Overview

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Education must be seen as a fundamental right that should be accessible to all people no matter their age or ethnicity. This is further proposed by the World Conference on Education for All in 1990, whereby they had a few basic criteria to meet. One of them was understanding that education can help ensure a safer and healthier world while contributing to society. In the year 2000, the Dakar framework for action had also come up with a plan to ensure that children must be provided the highest form of education. This came with a few benefits, most notably the funding given to developing continents like Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia to make sure that their infrastructure in the education sector must be optimal for students to learn in a more precise manner. Additionally, these organizations have come up with a goal called as “Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) (2015),” in which their aim is to ensure that the global number of educated students must be increased drastically to 80% in the year 2030. 

 

Challenges Faced in Education Accessibility

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Regions like North Africa and Central Asia aren't able to cater to children and therefore are labelled as lacking access to education. This is due to government neglect and financial barriers set on the countless number of people there. Corruption takes a massive toll on the schooling infrastructure, as the budget will not be invested in that sector. A similar economic divide exists within schools and has widened the literacy gap whereby the government would often invest in private schools, making public schools redundant. The primary factor that drives this is the lack of proper infrastructure, in which the school is crumbling day by day and debris fills the overall atmosphere. Adding on, the electricity or proper sanitation is being practiced, which makes children more susceptible to injuries, unable to study efficiently, and at risk of catching a disease. The teachers are also very unpassionate about this, which is the result of low wages and improper or lack of training. 

 

Personal issues

There is a common conception in regions such as these whereby girls are not welcome into the schooling compounds purely based on their gender. Moreover, parents are unable to support or rather secure their children's well-being as they do not have the sufficient amount of money to do so. Regions within the sub-Saharan continent are very susceptible to wars which raises the concerns of the parents, as they are scared to leave their children to fend for themselves. 

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Barriers to Inclusion in Education

In many schools, the children have a lack of keeping up with the times as they lack the necessary technologies to do so. Students are unable to delve deep into the digital world to learn about newer things, such as coding. Racism plays a major role in society, as does with children. The saying “never judge a book by its cover” does not apply here. Schools are very selective and biased on who they pick, usually its students who have a preferred characteristic over actual skills. This has proven to be a major issue, as those who are willing to put in their effort have been outcast, which will affect the workforce of the country. 

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Inclusive Education as a Solution

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In a recent article published by Unesco (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000127583), locals are spending their own money to help fund these sectors, just like what happened in Uganda to show the incapability of the government to provide basic human needs. Moreover, Mexico's Progresa program has provided financial incentives for attending schools by more than half, which resulted in an astonishing hike in students by 10 percent. Meanwhile, in Nepal, parents often have to pay for the school fees, and as a result, they expect a high teaching standard so that their children are getting the best level of education. Unesco, which of the few companies has actually decided to fund countries like Kenya $60 million dollars to help build the infrastructure up and to create an equal learning environment. This is a benefit, as it helps students get to finally feel at home in schools without any of the drawbacks of creating a welcoming environment. Through the financial support programs, students are more likely to work harder to gain a scholarship to jump up the ranks, which will increase the attendance rate. 

 

Studies conducted (Eva Jenkner, Arye L. Hillman)

 

Parents are paying for their children's education in many poor countries, and they are worried that their kids will end up being adults who lack basic skills and have greater difficulty finding well-paying jobs and escaping poverty. A recent World Bank study found that payments by parents for basic education were widespread in 77 out of the 79 countries surveyed.

 

Or parents may make payments in kind, for example, providing food for the teachers, assisting in the classroom, or contributing their labor for school construction or maintenance. It is important to examine the effect of such user payments on education in poor countries before deciding whether they should be continued, reformed, or prohibited.

 

In fast-growing East Asia, primary school enrollment was virtually universal (99 percent) by 1997, up from 86 percent in 1980, according to World Bank data. (These are net enrollment figures, defined as the percentage of children in the appropriate age group who are in school; gross enrollment rates include children who are older than is customary for their grade level and may thus exceed 100 percent.) South Asia lags far behind, with only 77 percent of children enrolled in 1997, but this represents a huge improvement from 1980, when net enrollment was only 64 percent. Sub-Saharan Africa is a different story. Although data for 1997 are not available, we know that the gross enrollment rate fell slightly between 1980, when it was estimated at 54 percent, and 1996. It is probably about 50 percent today.

 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Education

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There have been 2 SDG that have been imposed in order to counter the lack of education in these regions. One of which is SGD 4 which mainly prioritises quality education, this aims for inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for all no matter their religion or background. Moreover, SDG 1 ensures that no form of money is involved in the education industry as it aims to make everything free or affordable for families who are not as fortunate.