A GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL CRISIS: Students in school but learning nothing

THE CRISIS¹

·         Previously, a huge issue was how so many children were not attending school. For this reason one of the eight Millennium Development Goals was to achieve universal primary education over the 2000-2015 timeframe.

·         Much was achieved during the 15-year period. The number of  children not in primary schools fell from 100 million (in 2000) to 57 million (in 2015).

·         However, a new issue is emerging: the high number of children that are attendingschool but not learning anything. ^2,3

THE DATA²

·         60% of children and teenagers in the world are failing to reach basic levels of proficiency in learning

·         In sub-Sahara Africa: 88% of children and adolescents will enter adulthood without a basic proficiency in reading

·         In central and southern Asia, 81% are not reaching an adequate level in literacy

·         In North America and Europe, only 14% of young people are not reaching an adequate level of literacy

·         Pupils in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Nicaragua spent years in school but are still unable to equate simple mathematical problems or read simple sentences

·         Only 7% of pupils in Mali reach a basic level of proficiency in primary school, while in Japan, the corresponding figure was 99%

·         In Africa’s nearly 128 million school-aged children³

o   17 million will never attend school, and

o   37 million learn so little while in school, they are no different than those children who never attend school

·         In sub-Saharan Africa², half of the total primary school population ,61 million children will reach adolescence without the basic skills needed to lead successful and productive lives

CAUSES OF THE GLOBAL CRISIS

Three inter-related causes have been identified¹

·         First is poverty. In the poorest countries, many pupils arrive to school in no condition to learn

·         Second is malnutrition and ill-health resulting in physical and mental underdevelopment

·         Third is low quality teaching, as too many teachers are not well educated themselves

SOLUTION

In poor communities where students are in school but not learning, charity groups and others could:

·         Address nutritional needs such as providing free lunch, and

·         Address teaching quality issues by providing computers and WiFi. This will enable teachers and students to access MOOCs and other free, online, educational resources (e.g., Khan Academy https://www.khanacademy.org/ ) .  Apart from teachers, parents, older siblings, and others should be encouraged to help facilitate the learning process.   This strategy was mentioned by Mr. Win Straube in his bestselling book, “QCE=A: Quality Generic Education is the Key.”

REFERENCES:

1 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf

2 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41388080

3 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2012/09/17/africas-education-crisis-in-school-but-not-learning/   

Posted by: Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi