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0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in PROF EDUC 104 The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No.5

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 5

GLOBAL ISSUES THAT CONCERN SCHOOLS AND SOCIETY

MODULE OVERVIEW

“One in six adults on the planet cannot read or write. Some 600 million women and 300 million men, 99
percent of them in the developing countries, remain illiterate. Some 115 million children between six and
eleven—one in five—are not in school. Of those who go to school, one in four drops out before completing
five years of basic education—when research shows that adults with less than five to six years of education
remain non-numerate and functionally illiterate. South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are the three regions
where these problems are most severe.

Moreover, throughout the developing world, the quality of primary, secondary, and university education is
rarely up to the standards required by the new world economy. And globally, we’re far away from seeing the
emergence of a badly needed system of international accreditation.

Why is education a global issue when so much of it happens locally, and when the main problems are
concentrated in the developing world? The answer is fourfold:

Education is central to the construction of genuinely democratic societies. Even from a moral standpoint,
one could argue that education is a kind of universal right because it provides “human capabilities,” in the
words of economist Amartya Sen – the essential and individual power to reflect, make choices, and steer
towards a better life.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module, you should have:

1. discussed at least two global issues in society; and
2. explained proposed solution.

LEARNING CONTENTS

Barriers to Education That Children Living in Poverty Face

Children living in poverty face many barriers to accessing an education. Some are obvious — like not
having a school to go to — while others are more subtle, like the teacher at the school not having had the
training needed to help children learn effectively.

Increasing access to education can improve the overall health and longevity of a society, grow economies,
and even combat climate change. Yet in many developing countries, children’s access to education can be
limited by numerous factors. Language barriers, gender roles, and reliance on child labor can all stall progress
to provide quality education. The world’s most vulnerable children from disadvantaged communities, including
young girls and children with disabilities, are more likely to miss out on school.

1. A lack of funding for education

Lack of financial resources devoted to education can be evidenced in many ways, including: lack of
schools and other facilities; insufficient classrooms; insufficient, underpaid, and/or insufficiently
trained teachers; lack of management and supervision; lack of and/or poor quality textbooks and
other learning materials; and insufficient attention to standards and quality assurance. Each and every
one of these results of insufficient funding can act as a barrier to any child seeking a primary education.

By far, the greatest financial contribution to primary education comes from domestic funding—depending
on the country, these may be from public (the most common) or private sources. When a country is poor, it
probably will not have sufficient domestic funds to pay for the provision of a quality education for all.

Although it has been mandated by the Philippine Constitution for the government to allocate the highest

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Study Guide in PROF EDUC 104 The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No.5

proportion of its government to education, the Philippines remains to have one of the lowest budget
allocations to education among ASEAN countries.

2. Having no teacher, or having an untrained teacher

Teacher effectiveness has been found to be the most important predictor of student learning.

There aren't enough teachers to achieve universal primary or secondary education, and many of the
teachers that are currently working are untrained. As a result, children aren’t receiving a proper education.
There are 130 million children in school who are not learning basic skills like reading, writing and math.

Globally, the UN estimates that 69 million new teachers are required to achieve universal primary and
secondary education by 2030. To offer every child primary education, 25.8 million school teachers need to be
recruited. Meanwhile, in 1 out of every 3 countries, less than three-quarters of teachers are trained to national
standards.

3. No classroom
A child cannot learn without the right environment. Children in many countries are often squeezed into
overcrowded classrooms, classrooms that are falling apart, or are learning outside. They also lack textbooks,
school supplies, and other tools they need to excel.

It’s not just a lack of classrooms that’s the problem, but also all the basic facilities you would expect a
school to have — like running water and toilets. When girls don’t have access to safe toilets, they are often
harassed or attacked when looking for a private place to go. Girls also miss or drop out of school when they
begin menstruating if they don’t have the sanitation facilities or sanitary products to manage their periods with
pride and dignity.

4. A lack of learning materials

Outdated and worn-out textbooks are often shared by six or more students in many parts of the world.
Workbooks, exercise sheets, readers, and other core materials to help students learn their lessons are in
short supply. Teachers also need materials to help prepare their lessons, share with their students, and guide
their lessons.

5. The exclusion of children with disabilities

Despite the fact that education is a universal human right, being denied access to school is common for
the world’s 93 to 150 million children with disabilities. In some of the world’s poorest countries, up to 95% of
children with disabilities are out of school.

Students with disabilities have lower attendance rates and are more likely to be out of school or leave
school before completing primary education. They are suspended or expelled at a rate more than double the
rate of their non-special education peers.

A combination of discrimination, lack of training in inclusive teaching methods among teachers, and a lack
of accessible schools leave this group uniquely vulnerable to being denied their right to education.

6. Being the ‘wrong’ gender

Put simply, gender is one of the biggest reasons why children are denied an education. Despite recent
advances in girls’ education, a generation of young women has been left behind. Over 130 million young
women around the world are not currently enrolled in school. One in 3 girls in the developing
world marries before the age of 18, and usually leaves school if they do.

Keeping girls in school benefits them and their families, but poverty forces many families to choose which
of their children to send to school. Girls often miss out due to belief that there’s less value in educating a girl
than a boy. Instead, they are sent to work, forced into marriage, or made to stay at home to look after siblings
and work on household chores. Girls also miss days of school every year or are too embarrassed to
participate in class, because they don’t have appropriate menstrual hygiene education or toilet facilities at
their school to manage their period.

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7. Living in a country in conflict or at risk of conflict

There are many casualties of any war, and education systems are often destroyed. Children exposed to
violence are more at risk of under-achieving and dropping out of school. Nearly 250 million children are
living in countries affected by conflicts. More than 75 million children and young people aged 3 to 18
are currently in urgent need of educational support in 35 crisis-affected countries, with young girls 90% more
likely to be out of secondary school in conflict areas than elsewhere.

Conflict prevents governments from functioning, teachers and students often flee their homes, and
continuity of learning is greatly disrupted. In total, 75 million children had their education disrupted by conflict
or crisis, including natural disasters that destroy schools and the environment around them. Worryingly,
education has been a very low priority in humanitarian aid to countries in conflict — and less than 3% of global
humanitarian assistance was allocated to education in 2016.

Without support, conflict-affected children lose out on the chance to reach their full potential and rebuild
their communities.

8. Distance from home to school

For many children around the world, a walk to school of up to three hours in each direction is not
uncommon. This is just too much for many children, particularly children living with a disability, those suffering
from malnutrition or illness, or those who are required to work around the household. Imagine having to set off
for school, hungry, at 5 a.m. every day, not to return until 7 p.m. Many children, especially girls, are also
vulnerable to violence on their long and hazardous journeys to and from school.

9. Hunger and poor nutrition

The impact of hunger on education systems is gravely underreported. Being severely malnourished, to the
point it impacts on brain development, can be the same as losing four grades of schooling. It is estimated that
around 155 million children under the age of five are estimated to be stunted. Stunting –– impaired growth
and development that children experience from poor infection and inadequate stimulation –– can affect a
child’s cognitive abilities as well as their focus and concentration in school. As a result, stunted children are
19% less likely to be able to read by age eight. Conversely, good nutrition can be crucial preparation for good
learning.

10. The expense of education

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear that every child has the right to a free basic
education, so that poverty and lack of money should not be a barrier to schooling. In many developing
countries, over the last several, decades, governments have announced the abolition of school fees and as a
result, they have seen impressive increases in the number of children going to school.

But for many of the poorest families, school remains too expensive and children are forced to stay at
home doing chores or work themselves. Families remain locked in a cycle of poverty that goes on for
generations. While education is theoretically free, in practice “informal fees” see parents forced to pay for
“compulsory items” like uniforms, books, pens, extra lessons, exam fees, or funds to support the school
buildings.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Compose a poem that acknowledges the role of a Teacher in the middle of global issues concerning schools
and society

SUMMARY

Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and for laying the
basis for sustainable growth. It has strong links not just to productivity growth but to improved health, to the
ability to understand the need to care for the natural environment, and even to population stabilization. Girls’
education, for example, brings one of the highest returns known in the field of economic development. So
education, like poverty, is an “underlier” issue par excellence, and both are strongly linked. Other global
issues will be easier to solve if education is successfully tackled at a global scale.

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Study Guide in PROF EDUC 104 The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership Module No.5

Finally, the new world economy, with its knowledge intensity, requires a leap forward in each country’s
education effort—from primary to higher education, and even to lifelong learning and the accreditation of
competencies. If that does not happen in a very large number of countries, expect even greater inequalities
between countries over the decades to come. Research shows that until a country’s population reaches a
threshold of about six years of schooling on average, it remains trapped in a low-return economy prone to bad
governance—and the new world economy is sure to bump this threshold up some more over the next twenty
years. Globally, education can either be a great equalizer or a great divider.

REFERENCES

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/
https://globalissuesnetwork.org/learn-about-our-global-
issues/education/#:~:text=In%20the%20developing%20world%2C%20the,rates%20are%20often%20very%2
0high.

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