Unemp|oyment Causes and Consequences

Accordlng Lo Lhe keyneslan economlc Lheory unemploymenL resulLs from lnsufflclenL effecLlve
demand for goods and servlces ln an economy Some belleve LhaL sLrucLural problems and
lnefflclencles ln Lhe labor markeL cause unemploymenL CLhers belleve LhaL regulaLlons llke
mlnlmum wage laws lmposed on Lhe labor markeL lead Lo unemploymenL Some Lhlnkers belleve
LhaL unemploymenL ls a resulL of Lhe law of demand and supply noL belng applled ln case of
employlng people A decllne ln Lhe demand for producLs or servlces of a company does noL resulL
ln Lhe decrease ln wages of Lhe company employees And Lhls may sLrlke an lmbalance ln Lhe
economy

unemployed lndlvlduals have Lo go Lhrough a LlghL economlc crunch 1hey are unable Lo meeL
Lhelr flnanclal obllgaLlons 1hls may lead Lo a decllne ln Lhelr sLandard of llvlng Lack of funds ls
sure Lo have a deep lmpacL on Lhelr expenses 1he consequences of employmenL can be as grave
as homelessness due Lo fallure of Lhe unemployed lndlvlduals Lo repay home loans or pay house
renLs underemploymenL ls one of Lhe serlous consequences of unemploymenL Cn loslng [obs
people are forced Lo Lake up [obs LhaL do noL beflL Lhelr skllls experlence and educaLlonal
quallflcaLlon 1he oLher ma[or consequence of unemploymenL ls anxleLy ln Lhe mlnds of Lhe
unemployed people unemployed lndlvlduals become pesslmlsLlc abouL llfe and may have Lo face
psychologlcal problems resulLlng from menLal sLress

"On August 22nd, the day Nicaragua was declared free of illiteracy, educators were
working, teaching people to read and write," said minister de Castilla in an
interview with Alberto Mora. "Our aim is to have reduced the percentage of
illiterates to 3% by November 7th. f we achieve that we would have one of the
lowest rates of illiteracy in Latin America together with Cuba. We would have less
illiteracy than Costa Rica."

"t is impossible to imagine even a minimum level of development in a country full
of illiterates. By declaring the nation free of illiteracy, our government has laid the
foundations for the future of education in our country. But this is only the first step,
the first rung on a very tall ladder."

Ten Year PIan: that aII Nicaraguans graduate from secondary schooI

"We are by no means satisfied with what has been done so far. All we have done is
to tackle the first obstacle. The tasks facing us now are enormous - we must
overcome the chasms created by bad quality education, by illiteracy and by former
government's total disregard for education. Overcoming all that is going to be an
immense challenge," said de Castilla

Currently the Ministry of Education is coordinating a nationwide consultation
process involving all the people who took part in the national literacy campaign,
either as teachers or as pupils, as well as education authorities and specialists
from diverse institutions and organizations in order to create the nation's Ten Year
Education Plan: 2011 - 2021.

The fundamental aim of this plan is that all those who learned to read and write
during the literacy campaign will have completed primary school by 2015
and secondary school by 2021. The nationwide consultations process aims to
determine the specifics and logistics of how this mammoth task will be carried out.

As Minister de Castilla points out "foreign cooperation organizations often order
this type of medium term education development plan to be carried out as part of
the process of rationalizing the use of cooperation funds and resources. The
difference is that, when a foreign organization oversees the plan it is consulted with
academics. After the academics have given it the go ahead the government adopts
the plan. But in Nicaragua ordinary people, the ones who will take part in the
education process, are the ones who are creating the ten year plan."

Primary education is the Iong term answer

De Castilla is the first to admit that literacy campaigns "are not the cure to the
social disease called illiteracy. The real cure is quality primary education." For that
reason "our most important work is about ensuring quality primary education for
impoverished children and young people."
On this subject (the government's policy on primary school education) Tortilla con
Sal was able to talk about the reality on the ground in the municipality of Estel with
Melania Peralta Ramrez, Ministry of Education Delegate for the municipality of
Estel, and Luca Nubia Centeno Castro, Director of the Rubn Daro Primary
School in the town of Estel.
Delegate Melania Peralta was able to confirm that the number of students
registered in public schools (preschool, primary and secondary) across the
municipality has experienced an "incredible" increase since 2007 when the FSLN
government re-nationalized the education system eliminating charges in public
schools.
Director Nubia Centeno explains the logic behind the influx of pupils into the public
education system since 2007: "n this school we have pupils whose parents work
as shoe shiners, tortilla makers, building assistants, market vendors and factory
workers. t is not possible to expect these parents, with what they earn, to be able
to keep a family and still have enough to pay for their children's education."

As well as the increase in the number of pupils attending school, the desertion rate
has dropped to a record 8% in the municipality. Peralta and Centeno put this down
to, among other things, the fact that all primary school pupils, in the countryside
and in the towns, recieve a free school meal everyday.

The school meals program has also helped to stimulate academic achievement.
Last year Estel schools averaged an 85% pass rate - a record for the
municipality. "t's a very different thing trying to teach something to a hungry child
than it is to a child with a full tummy," says Centeno.

ducation budget has not been Iimited despite economic crisis

ncredibly, despite the impact of the international economic crisis, the government
has not limited resources destined to key parts of its education policy like the
provision of school uniforms, rucksacks and shoes for the most impoverished
students, classroom learning materials and school meals, assured Peralta. Nor,
she said, have the municipal authorities needed to dismiss any teachers or other
workers, although they have not been able to take on new members of staff.

"Despite the international crisis, it is during this administration when the basic
conditions and materials have been provided for our schools," says Peralta. "Today
teachers have all the material necessary to carry out classes - paper, pens, books,
etc.. On top of that they take part in monthly teaching training workshops."

Another important aspect of the government's education policy that has provoked
positive change in the classroom in the new curriculum and the monthly teacher
training workshops known as TEPCEs (Planning, Evaluation, Education Training
Workshops).

Director Centeno believes the teachers at Rubn Daro have acquired a greater
ability to analyze and plan their teaching thanks to the TEPCE teacher training
regime. "What happenes at the monthly TEPCE workshops is that all the teachers
get together to self-train themselves, exchanging ideas and classroom
experiences. We look at what we have achieved and analyze what we can do to
improve our work."

The importance of the new curriculum is based on the fact that it is more pupil
orientated, says Centeno. The new curriculum "encourages pupils to participate in
class because evaluation is not based on exams - children are permanently
evaluated, everyday. This encourages pupils to take responsibility for their
attendance and involve themselves in class activity," explains Centeno.
FISHBOWL ACTIVITY
A method oI class discussion over readings or topics.


By Josefina Salomon, Amnesty International delegate in Nicaragua
From the outside, it is simply a green house with two windows, a tall metal white Ience and
a nice Iront garden, about 20 minutes Irom down-town Managua.
But inside, a group oI brave women have battled to conIront a scandal oI epidemic
proportions by standing up against sexual violence.

Abigail meets me at the door with a broad smile and the keys Ior the two locks that keep
the outside out.
'Come in, come in, welcome to our home, she says.
Inside, two girls laugh watching a soap opera in a living room painted in bright colours.
Upstairs, there are seven rooms that oIten host many more people than there are beds. The
newest guest came in last night.
For many women this is the Iirst door they knock when they take the decision to escape
Irom the abuse they receive at home, when the beatings and sexual violence are simply too
unbearable.
Abigail, herselI a survivor oI sexual abuse, runs this reIuge and has been working with
survivors oI violence Ior more than 20 years.
I met her a couple oI days ago, at an event hosted by a women`s centre where many
survivors shared their experiences and hopes with our delegation, which has been in
Managua to press presidential candidates over the alarming rates oI sexual violence against
women and young girls in the country.
According to oIIicial Iigures, between January and August 2010; 1,259 women reported
having been raped. Two-thirds were girls under 17 years old.
Local human rights activists, however, believe the true numbers are much higher. Many
women and girls do not report the abuse they suIIer and most oI those who commit the
crimes are never taken to justice.
Abigail and her colleagues meet many women every week. A 22-year-old mother-oI-three
whose hand and ear where cut oII by her partner, a nine-year-old girl who was raped by her
Iather.
'We have had so many women. The stories that shock me the most are the ones involving
young girls. Those are the most diIIicult situations. Those that are so horrible that we
cannot even imagine they take place and it is incredible to see the strength they have to
recover and move on with their lives.
Abigail takes me to the kitchen. 'My Iavourite place in the house, she says.
We sit at a large table, surrounded by multicoloured chairs. This is the place where the Iirst
meetings with the women happen, where the Iirst conversations take place.
When they arrive, women hand over their mobile phones to prevent anyone Irom tracking
them down.
Then, the women start what Abigail calls 'a process oI recovery. Psychologists, doctors
and lawyers work with them to help them recover their sense oI selI-worth, their health and
to take their cases through the justice system.
'As soon as they arrive, we start working on their Iuture, where they want to go, what they
want to do with their lives. It is a daily exercise Ior them to see their lives outside oI this
particular place.
Women usually stay here between three and nine months, 'until they can move on with
their new lives, Abigail explains.
I`ve met many women like Abigail in Nicaragua. Many survivors oI rape and sexual
violence themselves are now the women at the IoreIront oI a battle against ill conceived
laws, indiIIerence, lack oI interest and, simply, cruelty.
The stories oI abuse never seem to end and the questions are always the same: What are the
authorities doing about this? What are people doing about it?, What are you going to do
about it?
I leave the reIuge wondering how Abigail and so many other women do it to Iight this
battle against indiIIerence and injustice, where they Iind the courage to continue and the
strength to hear the stories that most oI us would Iind too hard to understand.
'I do this because I want to help women get out oI the situations they are in, to see me as an
ally, someone who has gone through the same situation as them, someone who
understands, Abigail says and turns the key oI the big lock in the white door in the green
house.
If you too want to show your support with Nicaraguan women and girls, take action 070