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by Sarah Bouchie, Director Basic and Girls' Education Unit
The benefits of education in developing countries are widely known. Economists have demonstrated the importance of education in increasing workforce productivity, contributing to household incomes, enhancing political participation, reducing social inequality, and promoting natural resource preservation. We know that education plays a critical role in economic growth of nations. Primary education, in particular, has been singled out by the World Bank as the largest contributing factor to economic growth in Asia's newly industrialized economies.
Other evidence points to universal enrollment in basic education as a critical precondition of sustained economic growth in the world’s most prosperous nations, as well as the importance of attaining a critical threshold of education before a country can experience accelerating growth. Almost every definition of poverty requires an acknowledgement of the value of education in enhancing human capabilities and freedoms, improving participation in development processes, contributing to economic growth, and in improving livelihood security.
Despite the multiplier effect of education, 76.8 million children failed to realize their right to education in 2004 (57% of them were girls). Millions more are enrolled in school but fail to learn and are at risk of dropping out. Girls from marginalized and excluded groups (economic, ethnic, geographic, and/or linguistic groups with less power and influence) suffer disproportionately. Nearly three-quarters of girls out of school come from excluded groups, even though these groups represent only 20 percent of the world’s population.
CARE’s global reach, experience and extensive education portfolio have given us unique experience in how to facilitate innovative learning solutions – especially for girls – that reach the world’s most vulnerable people, and prepare educational systems to help people succeed over the long term. Our programs are based on a fundamental belief that every learner has a right to education, that inclusion and equality must be addressed in order for governments to uphold their responsibilities to their citizens.
Learning is complex and multi-faceted. Even as international attention and funding for education are on the rise, national educational plans in developing countries don’t always address the poorest people who live on the fringes of society. Strategies to include these individuals in formal systems are frequently dismissed as too costly or without political benefit. Often, those who are the last and hardest to reach are caught in systems that consistently do not meet their special needs. The result is a violation of their rights – a right to quality education and the ability to reap the benefits that education brings.
However, when systems improve to accommodate the most vulnerable, all learners reap the benefits. CARE works at many levels with individuals, families, educators, communities, governments, local partners and advocacy groups to create powerful initiatives that help all people fulfill their right to learn. Through its work, CARE can join with others to amplify the voices of these populations and ensure their ability to realize our shared rights to education.
Furthermore, CARE’s explicit focus on social justice and poverty eradication require attention to these excluded populations – both because denial of education traps these vulnerable populations in cycles of poverty and because societies with higher inequality are less likely to achieve economic growth.
At greater risk of neglect and abuse, girls are particularly vulnerable in these situations. Gender equity in educational systems is a far-off target in most countries. Almost one-third of children out of school are girls, and of those who are in school, their achievement rates are most often below their male classmates. Because education for girls brings tremendous dividends for her and her family in the long run, an investment in girls’ education is truly an investment in the development of a country. Although demographic surveys from around the world show us that countries most often close the gender gap in education among populations before those gaps posed by geographic differences, ethnicity, or family income, the known benefits of educating girls means that targeting girls in marginalized groups can boost the speed at which other gaps are closed.
The week of April 21, 2008, CARE will join others around the world to participate in Global Education Action Week. By approaching partner organizations, community leaders, policy makers, school officials, donors and parents around the world, we seek to ensure that every child has the opportunity to realize their right to education.
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