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New Report Shows the High Cost of Keeping Children Out of School

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Gabou (Mali) - Enfants de bergerA new report released by the Washington, DC-based Results for Development Institute (R4D) has shown that it is more expensive to keep children out of school than to educate them. The study, entitled Hidden Burden: The Economic Cost of Out-of-School Children in 20 Countries, shows that out-of-school children significantly affect developing countries’ economic growth.

The right of a child to education is a basic human right, but across the globe 57 million children of primary age are out of school, most of whom live in Africa and Southeast Asia. In addition to the losses the children themselves suffer from not attending school, R4D’s report shows that countries are also hurting their future economic potential by not educating their children.

By studying developing countries’ labor markets and using data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics R4D has evaluated the losses from under-educated children who will not contribute as much to their country’s GDP. In addition, they totaled how much potential future earnings the children themselves will lose by having fewer employment options available to them.

The conclusion, according to R4D’s Milan Thomas, is that on average “the cost of out-of-school children dwarfs the spending required to achieve universal primary education by a ratio of five to one.”

For several Sub-Saharan African countries, in fact, the cost of not educating children is higher than a full year’s economic growth.

In the case of Nigeria, Thomas explains, where 10 million children do not attend school, in ten years when those children enter the labor force the country will suffer a full one percent loss of its GDP, equivalent to almost $3 billion.

In publishing this research, R4D hopes to inspire governments and policy makers to push harder for universal primary education.

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Higher Education Problems Could Slow Brazil’s Development

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Cristo RedentorIn 2012 the Brazilian economy grew to become the sixth largest in the world, overtaking Great Britain. With a rising middle class, flourishing commodities sector, and huge offshore oil deposits, the country seems poised to continue its upward trajectory. The state of higher education, however, may be holding it back.

Brazil lags behind in higher education, with only 17% of Brazilians aged 18-24 enrolled in a university degree program or having obtained a diploma. Brazilians, on average, receive only 7.3 years of schooling, according to government statistics, and less than half of workers have finished high school. In 2009 the OECD ranked Brazil 53rd out of 65 countries in math and literacy skills.

The number of low-skilled jobs available is shrinking in Brazil’s changing economy, and the need for highly skilled professionals, especially engineers, is growing. Often there are not enough qualified candidates to fill the skilled positions, and this scarcity is already having an impact on businesses.

Antonio Frets, of the Brazilian Academy of Education, warns that unless the country sees a huge increase in the number of qualified professionals graduating from universities, “Brazil is running a great risk of losing its new position” in the global economy.

Though the government’s education spending is on par with other countries, experts say that the funds are being mismanaged, particularly at the university level.

Universities across Brazil are struggling to provide safe conditions and quality education for their students. At the Rural Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, the budget has increased from $7.4 million to $173.5 million in recent years. Despite this, laboratories flood when it rains, students swelter in lecture halls without air conditioning, and the homeless gather in the abandoned geology archive. Observers speculate that corruption and embezzlement account for the disparity.

University enrollment is increasing across the country, but colleges cannot keep up with the influx of students. Last year’s affirmative action ruling opened the door to many poor and nonwhite students, but officials say they now lack classrooms and professors.

Taking into account these problems, experts worry that the progress Brazil’s economy has made could be reversed.

“If there’s not a real and meaningful education reform,” warns Frets, “Brazil could be left in the dust.”

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Spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Scholarship Program

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A Saudi view of Canada Day | Amer

Established in 2005, the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP) is a scholarship program for Saudi Arabians to study abroad at the undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral level. Since 2005, the program has cost US $5 billion, which makes it one of the most well-funded scholarships in the world. The scholarship pays for a three years of study, English language training, and health insurance.

The program has a hand in securing Saudi Arabia‘s economic future and its global competitiveness. According to Claude Scaldi, the Assistant Director of ESL at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, “The scheme has been established and tailored to suit Saudi society’s needs in labour, employment, and infrastructure.” The scholarship was also public relations move following 9/11. Following 9/11, the drop in Saudi enrollment in US schools cost Saudi Arabia about $40 million.

The scholarship funds 90% of all Saudis who are studying abroad. In the 2010-2011 academic year,there were approximately 130,000 students funded across 22 countries. Originally, the program was intended to be short – only a couple of years – but it was extended in both 2007 and 2009. At this point, the program is expected to continue until 2020.

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Malaysia Offers Incentives to Study Science — Good or Bad?

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Light ray tableWhen Malaysian students reach Form Four, they must choose between science and the humanities. According to reports, roughly 30 out of 200 students join the science track, meaning that fewer than one in five graduates becomes professionally equipped to work in a science-related field.

To increase these numbers, the Malaysian government plans to give tax breaks to parents whose children study science, in addition to providing financial aid and grants for science students. Its long-term objective is to have 60% of secondary school students studying science, along with a 10% increase in the number of science students, by 2014.

Surprisingly, educationists view the plans as impractical and potentially counterproductive. “The government’s plan to increase the number of science students using tax breaks might backfire, as it could result in a big group of students who lack interest in science,” said science teacher Marcus Khoo.

“It is far more important to develop scientific thinking skills in students, than to focus on efforts to get students into the science stream.”

Educationist Wong Jia Hui thought the government should veer away from traditional test-driven approaches that have students hyper-focused on getting As when they should be developing their skills. “To encourage more science students, some examiners were willing to lower their marking standards.”

The government could’ve really used this as an opportunity to devise plans for building science laboratories and recruiting quality teachers, as proposed in this years’ Education Blueprint. “I have to share equipment with at least four other classmates,” stated Nuraina Izzaty, a student from Petaling Jaya. “Our teachers also place more emphasis on textbook learning, which leaves us little time in the labs.”

It appears that Malaysia may be better off investing in quality rather than quantity.

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New Study Abroad Program Aims to Give Russia a Boost in the Global Market

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Moscow University

Moscow State University, Russia

Set to launch later this year, the Russian government’s newest higher ed idea is Global Education, a program that will sponsor 3,000 graduates to study abroad over the next three years in the “high priority” fields of social services, high technology, state and municipal government, and higher education management. In return, the students promise to work at home for three years after completing their studies. The idea is to invest in the future: these students will bring back from abroad new ideas for development and modernization, better equipping Russia to compete in the global market.

According to Alexander Rusinov, who will help implement the program, “The only effective way to attract a big number of highly qualified specialists to Russia in the next three years is to finance their studies.”

But the Global Education program has skeptics who fear corruption in the program and a lack of return on this investment, which sends money out of the country.

For more information, please click here.

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In the Gulf, Boys Drop Out at Alarming Rates

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Boys at SchoolAccording to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), nearly 25% of Emirati boys fail to finish high school, a rate that has varied little over the last 20 years, despite education reforms in Abu Dhabi and funding in Doha. According to analysts, the boys often drop out to pursue careers in low-skilled positions in the army or police force. Either that, or they join the family business.

For those boys who do complete school, some fail and have to repeat grades and aren’t able to graduate until they are 24 years old. Out of 100 boys monitored from grade six, only 32 complete high school in 12 years. Forty-seven completed after repeating at least a year. Twenty-one dropped out. Most dropouts occur during grade ten — 11% of boys in grade ten don’t go on to grade 11.

Of course, the high boy drop out rate means that many boys do not pursue a higher education: universities are only 30% male. This has widespread economic and social impacts on the UAE: Uneducated men are less likely to get married. Also, higher level jobs then are outsourced to expats.

How do we address the problem?

According to Ms. Ridge, a researcher at Sheik Saud bin Saqr al-Qasimi Foundation, “Teacher quality is a major factor and, especially in the U.A.E., there needs to be rapid improvement in training Arab men teachers… Many of them struggle with how to teach and are very unengaging.”

But according to executive director for the Office of Planning and Strategic Affairs at the Abu Dhabi Education Council Rafic Makki, “We can’t just fix this with a better curriculum or better teachers; we need to have a community approach.”

Ms. Marri of the KHDA said, “The system surrounding education is flawed: everything from the environment, assessment of teachers, parents encouragement, to the expectation of finding a government job.”

A current university student, Mr. Bisher calls for hope, having been a man who studied in the system: “Right now, there is no inspiration in schools for teachers, for students, for principals, for anyone; our boys’ schools can really feel lifeless… We need to give inspiration to students that they really can be something someday, and empower teachers to help them with that vision, before it’s too late.”

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17.2% of Africa’s Growth Attributable to Education, Say Experts

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Regard The ISS African Futures Project policy brief, Knowledge Empowers Africa, has some exciting news for education advocates. It’s been known for some time now that investment in education is a sure-fire way to improve the lives of people in the developing world as well as the economies they contribute to. In this new report, education and economics expert George Psacharopoulus points out an explicit connection between investment in education and an increase in wages for the educated:

He attributes a full 17.2% of Africa’s economic growth to educational initiatives.

This is yet another Useful Statistic for champions of education in the developing world, and highlights the importance of education as a vital piece of any development strategy.

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The Future of Education in the New Myanmar

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burma seah1 cover Myanmar’s educational system is considered to be the least effective in Southeast Asia.  And, after 50 years of military rule, it’s not surprising.  Although the exact numbers aren’t known, it is believed that nearly 30% of students never even start primary school, while 60% of students drop out of school before the fifth grade.  Ethnic minority students are even less likely to receive an education.  As for higher education – it became viewed as a threat to political stability after the student-led protests in 1988, and nearly all of Myanmar’s universities were shut down.

While the new “civilian” government in Myanmar is far from perfect, this April’s election will likely see an array of non-military leaders voted in, including Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.  As Myanmar’s government becomes more legitimate, foreign countries are removing trade sanctions.  This allows necessary economic reconstruction, and has been an influence on the government reducing its defense budget in order to increase the education budget.  With economic reform comes the potential for foreign investors.

Sadly, Myanmar is home to a lost generation, the generation of people who didn’t have access to higher education and cannot offer the necessary skilled labor to help the economy to blossom.  There is a need to help rebuild this missing human capital.  The European Union has pledged aid to improve health and education in Myanmar, but more support from other countries will be necessary to see through important educational reforms.

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Microsoft Aims to Give Botswana Mad Programming Skills

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Traces

Last week, the Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) opened in Gaborone, Botswana. The goal of the center, according to Microsoft’s general manager of Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, is to foster innovation and “ultimately drive growth in the local and regional economy.”

The center will connect  students with unprecedented access to expert information and world-class equipment for developing and testing new technologies designed to run on Microsoft platforms. The center will help to educate students by providing them with real project experience and thus developing a higher quality of IT experience before graduation. Allan Boshwaen, CEO of the Botswana Innovation Hub, lauded the center, saying,

“I am confident that prospective employers from both the public and private sector will value the contribution that this centre can make to skills development, particularly for the youth.”

This new project will hopefully serve as a huge step in moving Botswana towards a more knowledge-based economy, which is free from many of the barriers developing nations with agricultural or manufacturing economies face.

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