Empowering Africa’s Future Through Child Education”
I tackled a very sensitive subject to my heart. As an aunt to 2 nieces and nephews, and someone who has worked as well as volunteered with children, their age group will always be very close to my heart.
Thus, the indicator I will be focusing on today is children out of school percentage worldwide.
In a time where all children should have excess to education, Africa is the continent with the highest children out of school percentage.It can be shown clearly in the data visualization as it is the continent with highest red coloration.
When we think about correlated factors, we see that the % of poverty by headcount is highest in Africa.
Also, the % of Child employment (ages 7-14) seem to be the highest in the same continent.
While regarding current expenditure on education, Africa falls the 2nd lowest in this category.
Governments should give priority to ensuring that education is freely available and easily accessible to every child, while managing child employment laws and expenditure on education.
Governments should work together with NGOs, international organizations, and sponsors to strengthen funds for education. This includes offering financial aid for school fees and teacher support. Policy changes should also be altered to prioritize education expenditure to improve infrastructure, resources, and mainly, student funding.
Additionally, governments should address child and adolescent labor by enforcing anti-child labor laws, implementing social protection measures for at-risk families, and ensuring secure school environments. Not only should they enforce laws, but they should focus on ensuring compliance with anti-child labor laws. This includes having multiple labor inspectors on child labor issues, conducting regular inspections in sectors identified as high-risk for child labor, and taking appropriate enforcement actions against those found in violation of the laws.