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The 10 Worst Places to Be a School-Aged Child
Filed under: In The News, Education: Big Kids, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Education: Tweens, Research Reveals: Tweens
A boy reads a book on a bench at the Christian Light Ministries school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The country is third on the list of worst places to be a school-aged child. Credit: Arnulfo Franco, AP
Parents who fear their kids are getting a subpar education in American schools might want to check out new research that shows it could be so much worse.
A study released this week by the Global Campaign for Education, based in South Africa, shines the spotlight on the worst places in the world to be a school-aged child because of poor access to education.
Topping the list: Somalia, where only one out of every 10 children is enrolled in primary school. Africa dominates the list. Eritrea, a country in northeast Africa, and Haiti are ranked second and third, respectively. There's no question Haiti's education system is still reeling from the Jan. 12 earthquake. Haiti's government operates only 10 to 20 percent of primary schools, according to the study.
Worldwide, 69 million children go without school, entirely, missing out on access to literacy, job skills, social skills, better health and improved finances, the study reports.
The Top 10 Worst Places to Be a School Child:
1. Somalia
2. Eritrea
3. Haiti
4. Comoros
5. Ethiopia
6. Chad
7. Burkina Faso
8. Central African Republic
9. Mozambique
10. Zimbabwe
Factors that lead to bad marks include access to basic education, teacher-to-student ratio and a lack of educational provisions for girls.
Fueling this debacle in education is the worldwide economic crisis, the report states.
"Millions of children are becoming the victims of the financial crisis with poor countries' education budgets being cut by $4.6 billion a year," the study concludes. "In the last 12 months, Kenya had to delay the provision for free education to 9.7 million children due to budgetary constraints."
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who recently was appointed to the High Level Panel for the Global Campaign for Education, says in a news release that "generations will be condemned to poverty" if education budgets are not protected from the financial crisis.
The study is calling on world leaders gathered this week at the Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, to make funding for education a priority to meet a target of universal access to basic schooling by 2015.
While many countries have made progress -- Tanzania has enrolled 3 million more students since 2000 -- there is still a long way to go.
Related: Obama Enlists Governors To Raise Education Bar
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
9-21-2010 @ 5:22PM
Cornelia Ngozi said...This is so biased. How is is possible Afghanistan is not on the list? Only African Nations and Haiti are included.
Reply
9-24-2010 @ 10:09PM
CBH said...I don't know if it's biased...maybe...the study was issued by a group based in South Africa.
I'm scratching my head more about the comments suggesting parents not worry about their children's subpar education in America because, afterall, it could be so much worse. Is that like a be thankful for anything you have concept?
9-22-2010 @ 12:30AM
Cau Lin said...because those are the worst places duh have you ever been to Afghanistan if you have been then you would know people like you is whats wrong in the world you think everything is bias well guess what facts are facts so take your racist self to school and learn about the real world you closed minded idiot
9-21-2010 @ 5:56PM
mj bergherm said...I had the opportunity to be in an African country and to observe primary schools. The teachers are doing a fantastic job teaching in classrooms that may have no heat, no lights, no floors, sparce supplies for the students. The students in one classroom may have varied ages of boys and girls. The reason for the varied ages may because the first born is responsible for the families livestock. When the second born reaches the age of herdsboy, then the older brother will be allowed to attend primary school. At the end of primary schools every student must pass a test that allows them the higher education of high school. I witnessed one classroom with one teacher and close to 80 students for her to teach. I witnessed children running to school miles, barefoot, just to go to school and learn. The students are smart and very well behaved, they are wonderful.
Reply
9-22-2010 @ 5:27AM
Wendy said...Does anyone think we should "fix" our own education system before we start pointing fingers at others??!! OUR system is broken and our children are suffering terribly. Not only are we NOT teaching our children to read and write, Heaven help the children who are not perfect little ladies and gentlemen or worse, emotionally sick. They get hidden away in "schools" that in fact, don't teach academics, they merely berate and control them.
Let's clean up our own side of the 'street' and leave others to do the same.
Reply
9-22-2010 @ 9:20PM
Russell said...I'm sure things are terrible in Africa and South America and Asia and and everywhere else in the world. However, I've lived in, and taught school in, the Appalachian Mountain regions of OUR country. Yes, the U.S. (remember us) has thousands of children who simply don't go to school, for a variety of reasons, too numerous to begin listing here. While I feel compassion for the rest of the world, my loyalties remain here in the U.S., with OUR children and their needs.
Poverty, disease, illiteracy, child abuse, spousal abuse, unemployment, sub-standard housing, lack of transportation, and on and on, all contribute to deplorable conditions in some of our less fortunate regions of OUR country. It is UNACCEPTABLE to allow these conditions to exist in America.
And for those of you who insist on, spouting off with the famous
line about, "even the poorest of the poor here in America, are better off, than those in OTHER countries", I have this to say. Those OTHER countries have been around for centuries longer than the U.S. For reasons unknown, they are still, living in the Stone Age, and refuse to raise themselves up. WE ( the people of the U.S) cannot save the rest of the world, and WE don't have any obligation to do so.
If America fails (as this president would have us do)then the entire planet is doomed. We have no obligation to lower our standard of living, in order to raise the standard of living in other third world nations, which have always, and will always, be under the control of dictators, and other lunatics, who only steal what few precious resources their country has, and provides a life of luxury for the few.
So, before you have a tearful, guilt-ridden day, consider OUR country first. OUR children should be our first consideration. If you can't grasp that concept, then, get on one of the daily flights heading to one of the ten mentioned countries in this article, and go live there, and make a difference, and find a way to be happy. For me, I'll stay right here in the good ole' U. S. of A. and continue to help OUR kids and OUR families, because my loyalties are with WE THE PEOPLE.
OK, now hit me with your " you are such a selfish SOB rants" Heard it all many times. But, go ahead, it will make you feel better.
AMERICA FIRST.
Reply
9-22-2010 @ 7:50PM
mj bergherm said...Actually, You are correct when saying, someone should go and live in the conditions that the article is describing. Only then will you be able to compare one against another educationally only. Volunteer, go see for yourself. I did not believe it when first I saw a thatch roof hut in a prominant article. I did not believe that children were so malnurished. I did not believe the article. Well, the article was very true as I witnessed for myself on the continent of Africa some years later. Be champions for what you believe in that is true. Help those kids, any kids, any kids anywhere, any kids anyhow. Just help them in the way that you know best.
Reply
9-26-2010 @ 7:42PM
stevegravs said...I'd add Alabama to the list,
Reply