The myriad benefits Education Access brings to individuals, families, and communities are very well-known. The OECD Center for Educational Research and Innovation is in the beginning stages of the Education and Social Progress (ESP) project, a years-long pilot and research initiative that will examine the relationship between education and emotional skills and character--individual and community enhancements made possible by strong educational system, yet often forgotten or overshadowed by educational systems' need to produce strong and purely academic results (1).
Similarly, multinational humanitarian organizations UNESCO and Education For All have found many parallels between sustainable economic development and education--in fact, the report "Sustainable Development Begins with Education" is centered on the very feasible argument that education is the driving force of change and the foundation from which citizens, communities, and economies move forward in a socially responsible, meaningful, and economically just fashion.
Among the positive development areas outlined in the report, education not only enables populations to achieve better livelihoods, increase household income, and diminish generational poverty, but also can contribute to gender equality and empowerment in society, overall economic growth, greater initiatives to protect environmental assets, and eventually develop a peaceful, just, and inclusive society (2).
Yet, we can all see that barriers to Universal Access to Education still exist in many places in the world. Perhaps the most troubling evidence of this can be found in areas ravaged by conflict where civilians are often forcibly displaced and have no options for continuing education in the wake of extreme social upheaval and violence.
Following closely behind the remarkable story of Malala Yousafzai and in the midst of a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions happening in Syria, a policy paper released by the UN Refugee Agency and the Global Education Monitoring Report confirmed that children who are displaced by disaster or violence, and children who are refugees, are five times as likely to be without suitable educational options. The numbers in these cases are staggering: half of refugee children at primary-school age lack access to education, and almost 75% of adolescents at secondary school age aren't enrolled in school (3).
The aim of the UN Refugee Council and GEM, as the Policy Paper suggests, is to address the gap in humanitarian efforts to provide flexible, mobile education to persons forcibly displaced by conflict, while also recognizing the need to provide motivated and high-quality teachers. The joint-effort is clearly presenting a bottom-line worldview: Education is a right for all people, and no person in any circumstance can be reasonably denied this right. And, while efforts made by host countries and international organizations have improved some of these sad statistics, ongoing efforts to secure aid and resources for displaced people remains a priority in the international landscape.
Another barrier to access begins with the problem of extreme poverty still found in many places in the world. In many countries, including the country I live and work in, Vietnam, education is not entirely guaranteed. Families may have the opportunity for tuition-free education in Early Childhood and Primary stages, but many families still may not be able to independently achieve secondary education for their children, and even fewer may be able to provide the means for their children to attend post-secondary schools. Often, families must face a decision in providing their children quality education, and that decision may very well be which child to provide education for. In many cases in many countries throughout the world, the child will most likely be male.
The UNICEF School Fee Abolition Initiative seeks to provide consultation to developing nations in creating policy that is inclusive of all citizens, particularly in recognizing the need to provide free/public education. By studying and analyzing past policies that have led countries to free education systems, and researching methods to help countries make policy decisions that can dramatically change the face of their education systems, the School Fee Abolition Initiative is working to make universal access to education a reality in some of the world's poorest nations (4).
Finally, another barrier to education that remains can be considered a lingual barrier--that is, assuring the quality of education for children whose mother tongue is not always the language of instruction in their country's education system. The GEM Policy Paper "If you don't understand, how can you learn?" addresses this issue by examining how majority or ruling populations, and their cultures, traditions, and languages are more commonly incorporated into the policies of a larger governing body, potentially disenfranchising large amounts of the population. These disenfranchised population include remote tribes/clans and ethnic minorities who will struggle learning the language of instruction as they are expected to progress in subject-area knowledge at the same rate as their more economically and linguistically advantaged counterparts. The Report promotes policy that includes countries' prioritization of mother-tongue instruction for nearly the entirety of Primary School age--introducing children to education and school in a language they can automatically understand and communicate in, while learning the language of instruction they will use in secondary school and beyond. This paper goes on to acknowledge valid efforts made in countries such as Ethiopia and Peru, two countries who have prioritized early childhood bilingual education, to countries such as Vietnam, where adolescent and University-aged young people are given employment opportunities as teaching assistants for children who benefit from a tutor and education supplements in their mother-tongue (5).
Finally, another barrier to education that remains can be considered a lingual barrier--that is, assuring the quality of education for children whose mother tongue is not always the language of instruction in their country's education system. The GEM Policy Paper "If you don't understand, how can you learn?" addresses this issue by examining how majority or ruling populations, and their cultures, traditions, and languages are more commonly incorporated into the policies of a larger governing body, potentially disenfranchising large amounts of the population. These disenfranchised population include remote tribes/clans and ethnic minorities who will struggle learning the language of instruction as they are expected to progress in subject-area knowledge at the same rate as their more economically and linguistically advantaged counterparts. The Report promotes policy that includes countries' prioritization of mother-tongue instruction for nearly the entirety of Primary School age--introducing children to education and school in a language they can automatically understand and communicate in, while learning the language of instruction they will use in secondary school and beyond. This paper goes on to acknowledge valid efforts made in countries such as Ethiopia and Peru, two countries who have prioritized early childhood bilingual education, to countries such as Vietnam, where adolescent and University-aged young people are given employment opportunities as teaching assistants for children who benefit from a tutor and education supplements in their mother-tongue (5).
Sources:
1. Education and Social Progress - OECD. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2016, from http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/educationandsocialprogress.htm
2. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2014). Sustainable Development Begins with Education [PDF]. (2014). Retrieved June 27, 2016 from http://www.efareport.unesco.org
3. Global Education Monitoring Report (2016). No More Excuses: Provide Education to all Forcibly Displaced People. [PDF] Retrieved June 27, 2016 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002448/244847E.pdf
4. School Fees: A Major Barrier to Education Access. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2016, from http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_712.html
5. Global Education Monitoring Report (2016). If You Don't Understand, How Can You Learn? [PDF] Retrieved June 28, 2016 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002437/243713E.pdf
