Education For Children In Africa!

Isabella Calpakis

My topic: how education can change a life

! A closer look at schooling in sub-Saharan Africa, and futile efforts. ! Education should be a right, not a privilege that can be denied. ! When you give a person knowledge, it can never be taken away.

Overview of the situation Today

! According to dosomething.org, the continent of Africa has areas with less than 50 percent literary rates among children ages 18 and under. ! This is shocking and disappointing considering how much access to education we have in America. ! USA Today states that governments in Africa declare that education is free, but of course there are hindering factors. ! Public secondary schools this year failed to report there would still be charges for transportation, field trips, teacher conferences, and construction. ! There is a small chance that this was human error; perhaps the failure to report is derived from government corruption, and the attempt to deceive the public eye.

WHY it matters
! It is next to impossible to deliver primary education to growing populations across sub-Saharan Africa. According to Schooling in sub-Saharan Africa, valid purposes must be made clear in order for the effort and expense of providing education (6). ! 1. Can help citizens become literate and numerate so they can begin to solve personal issues. ! 2. Can provide a base for education to be furthered later on.

History behind it
! Before European intervention, various ethnic groups educated children based on traditional norms and 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 left Africa in the dust, a continent left behind in the midst of conflict.
! This neglect has carried forward into modern-day society.

opposing argument
! Barriers to education ! allocated government spending, teachers salaries, fees for public school education. ! Africas economies, in terms of both wealth and growth, rank last according Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa.
! Increasing population growth will not make it easier either to support education that must constantly be expanded to provide for all.

! Each nation has a limited amount of available fund; a balance must be achieved between the quantity and quality of education (Sunal xxi).

Obstacles to an education for all

! 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 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. ! However, the schooling would be worth is considering the possibility that there is an increase in what is learned in the schools.

Hope for the children

! According to USA Today, 13- year-old Pascal Mwanchoka and his younger brother scour the streets for metal scraps in order to buy food to survive. They are separated from an alcoholic mother, and completely independent.
! These children might know the importance of education, but they are fighting for survival and basic necessities take precedence.

! Less than a year later, Pascal and 10year-old Lenjo are off the streets, and in class. They attend a free program in Nairobi for children that are too poor to even afford a meal of maize and beans.
! Hope for humanity: there are efforts being made, but how far can these funds go for such a growing population?

Influence of Technology
! Extreme development will only be made possible with the help of technology. ! 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 enhance quality of efficiency of staff.

Review of sources
! USA Today
! Credible news source. ! Variety of sources for information, from news reporters, to governments.

! Dosomething.org
! Valid site with the mission of making a difference and having positive impacts on society.

! African Higher Education Policy: A Survey of Sub-Saharan Africa and Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa
! Scholarly sources with credible bibliographies, and in-depth information not only with information for my topic, but also detailed information for other areas of interest concerning education.

About: authors & Editors

! Dosomething.org, 11 Facts About Education Around the World ! specifications include UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as source. ! USA Today, Africa's Children Struggle For Education ! written by Elizabeth A. Kennedy, qualified journalist. Kennedy also covered the Somalia crisis for another article. ! Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa ! Edited by Cynthia Szymanski Sunal; studied in depth contemporary educational issues in African, and covered future concerns and innovations throughout her work. ! African Higher Education Policy: A Survey of Sub-Saharan African ! by Jerry Komia Domatob, P.H.D., Assistant Professor and Communication Coordinator of Southampton College. He has examined and challenged policies such as funding, infrastructural development, and other strategies that could potentially improve higher education.

audience
! Of my presentation ! fellow peers, Professor Campbell, teachers, children whose education it concerns. ! Of Schooling in Sub-Saharan African and African Higher Education Policy: A Survey of Sub-Saharan Africa ! professors, college students, intellects concerned with this issue. ! My topic matters to not only the country as a whole, but also to the children whose lives could be potentially changed with a higher quality of education and access to more resources to better their knowledge base.

Works Cited Domatob, Jerry K. African Higher Education Policy A Survey of Sub-Saharan Africa. San Francisco: International Scholars Publications, 1998. 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.