I will never forget his name.
Omar. He was about my age, walking around the street and asking for directions. He stopped me but I didn’t know the place, so I suggested trying it on Google Maps to see if he can find it. Omar looked at me, embarrassed, and told be he couldn’t do that. Why? Not because he didn’t have a phone, he did. Not because it didn’t have power, or connection, it did. But because he didn’t know how to read and write. I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.
I grew up in a world where education is a given, not a luxury, where graduating is a rite of passage not a privilege, where going to university is the norm, not the exception. I am one of the lucky ones because I never had to question all of this as a child. I never had to think about my life as being anything else than going to school. People like you and me, we forget that some people don’t know how to read, some barely know how to count, some stopped going to school at 12 years old. We take it all for granted. But when reality hits you like that, everything shatters. Today, I remind you of them, of the Omars of the world. We need to act now, today.
In Lebanon, where you live still decides what education you get…
But how can all of this be explained? What influences such disparity? What are the factors at play? These questions needed to be answered to find out the next course of action. The common denominator? The gap between the private and the public sector. It’s where inequality starts brewing.
In the districts where the share of public schools is higher, the percentage of residents with at least a high school degree suffer and both drop-out rates and illiteracy rates grow. As such, the higher the percentage of private schools in the district you live in, the more likely you’ll make it to university. But, private education is expensive and not accessible to everyone, and getting public schools to catch up to the level of private ones takes a lot of time and requires a very big investment. In the meantime, thousands of students are abandoning their studies… We need to bridge the gap, and fast.
Educating about Education in the public sector.
The first step is awareness. We need to educate public students on the importance of continuing their education. If they don’t know why they should go on with their studies, then anything else we try, will fail. Through my NGO, I developed a program that we would like to test-run.
Our program is three-fold:
Highlights the importance of continuing an education and the long term benefits it provides.
Addresses the reasons why public school students typically abandon their studies, suggests solutions and frames education within those issues.
The program will be repeated and updated as students get from elementary to intermediate to secondary to assess new concerns tied to the evolving context in Lebanon, age-related concerns.
To do that, we need the ministry of education’s approval to begin activation within public schools. Ideally, we would like to start with Hermel, which is the biggest problem area, as it is the worst across in all 3 key measures. This ensures at the same time, that we maximize the number of students we’ll be able to help.
Equal access to education should not a child’s naive idea of reality, it should be the norm. I ask you to say yes, not for me, but for all for all the kids out there who won’t get a proper education because they were born in the wrong place. For those who have enormous potential, but will never get to reach it. For those who should have gone on to do great things. For Omar. For all the kids who were born a few kilometers inland.
Crisis Unveiled: The Stark Reality of Gender Literacy Disparity in Chad
Across Africa, gender literacy disparity is a significant issue, but in Chad, this gap is particularly alarming. The country has one of the highest gender literacy gaps globally, with a drastic difference in literacy rates between men and women.
Alarming Evidence: The Bleak Figures of Gender Inequality
According to the visualizations, the problem evidence is:
The proportion of literate young males to females is 2:1 (Gender Literacy Disparity Ratio of 0.4985) which is the worst in Africa, and the world.
Despite progress leading up to 2003 due to the Millenium Development Goals, Chad’s political tensions, including tensions due to political rebel groups, have hindered female youth literacy, which is now fluctuating due to post-conflict tension relief and Covid-19 impact, however, still is yet to go above the 2003 High.
Less than one in three young females are literate in 2021.
This disparity is further highlighted by the socio-economic and political challenges unique to Chad. Women’s literacy is severely impacted by their involvement in vulnerable employment, increased domestic responsibilities, and societal norms that prioritize early marriage over education. These factors contribute to a widening gender literacy gap, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ray of Hope: Envisioning a Path to Literacy Equality
Potential Solution
Cultural and Educational Reform to Enhance Female Literacy in Chad
A dual approach focusing on changing societal norms about female education and improving educational access and quality for young females.
Programs to shift perceptions about female education at the community level, while also improving educational facilities and content.
Turning the Tide: Innovative Solutions in the Shadow of Despair
Solution Details:
Community Sensitization Programs: Launching programs aimed at changing societal attitudes towards female education. These should involve community dialogues, awareness campaigns, and involvement of influential community figures to advocate for the importance of educating girls.
Policy Advocacy for Gender Equality in Education: Working with government and local authorities to push for policies that prioritize and protect girls’ education rights, including mandatory education laws that are gender-neutral.
Female-Focused Educational Infrastructure: Developing schools that cater specifically to girls, with facilities and environments that respect cultural norms while providing a safe space for girls to learn.
Curriculum that Challenges Gender Stereotypes: Designing educational content that challenges traditional gender roles and promotes gender equality, helping to shift perceptions from a young age
Triumph Amidst Turmoil: Validating the Beacon of Change
To validate these solutions:
Community Feedback and Participation: Collecting feedback from community members to ensure initiatives align with cultural sensitivities and actual needs.
Measuring Shift in Perceptions: Conducting surveys to assess changes in community attitudes towards female education over time.
Monitoring Educational Outcomes: Tracking enrollment, literacy rates, and retention of girls in schools to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented solutions.
Urgent Call to Action: Recommendations to Break the Chains of Illiteracy
Findings/Recommendations:
Critical Need for Cultural Change: Research highlights the need to alter societal norms and attitudes towards female education in Chad.
Integrated Approach for Meaningful Progress: Combining educational reform with cultural transformation is essential for improving female literacy.
Long-Term Commitment and Strategy: Addressing deep-rooted societal beliefs requires long-term, strategic planning with sustained effort from all involved parties.
Collaboration is Key: Emphasizing the importance of cooperation between local communities, government, and international partners to drive change.
Empowerment Through Education: Recognizing that educating girls extends beyond literacy; it empowers them to become active, equal participants in society.
In Chad, the gender literacy gap is alarmingly high, with young women facing significant educational disadvantages due to socio-economic and cultural barriers, including political instability. Addressing this requires a multifaceted approach involving community sensitization to shift attitudes towards female education, policy advocacy for gender equality, the establishment of female-focused schools, and curriculum reforms challenging traditional gender roles. Success hinges on collaborative, long-term strategies and monitoring educational outcomes to empower women as equal participants in society.
SDG Goals Involved:
SDG 4 (Quality Education): Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
SDG 4.5: Eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations.
SDG 4.5.1: Measures the proportion of students in primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education who have access to education without discrimination based on gender, disability, or other factors.
SDG 4.5.2: Focuses on the elimination of disparities in participation rates in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by gender and other demographic factors.
SDG 4.5.3: Addresses disparities in tertiary education, measuring the participation rate by sex, socioeconomic status, and other factors.
SDG 5 (Gender Equality): Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
SDG 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.
SDG 5.6.1: Tracks the proportion of women aged 15-49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use, and reproductive health care.
SDG 5.6.2: Measures the number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee women aged 15-49 years access to sexual and reproductive health care, information, and education.
SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities): Reduce inequality within and among countries.
SDG 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including through eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices.
SDG 10.3.1: Focuses on the proportion of the population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the last 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law.
SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
SDG 17.18: Enhance capacity-building support to developing countries to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely, and reliable data.
SDG 17.18.1: Tracks the number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.
A group of us here at the UN development program are tasked with dealing with important issue of underage pregnancy in third world countries. Teenage pregnancies (14-15 years) have been drastically increasing across many underdeveloped countries. It seems teenagers in these countries hold the view that a successful future is one in which you have multiple children, forming a big family as early on in life as you can. This leads to the unwanted issue that comes along early age pregnancy. Rising cases of sexual transmitted diseases and impoverished children who cannot be supported by a mother who is in turn being supported by a parent. So we thought what about implementing mandatory education programs across schools in third world countries? Can we influence their relationship decisions? We looked into the correlation of education programs and teenage pregnancy levels in other areas access the world. Level of education was compared to the number of pregnancies in girls aged 14 to 15 years. Interestingly enough we saw that teenage pregnancy rates are far lower in those countries with high education levels. Our goal was to then implement these education programs across developing countries that struggled most with underage pregnancy. We feel that this mandatory inclusion of sex education into all curriculums would be best suited to tackle the issue of rising teenage pregnancy.
Hussaini, 14, is one of the lucky ones. He escaped. In 2018, as terrorism by extremist groups crossed into Burkina Faso, his village was attacked while he was in school. First, he heard screaming, and then gunfire. “They shot at our teachers and killed one of them,” he says. “They burned down the classrooms.” Hussaini ran home and within a matter of minutes, his family set off. They left everything behind, including school. Since that day, Hussaini has not set foot in a classroom. “I used to love school, to read, to count and to play during recess,” he says. “It’s been a year since I last went…”
From the end of 2017 to 2019, the number of schools forced to close due to rising insecurity tripled. More than 9,200 schools closed across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and others, leaving 1.9 million children without education. These children face a much higher risk of recruitment by armed groups, gender-based violence and targeting by traffickers. Most parents in Africa will tell you that their children’s education is the most important investment they can make.
Trouble Cycle
Education is the UN’s top priority because it is a basic human right and the foundation on which to build peace and drive sustainable development. Unfortunately, lack of education for the young generation remains highly present in the world.
The problem is a cycle: lack of education results in high child labor and low literacy rate thus increasing the world’s problems such as crimes. And in its turn, terrorism decreases education opportunities. Hussaini is among millions of other children that were deprived from quality education and had high chances to be part of child labor.
Evidence
Poor basic education can be identified by high child employment rate. So, what are the target continent and countries?
The map shows that the Average Child Employment Rates (ages 7-14) is highest in Africa.
Having a deeper look, Cameroon ranks first for having the highest average child employment rate of 52.7% for years 2006-2015, followed by Niger, Benin, and Burkina Faso.
Referring to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal number 4:
What if kids will get exposed to education in early stage?
Can we influence their perception?
Fulfilling the Dream
Education cannot wait, and our world had enough. It is time to increase the number of education programs targeting young generation, and specifically African countries as previously mentioned, with Cameroon being a major target.
Creating education programs would:
Have education camps with volunteering and non volunteering teachers all around the world
Use workshops and fun trainings to later voluntarily engage kids
Involve underdeveloped countries in globalization
Introduce the diversity of cultures
Work on making education a need and will for every kid and parent- representing a lasting impact environment
Many past programs were successfully implemented in Cameroon such as Open Dreams, which already funded more than 200 scholarships and mentored more than 1000 students.
Is it Time?
Targeting Cameroon, and implementing it as a first stage project, would be a start to then expand into other countries.
Finally, from another perspective, how about looking at equalizing educational opportunities as a solution to many other issues? and working on SDG 4 for quality education will strongly and positively affect other goals such as ending poverty and hunger?
Creating education programs would:
Finally, from another perspective, how about looking at equalizing educational opportunities as a solution to many other issues? and working on SDG 4 for quality education will strongly and positively affect other goals such as ending poverty and hunger?