More Software, Less Hardware

The Inter-American Development Bank came out with a recent study finding that the key to better education in Latin America and the Carribean in to invest in teacher training and educational software. The study notes that only a small percentage of students actually benefit from computers or other IT in a classroom. In reality, what students need are teachers.

Read more here and make informed decisions about how you allocate your charitable donations.

2/15: Solar Energy Brings Light and Hope to Girls in Africa

The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) has announced the successful installation of a centralized solar electric system to power the new Kisaruni Girls Secondary School and Baraka Health Center near the village of Bomete, Kenya. The school and clinic are operated by Free The Children.

Kisaruni means “land of peace.” The community members named the school in honor of the new and growing cooperation between members of the Maasai, Kisii and Kipsigis communities. The school will give young women the chance to come together and continue their education beyond middle school, bridging both ethnic gaps between them and socioeconomic gaps around them.

Read more about this exciting project.

2/7: First Person: Toby Ord

As an academic at Oxford university I don’t have an enormous salary, but even so I have made a pledge to donate £1m to charity over the course of my working life.

It wasn’t an easy decision, but I chose to do this after realising just how much more good my money could do for others than for me. I’m a research fellow in ethics, and my thoughts on the ethical issues around global poverty have had a dramatic impact on my personal behaviour.

The philosopher Peter Singer – a fellow Australian – said that the money we spend on luxuries could be used to save people’s lives in developing countries if we so wished. How then can we justify choosing the luxuries? Read more about Toby Ord’s philosophy on life and giving here.

1/23: Mix of hope and despair in Swaziland

Thousands of young, eager and hopeful students started school in Swaziland this week, despite the despairing statistics in their country. According to this article, in Swaziland, 70 percent of the one million-strong population lives below the poverty line of less than two dollars a day. One in four Swazis ages 15 to 49 is infected with HIV.

Of the students that began school are 140,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) who are at the risk of being turned away. These children are caught in the standoff between Swaziland Principals’ Association and the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, which is responsible for paying fees for the children.

Although the Swazi government’s goal is to attain Universal Primary Education, the problem still comes down to funding and school fees. The government has worked on launching Free Primary Education and there has recently been significant improvement in facilities and staffing. Nevertheless, there are thousands of OVCs that are in need of additional government support to pay school fees – approximately 30-40% of students in primary schools are OVCs. The government funding for OVCs is only about half the actual school fees, putting schools in a difficult situation of trying to run a school with insufficient funds and forcing some to send students away.

The Swazi government has since re-examined the list of students for the OVC fund to include more orphans. They are also working on the Children’s Protection and Welfare Bill 2010, although it seems as if many children will unfortunately still be left out.

Read more of the story here.

1/10: Hope for Zimbabwe Schools

Students throughout Zimbabwe will start the new year with new text books. With the help of donations, mainly from Scandinavian countries and Germany, Zimbabwe has contracted for 13 million text books to be delivered to schools across the country.

Although the education sector was awarded a percentage of the national budget higher than any other sector, almost all of this funding went towards salaries for teachers and left little for infrastructure or teaching materials.

Read more here.

1/5: An Argument for Free Market Education?

The broken-down state of South Africa’s public school system has prompted many to turn to the free market. Parents who have lost faith in the sub-par quality of the education in South African public schools are beginning to find alternative means to provide their children with a solid education – they start their own schools. One such school, Progressive Primary School, was formed in 1991 when parents persuaded former teachers to start their own school that is not subject to government management and regulation. Although it is unclear whether state standards are being met, many note that the quality of education is “significantly better in some areas”.

Critics of free market education argue that education is a basic need that is the the responsibility of the state. Proponents counter that when the state fails in this responsibility, individuals should have the right to step in. Read more here and decide what you think.

12/9: More Education and Cash Transfers Needed to Fight Inequality

As the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean get back on track with the economic growth and poverty reduction they were achieving prior to the global economic crisis, improvements in education and cash transfers to households with children are emerging as key tools to begin to defeat inequality.

“In every country in the region, there has been heated debate about education reform for years, but in terms of quality, next to nothing has been achieved,” Martín Hopenhayn, head of the social development division at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), told IPS.

The education policies adopted by governments in the region have failed “to reduce the learning gaps” between children from poor and non-poor homes, rural and urban households, and indigenous and non-indigenous families, the expert stressed after Tuesday’s launch of ECLAC’s Social Panorama of Latin America 2010 report.

“On average in the region, 49 percent of men and 55 percent of women aged 20-24 have completed secondary education, while in rural areas the figures are 26 percent of men and 31 percent of women, and 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively, among indigenous people of that age,” says the report. To read more click here.

11/30: Schools Close Amidst Mass Strike In Bangladesh

There will be no school for children in Bangladesh today as the country’s opposition party enforced a general strike. Opposition activists are demanding change in the government, claiming that the government is failing to maintain law and order.

In politically unstable Bangladesh, general strikes are a common tactic to effectuate political change. Business owners note, however, that they do not support strikes as this tactic adversely affects production. Similarly, education supporters and activists everywhere should take note of the adverse effect that general strikes have on progress in education.

Read more here.

11/22: India-Africa Partnership Could Be Promising For Higher Eduction in Africa

India is set to transform higher eduction in Africa by establishing a range of higher education and training institutions throughout Africa. Namely, a pan-African university with five regional institutions and 10 vocational training centers. The regional institutions of the pan-African university would include a diamond training institute in southern Africa; an institute of administration, planning and education in Burundi; Institute for Foreign Trade in east Africa; Institute for Information Technology in Ghana; and Pan-African Stock Exchange in Egypt.

According to Jean-Pierre Ezin, commissioner of the African Union Commission for Human Resource and Science and Technology, this type of investment and partnership will help the transformation process in Africa. Ezin also noted that while both China and India have become involved in Africa’s transformation, India is willing to give up visibility for long-term and sustainable returns.

For more information, click here.

11/19: Is an anti-corruption curriculum the solution for Kenya’s actual corruption?

Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission has announced a new curriculum addition for school children: integrity studies. According to the Commission, the goal is for ten million school children to “discuss moral and ethical choices and dilemmas which they encounter daily both in their personal and communal lives.” Kenya ranks number 154 out of 178 countries profiled in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, and corruption is widely viewed as part of everyday life. However, with new initiatives like these starting at the ground-level, Kenya is making small steps in the direction of a new, transparent culture.

Read more here.