It was 11:00 am on a Monday when I saw a nine-year-old boy, Bilal, lifting heavy rocks in a construction site. How many Bilals, children who toil long hours for a low wage, deprive themselves of education, and endure frequent violence and abuse just to financially support their families, do we meet daily?
Based on a study conducted by the Lebanese ministry of labor in 2013, there are almost 180,000 children working in Lebanon. Today, Lebanon is experiencing a huge decline in its gross domestic income (GDI). GDI is an economical metric that showcases the nation’s social welfare, and its deterioration results in more people living below 50% of the median income, and vice versa.
Thus, poverty is increasing in Lebanon, and more children as Bilal are being robbed of their childhood. The Lebanese government and supporting international organizations can take many initiatives to save Bilal and his friends; however, not all might have a fast and radical impact on the children labor phenomena. While observing international cases, through World Development Indicators dataset, I noticed that countries, which most of their population have access to electricity, have a lower percentage of poverty; thus, a lower number of employed children, and vice versa.
When power resources are available to the nation, people will have access to technologies, especially the internet. There are numerous internet usages that can create life opportunities for the individuals; for example, Bilal can access the internet to enroll in educational programs.
Considering the above, I appeal to the government and concerned institutions to utilize all their endeavors in providing a sustainable electrical solution for our children to live a “normal” life and have the chance to prosper.
Many children in the Middle East and North Africa are deprived of education. Throughout the years, almost 18 % of adolescents and children were out of school on average in the region, which is the highest across East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This is especially true for females who recorded higher average of dropout rates than males by 2.2% in the region over the years. The increase in dropout rates is due to several reasons and poverty plays a major role in increasing the rates of children out of school. It is evident that rates of people who make $1.90 per day has been increasing since 2013 in the Middle East, making it hard for parents to afford education expenditures for their children such as tuition fees and school supplies. This leads families to pull their children out of school in order to work and help the family during financial hardship. As there is a positive linear relationship between children who are out of primary school and children employment, when the average rate of children out of school increases, the rate of children’s employment increases.
Furthermore, the norm that females are not supposed to work is enhancing the idea that females do not need to learn as they will not be able to participate in employment. This is encouraged by the average ratio of female to male participation in the labor force which is 33.09 below the average rate across all indicated regions. Therefore, it is important to bridge the gap of poverty to ensure that people can have sufficient funds to be able to send their children to school. This can be done by providing financial aid dedicated to school fees and supplies. That is because lower poverty rates indicate lower dropout rates among children since there is a positive relationship between the two.
Moreover, it is important to raise awareness of the effects of dropping out of school on the future of children. Because the higher the average of adolescents out of school the more likely they will be considered as vulnerable employees in the future, which in turn lead them to be used and manipulated by employers.
Additionally, the higher the average rate of people completing at least a Bachelor degree, the higher the rate of salaries and wages. This means that if children where to stay in schools, they will be able to get higher salaries, which will provide them with a more stable future.
All the above factors are important in guaranteeing a better future for children. However, it is recommended that they be accompanied by the right laws that prevent child employment and provide equal opportunities for females to participate in the workplace.
Like many of my colleagues, I graduated from college back in 2019 and still not able to apply for my university studies ” said Salma, an Egyptian student, from Al Salam high school when she was asked about the state of education in her country. Is Salma an exception?
No!
Salma could be ME!
Salma could be YOU!
Salma is every student in arab world suffering to seek proper higher education.
Although the Arab League consider education to be the most effective tool for advancing the Arab society, when closely examining statistics on the status of education in the Arab region, the main conclusions have pointed to a deficit in educational attainment.
Using the world bank indicators data related to education, I was able to achieve a simple visualization that fully support my purpose of the presentation: the minimum level of education attained in the Arab League Countries remains the highest for the PRIMARY level and no significant improvement was really detected between these 3 years as the BACHELOR, MASTER and DOCTORAT levels are approximately the same.
The data highlight an urge need of innovative interventions that can transform education systems and schools across the region.
Children and young adults living in low and lower middle income countries are less likely to exercise their right of education and advance from primary to secondary then to tertiary school compared to young adults in higher income countries.
In fact, school enrollment decreases significantly from 83% in primary to 8.6% in tertiary school. Based on thorough exploratory analysis, factors affecting low school enrollment rates in lower income countries include governments’ low expenditure on secondary and tertiary education, in addition to high pupil-to-teacher ratios. On average, low income governments spend 50% less on secondary education compared to primary. Moreover, these countries have 165% more students in classes compared to high income countries; thus, students do not receive sufficient attention to be able to fully understand key concepts which causes frustration among students thus drop outs.
Lower income countries are urged to look into better education expenditure distribution among educational levels, and to prioritize hiring more teachers in order to provide education and secure brighter futures for all children and young adults.
