Calpakis1 Isabella Calpakis Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 6 November 2013

Education for African Children in Need

Thirteen-year-old Pascal Mwanchoka and his ten-year-old brother scour the streets of Nairobi for scrap metal. If none is found, then they must go to sleep hungry. The boys mother is an alcoholic, and they are living alone on the streets. Education is not their priority when starvation is their death threat, but what if an education could turn their lives around? According to dosomething.org, the African continent has areas with less than 50 percent literacy rates among children ages 18 and under. The chance of these children learning how to read and write decreases as they become older and take on the responsibility of supporting a family. Education should be a right, not a privilege, but it is realistically the other way around. The barriers between first world and third world countries are more complex than simple laws; Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa states that of all the worlds regions, Africas economies rank last in wealth as well as in rate of growth (xxi). As for the history behind the issue, much structure of the educational system within the continent is a stripped-down version of what it once was. Before European intervention, various ethnic groups educated children based on traditional norms and
Comment [U4]: is there a better word? Sounds odd. Comment [U5]: Gives statement, answers the how. Good! Comment [U3]: African economies to sound smoother Comment [U2]: Sounds wordy. Could say unfortunately, this is not reality. Comment [U1]: Good to end on a question

Calpakis2 values. According to African Higher Education Policy: A Survey of Sub-Saharan Africa, education centered on training and discipline resembled modern schooling (26). However, slave trades and political conflict forced a new educational system. It is a shame that such a system could not sustain through societal issues and warfare; education should have been kept a priority over other changes. Growing interest in Western education put Africa in the dust, a continent left behind in the midst of conflict. This neglect has carried forward into modern-day society. If primary education were to be offered in regions of Africa such as Congo and Tanzania, a growing concern that would need attention is population growth and control over the years. Schooling for all children would be ideal, but would that be realistic? The dilemma is that no child should be left behind. A familys monetary status should not be a determinant of whether or not a child can receive an education. Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa states that there is more than one obstacle to mass education. Issues include access to reading materials, most jobs do not require literacy, and schooling of such low quality that those who pass through years of schooling are barely literate (xix). It is a shame to think that years of schooling are not nearly as beneficial as they should be. Questions are asked of whether or not the end results are worth the expense, since the quality is so low. According to USA Today, governments in Africa declare that education is free, but there are of course hindering factors. Public secondary schools this year failed to report that there would still be charges for transportation, field trips, teacher conferences and building swimming pools for schools. There is a small chance that this was human error; perhaps the failure to report is derived from government corruption, and the
Comment [U7]: Could this ever be paid for by the government? Or will the students parents always have to pay? Comment [U6]: Education still seems to be a priority, it just seems to be a new educational system according to you. What are the differences between the two?

Calpakis3 attempt to deceive the public eye. Increasing population growth will not make it easier either to support education that must constantly be expanded to provide for all. Because eEach nation has a limited amount of available funds; a balance must be achieved between the quantity and quality of education (Sunal xxi). There is only so much that outside relief efforts can help; rather, change must start from within, and then spread. In Wine to Water, Doc Hendley attempts to bring clean water to the regions of Darfur, but some of his efforts prove futile when politics become involved. Encounters with the Janjaweed throughout his journey thwart his labor. His work becomes demolished, making it only a temporary fix. Developing countries need to break the glass ceiling of poverty themselves in order for their living conditions to match those of citizens in developed countries. Over the years, the cost of providing education in Africa has risen. Teachers salaries have been raised, and the issue is that these salaries are usually paid for by the government. However, according to USA Today, it would be next to impossible to have Africa fund their own teachers, when their GDP is around 3.3 percent. U.S. partners and Kenyan community leaders have met to attempt to decide on a development strategy for the entire community. In these discussions, Cynthia Sunal, editor of Undertaking Challenges in the 21st Century, mentions that factors such as lack of access to water and poverty were prominent. Grassroots empowerment initiatives were found to be more effective than a top-down approach. The African communities must make a united decision to attempt to teach their children. It must be recognized that education can do more than stimulate the mind; it can help teach self-reliance. It is next to impossible to deliver primary education to growing populations across sub-Saharan Africa. According
Comment [U12]: This is where you could talk about Doc teaching them to get water. Comment [U11]: But doesnt change have to come from within and not from us helping? Comment [U10]: Could you have talked about how Doc taught them how to make their own water filters/pumps? Is this a form of education? Comment [U8]: Sounds odd, political motives interfere? Comment [U9]: Who is this? Janjaweed, the military group sided with the government

Calpakis4 to Schooling in sub-Saharan Africa, valid purposes must be made clear in order for the effort and expense of providing education (6). Education can help citizens become literate and numerate, and it can also provide a base for education to be furthered later on. When a person is given knowledge, that knowledge can never be taken away. Children are the future of their own countries, and t hey will directly affect a countrys progress. Education is easier and more efficient to provide now compared to previous generations through the greater availability of technology. Technology can serve as an outlet for these children and they can begin to understand the issues surrounding them. Society is currently dominated by technology; extreme development would not be possible otherwise. According to African Higher Education Policy: A Survey of SubSaharan Africa, African universities do not only lack staff, but facilities as well (76). Training staff would be required for efficiency. However, staff would not reach their potential without proper facilities. Funding should be re-directed to improve facilities in the areas of A, B, C, etc. enhance the quality of efficiency of staff. Education is one of the most powerful weapons to place in the hands of a child; with it, he can change the world, and help those around him. Rather than AK-47 machine guns, young boys in war-torn areas should only be carrying with them the information that will assist and guide them in further helping the world around them. In addition to a classroom setting, these children need to learn in a hands-on environment. They need to understand the diseases plaguing those around them, as well as the causes, and learn what it is like to work medical miracles on patients in a hospital. They need to understand diplomacy, and learn why countries, governments, or tribes are
Comment [U19]: Aka hygiene Comment [U18]: But in this war-torn area, how will they defend themselves with a book? Does the war need to stop before progress is made? Comment [U17]: Basically, how should they be improved? Better lunches? Air conditioning? Swimming pools? Comment [U16]: True. Comment [U15]: Will this make them lazy like Americans who live and breathe off of technology? Comment [U14]: But apparently still expensive? Comment [U13]: Or goals?

Calpakis5 at odds with one another. They need to be in the field to understand how they can make a difference with this information. They will have the most powerful voice in the future if they can start to comprehend how inequities can be solved or helped. God helps those who help themselves; if children in need of education start to help themselves, and ,their families, and their communities rise from poverty, then they will be helped and they will begin to see actions fall into place. Some 46 million African children nearly half the school-age population have never set foot in a classroom, stated by the United Nations in USA Today. However, it is not too late. With the right access to resources initiated by the more fortunate, students can begin to learn the empowering feeling of learning something new.
Comment [U22]: Is this the US? Or rich people in Africa? It should be homegrown, right? Comment [U23]: That could just very well save their lives. Comment [U21]: Are you saying they arent trying now? Comment [U20]: So what do we do? Send them to America to see these medical miracles? Or keep them in Arica? Answer the how here.

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Works Cited Domatob, Jerry K. African Higher Education Policy A Survey of Sub-Saharan Africa. San Francisco: International Scholars Publications, 1998. Print. Hendley, Doc. Wine to Water: How One Man Saved Himself While Trying to save the World. New York: Avery, 2012. Print. Kennedy, Elizabeth A. Africa's Children Struggle for Education - USATODAY.com. N.p., 21 July 2007. Web. 6 Oct. 2013. Sunal, Cynthia S., ed. Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contemporary Issues and Future Concerns. New York & London: Garland, 1998. Print. "11 Facts About Education Around the World." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.