What is the value of education globally? “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” -Victor Hugo Explanation: Over the past couple of years there has been a slight increase in literacy throughout poverty-stricken countries around the world. No one can seem to figure out, however, why the literacy rates in these countries still continue to remain low. Some may argue that it is because the people of these countries don’t value education, but then some may also say that it is because the people of these countries don’t have the proper resources. Whatever the real reason may actually be, the value of education does differ from country to country. Have you ever thought that maybe the people of these poverty-stricken countries are too focused on how they are going to make it from day to day so maybe that is why they are not too worried about education? This is most likely the reason that children are drawn into becoming child soldiers. They believe that there it no other option out there for them due to their socioeconomic status in their communities. It is our job to help these people see the many opportunities that can come along when you become well educated. With an increase in education these children will be less likely to involve themselves in unnecessary fighting and conflict and put their focus elsewhere. Cause: In the country of Djibouti, the low literacy rates are caused by an absence of purchasing power, low human capital accumulation, and low standards of living. Statistics: -64% of the people in Djibouti have an illiteracy rate of 64%. -55% of the very-poor population live in households where no member is employed. -26% of children under the age of five are malnourished.
Why are literacy rates so low in countries such as Djibouti? “Think about it: Every educated person is not rich, but almost every educated person has a job and a way out of poverty. So education is a fundamental solution to poverty.� - Governor Kathleen Blanco (Djibouti highlighted in red)
Statistics: -Djibouti is rated as a lower-middle income country. -Djibouti has a literacy rate of approximately 57%. -They have an unemployment rate close to 45%
Location- Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east. Population- Djibouti, which had a estimated population of 800,000, of which 87% live in urban areas; one of the least populous countries in Africa at about,. Capital- Djibouti, Population 623,891 Religion- Djibouti's population is predominantly Muslim. Islam is observed by 94% of Djibouti's population (about 740,000) (2010 estimate), while the remaining six percent follow Christianity. Djibouti is a Somali, Afar and Muslim country, which regularly takes part in Islamic affairs. Languages- Djibouti is a multilingual country. The majority of the population speaks Somali or Afar as a first language. - French, inherited from the colonial period, and Arabic, which is of cultural and religious importance, are the official languages. Demographics- consists of two major ethnic groups: the Somali and the Afar. Geography-The country is mainly a stony semi desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands. It has an area of 8,900 square miles - Djibouti is sectioned into five regions and one city. It is further subdivided into eleven districts. It has a strategic location near the world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oil fields. Doctor to people ratio- In the country there are about 18 doctors per 100,000 persons.
Education- There are 81 public primary schools, 24 registered private primary schools, 12 secondary schools and two vocational schools in Djibouti. -Female gross enrollment rate was at 21.9% and male gross enrollment rate was at 29.0% in 2007.
-About 70% of the total population and 85% of women are literate -About 67.9 percent of the population is literate. Did you know that Djibouti’s population is young? About 40% of population is under the age of15, and only 15% is over age 40.originally developed to meet a limited demand for education The HIV/AIDs infection rate is lower than many other African countries at only 2.9 percent. Current issues- Inadequate supplies of potable water and desertification are current issues. Life Expectancy- the average life expectancy in Djibouti is 43.1 years of age. Morality rate-The infant mortality rate is 104.13 deaths per 1000 live births. History- Founded as a seaport in 1888 by the Spaniard Eloi Pino, Djibouti became the capital of French Somaliland in 1891, replacing Tadjourah. It remained the capital for the succeeding colonial government of French Territory of the Afars and the Issas, as well as for the independent country of Djibouti.
Does Djibouti spend its money on education? Current situation Djibouti's current situation in education consists of many on growing problems. First the problem is the how limited they are with their poor faculties. They only have 81 public primary schools in the whole country and the schools that they do have either a poor or no sanitation and toilet facilities. Which leads to the next problem, which is that over 70 percent of the first graders are malnutrition, and most of them die because of disease before they even get to 9th grade? Lastly, Djibouti has a need for well educated teachers and text for their schools. Currently the teacher to student rate for primary school is 10:1 and for the secondary school it is 9:1. Then on the text books on average 20 primary students share one math book and 3 shares a French text and there are no other texts available. Case story In a small village, called Nagad, that is about 3 km away from the capital city, their lives a young girl named Saada.
She is one of the four children of Omar who is not only their father, but also is a worker at the nearest school. Saada is forced to stay home and do chores around the home while her brothers go off and get their education. Saada has begged her father to let her go to school and he won’t allow it. He tells her that she is more useful at home where her mother will provide her traditional education. She is only one of the many girls that never get the good side of education. Solution To solve this problem we need to offer to educate the teaching staff of Djibouti. Also we can send over all of our old text books. If the children were taught more efficient and if 20 students are not sharing one book then the children of Djibouti will become better educated. Also people should give money to reliable organizations like the USAID which has been assisting the Ministry of Education to reform the education standards.
Does Indianapolis need to change their current education system? Current situation: There is a strong movement in this country that feels American students are not scoring high enough on some standardized tests in comparison to students in other countries. Others look at the 'graduation rate' of some high schools and say, based on the graduation rate, American education must be changed. Still others look at what is called the "achievement gap" (the difference in standardized test scores between different races) and say we must do better. all of these people agree that American education needs to be 'reformed' - however, they don't all agree with what the 'reform' should be. Most of them look at American education from one particular point of view AKA a one sided story. Currently teachers are paid
on a system that uses both the teachers education and experience in determining the salary for each teacher. Yet this idea is up for change in the near future. Case of study : Instead of looking to the student aspect of education i have sought out the opinion of the educators. Daniel Henn is a teacher at Warren Central who teaches an elective Radio class. As a teacher he sees the side of education that many people don’t pay attention to. After talking with him he has enlightened me to lots of problems that I personally have ignored. One of these problems is the number of students who have little or no support at home in getting an education. At times, this is because the parents are hard at work and rarely get to see their children. He felt that, while not politically correct, sometimes people are not well-enough prepared to be parents (we don't require a course in parenting...there is no test to take to earn a license to be a parent) and don't know the best way to help their children. And sadly, there are some parents who simply do not care enough. Another problem that he had is the little amount time that the legislatures give to the public to give their opinion to what the changes should be is not even taken into consideration. Then there was the merit pay proposal that will greatly effect him. This is where the legislators want to pay teachers based on the standardized test scores of our students. This change scares him because the Radio class he teaches has no standardized test to determine his pay. This could put him very close to the chopping block if not on it.
What should the government do? The current times that the legislature has been holding are between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm Monday through Friday. During these times most of all the teachers are teaching class and the parents are at work. Then if teachers take the time to call or write to the legislation they never get back a conformation email. If the legislature was serious about improving education, they would hold meetings during the summer or they would ask students to come in and offer advice. There has been very little input allowed from those in the trenches, of the students or the parents, and the teachers. The next thing that they should do is they should do away with the idea of merit pay. Just because of the fact that the elective courses have no standardized test and that all students learn differently. Even for our teachers with tests, demonstrating growth can be difficult. Instead teachers should have an evaluation that asks the following: What do they do? Do they have lessons that are designed to actively engage students? Do they teach to the different learning styles? Do they treat students and colleagues professionally?, and Do they follow the district and school policies?. We don't pay legislators based on the percentage of people who show up to vote each election day. We don't pay police officers based on the percentage of people who don't break the law or on the percentage of cases the successfully close. We don't pay prosecutors on the percentage of convictions they receive. We don't pay judges on the number of trails they hold. So we should not pay the teachers based on the number of successful students they produce.
Further the value of education
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats, http://web.worldbank.org, http://data.worldbank.org/country/djibouti