Broken Chalk drafted this Report to contribute to Germany’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This Report discusses the main challenges Germany faces regarding education and offers recommendations based on those challenges.
The German education system comprises preschool, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Furthermore, although education is compulsory at the primary and secondary levels (until age 15), German education generally lasts until age 18.
Moreover, the German education system is mainly run by the State (more precisely, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and is free to attend.
Globally, Germany ranks high in education, and the PISA report shows that German students generally have good well-being.[i] However, as this report will show, among other things, there are inequalities between the highest- and the lowest-performing students. This inequality is mainly due to socioeconomic disparities in the country.[ii]
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.
Broken Chalk drafted this report to contribute to Tuvalu’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This report discusses the main challenges Tuvalu faces regarding Education and issues which could be enhanced through Finally, Broken Chalk will offer recommendations for Tuvalu in the field of Education based on the problems raised.
Tuvalu is a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean, with a population of about 11,000. Education in Tuvalu is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15, and the government provides free education at all levels; the education system is based on the British system. Thprimaryin language of instruction is Tuvaluan, with English as a second language. There are four primary schools and one secondary school in the country. The secondary school is Motufoua Secondary School, located on the island of Vaitupu. Students who complete their secondary education in Tuvalu can enrol at universities in other countries to continue their studies.[i]
Although education is free, there are difficulties in providing quality education in Tuvalu due to limited resources, the remoteness of some of the islands, and an additional set of problems that will be addressed below. In addition, the country has limited funds for education, and there need to be more qualified teachers, especially in rural areas. This has led to a high student-teacher ratio, biased teaching materials, and technology access. However, the government has invested in education to improve its quality and increase education access for all Tuvalu citizens.[ii]
Despite the challenges faced by the country, there have been some positive developments in the education sector in Tuvalu in recent years. With the support of international organisations, such as the United Nations Development Programme, the government has worked to improve access to education by building new schools, increasing the number of scholarships available for students abroad, and focusing on improving the quality of education. Regarding results, the literacy rate for children in Tuvalu is about 99%, higher than the regional average for Pacific islands. However, the quality of education still needs to improve, with many students needing help to achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills. There is also a high drop-out rate, especially among girls, which limits their opportunities for further education and employment.[iii]
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.
Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of any country. The literacy rate of Sri Lankans in 2020 was 92.38%. However, Sri Lanka still faces many other challenges in the educational field. The downside of the free educational system of Sri Lanka and the lack of responsiveness of the educational system to the labour market requirements will be discussed below.
The downside of the free educational system in Sri Lanka
Since 1994, the Sri Lankan government, initiated a free education system for the public without any discrimination. The State provides free education at primary, secondary and university levels that is compulsory for children between five and 16 years of age. This had pushed the country forward into a leading position in the South Asian region in terms of literacy rate, gender parity, school enrolment rate and human quality index. However, it has been criticized for not being progressively improved and developed to cope with the changing world.
The Sri Lankan culture is highly education oriented rather than consumption and entertainment oriented. As a result, a significant proportion of the household income is spent by the parents on their children’s education. It has been a long dream of most of the parents to send their children to a state university. However, according to the reports of the Department of Census and Statistics there are about 300,000 students that annually sit for the Advanced Level Examination and approximately only a 60% percent of them are qualified for the university entrance. Nevertheless, out of these qualified students just about 15% are selected to the state universities of Sri Lanka leaving the rest of the people (85%) losing their dream to enter state university education.
Free education does play a key role today but insufficient government spending on education has led to a marked decline in educational standards in the country. Consequently, there is an emerging demand and social pressure for establishing private universities in certain fields of studies. The concept of private universities has been severely criticized and opposed by the majority of state university students’ movements and some of the social pressure groups. A solution for this could be to increase the annual university entrance intake while allocating additional resources to universities to accommodate them. Due to lack of resources, certain examinations have become so competitive in Sri Lanka. For instance, the first government examination of a student; the Grade five scholarship has become more competitive than other examinations. That is because those who obtain better higher marks are eligible to have a good school and also good funds. Thus, parents force students to work hard for this exam. However, this pressure to take an examination since childhood has a bad impact on the mental stability of the students.
Another downside of the free educational system is the fact that the Sri Lankan government does not always have the resources to update the curriculums, teaching methods, courses, and career paths and the gap between free and quality education becomes bigger and bigger. Proper planning, better resource allocations, and more funds would certainly benefit the education system.
Disparities in access to quality education
Although Sri Lanka has managed to achieve high levels of literacy, it has been unable to provide students with high quality educational services. Sri Lanka ranks poorly in terms of science and math education and internet access in schools. Sri Lanka’s efforts have been primarily concentrated on basic education (particularly secondary), with much less focus on higher levels of education, such as universities. In order to participate successfully in the knowledge economy, the country will have to increase quality inputs such as IT access, constructive and effective teaching, better math and science education, whilst constantly consolidating existing high levels of literacy.
Children’s access to ICT is low. Few students and even fewer teachers are IT literate. Even in the elite public schools, access to computer facilities, defined by the student to computer ratio is well over 1:100. Computers alone are not enough to provide students with the comprehensive skills needed to use computers. This training should be supplied by capable teachers who are skilled in not only teaching students how to use them, but also using computers, themselves, in daily lessons and incorporating them into teaching methods.
Another issue is the lack of responsiveness of the educational system to the labour market requirements. While concentrating on exams, the products of this education system are fulfilled with knowledge, but less on practical activities. This is a major problem in the educational system of Sri Lanka. Many people have the theoretical knowledge, but they can’t perform well in their professions because they don’t have much practice on those things. This creates issues in the labour market and leads to a gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.
Covid-19 response
Sri Lanka was very prone to a fast spread of the virus mainly due to its tourism sector. One of the main challenges of the Covid measures in the educational sector in Sri Lanka was the fact that the distance learning modalities could not be uniformly applied across the nation as children have varying levels of access to laptops, mobile phones, TV, radio and the broader infrastructure that supports these systems. Students in remote areas for example, have no to very little access to internet and mobile phones/laptops. Hence, school closures have led to inequity in access to and participation in learning. For teachers in Sri Lanka, there were similar struggles in delivering the curriculum through distance learning modalities.
The teachers interviewed for the case study of UNESCO claimed to not have received any training on information and communications technology (ICT) or distance learning and had often had to teach themselves or find other creative solutions to keep teaching to its students. The UNESCO research shows that a major lack in the educational sector, which also existed before COVID, was the lack of monitoring systems which is needed to ensure and effective system of education. UNESCO, in its report, also recommended Sri Lanka to implement an effective monitoring system in the education field.
Conclusion
Access to education in Sri Lanka is free and has resulted to high literacy rates of the country. However, the education system is extremely competitive and poor physical and mental health of the school students due to heavy workload, competition, and pressure from the parents for getting better results is an issue that has not been cared and concerned for by the policy makers. It is therefore recommended for Sri Lanka to consider the impact of the workload on the students’ physical and mental health and divert the focus from classroom learning to activity-based learning to create better responsiveness from the education system to the labour market requirements. The whole world is changing, and Sri Lanka should always try to move parallelly with everything including facilities, systems, and technologies.
Rameez et al, Impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education Sectors in Sri Lanka: A Study based on South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Journal of Educatiional and Social Researcg (volume 10, No 6, November 2020).
Rev Minuwangoda Gnanawasa, ‘A Study of a few recognised educational issues faced by Sri Lanka at Present’ (APCAR 2017), https://apiar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6_APCAR_MAR_2017_BRR739_education-35-42.pdf
Education is a human right that should be accessible to all individuals, regardless of their circumstances. In Palestine, the quality and accessibility of education have been significantly impacted by ongoing occupation and colonization, political instability, and economic challenges. This article will discuss the current state of education in Palestine, focusing on the quality and accessibility of education. The article will also explore the challenges that students and educators face and examine some of the initiatives that have been implemented to improve the quality and accessibility of education in Palestine.
The Palestinian territories include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are geographically separated from each other. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is responsible for the education system in the West Bank, while Hamas controls the education system in Gaza. In the last 27 years, Palestinian educators have had to overcome severe problems due to the Israeli occupation[1] – including but not limited to frequent closures of educational institutions and the banning of textbooks and other educational materials. Education in Palestine is compulsory and free for children between the ages of six and fifteen. In 2018 UNICEF reported that across the state of Palestine, 95.4 percent of children were enrolled in formal education[2]. However, out of all the children in school in Palestine, nearly 25 percent of boys and 7 percent of girls drop out after the age of 15[3]. Furthermore, 22.5 percent of boys and 30 percent of girls with a disability, between the ages of 6 and 15 years, have never enrolled in school[4]. This is due to increasing poverty and the Israeli occupation of Palestine which has a significant impact on the accessibility and the quality of education available to children.
Quality of Education
The quality of education in Palestine has been greatly affected by the ongoing occupation, colonization, and political instability. During the first 10 years of the Israeli occupation, no new schools were built in Palestine, significantly hindering the expansion of educational facilities in the region, and resulting in the decline of the number of educators available in contrast to the increasing population[5]. Due to the lack in the number of educational facilities and thus educational staff, classrooms have become overcrowded with up to 40 to 60 students in a single classroom, making it difficult for teachers to provide individual attention and support to each student[6]. This can result in students falling behind and struggling to keep up with their peers. For those seeking a brief escape from daily stressors, platforms like pin up 085 offer entertainment and a chance to unwind.
According to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization[7], the shortage of resources and facilities is another one of the main challenges facing education in Palestine. Many schools lack basic amenities such as textbooks, computers, and laboratories, and many teachers are not properly trained and do not have access to modern teaching methods and technologies. Lack of funding and the banning of books and educational materials limit the resources available to students in school libraries[8]. Many extracurricular activities which are essential for the social and cultural development of students have been banned by Israeli authorities. Due to this lack of facilities, almost half the Palestinian children in East Jerusalem are forced to attend private or unofficial educational institutions[9].
The quality of education in Palestine is also affected by the lack of political stability and safety in the region. According to a report by Save the Children (2020)[10], the ongoing conflict and political instability have resulted in frequent school closures and disruptions to the academic calendar, leading to students missing out on valuable classroom time and falling behind in their studies. Almost half a million children in Palestine require humanitarian assistance to access quality education[11]. There are frequent closures of the Gaza Strip, and West Bank – including East Jerusalem – during times of violent attacks by Israel, restricting any physical access to daily activities and essential services such as health care, water, and education[12]. Children also regularly experience fear of violence and intimidation as they must frequently pass through checkpoints or commute by settlements to get to schools located in high-risk areas[13].
Accessibility of Education
The accessibility of education in Palestine is affected by several factors. According to a report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) (2021)[14], one of the main factors affecting accessibility is the physical separation between the West Bank and Gaza. This separation makes it difficult for students to move between the two regions and can result in students missing out on educational opportunities and resources that are only available in one region. Children usually must travel long distances to get to school. A parent talking about his 10-year-old son living in the Shuafat refugee camp said that his son spends four hours each day traveling to and from school for the monthly cost of £85, while his other child takes a three-hour journey to a different school[15]. As discussed earlier, the impact of the Israeli occupation on access to education is also a significant factor. According to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) (2021)[16], students and teachers often face checkpoints, roadblocks, and other obstacles. In some cases, schools have been closed or destroyed during military operations, resulting in the displacement of students and teachers.
The economic situation in Palestine also affects the accessibility of education. According to UNICEF (2018), many families struggle to afford the costs associated with education, such as transportation, school supplies, and uniforms[17]. This can result in children being unable to attend school or dropping out early. Financial difficulties are one of the primary reasons for Palestinian children dropping out of school. However, children in Palestine also face many other serious issues such as child labor (3% of the total number of children between the ages of 10-17 years were found to be taking on paid and unpaid labor work), early marriages (out of all the marriages registered in 2018, 20% were of girls under the age of 18), and imprisonment (in 2019, 889 cases of detention of children under the age of 18 in Israeli prisons were reported[18].
Furthermore, access to education is particularly challenging for girls and children with disabilities. While there has been some progress in recent years, cultural and social barriers continue to prevent many girls from attending school. According to UNICEF, the net enrollment rate for girls in primary education in Palestine is 96%, compared to 98% for boys[19]. An example of this is early marriage as highlighted above. In contrast of 20% of marriages reported in 2018 involved girls under 18, and only 1% of these marriages included boys under the age of 18. This shows the lack of importance given to the education of women and girls compared to those of boys and men, who might be experiencing societal and familial pressures to get married and start families at the prime age for receiving secondary and higher education. In addition, children with disabilities face numerous barriers to accessing education, including the lack of specialized facilities and trained teachers.
Efforts to Improve the Quality and Accessibility of Education
Efforts to improve the quality and accessibility of education in Palestine have focused on increasing access to educational resources and reducing the financial burden on families. According to a report by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education[20], the government has implemented policies aimed at providing free education and increasing access to scholarships and financial aid. NGOs and international organizations have also provided support for the development of new schools and the renovation of existing schools, as well as providing teaching materials and training for teachers. Although there is still a long way to tackle societal and political issues that are hindering access to education for children in Palestine and threatening their safety, steps are being taken to at least find solutions to economic struggles.
In conclusion, the quality and accessibility of education in Palestine are significantly impacted by ongoing conflict, political instability, and economic challenges. Palestinian students and educators face numerous challenges that affect the quality of education they receive, including a shortage of resources and facilities, high student-to-teacher ratios, frequent school closures and disruptions to academic life, and the general threat to their physical safety. Although efforts are being made to tackle the economic issues and developing proper infrastructure for educational institutions, the safety threat and issues related to the ongoing colonization of Palestine will continue to persist until the achievement of permanent political stability in the region.
Some schools and universities were directly affected by the shelling with heavy weapons. On April 18, 2023, three students were killed as a result of a shell falling near their home in the East Nile region. Othman Abdel Moneim, 17, is scheduled to sit for secondary school exams on the tenth of next June, according to what the Ministry of Education in Sudan announced, but he put his pamphlets and books aside and began to follow with interest the war that broke out ten days ago. Between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum.
He was stricken with anxiety and fear from the sound of heavy weapons and bullets, which penetrated the ceilings and walls of homes and led to the deaths of a number of his peers. Othman prays to God for the war to end and says that this situation does not augur that the academic calendar will proceed as planned.
Othman’s condition is no different from that of more than 500,000 male and female students who will sit for the Sudanese certificate exams this year. They abandoned their notebooks after they saw on television and various media the fires and corpses lying on the ground, and they fear the same fate, said the spokesman for the Teachers’ Committee, Sami Al-Baqer. for «Middle East»
He added, “The academic year will be affected if the war continues between the army and the Rapid Support Forces for a period after Eid al-Fitr.” “The academic year will be affected because it is the scheduled date for some classes to sit for final exams,” noting that the academic year is scheduled to be 180 days, but it started 50 days late after it was suspended for 30 days due to the teachers’ strike.
Postponing the beginning of academic years is a challenge in Sudan. – Photo by The Independent Arabia
He pointed to efforts to compensate for the 80 days that were lost by increasing school hours during the day and making Saturday a school day and not a holiday, in addition to extending the school year for an additional 15 days, and he said: “If the war continues between the two parties, treatment becomes impossible, so the year becomes The study is not internationally accredited.
He pointed to efforts to compensate for the 80 days that were lost by increasing school hours during the day and making Saturday a school day and not a holiday, in addition to extending the school year for an additional 15 days, and he said: “If the war continues between the two parties, treatment becomes impossible, so the year becomes The study is not internationally accredited.
However, the director of secondary education at the Ministry of Education, Abd al-Karim Hassan, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the school year will not be affected by the war between the two parties to the conflict because the calendar has been amended so that secondary school exams will be held on the tenth of next June. However, he did not specify an exact number of students who will sit for the exams because the ministry has not finished counting them. He continued, “Last year, about 500,000 male and female students sat, and usually the number of those sitting is more than the year before,” noting that first- and second-year secondary students will sit for final exams on May 13, pointing to the difficulty of listing the schools that have been affected. war at this time.
The Director of the General Administration of Education for the Basic Stage in Khartoum State, Mohamed Hamdoun Al-Bashir, said that the academic calendar has ended, and the basic education exam, which includes the primary and intermediate stages, remains and is scheduled to start on the fifth of next month, and the primary certificate exams on the 22nd of the same month. Al-Bashir added, “Before the war broke out between the conflicting parties, the Department of Measurement and Educational Evaluation in the Ministry was carrying out the final procedures for entering the data of the students examining the primary certificate, but it was stopped due to the current events.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that more than 7 million children need regular education, in addition to the need of more than 8 million children for humanitarian assistance. Educational expert Ahmed Mustafa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the vision is not yet clear about the fate of the academic year, but if the war continues between the army and RSF, it will inevitably affect the academic year and all the Sudanese people, and he called on the two parties to the conflict to sit down for dialogue.
Rwanda is a presidential republic that was, in its current state, only formed in 2003 along with its constitution. It emerged from being colonized by Germany and Belgium consecutively before falling into a civil war followed by a genocide founded on ethnic lines promoted by colonizing countries’ ethnic divisionism (Rwanda – History, n.d.). Through this history of exploitation, oppression and ethnic tensions, education, specifically access and quality of it has been neglected. How does this historical neglect play into Rwanda’s current obstacles to education? Which groups are specifically affected by bad access to education, and do these lines perhaps run along the same ethnic lines that have previously been associated with the genocide in 1994? Has politics taken measures to improve access to education and have these been effective? These are just a few questions that are commonly asked when investigating obstacles to education.
Rwanda has a low Human Development Index, ranking 165th out of 191 countries and a GDP per capita (Rwanda HDI, n.d.). This has a significant influence on taxable income which stands proportionate to the public funds available for spending on education. In 2021, Rwanda spend 15,2% of its national budget on education, making it the sector with the second highest spending. Of this budget, which has significantly increased over the last few years, 44% go to primary education, 32% to secondary and post-secondary education, and 22% to tertiary education (UNICEF, 2020). This high share of spending on education accurately reflects the role ascribed to education by the Rwandan government which sees human capital as its biggest resource as they are not gifted by natural resources.
UNICEF, 2020
Despite these factors, there are still significant obstacles in education, rooted in causes that require even bigger investments to be effectively challenged. The most significant of which are the following:
The gap between primary and secondary school enrollment
The Rwandan education is structured as a 6-3-3 system, six years of primary school, three years of lower secondary school, and three years of upper secondary school. While 98% of children aged seven and above were at least enrolled in primary education, there is a high dropout rate of 7%. The transition rate to the secondary level also is rather low at 46% in 2021 (Dufitumukiza, Wanjala, & Khatete, 2021). Although the government follows a 9-year basic mandatory education plan, far from all school-aged children complete these nine years which is enabled through non-enforcement of applicable law. Previously the government focused its resources on increasing primary school enrollment rates which turned out to be successful however neglected secondary school enrolment rates. This focus was shifted within the “Vision 2020 Rwanda” which put greater emphasis on increasing secondary enrolment rates, of which the effects are still to be seen (Rwanda Ministry of Education, 2021).
Low quality of teaching
Teaching quality is vital to students’ learning outcomes and thus for their future life as a citizen contributing to a prosperous society. A 2014 study has shown that replacing a teacher from the lowest 5% of teaching quality with a teacher in the median increases lifetime income by 250.000 USD per classroom, which is significant considering the Rwandan average income (Bower, 2019). In Rwanda, the quality of education has been identified as a major shortcoming in the achievement of the goals set (UNICEF, n.d.). In 2008, English became the official teaching language in Rwanda from the third grade of primary school, replacing French as the main mode of instruction (Eysette, 2022). Still, in 2008 only 4% of the population spoke English, which significantly increased to 38% in 2018 due to effective policy (English Proficiency Index, n.d.). However, there is still a significant number of teachers, with little to no English proficiency which leaves students ill-prepared for a possible secondary or tertiary education where English proficiency is considered a must. Additionally, inadequate teacher training and antiquated teaching methods have been identified as a challenge in Rwanda’s education. While teachers’ salary has increased in the last years, spending on professional teacher training has decreased proportionally (UNICEF, 2020).
Teacher to student ratio
Next to the previously mentioned challenges, teachers are also dramatically overworked and overstrained with classroom sizes. The average classroom size in Rwandan primary schools is 62 students per teacher. While this ratio improves in lower and upper secondary schools, the primary school lays the basis for future learning and are thus is in desperate need of more well-educated teachers. The government has taken action to reduce classroom sizes by measures such as having primary school teachers work two six-hour shifts per day to decrease classroom size, which surprisingly has shown a positive effect on both teacher and students side, reducing stress for the former and improving education for the latter (ATHANASE, 2015). Still, there certainly are more sustainable solutions with a greater effect on the educational quality that could be achieved by the employment of more teachers.
5 points of action for resilient schools in Rwanda. (n.d.). VVOB.
ICT skills
In an increasingly connected world, computer literacy and ICT skills are important as ever. To sustain in a competitive job market and drive the future Rwandan economy these skills are imperative, however, to develop these, access to technology is necessary. Still, many schools lack the necessary infrastructure to support technology use, such as electricity or internet connectivity (UNICEF, 2020). Furthermore, limited funding for technology initiatives and unequal access to technology creates unequal opportunities for students, especially along urban-rural lines where the former has better access and the latter worse (Gahima, 2009). Additionally, some students and teachers may not have the necessary digital literacy skills to use technology effectively. The Rwandan government has launched initiatives to improve access to technology in schools and train teachers on how to use technology in the classroom. However, there is still much work to be done to ensure that all students in Rwanda have equal access to technology and the necessary skills to use it effectively.
Inaccessibility of education
The UN Sustainable Development Goals manifest an accessible and equitable education as a common goal. In Rwanda, this goal is pursued, however far from reached . Although free, many families cannot afford the indirect costs or lost income associated with education, such as expenses for uniforms, books, meals, and school supplies, or lost income though children not being able to help on e.g. parent’s farms. These barriers are amplified by some cultural practices that prioritize household work over education, particularly for girls, which can prevent them from attending school leading to unequal access to education along gender lines. As is the case in most countries, there is a significant urban-rural divide on said factors, with education generally being more accessible in urban than in rural areas and there being fewer cultural barriers to education.
Furthermore, children with disabilities face significant challenges in accessing education. Many schools in Rwanda lack the necessary infrastructure to support students with disabilities, such as ramps or accessible toilets which leads to significantly lower enrollment of disabled persons into primary school (UNICEF, n.d.). In addition, there is a shortage of trained teachers who can provide specialized education and support for students with disabilities.
To address these challenges, the Rwandan government has, along with providing free primary and secondary education, built more schools in rural areas and has launched initiatives to improve infrastructure and access to education in remote areas. Additionally, the government has introduced policies to promote gender equality and inclusive education which leads to the unusual observation in low-income countries that girls now outnumber boys in primary and secondary school (Rwanda Ministry of Education, 2021).
Post-genocide society
As a post-genocide society, Rwanda has adopted a unique approach to ensure that history does not repeat itself. Instead of collectively processing embracing and learning from history Rwanda adopted an approach of forbidding any debate on history and instead providing one incontestable version of history. As the winners write the history, this version of history very much aligns with the perspective of the Tutsi that ceased power in 1991 and are still in power today. Under this approach to addressing history, any form of ethnic self-identification is prohibited and punishable. These factors lead to critical thinking being absent from education, specifically of history and political nature (Hilker, 2010). While ethnic lines are not the basis for systematical educational challenge anymore, Rwanda’s addressing of history very much embrace forms of intellectual control and suppression.
References
ATHANASE, N. (2015, November). MANAGEMENT OF THE DOUBLE-SHIFT SYSTEM OF.
Bower, J. (2019, january ). Retrieved from IGC: https://www.theigc.org/blogs/challenges-and-choices-rwandan-education-system-r3-roundtable-discussion#:~:text=Education%20is%20a%20vital%20part,to%20develop%20a%20reading%20culture.
Dufitumukiza, A., Wanjala, G., & Khatete, I. (2021). Nine Year Basic Education Policy Interventions and student’s Enrolments Rates at Lower Secondary Level: A Lesson from Rwanda. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies , 94-112.
English Proficiency Index . (n.d.). Retrieved from EF: https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/regions/africa/rwanda/
Eysette, J. (2022, June). How Rwanda became a melting pot of official languages. Retrieved from Quartz: https://qz.com/africa/2183742/how-rwanda-became-a-melting-pot-of-official-languages
Gahima, E. (2009, September). The Rwandan Education Sector needs Digital Innovation Policies for the Post-Pandemic Era . Retrieved from Southernvoice: http://southernvoice.org/the-rwandan-education-sector-needs-digital-innovation-policies-for-the-post-pandemic-era/
Hilker, L. M. (2010). The Role of Education in Driving Conflict and Building Peace – The Case of Rwanda.
Rwanda – History. (n.d.). Retrieved from African Studies Center: https://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/rwhistory.htm
Rwanda HDI . (n.d.). Retrieved from Countryeconomy: https://countryeconomy.com/hdi/rwanda
Rwanda Ministry of Education. (2021). Kigali.
UNICEF. (2020). Education Budget Brief. Kigali.
UNICEF. (n.d.). Education in Rwanda. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/rwanda/education
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Which groups are specifically affected by bad access to education, and do these lines perhaps run along the same ethnic lines that have previously been associated with the genocide in 1994? Has politics taken measures to improve access to education and have these been effective? These are just a few questions that are commonly asked when investigating obstacles to education.
