An estimated 69 million primary-school-age boys and girls are not in school.
The Global Initiative on Out of School Children was launched jointly by UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics to achieve Universal Primary Education by 2015.
In December I took part in an impromptu debate during a mission to Cambodia.
Cambodia has made a remarkable progress in education due to post-war economic reconstruction and political stability. Today the Ministry of Education is implementing a prevalence study to collect data on out of school children including assessing children for disabilities.
A questionnaire was developed to catalog out of school children, assess them for disabilities and to start planning targeted interventions to address their needs. In December I sat in a cement gazebo in Takeo province two hours from Phnom Penh, and together with representatives from the Ministry of Education discussed answers to the questionnaire.
One case particularly intrigued the team. A mother of a first grader name Srei, gave an unexpected reason as to why her daughter does not attend school regularly: She does not have any shoes!
Could not having a pair of shoes prevent a child from attending school, which in Cambodia is free, but not compulsory? We all know that education is never “free” – there are uniforms and school supplies to buy, and costs associated with sending a child to school could prevent a poor family from making that decision.
Srei’s mother has never been to school. Divorced, with no stable job, four children, two of whom have dropped out, she’s considered to be somewhat of an outcast in her community. What are Srei’s prospects? What could and should be done to prevent Srei from dropping out?
Would a change in teachers’ attitudes make a difference? Should a school director be on the look out for vulnerable children? Could the district office of education get involved? Could Srei benefit from a scholarship?
After an hour discussing different possible interventions, a representative from the Ministry of Education sat back, slightly overwhelmed, and said ‘What we need is a shift in the entire education system!’.
As we drove back to Phnom Penh I thought about that striking comment, and the challenge which many developing countries face. Reasons for children being marginalized are complex, intricate, and often interconnected. Understanding these reasons lies at the core of the challenge.
As part of the Global Initiative on Out of School Children,representatives from many countries will meet April 5-8 in Istanbul, Turkey where these issues will be discussed. This event will be followed by September 2011 Global Conference on Out of School Children.
An update: Two months have passed since that debate in Takeo province. Earlier this month I was back in Cambodia, and decided to re-visit Srei’s village. Srei lived in a palm leaf shack on the side of the road. So, the community organized a fundraiser to build Srei a new home, and a frame of the house was already up next to the shack. The school director and Srei’s teacher encouraged Srei’s mother to send her daughter to school. Srei is no longer a drop out. She and her brother attend school every day. “A shift” happened on a small scale. What will it take to bring all out of school children to school?
Learn More
- Education in Cambodia (World Bank Country profile)