Lit+Review-+Education



LITERATURE REVIEW EDUCATION

In developing countries an important factor in raising the countries economic prosperity is education. Unfortunately education is not a privilege for children of these nations. When the representative from CARE Canada spoke to us she mentioned that CARE does not provide monetary help to the people that are struggling, but in fact they teach them the skills necessary to provide for themselves and their families. This way their wealth will last a life time rather then just a short period.

Although many children may want to attend school there are many factors inhibiting them. The literature points to similar dilemma’s facing children (mostly females) and getting an education in different developing nations. According to Chant and Jones (2009) data from both Gambia and Ghana expose the high rates of child labor, major school dropouts as well as an inequality between genders in terms of education level and literacy. The people of Gambia and Ghana that are in the young low-income bracket start to partake in different work activities at a young age. A vast majority of the children aged of 7 to 8 start off with unpaid domestic labor, and by age 11-12 they also start to work for money (Chant & Jones, 2009). It has also been suggested by Chant and Jones that girls complete more unpaid domestic labor then boys as well as engaging in more paid work then boys, and they are more likely to give their money earned to their parents (2009). Kathy Wong, the representative from CARE Canada, provided us with a similar story, Kathy told us that teaching the women the skills to earn money was extra beneficial as they were likely to spend 70% of their wages on the family compared to males who only spend approximately 30% of their wages on the family. Kristof and WuDunn share a similar view on girls in select areas of China. They talk of a young girl “Manju” who wanted desperately to complete school but had to drop out in grade six to help her family. Her parents did not see the need to send her to school when it cost so much money ($13/year for elementary school) when she was going to be spending her days in the future “hoeing fields and darning socks” (2009). It is important for women to be educated because when they have one and are literate it allows them to be a part of the economic community. Unfortunately many girls/women do not have the chance to obtain such skills. Of the 115 million children who have dropped out of elementary school, 57% are girls. In South and West Asia two thirds of the children not in school are girls (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). In Africa another reason girls must drop out of school so early is that parents are more concerned with boys receiving education then girls, therefore the girls have to sacrifice their education for their brothers (Chant & Jones, 2009). The authors give an example of three sisters working in one family in particular just to pay for their little brothers education as well as the burden of supporting their family when the parents decide not to work anymore (2009).

In the United States of America it is assumed that building schools (which costs $100/year/additional student) will help educate more children and in some places this is true but in others it is not. The reason, building a school is very expensive and once the school is built there is no way to determine if the teachers are doing their jobs, a study in India revealed that up to 12 schools could be closed for the day at any given time because the teachers failed to show up for work (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). Kristof and WuDunn look at other reasons children do not attend schools; many children cannot attend classes because of intestinal worms. This condition stunts both the child’s intellectual and physical growth. A study in Kenya proved that by deworming students (which costs $4/year/additional child), children missing school was cut by a quarter (2009). Finally many young girls cannot attend school due to menstruation. These girls do not have the proper tools to care for this. The girls in Africa will reuse old rags and usually only have one pair of ripped underwear; therefore they are stuck at home because of the fear of embarrassing stains This is a newer approach but findings suggest that by providing these girls with sanitary pads and a place to change them, greatly increases female attendance in schools (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009). This information gives us some insight as to what challenges must be faced when trying to provide children of developing countries with an education, as well as what it takes to keep the attendance rates at existing schools up.

__References__

Chant, S., and Jones, A. (2009). "Globalising initiatives for gender equality and poverty reduction: Exploring ‘failure’ with reference to education and work among urban youth in The Gambia and Ghana". //Geoforum// 40 (2). pp. 184-196

Kristof, N., $ WuDunn, S. (2009) //Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.// New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.