Why Education Is Important For Developing Countries Essay

“124 million children and adolescents are out of school, 63 million girls are out of school around the world, an estimated 90% of children with disabilities in the developing world do not go to school, 25% to 75% of children in the most deprived regions of poor countries cannot read a single word, and yet only 2% of humanitarian aid has been invested in education” (Bandwidth). Standing between these children and the classroom is a lack of funding for quality basic education to help them overcome the barriers to school such as tuition fees, disabilities, lack of sanitation, lack of access, and poorly qualified teachers. The United States and other countries must commit to providing education for all children. If we are to end extreme poverty, then every child, every future global citizen needs good education, because education is not only for the privileged few, it is a right of every child. The developed nations need to support the expansion of educational opportunities for boys and girls

When children complete their basic primary and secondary education it results in numerous benefits for the children as well as the society in general. Studies show that completing a basic education reduces poverty, increases income by up to 10% per extra year of attending school, saves lives of children whose mothers have a secondary education, reduces the chances of getting HIV and Aids, and increases economic growth and GDP (Jalan & Ravallion, 2000; UNESCO, 2011a). Almost 70 years after the UN’s declaration, and having invested billions of dollars in education, more than 59 million children of primary school age are not attending school and 883 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate (UNESCO, 2015; UNDP, 2015). In light of this, the UN set out the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ in 2015 where one of the principle targets is that all children worldwide “complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education” by the year 2030 (UN, 2015, p17). There are many difficult obstacles to achieving this goal, and the following section will explain that economic factors, conflict factors, climate change factors, and gender factors, and language factors are the major issues that need to be addressed.

A few weeks ago, I was walking downtown, when this random came up to me and said “You in school? That’s good, that’s good. Education is important.” From the state of her hair and clothes, and the smell of her breath, I assumed she was homeless. I didn’t really pay much attention to her, because homeless people are so common in downtown Atlanta. I was just hoping that she wasn’t going to ask me for any money! After a while, I started thinking about what the homeless woman had said; “Education is important.” Growing up, I had always been taught that people who lived in the streets had been afforded the same opportunities as I had, but they had simply chosen to ignore them.

In most countries, women have less access to education than their male counterparts. According to UNESCO (2013), of the 110 million children out of school in developing nations, 60 percent are girls; women also represent nearly two-thirds of the world's illiterate population. Some countries are even worse than others. Examples include the fact that nine out of ten Afghan women are illiterate, and the shocking truth that only one in twenty attend school beyond the sixth grade. Chad is another prime example of the disparity between men’s and women’s educational standards- only ten percent of Chadian girls have completed elementary school. Women with higher education tend to be healthier, earn more, have fewer children, and provide

In addition to empowering individuals, effective education systems strengthen communities by building bridges between people, thus preventing conflict and ignorance. Most importantly, our education systems cannot simply cater to the powerful and privileged. In making donations and investments, we must look to those who are most vulnerable in the world – women, those from developing countries, and many others who are often relegated to the shadows when governments think about the public they serve. In doing so, we can build a more well-educated, prosperous, and socially just

Last Decade governments and high ranking officials from across the globe came together under the magnanimous principles of The Universal Declaration of Human rights giving birth to the millennium development goals.The 8 goals and 21 targets capture ambitious promises such as eradicating poverty and hunger and achieving universal primary education by 2015. (UN.org) Yet with just a few months away from the deadline this historic chapter will close in tragedy.The setting for this tragic tale is Sub-Saharan Africa where 50 million children and youth still remain out-of-school.Despite extraordinary progress in enrollment stark disparities still remain. Poor children across the region are victims of an insidious “lottery of life” where the family they are born into means everything and nothing. (efa governance matters)For a poor child born into poverty the chances of that child finishing school once they start are slim, and if that child happens to be female she can only dream of what it’s like inside a classroom. Experts have declared Africa’s education crisis a state of emergency as dangerously low completion rates, and poor learning achievement have left an indelible stain on educational goals. Africa’s education crisis is a result strong socio-economic and cultural barriers which have created major stumbling blocks in both access to education and learning outcomes.Consequently millions of of children and youth are being robbed of their futures.

Throughout centuries gender inequality has been a crucial downfall to women’s education. Till this day women in multiple countries still such as Cambodia, Pakistan, and Morocco are denied the opportunity to pursue an education and are even persecuted if they attempt to. In other countries like Guatemala, poverty is the main factor as to why women are likely to not receive an education because families would rather send their sons simply because he is a boy. Many women in these countries are illiterate because boys are favored to receive an

The proportion of children who are enrolled in primary schools has increased from 49% to 77% in the past decade in sub-Saharan Africa. This increase in enrollment is due mostly to the initiative of the governments from these regions to improve universal primary education. However, much remains to be done because even though enrollment has been made a possibility in a lot of these countries, there are a lot of other variables at play that still prevent children from receiving a quality education. Things such as poverty, cultural traditions, gender violence, and the incidence of early marriage are a major reason for disadvantaged groups, particularly poor girls, not making as much progress in enrolling

Many opportunities are not present in terms of equality when schooling is the topic. An instance of a lack of similar chances can be identified between the high and low-class populations of different countries such as Nigeria or the Congo. These countries are rarely able to provide a consistently adequate learning system, leading to an insufficiency of attaining

Western countries like us North Americans take education for granted and we don’t realize how fortunate we are. We complain about attending classes and completing our homework, while there are many girls fighting for our privilege. Are you aware that there are still many countries where girls don’t have access to education? `Education is an essential human right that developing countries such as India, Pakistan,Afghanistan were intended to have access to already! This resembles as one breathes, eats, and drinks. I fully agree with the UNESCO research, which demonstrates that education transforms lives. Unfortunately, this transformation seems to be unacceptable for many in developing countries. They desire women to be dependent, enslaved, and

In Niger for example, The United Nations states that for every 100 boys there are fewer than 41 girls at school (The Economist, 2013). In reality, educated women promote economic development and assist societal improvement in several ways, so they can get better jobs, contribute to the family income and raise healthy children. A further challenge in the education sector is about the high rate of the pupil/ teacher ratio. There is a shortage in teachers’ recruitment compared to the increasing number of pupils’ enrollment. The recently published statistics show that pupil/teacher ratio in primary education is exceeding 40:1 (UNESCO,

Education comes with social benefits as well which can improve the situation of the poor, such as lower fertility and improved health care of children ("Poverty and Education"). "Poor people are often unable to obtain access to an adequate education, and without an adequate education people are often constrained to a life of poverty." - Servaas Van Der Berg. The absolutely poor in developing countries have low education levels. Some may not even have access to primary education or may not have completed their primary education, not realizing that it is important to reduce poverty. Education is often poorly measured, and the impacts do not always show up as statistically significant in cross- country growth regressions (Levine & Renelt, 1992). Africa’s education crisis makes media headlines and analysis by the Brookings Center for Universal Education (CUE) explains why this needs to change. Progress towards universal primary education has come to a halt and learning levels of children who are in school are poor as well. Using a Learning Barometer, CUE estimates that 61 million African children will reach adolescence lacking even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills, this will deprive a whole generation of opportunities to develop and escape poverty ("Poverty, Education, & Opportunity").

Although in the 21st century, there are countless options for youth to access education, vulnerable populations suffer a lack of opportunities in achieving this goal, and in developing countries this dream is even more unattainable. Worldwide there are approximately 1.2 Billion to 1.8 Billion people aged between 15 and 24 years old, and in developing countries there are 175 Million illiterate young people, and 60 percent of the youth population suffer from a lack of occupation (Bernhardt, Yorozu & Medel-Añonuevo, 2014, p. 280). For an equitable world, education must be a universal right that represents the key to acquiring knowledge and to developing the skills necessary to participate in society. However, in poor countries, education is a

Educational attainment in middle income countries is restrictive, for most citizens education beyond primary school is beyond their grasp. Although it is well established that one of the strongest predictors for a country’s economic growth is the education level of its population many middle income countries simply can not afford to make the necessary changes to their respective countries education systems. Education reform would require a monstrous amount of funding, with issues like infrastructure improvement, and financial market instability on these countries policy agendas, education reform isn’t the focus. (de Haan, 1996)

Some of the world’s poorest countries, with some of the highest child labor and illiteracy rates lie in Sub Saharan Africa. People generally associate the region only with poor economic conditions and all of the social disorder that goes along with 3rd World Status. While some of this reputation is deserved, many people are also failing to see the vast potential for this part of the world. There are several factors that African governments should look into if they want to effectively and efficiently revamp this areas quality of life. One way to do so is by improving the more crucial aspects to healthy functioning region, for example, allowing children to possess their natural rights to a decent education. This could influence an increase