Why Support Education
Increasingly, globalization places new demands on students and decision-makers. Education is the key to meeting those challenges.
According to UNESCO, in Africa, there are more than 105 million children who have either never gone to school, or have only gone to grade three. In Madagascar, for example, we are told that education is required for children ages 6-14 in those areas that have a school. And of that group only 68% complete elementary education. However, most rural communities have no schools, so the statistics are skewed toward the communities that have schools, which means in rural communities, often there are no children in schools.
We envision our students becoming leaders in their communities, cities, and governments. When asked about their goals in general, we talk about expanding their world vision for themselves. Today’s students must understand the interconnection of their community, their cities, their country, and the world.
Thus, it becomes imperative for them to understand the interconnection of how an event in one area of the world can have a major impact on them. Increasingly, globalization places new demands on students and decision-makers.
Education For Many Is An Impossible Dream
In most African countries, Primary education is free for 8 years and compulsory (if there is a school in the village) between the ages of 7 and 12. Secondary education past grade 8 must be paid for by the family and costs range from $600 (US) per year and up. Lower Secondary school covers grades 9 - 10 (from the lower-teen years (approximately ages 13 - 16), while Upper Secondary school covers grades 11 and 12 (ages 17 and 18).
Common Barriers To Education
There are many reasons why Secondary eduction is beyond reach for most people. Some of these issues are intractable and pervasive and solutions often are slow to be adopted and inconsistently applied and real-world situations often force setbacks. As such problems are often multi-generational and multi-decadal.
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Parents don’t have enough money to support their children’s education at secondary school level. War, famine, and lack of job opportunities is persistent and beyond the control of people on an individual level.
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Because of high poverty rates and discrimination towards women and girls, priority is often given to the oldest male sibling, thereby neglecting the education of girls, who end up being “given away” to older men as “brides”.
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Low continuation rates and high dropout rates. Frequently the need to continue education becomes secondary to the needs of basic survival.
Blame serves no purpose in our quest to help individuals achieve; love and support is the key to success.
The need for Secondary & Vocational Scholarships
For students of business, commercial art, supply management, and government affairs, a university education is crucial. When students come from small villages, which all our students do, it is sometimes a big shock, to go to school in a large city of their country. We introduce each of our students to one another, so that they have a commonality among themselves, and with that new relationship can call or be of help and encouragement to one another. Since most of Africa requires their students to also learn English, it becomes fairly easy to communicate with each of them. We encourage our students to communicate with us at least once per month. In this way we can expect accountability with each, and we can hire a tutor for them if they are struggling.
According to UNESCO and UIS data for the year beginning in 2019 About 258 million children and youth are unable to go to school. The total includes 59 million children of primary school age, 62 million of lower secondary school age and 138 million of upper secondary age. That is because there are no schools in their communities or within 2-3 miles walking distance, or because all secondary schooling must be paid for. In much of Africa education beyond 8th grade is NOT FREE. Of course we cannot have an impact on all of these lives, however; we can affect a change in the lives of some.
All students undertake an unforgettable personal journey. As students discuss community and country issues and make friends from around the world, they begin to see themselves and their homeland as part of a global community. As young people, they will make career choices, that hopefully will have a positive impact on their part of the world.