, such as high dropout rates and low schooling rates, which negatively affect the area’s socio-economic development prospects. As a result of these factors, the population in the South is generally less educated than in the North-Center of the country, affecting access to employment and career opportunities.

Specifically, the percentage of adults with an upper secondary school diploma in the South is 38.5 percent, while only 16.2 percent have obtained a tertiary degree. In contrast, in the Center and the North, 45 percent and more than one in five, respectively, have earned a bachelor’s degree (ISTAT, 2021).

The need to address these problems is a major challenge for the education system and society as a whole.

The socioeconomic gap

As mentioned above, another crucial problem related to school dropout is the socioeconomic status of the family of origin.

Numerous research studies have shown that young people from low-income, low-education families are more likely to drop out of school than their peers from more affluent families. Poverty, economic instability and financial hardship can prevent young people from accessing educational opportunities, making dropping out of school a more likely option. In addition, parents with low levels of education may find it difficult to support their children through school due to financial constraints or lack of specific skills.

The unfavorable condition of the family environment seems to have a greater influence on early school dropout among young people residing in southern regions. In fact, school dropout rates are very similar among young people with parents with medium and high levels of education in both the North and the South, but show large differences in the case of parents with a maximum of a middle school diploma (25.5 percent in the South versus 18.9 percent in the North) (ISTAT, 2021).

However, it is important to stress that the socioeconomic status of the family is not an inescapable fate, but rather a factor that can and should be addressed through public policies and investment in education.

In view of this Italy needs to address numerous issues related to the education system to address inequality in access to education. It is necessary to reduce inequality and ensure equitable access to education for all students, including through economic support and social inclusion programs.

It is necessary to invest in schools, teacher training and the implementation of mentoring and support programs for students.

The effectiveness of education policies must be improved by adopting innovative and evidence-based strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Ongoing teacher training and the use of state-of-the-art technology can help improve the quality of education and increase student interest and motivation.

In conclusion, Italy must address educational challenges with a long-term strategy based on investment in infrastructure, teacher training and student support. Only through a shared commitment between institutions, civil society, and individuals will it be possible to overcome the current challenges and ensure a better educational future for the Italian population.

Bibliography

Marx, K. (2005). Grundrisse: Foundations of the critique of political economy. Penguin UK.

Biagioli, M. (1989). The social status of Italian mathematicians, 1450–1600. History of science, 27(1), 41-95.

De Sanctis, F., & Cappelletti, V. LA NASCITA DELLA SCUOLA ITALIANA E LA SUA EVOLUZIONE NEI PRIMI TRENT’ANNI DEL’900.

Gabrielli, G., & Montino, D. (Eds.). (2009). The fascist school: institutions, watchwords and places of the imagination. Verona: Ombre corte.

Obbligo scolastico. (n.d.). Ministero Dell’istruzione. https://www.miur.gov.it/obbligo-scolastico

Livelli di istruzione e partecipazione alla formazione. (n.d.). Livelli Di Istruzione E Partecipazione Alla Formazione. https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/262190

Educational Challenges in Central African Republic

Written by Emmanuel Ayoola

Image Copyright: © Pierre Holtz/UNICEF

Background

Central African Republic, a country landlocked in the heart of Africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. It struggles with a history of conflict, instability, and displacement which poses grave challenges to the peaceful development of the nation. The country faces serious educational challenges. Often described as one of the toughest places to live in the world as a child, the country suffers from an earnest problem of lack of access to quality and safe education and this is not unconnected to the conflict and instability that has plagued the country over the years. Two-thirds of the children in the country either do not attend school regularly or at all. [i]

The practical realities of these challenges are damning and they take significant tolls on education in the country. The next section of this article will examine some of the challenges militating against access to quality education in the country.

Challenges to Education

There are several challenges to educational advancement in the Central African Republic. These issues range from incessant conflicts to, lack of access to education, poor quality of education, gender exclusion, poverty, and a lack of political will to deal with the education crisis.

  1. Conflicts and Instability: Serious conflict and instability have ravaged the Central African Republic for several years and this has negatively affected the education system. These conflicts have left in their trail, carnage and destruction. The education system has taken a major hit as well. Lots of schools have been destroyed and a lot of others, taken over and converted to bases by armed groups. In the wake of all these, several teachers have fled the country.
Image Copyright: © Jerome Delay/AP

The impact of these conflicts has been very significant on the educational system in the country and has led to the closure of several public schools. The lack of the needed human resource and materials to run the schools, coupled with the deplorable condition of the host communities has made the availability of quality education in the country a mirage.  As a result of this, there has been a significant spike in the establishment of private schools. While this is a welcome development, it however does very little in solving the problem of access to quality education as the quality of the education remains a challenge coupled with lack of access due to the inability to pay for education, largely because of poverty.

  1. Lack of Access: This is one of the major challenges affecting education in the Central African Republic. There is widespread limited access to education in the country with a lot of children lacking access to primary and secondary education even though by law, education is free and compulsory for children up to 15 years. According to the World Bank, about 30% of children in the country did not attend primary school while an estimated 22% did not attend secondary school.[ii] Children in rural areas are particularly faced with the disadvantage of lack of access due to social problems such as a dearth of infrastructure, inadequate funding, and insecurity.
  2. Poor Quality: A poor quality of education is also a challenge the country grapples with. Even for those who are able to attend school, they are faced with the challenge of the poor quality of education offered. The teachers are often underpaid and lack the necessary training. Also, there are no support programs to help teachers and students from conflict situations properly reintegrate into the schools.
  3. Gender Exclusion and Social Inequalities: Girls in the Central African Republic are disadvantaged when it comes to education. They have a lower enrollment rate and a higher dropout rate compared to boys. Negative cultural sentiments towards girls’ education contribute to this as well. Girls are forced into early marriages and early pregnancy and domestic violence. All these contribute to a high rate of girls’ exclusion from education. Education indicators reveal that the expected length of schooling for boys is 5.3 years as compared to 3.8 years for girls. Fewer girls have access to secondary education as compared to boys.[iii] While the lot of the boys seem to be fairer, they are however not completely exempt from socio-cultural sentiments that preclude access to education. Boys are also faced with the risk of becoming child soldiers. This is a threat to their access to education.[iv]
  4. Poverty: Due to poverty, many families are unable to send their children to school. Although education is said to be free in the country for children up till they are 15 years of age, there are usually still related costs, such as; the cost of textbooks and uniforms. These costs force a lot of children out of school and they are compelled to start working to support their families.
  5. Lack of Political Will and Inadequate Government Support: The government of the country is not making adequate investments in the education sector of the country. This is in spite of its Education Sector Plan[v]for 2020-2029 which shows a strong political will to address the educational challenges in the country by highlighting four key points:
  • Access to education and equity
  • Recruitment and training of teachers
  • Quality of learning
  • Governance and education spending.

However, a lot has not been achieved despite these lofty goals. The bureaucratic administration of the education sector is also a factor that has not been addressed yet by the government. Education in the country is administered by four different ministries:

  • The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MEPS)
  • The Ministry of Technical Education and Literacy (META)
  • The Ministry of Higher Education (MES)
  • The Ministry of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation (MRSIT).

This, to say the least, makes coordination of the education sector difficult and cumbersome. Also, the government has been lacking in the level of support it provides for the enrolment of children in schools.

An example to illustrate this failure is the case of the indigenous Ba’aka children, only a few of these children attend primary school. The United States Department of State in its findings identified that there was no significant support from the government in increasing the enrolment of Ba’aka children in schools. More also, this lack of support has resulted in children and girls of the Central African Republic having limited access to education.[vi]

Conclusion

In addressing these challenges, the government of the Central African Republic must prioritize investment in the educational sector, especially in rural areas and disadvantaged communities. More support and training should be provided to the teachers and overall, better infrastructure must be developed for schools, including the provision of textbooks and materials that will improve the quality of education. Furthermore, investments must be in sensitizing communities against sociocultural biases and sentiments that could preclude boys and girls from having access to education. Conclusively, the government must keep the schools safe and free from all forms of violence.

 

[i] Crisis in Central African Republic | UNICEF

[ii] Children of Central African Republic – Humanium

[iii] Central African Republic Overview: Development news, research, data | World Bank

[iv] https://www.educationcannotwait.org/our-investments/where-we-work/central-african-republic#:~:text=Conflict%2C%20displacement%20and%20instability%20are,to%20quality%20and%20safe%20education.

[v] Plan Sectoriel de l’Education. République Centrafricaine. 2020-2029 | Documents | Partenariat mondial pour l’éducation (globalpartnership.org)

[vi] Children of Central African Republic – Humanium

Education Monitor: Around The Globe Week 15&16 2023

Broken Chalk proudly presents the third edition of “Education Monitor: Around the Globe”. Broken Chalk aims with this letter to increase public awareness of  Educational problems, challenges, and violations in the scope of the world. This newsletter is unique. This is a weekly newsletter in which we attempt to monitor and convey educational news from around the world in a concise manner. This monitor will be published biweekly with the effort of our young and enthusiastic team.

You can contribute to our work if you like. If you witness any violations in the scope of education, you can write the comment part of this post. Broken Chalk will try to address the issue in its next monitor edition.

To Download it as pdf : EducationMonitor: Around the Globe Week_15_16_2023

Story of Neslihan Ozcan Sahin: After all her struggle, a refugee teacher begins to teach again.

Written by Georgette Schönberger

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.

Educational and health crisis in Iran: Hundreds of schoolgirls fall sick in Iran, officials suspect poisoning

Written by Ivel Sestopal

Girls have been hospitalized. Photo by Iran International.

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.

 

[i] Afshang, M. (2023). Iran investigates poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls with toxic gas. BBC News. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64797957

[ii] Amnesty International (2023). Iran: Millions of schoolgirls at risk of poisoning. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/6696/2023/en/

[iii] Amnesty International (2023). Iran: Millions of schoolgirls at risk of poisoning. Retrieved from: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/6696/2023/en/

[iv] Afshang, M. (2023). Iran investigates poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls with toxic gas. BBC News Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64797957

Educational Challenges in Algeria: A work in progress

Written by Müge Çınar

Algeria to ease primary school programme. Photo by Magharebia

Algeria is known as the geographically largest country in Africa, located in northern Africa. This country may be divided into two separate parts, one is under the influence of the Mediterranean with the Atlas Mountains as known Tell and the other mostly consists of the desert situated in the western portion of the Shara. The total population that is living in Algeria is nearly 44 million.[1]

Algeria became independent after more than 130 years of colonization in 1962. During the colonization, the education system was constructed for mirroring that of France, mostly serviced by the French population and a relatively small Algerian elite. When the Algerian Independence War ended, nearly 90% of the population was illiterate. As a result, the country went into creating a new Algeria by following Arabization.[2]

In 1990, the expenditure on education was high, at 29.7% of the national budget. Education was put at the centre of rebuilding the country by creating a skilled force and people who share the same national consciousness[3]. Although their attempts of reforming the education system after the Second World, the progress in the education of the children remained insufficient. Accordingly, colonial history, gender, ethnicity, and religion formed the education opportunities for the children.[4]

Today, education at all levels is free in Algeria in the condition of passing the previous cycle. Social policy is applied by the state in the education sector, and this may be related to the democratic transition, although it’s debatable how successful it was[5]. The Algerian school system includes three cycles that are primary, middle and secondary school. Nine years of education from ages 6 to 14, the first two cycles are compulsory and the attendance rate is very high. Secondary education is also compulsory while having high numbers of drop-offs.

Main Challenges in Education

A bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for teaching, however, there are differences in teacher preparation programs and in-service training programs. Only 17% of primary school teachers have this certification, and nearly 70% of middle school teachers don’t have it. Furthermore, the educational system’s internal effectiveness falls far short of what society expects, as evidenced by the high rates of school dropout and repetition among students.[6]

Poorly maintained facilities, and a lack of teachers and classroom space, especially in underprivileged communities, are examples of inadequate infrastructure. The lack of regulations and educational facilities restricts pre-primary education. Numerous students are required to repeat grades, especially at the lower secondary level, which motivates them to drop out.

Low educational quality is caused by a grading system that measures how test takers perform in contrast to their peers rather than how much information they know, by instruction that prioritizes content over learning, and by the absence of participation from important stakeholders. International test results are 20% below the worldwide average.[7] Many of the children who are not in school are disabled children. Specialist centres are scarce, and attempts to integrate students into regular classes fall short.

Economic Disparity

Nearly 2% of boys in primary school age are out of school, and it is nearly the same rate for girls. The disparity in genders gets wider in secondary school; 17% male youth and 14% of female youth never attend school. In both primary and secondary schools, the widest disparity can be realized between the poorest and richest children who are out of school. While attendance at primary school by the poorest children drops by 1% compared to the richest ones, it declines by 20% in secondary education level considering the poor economic conditions of the families. It shows how economic conditions hinder children to reach their main right to get an education. Despite the social policies of the state, most of the children in Algeria are unable to get a basic level of education due to inadequate economic conditions.[8]

Discriminatory socioeconomic characteristics play a huge role in education in the country. Household wealth, social differences, regional economic disparities and the mother’s educational level are the predominant factors that affect educational imbalance in Algeria. There is a crucial need for incentives by the government for children who can’t afford education or for children who have to work in order to support their families. On the other hand, regional and social differences have decreased, according to an analysis of developments over the past ten years. The equality of the Algerian educational system has improved as a result.[9] Yet, more investment is needed to create homogeneous economic levels in every region to solve educational disparities between children.

Bejaia University. Photo by Vermondo.

Spending on Education

Algeria’s economy suffered from a blow to the government budget due to the country’s oil-dependent economy. The struggle in the economy started in 2014 with the drop in global oil prices. Dependency on oil and gas export, rather than investing in other sectors, put Algeria in a vulnerable situation due to the breakdown of the trade during Covid-19.[10] Moreover, this situation contributed a multidimensional poverty that also affected education in a large dimension. Education spending on education dropped from 7.3% to 6.1% due to the pandemic. Hopefully, spending on education increased to 7% in 2020 and be back to normal levels before the pandemic.[11]

Despite the country providing nine years of mandatory and free education for all levels of schooling, Algeria still needs to improve some objectives to provide quality education, better living conditions and low unemployment by prioritizing its GDP spending on education.

High Rates of Non-Enrollment and Drop-Outs

According to data from UNICEF on the state of education, net enrolment levels are as follows: in elementary education, 98% of boys and 97% of girls are enrolled; in middle and high school, 57% of boys and 65% of girls are enrolled.[12] These statistics make it obvious that basic levels of participation are sufficient, but it requires much more growth. While primary school attendance is nearly the same for both genders, It changes after middle school when the attendance of boys at school is less than girls.

There are nearly 8.5 million children receiving an education in the three stages of education. According to the report, about 1 million Algerian children between the ages of 5 and 14 (or 15% of this age group) are impacted by various non-enrollment factors. Primary school attendance is high. On the other hand, at the secondary education level, half of them are not in school, and the other half are enrolled but in danger of dropping out before finishing the cycle.[13]

While participation in basic education is a huge problem to solve, drop-outs of school children is another critical issue to be concerned about. According to the Algerian League for Defence of Human Rights, 400,000 children drop out of school yearly, while 25,000 continue to get professional training. School dropouts occur mostly in the countryside due to the remoteness of schools and high rates of poverty. It is important to add that some regions are poorly equipped with water, heating and electricity that make getting an education impossible for children. Also, the classrooms are inadequate which leads to over crowdedness in classrooms. These are the main discouragements of children from getting an education and 4.7% of them drop out of school as a result.[14]

The Language Barrier

After its independence from France, the country pursued the usage of the French language at the institutions and the administration of business, despite the wide application of the Arabization policy. Today the official language of Algeria is Arabic and Tamazight, and Berber was also recognized as a national language in 2002. President Tebboune announced in June 2022 that the government took a step toward language transition into English in primary schools too.[15] He points out the universality of the English language to learn by children for their benefit, while others have criticised this transition as political agenda related to the history of the country.

In the early years of the Republic, especially under Houari Boumediene’s rule, Arabisation policies dominated the implementation of education policies. The law was applied to generalise using Arabic in 1991.[16] Implementing Arabisation to the education sector, academies and workers failed to switch to the Arabic language successfully. Also, Algeria’s ethnically diverse population was damaged by this transition.

Today, once again Algeria find itself in an intervention in language transition despite other challenges in the education sector waiting to be solved. With the decision of replacing French with English, a drastic change has been made and this situation will affect more than 20,000 schools across the country in 2023. Under the curriculum in 2022, English is taught at secondary school, while children at nine years old start with French.[17] Algerian children are being left unable to continue academically with a single language due to the unclarity of provisions in the transition into English in schools. This will also hinder the future workforce to form a single language to carry the work.

Higher education started to offer English in many degrees, while some of them remain taught in French. The main question is; Are there enough qualified academicians and teachers to pursue the language transition policy?

Low Qualified Staff in Higher Education

The students who attended higher education were composed of 1.5 million in 2020. In fact, women had a greater gross enrolment rate in higher education than males did.[18] 41% of females and 19% of males attended higher education, according to MICS data of UNESCO in 2019. This trend indicates that males are more likely to drop school than females in Algeria.[19] Poverty plays a huge role in gender inequality in education, male children are likely to be child-labour to support their families and themselves. Also, males tend to repeat classes more than females, and their risk of failing in classes to complete their education is higher.

The qualitative improvement of teaching in the higher education institutions is a must. Only 28% of the academic staff in the universities are holding doctorates. The government-funded programmes for doctoral students to study abroad are being negotiated. The British Council and the Ministry are working together on a large-scale postgraduate study programme for people who want to study abroad.[20] Hopefully, this would help facilitate the reform of the higher education system.

Sahrawi Children in the Refugee Camps

Forgotten refugee crisis: Sahrawi refugees in Algeria. Photo by AMMILOUIZA LOUIZA AMMI

More than 173,000 Sahrawi refugees currently live in five camps located in Tindouf province, Algeria. These people were displaced more than 45 years after fleeing the conflict. The children who live in the camps are suffering from food security, health conditions, inadequate protection and most importantly lack of education.[21]

Nearly 98% of the children are getting primary school education, and the illiteracy rate is 4%. Yet, secondary and grad school educations are not provided in the camps. Each camp consists of six primary schools and two middle schools with very low incentives and low resources. Sahrawi students are able to attend secondary schools and universities for free, but most of them are not able to cover travel and living expenses for moving to other cities. A number of male students who move out to study, while it’s not possible for the female students to do so.[22]

The 2021-2025 five-year education strategy for Sahrawi refugees in Algeria was launched by UNHCR, UNICEF, and WFP in November 2021 with the goal of improving Sahrawi refugee children’s and adolescents’ inclusive access to high-quality education. 244 kids with physical and cognitive disabilities are also given Special Needs Education (SNE) in 10 SNE centres spread around the camps. Children who are refugees are supported by UNHCR by giving them books, school supplies, and teaching aids to promote a secure learning environment.[23]

 

References

Footnotes

[1]Encyclopedia Britannica

https://www.britannica.com/place/Algeria

[2] Durham, B. (2021). Primary Education and the French Army During the Algerian War of Independence. In: Beier, J.M., Tabak, J. (eds) Childhoods in Peace and Conflict. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

[3] Rose, M. (2015). Education in North Africa since independence. In Paper commissioned for the Hammamet Conference. London: British Council.

[4] Durham, B. (2021). Primary Education and the French Army During the Algerian War of Independence. In: Beier, J.M., Tabak, J. (eds) Childhoods in Peace and Conflict. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

[5] https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/social-policy-in-algeria-a-historical-and-ideological-background/

[6] Education Data Center, Algeria: National Education Profile

https://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC_NEP_2018_Algeria.pdf

[7] WorldBank

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?end=2020&locations=DZ&start=1979&view=chart

[8] Education Data Center, Algeria: National Education Profile

https://www.epdc.org/sites/default/files/documents/EPDC_NEP_2018_Algeria.pdf

[9] UNICEF, Country Report: Algeria (2014)

https://www.unicef.org/mena/media/6526/file/Algeria%20Country%20Report%20on%20OOSC%20Summary_EN.pdf%20.pdf

[10] https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/social-policy-in-algeria-a-historical-and-ideological-background/

[11] World Bank

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GB.ZS?locations=DZ

[12] Tiliouine, H. (2015). Children’s Worlds National Report Algeria. Journal of Algerian Studies, 3, 48-70.

[13]  UNICEF, Country Report: Algeria (2014)

https://www.unicef.org/mena/media/6526/file/Algeria%20Country%20Report%20on%20OOSC%20Summary_EN.pdf%20.pdf

[14] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180417-algeria-400000-children-drop-out-of-school-annually/

[15] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62368931

[16] https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/algeria-changing-french-language-english-wont-resolve-t

[17] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62368931

[18] https://www.statista.com/topics/9699/education-in-algeria/#topicOverview

[19] UNESCO, MICS 2019

https://www.education-inequalities.org/indicators/higher_1822/algeria/sexes#dimension1=%7B%22id%22%3A%22sex%22%2C%22filters%22%3A%5B%22Male%22%2C%22Female%22%5D%7D&ageGroup=%22attend_higher_1822%22&year=%222019%22

[20] Rose, M. (2015). Education in North Africa since independence. In Paper commissioned for the Hammamet Conference. London: British Council.

[21] ACAPS Briefing Note: Algeria: Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf (19 January 2022)

[22] ACAPS Briefing Note: Algeria: Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf (19 January 2022)

https://reliefweb.int/report/algeria/acaps-briefing-note-algeria-sahrawi-refugees-tindouf-19-january-2022

[23] UNHCR Algeria Fact Sheet – February 2023

Educational Challenges in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Written by Alexandra Drugescu-Radulescu

Smith, W. (2016, January 5). flag of Korea, North. Encyclopedia Britannica

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.

Treaty accession

Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

 

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.
  • International Labour Organization. (2019). ILO Conventions and Recommendations on child labour (IPEC). Ilo.org. https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/ILOconventionsonchildlabour/lang–en/index.htm
  • Lee, G. (2003). The Political Philosophy of Juche. Time, pp. 105-109.

Footnotes

[1]https://www.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/korea1.pdf

[2] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[3] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[4] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[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

[11] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[12] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[13] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[14] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf

[15] https://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/ILOconventionsonchildlabour/lang–en/index.htm

[16] http://pscore.org/wp-content/uploads/Unending-Toil_Child-Labor-within-North-Korea-2018_PSCORE.pdf