Education for all

Photo: Pamaronkoh Community Primary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone © Aubrey Wade/Oxfam

The facts In 2015, 58 million children were not enrolled in primary school. Graphic: GCE UK (statistics accurate in June 2015)

What makes a good education? Foundation A good education means that all children complete primary school. A good education means that every child has a textbook. A good education means that all children leave school able to read, write and count. A good education means that all children are taught by a qualified teacher. A good education means that girls and boys have equal opportunities. A good education means that all schools have drinking water and toilets. Extension A good education means that all children are enrolled in school. A good education means that all children go to school between 9am and 3.30pm for five days per week. A good education means that all children are taught in classes of no more than 30 pupils. A good education means that the needs of children with SEN are met. A good education means that children feel happy and secure at school. A good education means that the home culture and language of the child is respected by the school. Photo: Woodside High School, London © Chris O’Donovan/Oxfam Think and decide.

Case study: Adama Adama dropped out of primary school for one year and then returned. When Oxfam met Adama, she was a Year 6 pupil at Pamaronkoh Community Primary School, just outside Freetown in Sierra Leone. She was 12 years old.   ‘When I was in Year 5 my mother couldn’t afford to pay the 9,000 Leones (£1.40) charge for the school development fund. This is the money parents have to pay so the school can buy things like furniture and equipment. Once she couldn’t pay I had to stop going to school. I was out of school for one year. All the time I was living here, right next to the school. ‘My mother took my sister and me to the market and we sold gari (cassava flour) every day. I didn’t like working in the market. It’s of no benefit to the child and all I thought about was what I was missing in school. ‘I spoke with my parents. I told them I didn’t want to sell in the market. I said please try your hardest to send me back to school. ‘I was really happy when my parents told me I’d got my place in school back. I had to start Year 5 again and now I’m in Year 6 preparing me for my final exams. I like school because school benefits me for the future. When I’m older I want to be somebody like a nurse or a lawyer. ‘I appreciate school and study really hard. I want to pass my exams and go to Junior Secondary School.’ Photo: Pamaronkoh Community Primary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone, © Aubrey Wade/Oxfam

Case study: Hawanatu Hawanatu dropped out of school without completing her primary education and began working. When Oxfam met Hawanatu, she was at work chopping vegetables in the street in Pamaronkoh, just outside Freetown in Sierra Leone. She was 13 years old.   ‘I attended every year at primary school through to Year 5. Then my father died just as I was about to enter Year 6. I live with my auntie and she couldn’t afford the money the school charges, so I had to leave school without completing my primary school exams. ‘I’m not feeling at all good about this because I’m overworking. My auntie sells eba (cassava dough), salt and onions from a stall outside our house. I work all day fetching water, sweeping and preparing food. I also have to help out tidying the house. ‘My brothers and sisters don’t go to school either. Since my father died none of us go to school. ‘One reason I’d like to go back and finish school is that this work is too much for me. But I’d also like to be a nurse and that’s totally impossible if I don’t complete school.’ Photo: Pamaronkoh community, Freetown, Sierra Leone © Aubrey Wade/Oxfam

Case study: Gbessay Gbessay never attended primary school, and began to learn to read and write while attending a vocational training centre as a teenager. Oxfam met Gbessay at Grassroots, a vocational training centre in Pamaronkoh just outside Freetown in Sierra Leone. Gbessay had never been to school and enrolled at Grassroots to learn dressmaking. She was 15 years old.   ‘I’ve never been to school. There was a school near my house when I lived in the village but I never attended. My parents are very poor and they didn’t get the money to pay for me to go to school. ‘I felt bad about missing school. I was taken to the family farm and I had to work there. I felt bad about that. I started working when I was six years old, doing things like weeding and driving the birds away. I worked on the farm for five years with no school at all. My friends in the village wouldn’t talk with me. They went to school and I didn’t so when they saw me they wouldn’t speak with me. ‘I felt neglected because I’m a girl. I talked with my parents and begged them to send me to school. They told me they didn’t have the money. It’s only now that parents are sending girls to school. ‘My gran brought me to Freetown when I was 11. She wanted me to learn something. I came to the centre (Grassroots) and began to learn new skills. I learnt to read when I was 13. It felt really good to be able to write my first few words. I’’m now learning dressmaking. I’d like to establish my own enterprise if I can raise the funds. Looking back I’d like to say how important it is for a girl to go to school. The reason? If a person is illiterate then it’s very difficult for them in life.’ Photo: Pamaronkoh community, Freetown, Sierra Leone © Aubrey Wade/Oxfam

Case study: Fatmata Fatmata completed her primary education and progressed to junior secondary school. When Oxfam met Fatmata she was a Year 9 student at St Joseph’s Junior Secondary School in Makeni, Sierra Leone. Fatmata was 16 years old.   ‘I live in Mashimbra village outside Makeni. The primary school was quite near my house but the secondary school is in town and far from home. I get up at 5am so I can walk to school in time for classes at 8am. I leave straight after lessons finish at 4pm and walk home, getting back to the house at 7pm. I then eat, do my homework and help my parents in the house. I have seven brothers and four sisters. ‘At the weekend my parents expect me to help with the farm. Sometimes I say I want to do extra classes but my parents say: don’t do more school, come and help your parents. Neither of my parents are educated. They want me to be a lawyer, but they also need me to help. ‘Sometimes I miss school because I’m so tired, but I’m determined to do well and I want to be a lawyer. Some of my friends are no longer at school. Either they have no money for school or they are needed to work. They do things like selling in the market or working in the fields carrying wood. I always advise them that education is very important. Education will never disappoint you. Lots of girls who don’t go to school end up giving birth, and then it’s impossible to return.’ Fatmata’s teacher said she was an excellent student, but complained she was often late for school and tired. She would have liked Fatmata to stay in the afternoons for extra-curricular activities. Photo: St Joseph’s Junior Secondary School, Makeni, Sierra Leone © Aubrey Wade/Oxfam

MDG2 becomes SDG4 MDG2 ‘Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.’ SDG4 ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ In 2015 the United Nations launched the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and are intended to build on the achievements of the MDGs and lead to the eradication of poverty by 2030.

What are the similarities and the differences? Discuss: What are the similarities and the differences between the goals? Which of the goals most closely matches your ideas about a good education? Work with someone you don’t know. (10 minutes, with 5 minutes for feedback)

What are the 2030 education targets? all girls and boys finish free quality primary and secondary education quality pre-school education available for all girls and boys affordable and quality technical, vocational and university education available for all women and men more youth and adults have good employment skills equal access to all levels of education, e.g. for women and people with disabilities all youth and many adults have good literacy and numeracy all learn about sustainable development and global citizenship good education facilities for all expand scholarships for people in developing countries increase the number of qualified teachers. Here is the UN’s full list of targets: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/

Thank you! Photo: Pamaronkoh Community Primary School, Freetown, Sierra Leone © John McLaverty/Oxfam