Global issue: Education around the world

A global issue that affects everyone is the fact that education is still not a reality in many areas of the world. Education is truly a privilege, and one that sadly many children lack of. Girls are specially the victims not being able to attend school. Often, it is boys who are given the chance to pursue education. In many cultures, young men are more likely to stay close to home, to bring a wife into the family, and to support their parents in their later years. Girls may marry out to become part of another family, and so educating them is seen as a poor investment, when in reality education for girls is necessary around the world.
Quality education for girls, who go on to be workers, mothers, and community leaders, is one of the best predictors of population stability, family well- being, and hope for the next generation. Nations with little access to education for women also tend to have exploding populations, high infant and maternal mortality rates, low levels of family well- being, and high rates of worker exploitation (Sernau). Societies with marked differences in educational access and quality also tend to be marked by poor growing social predictors. It is because of these reasons that education around the world is so important, and the fact that today many children do not have access to education only predicts a vulnerable future for such nations.
Around the world about two- thirds of all children never receive a high school education or its equivalent, (Sernau). Many cultures around the world instruct that men should go to school and learn as they will need education for math skills, reading and writing and women should not go to school because such skills are not needed to stay home. However in today’s growing globalization both girls and boys need educational skills. The World Bank often discourages what it sees as wasteful government spending, but encourages governments to spend on education (Sernau).
Lack of education is a global issue. In India most children receive some primary education, but classes are often very large. Many children, especially girls, have to work to help support their families. In some states of India, the female illiteracy rate is very high and in others the educational levels of girls and boys are much more equal. In places all across Asia education is seen as a strong investment and it has been key to rising standards of living of countries such as Japan and Singapore (Sernau). In Kenya, many of the girls are homeless, some have children of their own, many have been exploited by various employers and few have any other resources. Rather than keeping the girls in school, family members may try to pull them out, especially if their incomes are needed by the family. Given the examples India’s future would be one of prosperity in the south, but poverty in the north, in Asia given the actions taken by the government one would predict that Asia will continue to grow in the future. Unfortunately given the example that is not the case for Kenya.
Education is crucial for a better society. One aspect of interactionist theory states that better communication and intercultural awareness improve majority minority interaction patterns, and if more people become literate and educated, then better interaction could become an actuality.
Thankfully organizations are taken action in ending education poverty. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF 2005) has implemented several programs that share the goal of eliminating gender disparity in education. One program, called the 25 by 2005 Initiative, focuses on improving educational opportunities for girls in twenty- five of the countries judged to be most at risk of failing to achieve this goal, including eight West African countries. Also the United Nations has set a date for the millennium goals in hopes of ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Hopefully with globalization growing consensus of the importance in education, more nations will invest in this human right and less social gaps will be created for a better world.





Sources:
Parrillo, Vincent N. (2008). Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations. Boston: Pearson
Scott Sernau. (2009). Global Problems: The Search for Equity, Peace, and Sustainability, Second Edition. Boston: Pearson.
The United Nations. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml