Education of children

Public education governance should rest with the public

Laurie French

By: Laurie French.

In some areas of the country, there is an increasing erosion of the fundamental rights of Canadians with regard to local democratic voice in public education. Governance of the education of children and youth in Canada has been entrusted to locally elected trustees across the country for decades. Protecting local voices to ensure local choices is the responsibility of citizens.

Local education governance requires regular focused attention by trustees close to the community. Education is a significantly funded portfolio, and the governance provided by locally elected school boards helps to ensure a transparent and accountable system.

Adding public education to the long list of responsibilities already held by MLAs or MPPs is untenable and is a loss of responsive local voice when questions or concerns at the grassroots arise. This can be seen in ill-informed decisions at the provincial level to make cuts to education and programming that will have drastic effects on students at the local level. Without an understanding of community needs, decisions made at a higher level can be devastating. No two communities are alike, and the needs of one education district can differ from those of another. School boards, accountable to their local constituents, ensure that decisions reflect the needs and priorities of their community.

While school advisory/planning councils play an important role in providing advice to local schools, it is essential to understand that councils are advisory and do not take the place of democratically elected school boards, nor are they accountable to their broader communities. Citizens are encouraged to connect with their local school board trustees to discuss the role they play and gain a better understanding of their work.

Any erosion of democratic representation in the governance of public education must be a concern to all Canadians, regardless of whether their first language is French or English, and whether or not they have school-aged children. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right of minority language parents to govern the education of their children. However, we should all be concerned when majority French and English parents are losing their right to have a local democratic voice in the education of their children.

In areas where school boards have been eliminated, communities, media, and education partners have felt the loss of transparency in public education. Democratically elected school boards and trustees have one portfolio on which to focus – public education. They meet and make decisions in open meetings, ensuring the public and media have access to debate and insight into how taxpayer money is allocated. This influence is at risk where locally elected school boards are eliminated or when their authority is reduced.

It is incredibly concerning that Canadians are increasingly placed in situations where we must fight to maintain the vital right to be democratically involved in public education. Centralization of control is, by definition, an erosion of local voice and greatly affects the education of children and youth.

In provinces where governing school boards, their provincial associations, and the provincial ministry enjoy a positive, productive co-governance relationship, great things are happening. This is not about power and control – this is about being responsive and responsible to communities and citizens to ensure the success of future generations of students.

We therefore call upon all Canadians to contact their MPP or MLA to express support for locally elected trustees and school boards. At the end of the day, supporting elected school boards is support for public education and the future. As Canadians, we have a right to local voices, local choices.

Fuente del artículo: https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/opinion-public-education-governance-should-rest-with-the-public-274812/

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Ghana: Education remains most powerful tool for economic transformation

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Africa/ Ghana/ 16.10.2018/ Source: ghananewsagency.org.

Upper West Regional Minister Alhaji Sulemana Alhassan has urged young people to see education as a priority since it remains a potent weapon for economic transformation and the speedy development of every society.

“There is no society that can advance and be able to cope with the dictates of global trends without paying attention to its culture and education”.

He added that “culture and education are bed fellows in our contemporary world”.

Alhaji Alhassan was speaking during the celebration of 42nd “Kobine Festival” of the people and chiefs of Lawra.

He said the government had instituted pragmatic education policies and programmes to tackle challenges in the education sector.

It was poised to address the country’s physical infrastructure deficit in the education sector through construction and maintenance of classroom blocks as well as the supply of furniture and other logistics to schools.

The Minister said steps were being taken to make sure that the quality of education was not compromised with the introduction of the free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

The government had introduced a “Double Track System” to deal with the increased student admission following the introduction of free education policy in senior high schools in 2017.

Alhaji Alhassan said the Ghana School Feeding Programme was receiving much attention than before with school enrolment in the Lawra Municipality growing by 14,457 and covering almost all Primary and Kindergarten schools in the municipality.

Naa Puowele Karbo III, the Paramount Chief of Lawra Traditional Area, said quality education was the hallmark for human resource development in every community – a vehicle for achieving knowledge and skill development.

He expressed worry over falling standards of education in the area, saying that, “the declining standard of education in our municipality over the years has been a major concern to our development which needs to be tackled hands on”.

He was also unhappy about the neglect of parental responsibilities towards education of children as well as the lukewarm attitude of some chiefs and community leaders to school management.

Naa Karbo III called on stakeholders to play their expected roles well to lift education in the municipality and to ensure that no child was denied education.

Source of the notice: http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/education-remains-most-powerful-tool-for-economic-transformation-140012

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Learning from Liberia’s educational partnerships

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By: Marcus S. Wleh/ newtimes.co.rw/ 16-05-2018

MONROVIA – Around the world, some 263 million children remain out of school, and of those who do attend classes, 330 million are receiving substandard education. As a result, an estimated 617 million school-age children are unable to read at grade level.

The problem is a global one, but it is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 88% of young students– some 202 million boys and girls – are not achieving a sufficient level of reading proficiency. And it is also here where solutions are being tested.

African governments and international donors have long paid lip service to improving educational outcomes, especially in basic skills like reading, writing, and math. At a financing conference for the Global Partnership for Education in February, developing countries vowed to increase spending on education by $110 billion, and wealthy donors pledged an additional $2.3 billion to improve school systems in poor countries.

But as important as these commitments are, Africa’s education crisis will not be overcome by donations and pledges alone. A new approach is needed to strengthen struggling schools, train teachers, and ensure that every child can obtain the necessary skills to succeed. One pilot programme being tested in my country, Liberia, has shown considerable promise.

Because low-income countries rarely have enough money to implement needed education reforms, pooling public and private resources is an attractive alternative. Since 2016, Liberia’s education ministry has merged select public schools with various independent operators in an effort to increase educational quality in a tight budget environment. Early results are impressive.1

For example, at the free public schools currently managed by expert contractors participating in the program, learning outcomes improved by 60% in the first year. At the 25 schools operated by my employer, Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia, average student test scores doubled in just nine months. Parents and pupils have embraced these reinvigorated schools, with many calling them the best they have ever experienced. As a result, the previous government expanded the program, and the current one is committed to continuing support.

One of the most powerful components of a Bridge Partnership School is the pedagogy. For every lesson in every subject across every grade, educators have access to detailed lesson plans developed by academics. These plans help teachers prepare and deliver instruction to maximise learning outcomes. By assisting in classroom planning, Bridge ensures a degree of standardisation across schools, and helps teachers focus more attention on individual students.

At first glance, Liberia’s school system might seem a poor fit for such an innovative experiment. Today, some 58% of Liberian children are out of school, the literacy rate is among the lowest in the world, and teachers are in short supply. Moreover, the current government budgets just $50 annually for each child attending elementary school. The average in the OECD in 2013 was $9,200.

But programmes like these are attractive for two reasons: they deepen a country’s access to educational expertise, and, more important, they open up new funding streams.

Developed countries have already recognised the value of strong public-private partnerships in education. Notably, the United Kingdom’s 2018 education policy encourages the expansion of such programs because they have been found to “improve access to education for poor and marginalized children.”

Not everyone will agree; partial partnerships with the private sector and NGOs in education generates considerable controversy, and there is little doubt that in Liberia, the Bridge model remains a work in progress. (A new impact analysis is due in the next academic year.)

But while costs were high, they are quickly falling. And continuous teacher training for those who are part of Bridge PSL is helping to increase the quality of instruction. As test results in Liberia demonstrate, children are learning more than ever. With the support of prominent global investors, our schools are achieving outcomes that were previously unthinkable.

From my perspective, the public-private partnership model has revolutionised education in Liberia, and I am confident that it can work in other parts of Africa, too. In countries where learning outcomes continue to lag, governments need collaborative solutions. And, as past failures have demonstrated, education systems in much of the Global South cannot succeed alone.

To achieve “education for all” by 2030, the target set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, educators must embrace bold solutions like Bridge Partnership Schools. With millions of children still being denied the right to an education, the world can no longer afford the status quo.

The writer is the country director of Bridge Partnership Schools for Liberia.

*Fuente: http://www.newtimes.co.rw/opinions/learning-liberias-educational-partnerships

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Uganda: Janet Museveni tells parents to prioritise education

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Por: http://observer.ug/09-05-2018

The first lady and minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, is concerned that most parents are not actively involved in the education of their children, thus leading to poor performance.

Ms Museveni said while it the responsibility of government to provide education, parents have abandoned their responsibility of providing essential items such as lunch, scholastic materials and shoes for learners.

“Why are families failing to feed our children? Someone produces a child and they are unable to feed them, what does this mean? When I talk about this, I am not talking about only mothers but also the fathers,” Ms Museveni said.

 

She added that during her term as MP for Ruhaama County in Ntungamo, most children in the constituency walked bare feet to school.

“When I went to Ruhaama, I said, ‘I will not leave when its children have no shoes.’ I was shocked that I spent 10 years in Ruhaama and left its children without shoes. I had done everything there but parents were not helping themselves. Why should someone spend a whole year without engaging in anything generating income? What should we do to such people?” she asked.

The minister was speaking to parents, district leaders and politicians after officially handing over new structures to Birere mixed primary school in Isingiro district on May 2, 2018.

Museveni said replacing the dilapidated structures with new ones will not be meaningful if parents don’t prioritize their children’s education.

Birere mixed primary schools is one of the 138 schools countrywide that have received a facelift with support from Global Partnership for Education (GPE) grant worth $100m under the Uganda Teacher and School Effectiveness Project (UTSEP) supervised by the World Bank. The grant agreement was signed on August 27, 2014 and became effective on March 24, 2015.

In Isingiro, 20 schools were selected with each receiving seven new classroom blocks, one administration block, five and two-stance latrines and a 5,000-litre water tank.

Ms Museveni also commended schools for implementing the thematic curriculum insisting that it when children study in their mother tongue up to primary three, they understand better as opposed to being instructed in English language.

“I know there are some people de-campaigning that programme [thematic curriculum] but that is being very short-sightedness. It is much easier for young children to study in their local language,” she said.

According to the ministry’s schedule, handover of all the schools which started on May 2 will end on May 30, 2018 in the respective districts.

JOB WELL DONE

While handing over more structures in Ibanda district, the state minister for primary education, Rosemary Seninde, said contractors did a commendable job with no building found with cracks as it is known for most new buildings.

“We are satisfied that the work is perfect and real. I call upon parents to love, cherish and maintain what has been given to them because it is not going to be the responsibility of government to maintain the infrastructure,” Seninde said.

Of the 11 schools constructed in Ibanda, she visited and handed over new structures at Kijongo PS, Rwenkobwa PS, Ishongororo PS, Kashambya PS, Kemihoko PS, Rwanyabihuka PS and Kyeibumba PS to the relevant school heads. Seninde reiterated the first lady’s message by encouraging parents in Ibanda to provide lunch and shoes for their children.

“It is a shame that children come to school bare-feet in this era. If you cannot afford modern shoes, buy for them plastic shoes or sandals. How will they enter into such new beautiful classes? This attitude that education of Ugandan children is for President Museveni must change,” she said adding that all classrooms in the 54 completed schools countrywide out of the 138 will be furnished with desks before the beginning of second term.

The remaining 84 schools will be furnished and handed over when completed. Speaking to The Observer, Julius Atwijukye, the head teacher Kashambya PS, applauded government on the latest development at his school although he remained not convinced on whether parents will provide shoes for learners.

“Our children are not used to putting on shoes. When we call parents to address such issues, they tell us that they are poor while others threaten to withdraw their children from school if we impose such conditions on them,” Atwijukye said.

“Maybe now that we have a new environment, parents have promised to buy shoes. But if we can get some sponsors to buy some shoes, it is highly welcome because according to the understanding of my parents, I know most will not buy them next term [two].” Out of the 560 pupils at Kashambya, about 50 study in proper shoes.

For Justine Tukashaba, a parent at Kashambya, some parents think shoes are meant for children in urban settings.

“I am a catechist of our church but whenever I teach about such things, parents ignore me. Many of the children have one pair of shoes they use only when going to church. Parents are poor and not bothered about the situation,” she said.

By the time minister Seninde left the school on Thursday May 3, most parents, some of whom had no shoes at this function, pledged to buy shoes for children and they requested her to visit the school next term to check on their progress.

*Fuente: http://observer.ug/news/headlines/57633-janet-tells-parents-to-prioritise-education.html

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Civil society’s next target: the education of our children

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Por: news24.com/Max Du Preez/ 21-03-2018

The foundation of any civilised society is surely the sanctity of the human life and the principle that all lives have the same inherent value.

I can’t imagine that many would differ from these statements. Until one spells it out: the value of a new-born baby of a president, a billionaire or a celebrity has to be valued at exactly the same level as the new-born baby of a labourer, an unemployed person living in a squatter camp, or a vagrant.

A baby doesn’t choose his/her parents. No civilised society can tolerate it that a baby’s worth and fate are determined by where his/her parents feature on society’s hierarchy or by the amount of money they make.

When South Africa became a democracy in 1994, it wasn’t possible to eradicate inequality, poverty and unemployment with the stroke of a pen. We could not eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid in an instant, but we could and should have assured a new and better future for our new generations right from the day the first democratic government took office.

Our challenge was to steadily undo the damage of the past by making sure that the new generation of children being born all have an equal chance to live fulfilling and healthy lives and develop to their full potential; that they could escape the poverty trap their parents were caught in.

Children like Lumka Mketwa, the five-year-old girl who died the most horrible death when she fell down a pit latrine at her Bizana school last week and drowned in human excrement. On the same day we heard of Lumka’s death, we also heard that R34 million of taxpayer money was spent on the private court actions of former president Jacob Zuma and R22 million by former SABC chief Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

My builder friends tell me that the state could have built more than seven thousand safe toilets for schools with that R56 million, and then Lumka would have been able to walk to her school this morning.

My teenage daughter’s school is a brilliant institution where she is treasured as an individual, intellectually stimulated and sensitively prepared for adult life. She only has that privilege because her father can afford it and lives in the right middle class neighbourhood. There are girls her age and with her intellectual capabilities a mere five kilometres from her school who daily walk to school dodging gangster bullets.

Their school has no laboratory, library or computers and there are fifty learners in each class, often being taught by a totally under-qualified teacher. These girls have very little chance to compete with my child once they’re out of school, and not because of anything they did or did not do.

It is in such schools, probably most state schools, where youngsters with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, Asperger’s syndrome or other challenges on the autism spectrum, or serious trauma because of their domestic situation are called stupid and difficult. With a little bit of understanding these kids could have been top performers in their class.

The statistics are there for anyone to look up: If your father and mother are poor, the chances are overwhelming that you will also be poor and unsuccessful as an adult. In this way we perpetuate the inequality and injustice that is increasingly polarising and destabilising our society, because almost all the schools without proper infrastructure, facilities or qualified teachers are in the townships or the deep rural areas.

According to all indications, the education our children get in these schools are of the worst in the world, while most of our suburban schools are above the world average. We have been perpetuating apartheid. The way the elected governments since 1994 have treated the education of our black children is tantamount to a crime against humanity.

I fully support the idea of free tertiary education, but what sense does it make to spend so many extra billions of rands on students at universities when primary education is of such a low standard – and children drown in pit latrines?

Unless President Cyril Ramaphosa’s «new deal» is an election gimmick, it will have to start off with a massive and ambitious intervention in basic education. It was largely through civil society’s activism that South Africa got rid of the Zuma/Gupta nest of corruption and restored political accountability.

The education of our children should surely be civil society’s next target?

Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.

*Fuente: https://www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/civil-societys-next-target-the-education-of-our-children-20180320

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