EFA+assignment_Kyle

Please write a short paragraph on how EFA is being implemented in your country of choice. What educational problems does your country face, and how are they trying to solve them? In addition, what organizations can you find that might help you teach in this country?

**Teresa Guo**
I am interested in the education in Singapore, and I know that in this country education is more strict then other countries. In these years, the economic in Singapore was better than before and families have more money to put on their children’s education. In Singapore, schools have different grade method than other countries. They will distinction their students in very young age such as Grade Four or Grade Five, cause the schools and teachers think that it is better to treat the different academic levels’ students in different way, which means educate them according to their aptitude. Also, Singapore is a famous immigrant country in Asian, so that there are children from different part of Asian. For solving this question, Singapore’s schools make different national language classes for different students for different countries. For example, if you came from China you could take a Chinese class, and the children who came from Malaysia can have a Malay language class. Then all the students will feel comfortable in school and they can choose what they want to learn and can learn their native culture during the school time. And as a teacher, I think the early classify in children is mot that good and useful. Although now in Singapore they combine some middle level and the lower level students in the same education level, bur there still have some special education level, which is quick than other. And I think this system can help the smart students to learn more on knowledge but less on how to communicate with others. And for the lower education level students, this system will destroy their self-confident and will make some bad influence in their mind. I think we can teach students according to their abilities, but we can’t classified them because their abilities.

**Lauren Polens- Nigeria**
The country that I decided to chose to focus on for this EFA assignment is Nigeria. In Nigeria, the Minister of Education promotes education. Education is ran by local authorities that control the local educational system and state levels of schooling by providing funding. The different grades levels in Nigeria divided into Kindergarten, primary education,and secondary education. Primary education Private schools would also offer Computer science, French, and Fine Arts. Primary school students are required to take a Common Entrance Examination to qualify for admission into the Federal and State Government Secondary schools, as well as private ones. While Nigeria’s population is increasing, emphasis has been focused on making better public service, making education development a huge priority. Primary aged school children count for around 16 % of the entire population of Nigeria. Unfortunately, 10.1 millions of them are out of school or 16% do not complete the education cycle. An increased number of students are being enrolled, but quality educational programs are not implemented. One third of the youth cannot read or write. The number of illiterate adults is around 40 million in the country. The EFA goals are helping to reduce the number of children who cannot read or write. The EFA focuses on making sure that there is enough qualified teachers to teach the fast growing population. Boys are at an advantage the educational system. The EFA is trying to make more programs focused on expanding the knowledge of girls. Money reasons is another reason that kids don’t go to school, even though tuition is free. Many of the young kids are sent to work in local markets to help families make a living instead of going to school. Nigeria tends to be lower in all areas such as education quality, improving levels of literacy, number of students enrolled compared to the whole African continent average by around 10-20 %. Organizations have been implemented to give qualified individuals a chance to teach the uneducated children. Back in the 1800;s church missionaries would give individuals the tools to teach in the classrooms. They taught them the process of how to be a teacher. The Education Code of 1926 helped create the Nigerian Teachers Union and focused on the involvement of the teachers of coming together. Late, the UPE proposal of 1955, ensured that only the most qualified teachers would be allowed to teach the kids of Nigeria. From 1960 and onward, the Advanced Teacher College provided the maximum training for all teachers in progress. This program had made its curriculum harder as we go on and now is extremely hard to get into and complete. There are designated training areas for specific majors and teachers can get the highest degrees ( most commonly a Bachelors).

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I chose Ireland because I was admitted to study abroad there this summer, and I found this a good opportunity to do a little bit more research on that country before I went overseas (i.e. a perfect way to apply this to my life! Wee!). At first glance, looking through all of the statistics online comparatively to other countries, Ireland appears to be at the top – bringing in great numbers and a high educational focus. For example, with 4.6 million people, they rank a gross enrollment ratio of 98%. Among the EFA goals, Ireland seems to rank among the most successful.=====

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However, numbers and statistics do not mean that everything is perfect, as we all know very well. Though the Irish educational system appears to be flourishing, some of the population has begun to think otherwise:=====

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“While the Irish education system is widely acknowledged both nationally and internationally as consistently providing high quality service to the majority of Irish students, in recent years growing attention has been focused on the needs of a minority of persons who have not benefited from education. […] The strong performance of the Irish economy in recent years has not been sufficient to provide this group with employment opportunities and, as a result, the individuals concerned have become marginalized from the labor market.” [1] =====

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After all, the educational system plays upon all of the aspects of society (economical, social, etc.). Many of the issues in Irish education are much the same here in America – there is a pretty sound system in place comparatively, but it is not by any means perfect. Still, the EFA strives to do their best in trying to meet their goals, taking many different sorts of measures.=====

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Some of these efforts to expand basic education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults include things such as the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS), which is “designed to provide education and training opportunities (courses of up to two years’ duration) for long-term unemployed people over the age of 21. Its primary objective is to equip long-term unemployed people with the skills needed to enhance their chances of obtaining employment, either directing or through progression to further education and training.” [2] Another program is the Area Development Management (ADM) Partnership, working to “break the cycle of early school leaving, unemployment and poverty through the funding of preventive education projects.” [2]=====

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I believe that in looking at and studying places such as Ireland, we can get to the root of what works, and how we can bring that to other areas of our world in greater need. Many people are rallying with the help of Irish Aid Support to introduce ideas about global justice in classrooms and environments around Ireland. One program that I found was the Development and Intercultural Education (DICE) program, which “works with primary teacher training colleges to encourage and support student teachers to teach about global development issues and to encourage equal respect for one’s own and other cultures both locally and globally.”[3] Perhaps with this sort of program, I could definitely bring knowledge of the educational systems in Ireland and around the world together, in hopes to try to level out the playing field.=====

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Erin Collins-Ethiopia

Honestly, going into this assignment I had no idea which country I was necessarily interested in. So, looking in the UNESCO website and comparing each EFA goal of all countries, I grew interest towards Ehtiopia. The reasons I felt it was interesting was because the survival rate in this country of quality education is only 47%. Also, 55% of the youth are literate. And most shocking of is that the mortality rate (children dying under 5 years old) is at 96% in 2013, while in America, we only suffer from an 8% mortality rate. This shows a lateral pattern for the education in Ethiopia. Because of the current system, women/men are recieving a low education which is increasing the mortality rate. The more educated students in Ethiopia are, the more likely they will learn about sexual education, infant health, etc. Therefore, by increasing the quality of education and amount of years the students are in school, the infant mortality rate will decrease. I found a Ethiopian teaching program through www.projects-abroad.org. It described a program that focused on teaching conversational skills and life skills to Ethiopian students. Therefore, I felt that it would be a good program for the type of reform I would want to see in this country. Also, they said that because the rate of primary education is at 68% and the rate of secondary education is at 16%, I would want to expand a student's interest for secondary education.

Gina Vetere-Angola

I choose Angola for my country. One of the biggest educational problems my country faced was the Angolan Civil War. This was one of the biggest problems because most of the Portuguese left, including many teachers and staff members and a lot of school materials were no longer available. Since there were limited teachers and materials, more and more children were not enrolled in school, thus resulting in a lower literacy rate for this country. The government implement EFA by coming up with the Back-to-School Campaign. They recruited and trained about 29,000 primary school teachers. As a result of all these new teachers, enrollment in school increased by a million. One organization that I found that could help me teach in this country is UNESCO. I liked this organization because they said, “they exist to bring this creative intelligence to life…” I thought this statement was really powerful because I think creativity is one of the most important elements to have as a teacher. It is important to think outside of the box and use your creativity as power and intelligence.

Sam Barton- China
The country I chose to research on EFA was China because I am heavily interested in learning the culture and practices of my "native" country. In China, they are making numerous changes in their educational programs because of EFA. China's biggest concern is being able to reach everyone because of their very large population. Some of the changes that they are making to their system is by making education one of the top goals for the Chinese government. China is now making each region in the country accountable for how well they are teaching their students. They have also taken into account the disadvantaged citizens in the country and have put more focus on them. China plans are to decrease the illiteracy rate in the country 5% every year. There are numerous organizations that are trying to promote teaching in China. One of these organizations is Teach for China; their goal is to increase the amount of impoverished children that attend a university after they graduate because it reported that only 5% of rural children attend college, while 80% of urban children do. There are many organizations that are being involved with EFA to prove the quality and standard of education in China; being a part of one of these organizations would be astounding to be a part of.

Megan Steinberg - Argentina
The country I chose to research on EFA implementation is Argentina. In Argentina they are taking many steps to work toward the United Nations’ goal of Education for All. One of the main issues that is pointed out in the video is the failings of the national governments to reach the most marginalized individuals. Some of the ways laid out in the video to improve educational systems and reach these marginalized children is by making governments more affordable, investing in teachers and books and incorporate education into broader national policies. In Argentina the nation has increased its national investment in education from 3.86% of GDP in 2003 to 6.47% in 2011 (coneau.gov.ar). Argentina is trying to find committed teachers but is struggling to find teachers dedicated to being innovative in the classroom in order to address cultural changes in the classroom (iiep.unesco.org). To do my part in the quest for EFA there are many programs that could place creative and enthusiastic teachers, like myself in a school such as Argentina. One of these organizations is TEFL Argentina. Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Argentina) is a company dedicated to educating and placing teachers in Argentina to better their educational system (teflargentina.org). There are many ways countries are taking steps towards EFA and ways that prospective teachers can get involved in the fight.

Sarah Baker - Uganda: ==== I chose to research and discuss the country of Uganda. I'm part of MSU's chapter of PED which has projects in Uganda and I have a friend who will be leading a trip there this summer to support education and teach basic health to the people there. She has been in the past and her pictures and stories are incredibly inspiring. ==== ==== I found an article about educational development which is heavily focused on primary education through the Universal Primary Education (UPE) strategy. It strives to provide free education in order to increase enrollments. Currently, according to UNESCO statistics, 9% of primary school-aged children are out of school. The three main challenges cited were access, equity, and efficiency. In sum, the article stated that "the target is, therefore, to expand the education sector to accommodate more learners and eliminate disparities in terms of access and performance with special emphasis on removing gender and regional imbalances." Funds are coming from foreign aid and some of the government's budget is being re-worked to allocate more for education. In addition to primary education, Uganda is trying to train more teachers, run secondary schools, and to provide vocational training to give options for the future. ==== ==== As an educator, I could make a difference through PED trips. Their mission is to support sustainable education. Contrary to the connotation of "sustainable", they are not about providing green energy and recycling paper. In PED's mind, sustainable is a project that does not rely on foreign assistance, donations, or free labor. They begin projects that the community can continue to keep up and benefit from. For example, they built a chicken coop so that the community can raise money to pay their local school's teacher. I strongly believe that a teacher is an integral part of student's lives and the community. I would consider being part of the PED team as an actual educator, volunteer trip leader, or in another capacity that would help the community and the students alike. ====

Invisible Children, a part of the Kony 2012 movement, also hosts a teaching exchange program. Their focus is on both immediate needs and long-term effects. This could be a cool opportunity as not only do North American teachers visit and teach in Uganda during the summer, but the Uganda teachers visit here, as well. We can learn from each other and also gain experiences and ideas to pass on to our students in both places. I think that building relationships is a perfect way to fill both immediate needs and to have a lasting, positive effect.

__Jamie Schornack-Haiti__ I decided to choose Haiti to research their efforts in EFA because I speak French and could possibly use this language ability to pick up Creole. Also, my reading of Mountains Beyond Mountains gave me insight into what life in Haiti is like and how much help they need as a country. They are the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and I feel like I could make a difference as a teacher in Haiti. In 2007, it was sought out to enroll 15,000 new first graders in school, but thanks to co-financing received from the Canadian International Development Agency, they enrolled double that number of first graders. While the EFA efforts in Haiti are going well, the need is still great. About half of children do not go to school at all in Haiti. Also, there is a great lack of qualified teachers and adequate resources, so education is extremely sub-par when students do go to school. Also, especially in rural Haiti, schools are so far away that parents do not want to send their children to school until they are old enough to go the long journey to school. “In 2007, the World Bank approved a US$25 million grant from the International Development Association in April, 2007, to fund Haiti’s Education for All Strategy. The strategy seeks to provide primary education for all Haitian children and the necessary qualified teachers to do so.” If given the chance, I could be one of these qualified teachers that could do so much in Haiti. Another hurtle that EFA faces in Haiti is the fact that children are starving and require a meal served to them at school- this is often the only meal they eat all day. Education in Haiti is about so much more than teaching- it is building a community and helping a people in general. The country needs more than 2,000 new teachers per year, but only about 350 are certified each year. Also, the government spends less than 2 percent of their money on education, which discourages many people from becoming a teacher. The Clinton Foundation serves to get help and jobs for Haiti so that Haiti can rely less on foreign aid and more on its own devices. One of the specific goals is to increase education opportunities for women and girls. This would be a goal close to my heart, for I believe giving a girl an education is giving her power that she would not otherwise have. I would love to be the one to help girls not only in the classroom but also in the long run. They also have an initiative to help refugee children get placed in classrooms. They believe, as do I, that expanding access to education has a profound opportunity to positively impact children.

__**Alexa Carducci- Ecuador**__ I chose to research about Ecuador because one day I hope to study abroad there for my Spanish minor and potentially teach there as well, if I am unable to go to Spain. The project of Education for All is working hard in Ecuador to increase the education and literacy of the all people in the country including helping with the literacy rate and work towards a better adult education system. Ecuador has a few alarming statistics that makes it a prime candidate for receiving help from the EFA. The adult literacy rate is between 8% and 11%. Only 29% finish secondary school, and 9 out of 10 students have no access to day care or preschool. The EFA worked to help change these facts by forming schools, and helping students as well as parents. In Ecuador there are over 1,700 vocational schools working to teach trades and crafts like dress making, while the rest are popular or community education schools. These schools work with the adult education system in order to help them learn and thrive in the community. In some, they teach dressmaking and the students actually go out in the community in Quito, Ecuador and sell the dresses they make. The aim it says is to, “arm graduates with skills to immediately set up small or medium-size businesses when they graduate”. They also recognize that many of the students that come will be illiterate, so they also focus on literacy, making these schools an amazing resource for adults in the developing Ecuador. I found a few great places to go to when looking to study abroad in Ecuador. The first I found is World Teach, which has some fun options to teach abroad in Ecuador. It is a volunteer program where one would teach in universities or adult education schools. Another program I found was Lead Adventures. They had more options for grade levels and options for length of stay. It is also very focused on the teaching of English in the classroom, which could be very fun to do!

__**Allie Woolf- Nigeria**__

After watching the video clip the country I chose was Nigeria in western Africa. Education for All (EFA) was implemented with an agreement at the Jomiten international conference as well as part of the millennium development goals. This pledged to achieve universal primary education by 2015. In April 2000, over 180 countries including Nigeria, met at the world education forum in Dakar, Senegal to reaffirm their commitment to the achievement of universal primary education by 2015. They are trying to promote education and the benefits that it entails as well as implementing tactics to hire and keep educated teachers that will improve the literacy rate and overall education of their children. Nigeria is improving greatly in their quest to heighten their educational system so the implementation and jumpstart to the EFA agreement was crucial in maintaining and continuing the road to a better education. As I researched ways that could help me find a way to teach over there I found that the Global Partnership for Education could be a great tool to help me. Their plan is to support education in fragile and conflict-affected states, increase learning and basic literacy and numeracy skills in primary school, and to improve teacher effectiveness by training, recruitment and retaining teachers. The literacy rate in Nigeria now is 72%, which is astounding for where they first began. I personally, would be very honored to teach in a place such as Nigeria. Not only would I be able to experience a completely different educational experience with my students, but I also think that it would be a great opportunity for my students to also teach me. That is the beauty of stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying new things, you just might surprise yourself with amount of knowledge you gain, the quality of the people you meet and the amount of times that these experiences open your heart and mind to new things. It would be a privilege and an honor to have this experience and make a difference in the lives of many children because I know they will be doing the same for me.


 * Danielle Tkac- Eritrea**

I chose Eritrea because I researched it for a project in my World Geography class my senior year of high school. Thus, I have some background knowledge about it, particularly that it is one of the world’s poorest countries. Although Eritrea is focusing on educational reform in their national reconstruction process, the people, especially girls, have limited access to an education that is low quality and inefficient. In addition, schools have inadequate financial and non-financial resources. Other challenges include a small number of schools for growing population, which has resulted in the rejection of more than sixty thousand children from enrolling in school over the past 4 years, and the need for specialized training for children who did not attend school during the war with Ethiopia. EFA is trying to solve these educational problems through working to eliminate illiteracy, provide free and mandatory basic education up to middle school for every citizen, instruct with students’ first languages in elementary school, and meet the needs of children with learning disabilities. They are also attempting to develop a new national curriculum and reduce the drop out rate. So far, the number of un-enrolled children has decreased in elementary schools, more schools have been established in rural areas, which now account for 54.3% of the children in schools, and the number of girls enrolled in school has also increased. The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) might help me teach in this country. Eritrea is currently working with this organization to enroll more children in school, reduce class sizes, increase learning achievements, and expand educational opportunities for girls. I would love to collaborate with GPE particularly to register more children in schools because I believe having an education can open so many doors that were closed before, particularly for those who are in poverty, like in Eritrea. If children are able to obtain a quality education, I trust that they have the power to determine their own future, which could perhaps lead them out of their unfortunate situation.

The country I chose to research was India. The education system in India has made progress but still has a long way to go. A big problem preventing many underdeveloped countries face is the lack of schools even built around populated areas. Showing progress, in 2012, 95% of India’s rural populations were within one kilometer or primary schools with enrollment rates among primary-school-aged children at about 93%. Those facts sounds great until you look at the quality of education those students enrolled were getting. Only 48.2% of students in the fifth grade could read at the second grade level and the number of students who completed their primary education with inadequate numeracy and literacy skills was huge. This problem mainly exists poor teaching quality the students are getting which is a result of many factors. “Teachers have to teach multiple grades, textbooks are pitched far above the comprehension level of students, and each classroom has children with different levels of learning achievements.” To help combat these issues, many organizations have begun working with the schools and teachers. “Pratham, a joint venture between UNICEF and the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai, runs multiple programs to supplement school education, such as learning support classes, libraries and additional learning resources.” Teach for India was introduced in 2006 and is taught in English due to the belief that learning English is essential to future success. That is definitely an organization I could see myself using to teach in India due to my ability to speak English and never previously being exposed to the Indian language before.
 * Emily MacCarthy- India**


 * Megan Wesner- Brazil **

The country I chose was Brazil, because I find the country’s huge disparity in wealth- and therefore education- to be of alarm and interest to me. The EFA was implemented in Brazil in 1990, though it wasn’t until 1995 that advances were really starting to be made in their educational system. Some of the things that have been put in place in order to promote, advance, and maintain more equity in education as a starting point for building a less unequal and fairer society are the expansion of primary education from 8 to 9 years, and various funds and programs such as The National Textbook ProgramThe National School Library Program, The State and Municipal Primary Education Support Program for Adolescent and Adults,The National Education Grant Program (Bolsa Escola), The Special Secretariat for the Eradication of Illiteracy, and The National Policy for Training and Enhancing the Teaching Professional. However, the primary education system in Brazil is still marked by age/grade gaps caused by high repetition rates that have deeply affected the system as a whole and by the low coverage of secondary education. Although almost 19 million of adolescents in the 15-17 age bracket are enrolled in primary schools, only about 32% are attending secondary schools.

One organization that would help me be placed in a teaching job in Brazil is goabroad.com.

** Luke Collins - Cameroon **
The country I decided to do my research on was Cameroon. I wanted to choose a country is Africa because I know it is one of the most underdeveloped continents in the world and most countries in Africa need educational help. There is a serious funding problem going on in Cameroon. It has been 13 years since Cameroon instituted free primary education to meet on of the U.N. Millennium Developmental Goals. But this program has led to a shortage of funds to pay teachers and many refuse to teach or have abandoned their schools, despite threats of dismissal from the government. In the article “Cameroon Struggles with Universal Education” by Moki Edwin Kindzeka, it explains the costly effect of giving out free education to all children. Their government has been giving the school a “Minimum Package”, in which they provide the bare necessities to schools, by their estimations. But according to teacher Sofa Stanislos, who says he was only supplied with four packs of chalk for the entire year, which in his words “is grossly insufficient”. On program that is helping bring teachers to Cameroon is the “American TESOL Institute”. Through this program, you can enter in some of your information and take the steps through the TESOL to teach English over in Cameroon. It is very important to push teachers to Cameroon for volunteer work, because their government cannot afford to pay most of their teachers. In 2011, about 47 percent of the girls and 57 percent of the boys in Cameroon attended primary school. Even with the free education incentive in this country, a considerable amount of the children do not attend regular schooling. The low school enrolment rate was attributed to cost, with girls’ participation further reduced by early marriage, sexual harassment, unwanted pregnancy, domestic responsibilities, and certain socio-cultural biases. Cameroon public expenditure on education in 2011, according to UNESCO, amounted at 3.7% of GDP. We need to make under-developed nations more of a priority and make sure all students are getting a sufficient education. It is important that we not only focus on the educational problems in our country, but widen our view and bring in the global perspective.