Education

Higher Education and its Benefits

2014-04-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ministry of Education have done a great work by promoting Higher Education and it's standard all over the World.Now Higher Education is common in all over the world every single person and get benefit by availing it .

The Benefits of Higher Education are:

It make learning wide and expanded by having different subjects to learn.
Helps to Promote personal experience of an individual in his/her Major/specialized field
By giving presentation knowledge and communication skill of students are gained
Making different types of project and assignment help them to research in different fields of subjects.
Higher Education Runs on an time-table which helps student to organize there routine and later helpful for Job routine's
It helps to become practical by getting experience in different field with assignment,projects and internships provide by Higher Education System.
Also helps student's to change ther mind set and apparel according to World Job and Business Standard
Give's patience by making groups to work according to Team as in Real life will be needed in Organizations
Broader the Vision/mind of the students to work with creativity in future and Present.
Helps Students to Learn how to organize and manage tasks.
And many more talent are gained while doing Higher Education Pratically.

Everyone Should avail the opportunity to get Higher Education so they make there future bright and Developed. And I advice all to Practically experience this feeling by themselves to know its benefits and gain advantage from this.

Special Education for Special Children

2014-04-05T13:10:00.002-07:00

God creates every human different from each other according to mind ,behaviour,looks,health,creativity and all other feature's not every one can become Albert Einstein and Not everyone can become a comman man.
Special Children are those which are gifted by a Unique Talent but are disabled by some feature like cant speak,cant walk, or abnormal behaviour ,lack of Confidence .

The Awareness of Special Children is low every one cant find the talent in them and even everyone dont let them to study but in my views every single child has the right to study no matter normal or abnormal if these children are provide by Special Education in good Institutes they will become self-depended and will do everything equal to an normal child .

In my Views they shouldn't be ignored and provide by good guidance and education so they can prove the World that they are not depended on them.And by there skills world can also get benefit of new inventions,idea and creativity . These Special Minds can work 10% better then a normal mind not everyone knows its value.

If these child are provide by early childhood education they can become better and stronger in there future but if they are ignored they will become depended to there loved one or guidance .If World need to become powerful and upgraded they should learn to value these talented minds to gain advantage of these mind and learn new Concepts from it.

Psychologist are the one's who cares for such mind and knows the values of such talent and children's if my message become clear to every single human of the world they will start respecting this concept with a great logic beyond it.Education System should also notice this fact and run campaign for betterment of special education for special children . Education Portals should spread my message to the entire world so education system introduces free education for such child through out the World

Student's Stressful Situations

2014-03-29T11:48:00.001-07:00

As students, we've a uninterrupted stress upon ourselves. This hardly goes away throughout our instructional life and there area unit some reasons why we tend to area unit stressed and a few consequences of our stress.

First of all, students have a unique reasonably conscience. we tend to don't need to check exhausting most of the time however a secret voice within our heads doesn't let it go. we tend to simply feel that we've to figure more durable and more durable. one among the explanations for this can be to satisfy your family together with your grades. as a result of albeit they grasp plenty regarding however exhausting your work is that they perpetually expect a lot of. you are feeling like nothing is enough for them.They can even say that “Well honey, it’s an honest success however we tend to thought you may do higher.” and this can be simply what's enough to create you crazy. Grown-ups ignore however they were after they were students I suppose and this can be why they place most burden on our shoulders. thus once you suppose that you simply created it, one single sentence could take you down once more and also the results of this example could reach to a degree of a brief depression of feeling lean.

Another reason for why we tend to feel stressed is that the competition. you begin with spoken communication that you simply don't ought to contend with others as a result of what you are doing are alright for you. however because the time goes by, you discover yourself right within the middle of a competition. you are doing not realize it whereas it's in method as a result of you simply want some folks need to share and praise your success. But no, they're inquisitive about however you are doing what you are doing as a result of they need to be higher than you. The impact of this competition will cause you to feel alienated from lessons, your category or your friends. this may lead to several different ways in which too as a result of as I aforesaid before we've an advanced conscience.

This stress of ours could result from being off from our town whereas learning at university. we tend to area unit in an exceedingly total foreign place initially. we tend to miss our family, our friends Associate in Nursing even our beds… a number of North American country keep feeling an outsider for the new place they're in and that they could keep within the state of feeling unhappy. This, of course, makes them nerve-wracking as a result of they need the terms to pass quickly to travel home. The a lot of they need to be back home, the a lot of they get stressed as a result of not solely they need to travel back however additionally they need to travel back with sensible|an honest|a decent} degree and good grades. they are doing not need to form disappointment in anyone. the strain of feeling unhappy is completely different from all types of stresses for college students as a result of it includes a way of discomfort in it.

The reasons and effects of students’ stress written higher than area unit very vital. If anyone of them goes one obtaining larger, it should open a hole within North American country that we'll bear in mind and feel as a foul memory and as a matter of reality none folks desires to recall being a student as a gray issue.

Educated And Uneducated People's

2014-03-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

Education is incredibly vital. truly it's the foremost vital issue for our lives in my opinion. thus it's clear that not everybody will receive the education they have and this leads North American country to divide individuals into 2 groups: educated and uneducated individuals. each 2 styles of individuals have their benefits and downsides for themselves. we will value them in terms of economical power, status and mentality.

When we mention educated and uneducated individuals, we have a tendency to tend to link it along with cash and business within the initial place. it's true that educated individuals have lots additional opportunities in business word than uneducated individuals. as a result of they primarily have a certificate verificatory their state of being educated and this can be what counts most of the time. Consequently, as they need additional opportunities to own a decent job, they need an improved financial gain. In distinction, uneducated individuals don't have a lot of likelihood of getting a decent and well-paid job unless they're terribly lucky. they typically need to add straightforward temporary jobs or need to do terribly significant muscle add a construction or field. thus in contrast to educated individuals, they'll not have enough financial gain to form ends meet for his or her families.

The issue of financial gain consistent with their jobs brings North American country to a different side that is that the status of those individuals. once you have cash, you appear to be respectable for people. however if you are doing not, you are doing not have a lot of of a specialty excluding being poor. Our society and particularly {young individuals|children|kids|youngsters|teenagers|teens|adolescents|tykes|youth} sometimes push arduous on these people. truly they are doing not favor to be therein condition however as a result of they're not educated properly or in the least, they're not as lucky as educated ones to own an equivalent probabilities of life. excluding this, one alternative reason why educated individuals have a superior standing is that they act in life consistent with their information of things. in fact it might not be a statement if we are saying that typically the uneducated beats the educated in terms of being social or respectable however this can be not our actual case.

The last side we have a tendency to are attending to discuss is their mentality. we've got the impression that educated individuals are broad-minded whereas uneducated individuals ar narrow. And guess what? this can be typically the reality. Educated individuals have a plus of bigger information regarding the globe, people, potentialities or excessities as a result of they're educated not solely technically or scientifically however additionally culturally. they need an opportunity to ascertain the globe from alternative people’s eyes through the education they receive. however uneducated individuals are principally strait-laced as a result of they need what they see and learn t from their oldsters and what they practiced in life and also the most disconcerting half is that they treat their kids with this mentality. Seeing that the knowledge they need gathered to date is enough and nearly over enough for them, they suppose that their kids could do an equivalent as they did. it's fully honest for a few uneducated individuals to try to to this injustice to their kids. but educated individuals need their kids to travel so much on the far side them. they need them to form higher than what they did. as a result of they grasp that each day and each second of our lives some things amendment and develop and a few things are discovered or made-up.

As we have a tendency to see there are some aspects consistent with that educated and uneducated individuals will be compared and contrasted. I don't need to place any blame on uneducated individuals blind-foldedly before determining their reasons however this can be the case in some components within the world. of these discussions cue North American country the importance of this one and solely thing: education.

Education Portal

2014-03-27T11:32:00.003-07:00

Education Portal nowadays are increasing day by day its good the People are visiting and gaining knowledge through Education Portal world wide, The Internet is Globally become an Education City soon The illiteracy rate of the world will become low as Internet is working as an Education City itself.

The Benefit of Internet are for education

Everyone has access on it so they can use it completely and gain knowledge and education skills
Education Training is become free with the help of Internet
Free Online Courses are increasing
Primary till Higher Education all are taking usefull Helps from Internet
Article are posted related to Education so everyone discuss the rights and wrongs of education.
Education Pyschologist are easily doing there work by surveys On Internet
Learning Resources are gaining
Open Learning
Hope Of Education is increasing
Jobs In Education are being offered

And Many more benefits of Internet are available for Education

Internet is bassically a portal or Hub for Education Field We should take usefull advantage from internet to learn knowledge and increase our educational skills online.

101 Excellent Educational Quotes

2014-03-26T11:15:00.001-07:00

These quotes will help inspire you to do more, learn more effectively, provoke thought and help those around you to achieve.

Abraham Lincoln: The Best way to predict your Future is to create it.

Claus Moser: Education costs money, but then so does ignorance.

Abigail Adams learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardour and diligence.

Unknown: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember amateurs built the ark, but professionals built the Titanic.

Victor Hugo: He, who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Unknown: The Hunter who chases two rabbits will catch neither.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.

Helen Keller: Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

Ernest Dimnet Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.

Jean Jacques Rosseau: We should not teach children the sciences but give them a taste for them.

Abraham Maslow: If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Dr. David M. Burns: Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.

Bill Vaughan: People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.

Edward Everett Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

Erich Fromm: Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?

Vilfredo Pareto: Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself.

Jacob Bronowski: It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.

Martin H. Fischer: All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.

Mary Kay Ash: Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery: Each man must look to himself to teach him the meaning of life. It is not something discovered. It is something molded.

Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.

Learning
Chinese Proverb: Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

B. F. Skinner Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

Abigail Adams: Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence.

Leonardo Da Vinci: Learning never exhausts the mind.

The learning process is different for each individual. Hear these great thinkers muse on what learning means to them in these inspirational quotes.

Anthony J. D'Angelo Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.

Frances Willard: No matter how he may think himself accomplished, when he sets out to learn a new language, science or the bicycle, he has entered a new realm as truly as if he were a child newly born into the world.

Annie Dillard:I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.

Plutarch: The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited.

Aeschylus I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.

B.B.King: The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.

Heinrich Heine If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the world.

George Iles: Whoever ceases to be a student has never been a student.

Anthony J. D'AngeloThe only real failure in life is one not learned from.

Euripides: Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future.

Walt Disney I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

Confucius: Learning without thought is a labor lost, thought without learning is perilous.

Denis Waitley: All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners. Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they’re not learning, they’re not growing and not moving toward excellence.

Greek Proverb: All things good to know are difficult to learn.

Lloyd Alexander: We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.

Henry Ford: Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

Thomas Huxley: Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

H.G. Wells: You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.

Thomas Szasz: Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s
self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.

Bill Vaughan: People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.

" Always do what you are afraid to do." - Ralph Waldo

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." - Henry Ford

"A turtle makes progress when it sticks its neck out" - Anon

" Believe in yourself, be strong, never give up no matter what the circumstances are. You are a champion and will overcome the dreaded obstacles. Champions take failure as a learning opportunity, so take in all you can, and run with it. Be your best and don't ever ever give up." - Brad Gerrard

"Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements" - Napoleon Hill

"Did you know that the Chinese symbol for 'crisis' includes a symbol which means 'opportunity'? - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"Don’t learn to do, but learn in doing. Let your falls not be on a prepared ground, but let them be bona fide falls in the rough and tumble of the world" - Samuel Butler (1835–1902)

"Every artist was at first an amateur." - Ralph W. Emerson

"I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand." - Chinese Proverb

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" - NLP adage

"If you find yourself saying 'But I can't speak English...', try adding the word '...yet' - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"If what you're doing isn't working, try something else!" - NLP adage

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - Derek Bok

"If you know what you want, you are more likely to get it" - NLP adage

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and made things happen." - Elinor Smith

"It's not just about looking and copying, it's about feeling too" - Paul Cezanne

"It's ok to try things out, to ask questions, to feel unsure, to let your mind wander, to daydream, to ask for help, to experiment, to take time out, not to know, to practise, to ask for help again - and again, to make mistakes, to check your understanding" - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"Learning is never done without errors and defeat." - Vladimir Lenin

"Nothing we ever imagined is beyond our powers, only beyond our present self-knowledge" - Theodore Roszak

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he could not do." - Henry Ford

"One must have strategies to execute dreams." - Azim Premji, CEO Wipro Industry

"One must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty, until you try." - Sophocles

"People learn more quickly by doing something or seeing something done." - Gilbert Highet

"Success comes in cans, failure in can'ts." - Unknown

"The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." - Pierre de Coubertin

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." - Chinese Proverb

"Too much credit is given to the end result. The true lesson is in the struggle that takes place between the dream and reality. That struggle is a thing called life!" - Garth Brooks

"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." - Aristotle

" The only dreams impossible to reach are the ones you never pursue." - Michael Deckman

" There two types of people; the can do and the can't. Which are you?" - George R. Cabrera

"Whenever you feel like saying 'Yes, but....`, try saying instead 'Yes, and....'" - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"Whether you think you can, or think you can't...you're right!" - Henry Ford

"Worry is misuse of the imagination" - Mary Crowley

"You haven't failed, until you stop trying" - Unknown

"You've got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch onto the affirmative, don't mess with Mr In-between" - Popular song

Teaching

These quotes are ideal for motivating teachers to keep offering students their best day after day.

Henry Brooks Adams: A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

A. Bartlett Giamatti A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching.

Nikos Kazantzakis: Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.

Gail Godwin Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.

Richard Bach: Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.

John W. Gardner Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects, classified with name and form.

Edith Ann, [Lily Tomlin] I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.

Frank Smith: Thought flows in terms of stories — stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. The best teachers are the best storytellers. We learn in the form of stories.

(Louis) Hector Berlioz Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils

Marva Collins: Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.

R. Verdi Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know.

Horace Mann: A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.

Vernon Law Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.

Carol Buchner: They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Chinese Proverb Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."

Buddhist Proverb: If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly.

Josef Albers: Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.

Confucius: Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three.

Kahlil Gibran: The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.

Henry B. Adams: A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Mark Twain: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Plato: Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

Eliphas Levi: A good teacher must be able to put himself in the place of those who find learning hard.

Maria Montessori: The greatest sign of a success for a teacher…is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."

Rachel Carson: If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in.

Albert Einstein: It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

Benjamin Franklin: Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

"Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds, do not overload them. Put there just a spark." - Anatole France

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." - Henry Brooks Adams

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." - Thomas Carruthers

" A teacher who is attempting to teach, without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn, is hammering on a cold iron." - Horace Mann (1796-1859)

"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." - Sir Claus Moser

"Education...is a painful, continual and difficult work to be done in kindness, by watching, by warning,... by praise, but above all -- by example." - John Ruskin

"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." - Malcolm Forbes

"Education should turn out the pupil with something he knows well and something he can do well." - Alfred North Whitehead

"Getting things done is not always what is most important. There is value in allowing others to learn, even if the task is not accomplished as quickly, efficiently or effectively." - R.D. Clyde

"Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb

"Good teachers are those who know how little they know. Bad teachers are those who think they know more than they don't know." - R. Verdi

"Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." - Josef Albers

"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Socrates

"If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns" - Rita Dunn

"If what you're doing isn't working, try something else!" - NLP adage

"I may have said the same thing before... but my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." - Oscar Wilde

"I put the relation of a fine teacher to a student just below the relation of a mother to a son." - Thomas Wolfe

"It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot, irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it." - J. Bronowski, The Ascent of Man

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." - Albert Einstein

"Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know it just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers" - Richard Bach

"Men learn while they teach." - Lucius A. Seneca

"No matter how good teaching may be, each student must take the responsibility for his own education." - John Carolus S. J.

"People's behavior makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives." - Thomas Mann

"Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its values only to its scarcity." - Samuel Johnson

"Spoonfeeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon" - E. M. Forster

"Teachers should guide without dictating, and participate without dominating." - C.B. Neblette

"Teach your children by what you are, not just by what you say" - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn." - Cicero

"The basic idea behind teaching is to teach people what they need to know." - Carl Rogers

"The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself." - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

"The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves." - Joseph Campbell

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited." - Plutarch

"There are no difficult students - just students who don't want to do it your way" - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

" The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind." - Kahlil Gibran

"To define is to destroy, to suggest is to create." - Stephane Mallarme

"To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching." - George Bernard Shaw

"To teach is to learn twice." - Joseph Joubert

"Try to present at least three options. One is no choice at all. Two creates a dilemma. With three you begin to have real choice and flexibility" - Jane Revell & Susan Norman

"We think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning." - John Carolus S. J.

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." - George Bernard Shaw

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." - John Cotton Dana

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." - Galielo Galilei

"You can't direct the wind but you can adjust the sails." - Anonymous

Education

Horace Mann:A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.

Tyron Edwards: The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others.

Nicholas M. Butler:America is the best half-educated country in the world.

John F. Kennedy: Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation.

Frederick The Great An educated people can be easily governed.

Malcolm S. Forbes: Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

Thomas Jefferson: Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of both mind and body will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

Will Durant Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Aristotle: Education is the best provision for old age.

George Washington Carver Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

Abraham Lincoln: Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.

Robert M. Hutchins The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.

Helen Keller: Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

Sydney J. Harris The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

Jim Rohn: If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.

William Butler Yeats Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

Henry Peter Brougham: Education makes a people easy to lead but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.

T.S. Eliot: It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time — for we are bound by that — but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.

William Haley: Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it.

Will Durant: Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Robert Frost: Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

George Washington Carver: Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

B. F. Skinner: Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

Aristotle: The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Sydney J. Harris: The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.

G.K. Chesterton: Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.

Ernest Dimnet: Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.

Online Education Vs Classroom Education

2014-03-23T13:36:00.002-07:00

In Today's Modern World Online Education is become as common as class room education but the main things is that which one is beneficial and better?

Online Education is You take class online from home on skype,on sites or anyother communication ways and apply for papers then but in class room education the student is present there and learning it and apply it pratically with the help of Quiz,Assignments,Project and Presenatation which helps the student to become prepared for exams also as compare to The Online Education system only learn and remember theory and apply it in paper one cant learn anything until it is pratically done .

In My Personal View Class room Education is better and best then Online Education in both ways The student will get The Degree but the class room student will be always be better and pratically strong in life then the Online one So its better not to waste your time and money in Online Education and Make a Good use of Your Money to make your future brighter and Secured by Learning In Classroom.

Refrence articleedu.blogspot.com

Importance Of Education

2014-03-20T14:24:00.002-07:00

Education , and looked beyond its usual boundaries , is the essence of all our actions . What we do is what we know and have learned , through instructions or through observation and assimilation . If we do not make an effort to learn , our mind is always processing new information or trying to find the similarities and the small nuances in the context , making the subject stand out or appear different analysis . If that is the case then the mind certainly has the potential to learn , but it is us who we keep expanding the horizons of our knowledge with self- doubt or other social , emotional or economic constraints .
While most feel that education is a necessity , they tend to use it as a tool for reaching a specific audience or personal brand , then there is no further need to seek more education. Nevertheless , the importance of education in society is indispensable and cohesive , which is why the knowledge society , and never can be separated into two separate entities . Let's learn more about the role of education in society and how it affects our lives more.
Purpose of education in society
Education is Self EmpowermentReceiving a good education helps empower you , making you strong enough to look after yourself in a particular situation . It keeps you informed of your data and about the rules and regulations of the society you live in. It is only through knowledge that you are able to ask for her negligence or abnormalities authority. It is only then that you can make as a citizen of your rights and seek improvement in the structural functioning of government and economy . It is only when a citizen is aware about the policy of the government , he may be able to support or protest the change . As a whole can bring people develop only if they know where improvement is needed for the greater good of humanity. Education helps you understand yourself better, it helps you realize your potential and qualities as a human being . It helps you to tap into latent talent , so you are able to hone your skills.

Financial Stability and the dignity of lifeAnother importance of education is that it helps you get enough academic qualification so you are able to obtain suitable employment at a later stage . A decent employment should be combined with hard-earned remuneration or salary you can look after your personal expenses through. While you earn for yourself, you gradually to the real value of money and how hard it is to earn it realize . You realize the importance of saving for a rainy day and for unforeseen circumstances . You feel empowered because a new sense of self that develops in you , and you feel the need to be independent and free from further financial support . You are proud of the fact that you earn for yourself, and are not required to everyone .
Growth in Personal AspirationThere will also be a phase in which the amount that you earn at this time will seem inadequate because you would have grown significantly. Aspirations and expectations of yourself After this , you want to change as a higher profile jobs. However, here's where you should be prepared. A promotion of this figure are two specific situations , which are , if you have the necessary higher academic qualification or a college degree that you have a safe passage , or that you have enough practical experience that allows you to have a suitable amassed candidate for the job you are seeking.
On the Job EfficiencyThis is why college education is very important after high school and should not be considered granted. When faced with the possibility to choose between a highly qualified candidate and a not so educated candidates , employers will probably go for the authorized person . The reason is that , will need a qualified candidate . Much investment of time and money from the employer The organization does not teach him or her the tricks of the trade , or the different ways of functioning and performing the duties of the workplace. On the contrary, a beginner / amateur applicant must teach everything from scratch , which many employers are usually not willing to do . The same goes for people who want to get higher education and advanced degrees while working. These people are constantly improving their profile and their knowledge in order to go higher on the competitive ladder .
Helps Plan aheadThose who have amassed sufficient education send the path of development and progress for their country . It is these people who go on and teachers, scientists , inventors , activists, welfare , soldiers and politicians together to form the backbone of society . Without this pool of intellect , economic and social framework crumple and fall , would pave way for anarchy , destruction , and violence . Although this intricate balance of growth is maintained , there will be a continued increase in receivables in all quarters of life , or personal growth or development of the nation as an entity . This progress has to play for the future generations that will reap the benefits of our hard work , because they develop it further . A very important role At the same time , the negative impact of our actions will be collateral damage to the next generation have . That is why we are extremely careful about the decisions we make and the actions we take in must be present .
Job Seeker vs. Job ProviderThere will come a time when you no longer feel the need to work as one mere employee. You might want to take charge and control of your own life and income. This is when you decide to become a realistic form . An independent , who likes to look at his / her own ideas You prefer the one offering employment to others and help in providing the revenue for them . At this stage of entrepreneurship , you can use your own expertise as well as those of other educated and skilled employees . As a team , you will find your business or go to expand and produces good results . You can even trust and understanding , which will help you diversify and spread your expertise in other business arenas , which was previously unknown to you , if you were to get . Unsure This ability comes with experience and knowledge accumulated over the years .
An idle mind is The Devil's WorkshopEducation and study regularly , gives people of all age something substantial and challenging to do . It helps them think and use their idle hours , something productive and worthwhile to do . Education does not merely academic , and can read for relaxation or as a passion for literature , philosophy , art, politics , economics , or even scientific research . There is no limit to all that you can teach yourself only if you have the interest to learn and grow as individuals . However, those who treat them as scum , knowledge eventually find themselves getting absorbed in thoughts of violence , and jealously against those who are better off than themselves . It's people like this who turn to drug addiction , unnecessary rebellion , crime , and even inactivity . Such people lack self-esteem , which often provides a good education for his followers .
Education is the ongoing role in all spheres of life . The reason is that if we are aware of the disadvantages of a decision and we know about the potential risks and the collateral damage , our resulting actions would be wiser , which would help to keep at all the risk away our times .

Early Childhood Education

2014-03-18T12:24:00.001-07:00

As per Google Search Engine results and books there are many articles written on early childhood Education but i am here just to elaborate the few main points of Early Childhood Education

The very first point of Early Childhood Education is a kid when goes to school in the Age of 2-3 year he/she starts to speak language betterly then home and the kids mind become aware of many things in the world ,its the stage of manners and prepration in which he/she starts to learns do and donts of the World.

The Second Point in my View is the Kid learns to manage things in his/her own ways like taking care of books,bag,lunchbox and physically the Kid also become Strong because early education is School and Schools Timing Makes the Kid Strong and Healthy by waking him/her early with a Healthy Breakfast So the growing Kid become Strong for future also.

The Third Point in my View is Learning in Early ages is Remember throughout the life Like for example A high standard student can recall the poem which He/she learnt in early age .So Learning and remembering anything in early age is strong the education of early age is beneficial for every child.

as a Summary every Child in the world has rights to learn and get early childhood education so he/she can know what is learning and education and make interest to find and explore new thing,theory,concept and education . If the base is Strong The structure will automatically become strong early childhood Education is Like a Base to a child for his/her whole life educational structure.

Importance Of Education

2014-03-17T13:40:00.001-07:00

The Following Article will describe and elaborate you about the Importance of Education in Today's Modern Era ,Which has been proven neccesity and important in the functioning of Socities.

Probably its has been said "Thinking Is Education" Basically Thinking Opens our Mind and let us Think Broadly and make us accepting new ideas Broadly and Helps to Learn New Things And Creativity.

Importance Of Education

Education Releases as from an Boundary and Helps us to Think Broadly but not Narrow minded, It makes us aware of every single action reaction in society. It Gives us confidence and power of Thought which can never been purchase.

Education Polishes our character from childhood to Adultary its basically Teaching us the ways to explore,learn,become broad minded, Education Helps us to do Creativity in Practical Life .Its Broader our thoughts our visions so we can explore new ideas,concept and become creative through out the World.
Education helps also to work for Mankind Like Albert Einstien Created Theories for Speed of Light and all it all becomes possible only with education .

Education Is the Right of each and every Individual to help him/her to learn manner,creativity,how things works? and all about bussiness,science,computer science, all other fields of education,

"If Education Is not Bounded to one Field,Then why should we become Bounded ,There is no Age for Learning."

What is the Relation Between Religion and Education?

2012-06-13T15:55:00.002-07:00

Religion and Education are closely associated with each other both are of spiritual tendencies. Spiritual, material or physical urge are dealt with by religion as well as by the education.
"Both seek to emancipate man, not from contract with his environment, but from slavery to it." As has already been discussed, education creates certain values of life and help in the modification of behavior.
It gives certain moldings to the life, while religion beautifies the life by cultivation of truthful heart with the moral and spiritual values.
In this way religion and education have different ways but the same aim of achieving God through cultivating three absolutes truth, and goodness.
Religion must be given suitable places in the curriculum because it is the core of our culture and 'heritage'. Gentle given a fine statement in regard to the place of religion in the curriculum.
"National cultures have never been more conscious than now of the higher needs of the mind, needs that are not only aesthetic and abstractly intellectual but also ethical and religious. For a school without an ethical and religious constant is an absurdity."
Thus, religion should find a suitable and proper place in the sphere of education. Education, according to Pestalozzi, is aimed at "natural harmonious and progressive development of man's innate powers.
"Wider education means an education which broadens the outlook, awakens the inner powers and teaches us to respect all the religions.
In this manner, a teacher should enable the pupils to cultivate religious attitude and mentality through education.
Religion, in this sense does not mean merely a bundle of rites and of dogmas followed by symbols and emotions but it is applied to all that what noble.
Religion and education with these collective and mutual efforts lead a person towards self-realization and self-understanding. Rousseau and Wordsworth believed in nature and education on the lane; of nature.
The essence of their philosophy was to worship nature in practical way. In other words, we should obey natural laws and must follow the path traced by her.
Truly speaking, religious education does not mean something separable but pure, honest and beneficial. Education is nothing but religion, because both the religion and the education aim at harmonizing the person to the ultimate truth. Religion is the pure form of education.
Education has been defined as "a process of development in which consists the passage of human being from infancy, to Maturity, the process by which he adopts himself gradually in various ways to his physical and spiritual environment."
In this definition the ability of social adaptation means the development of the social qualities like cooperation, coordination among social groups and communities.
This ability of the adaptation is religious, because religion in a wider sense says clearly that all are one. We are brothers and sisters borne of the same father. The same ideology of cooperation is found in this interpretation are like education.
Therefore, curriculum construction should be based on the principle that education and religion are not the separate entities but they are one in nature and consequence.
These are the main problems dealt with by religion. These are the truth of a vital significance and are at the basis "of the whole structure of knowledge whether of fact or value, and deprived of them education as well as life is radically defective, without centre, balance or proper subordination of part to part."
The aim of education is all-round development of man. The same is the aim of religion. So because use of this common aims the correlation of education and religion quite natural now to include the various forms of religion in education, is a great problem.
Some people due to their ignorance of the true nature of religion do not and to give any place to religion in education, whereas some people want to give it an important place. Since earliest times in India, education and religion have been related to each other.
With the break of this relation, indiscipline, violence and immorality have increased. According to Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan the reason for all vices and troubles pervading the world is want of morality which has been created due to education being not correlated to religion.
Here in India there were those centers of education in which people from all parts of the world came to receive education.
In Western countries also Movements were started for, educational organization by correlating religion and education. Sunday School Movement, Religious Education Movement was some such movements in which the demand for integration of education and religion was asserted. The world has witnessed the evil effects of materialism.
Hence it has rightly realised that humanity cannot be saved without relating education to religion. Now, the need for education integrated with religion is being felt throughout the world. Some politicians and economic groups do not think it proper to give a place to religion in education.
In fact, if religion is treated as 'human religion' a revolution can be brought out in the improvement of education. Peace can be established in the world through a religion integrated education based on thinking of universal peace, universal-brotherhood and universal-good.
On the basis of the view point expressed above, it seems useful to impart religious education by integrating education and religion. But it is necessary to consider points both in its favor and against.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN ISLAM

2012-06-13T15:53:00.002-07:00

THE CREATION OF NABI ADAM (A.S)

When Hazrat Adam (A.S.) was created, Allah S.W.T. said to the angels to bow down. Everybody bowed down except Iblis. The reason Iblis refused to bow down was because he said that Nabi Adam (A.S.) was made of clay and he was made from fire. How can fire bow down to clay? The angels looked at it in a different way. They looked at the inside of Nabi Adam (A.S.) because Allah S.W.T. gave knowledge to Nabi Adam (A.S.)

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah S.W.T. says in Sura 2, verses 31-34:

"And he taught Adam all the names, then presented them to the angels; then He said: Tell me the names of those if you are right. They said: Glory be to thee! We have no knowledge but that which Thou hast taught us; surely Thou art the knowing, the wise. He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names. Then when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not say to you that I surely know what is ghaib in the heavens and the earth and (that) I know what you manifest and what you hide? And when We said to the angels: Make obeisance to Adam they did obeisance but Iblis (did it not). He refused and he was proud and he was one of the unbelievers."

THE DUTY AND COMPULSION OF ATTAINING OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is the most important thing in one’s life. There are two kinds of knowledge: Religious knowledge and Secular knowledge..

These two kinds of knowledge’s are very important for a human being. Secular for this day to day dwelling and religious for his smooth life on earth and hereafter.

The Holy Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.) has said: "Atta libul ilm faridhatol kuli muslim." This Hadith means: "Attainment of knowledge is a must for every Muslim."

Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) has said: "Acquire knowledge of religious jurisprudence. Any one among you who does not become efficient in religious jurisprudence is a rustic."

Allah S.W.T. says in the Qur’an in Sura 9, Verse 121:

"..........let them devote themselves to studies in religion and admonish their comrades when they return to them so that they may guard themselves against evil."

Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) has said in this same subject: "I would rather like my companions to be flogged on their heads so that they may (be compelled to) acquire religious knowledge."

Allah S.W.T. says in the Holy Qur’an in Sura 107, Verse 1-7:

"Didn’t you see the one who denies religion (din)? Such is the one who repulses the orphan and does not encourage the feeding of the poor. So woe to the worshippers, who are neglectful to their prayers; those who (want but) to be seen (of men) but refuse (to supply even) the neighborly needs."

THE ACADEMY FOUNDED BY IMAM JAFFER AS-SADIQ (A.S.)

If we talk about knowledge, we can not forget Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.). Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) was born on 17 Rabul-ul-awwal 83 A.H. Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) has the same birth date as that of our Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). The Imam became the Imam of the time when he was 31 years old. Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) has three titles; they are As-Sadiq, Al-Fadil and At-Tahir.

It was during the time of our sixth Imam (A.S.) that the Khalifah transferred from the Ummayids to the Abbasids. It was because of this transfer and the fights that took place, that Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) had plenty of time to spread Islam. Many foreigners, other than Arabs, came to visit Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) and Islam spread further.

Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.)’s knowledge of all branches attracted many students from far places until his students numbered four thousand. Apart from fiqh, hadith, tafsir, etc. Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) also taught science, and other arts e.g. mathematics, and chemistry. One of the famous students of Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) was Jabir Ibn Hayyan who was a mathematician and a chemist. Jabir benefited so much from the Imam’s knowledge and guidance that he was able to write 400 books on different subjects. Wasil Ibn’Ata - founder of the Mutazlites, Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi sect and Malik Ibn Anas, the founder of the Maliki sect were all students of Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.).

KNOWLEDGE OF THE IMAMS

We believe that the Imam, like the Prophet, must be the best among mankind and that he must excel in all human qualities, such as bravery, generosity, chasteness, truthfulness, justice, prudence, reason, wisdom, and morality. The reason for this is the same as that of which we gave for the Prophet’s superiority. He derives his education, the Divine commandments and all his knowledge from the Prophet or from the previous Imam. When a new question arises, he knows the answer from the divine inspiration through the pure mind that Allah has given him. If he gives attention to some matter in order to know it, he will obtain a perfect understanding with no error, for the Imams do not derive their knowledge from the methodological reasoning or from the teachings of men of knowledge although it is possible for their knowledge to be increased and strengthened. For the Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.) has said:

"O Lord, increase my knowledge!"

It has been narrated that Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (A.S) was passing along with his companions and saw a group of people waiting for a Christian priest who was to come out from a cave after his meditation of one whole year. Imam Baqir (A.S.) also waited with other people; as soon as the priest came out he addressed everybody present there and addressed the Imam ‘you are not among these people’; the priest then asked ‘Are you among the educated or illiterate?’ The Imam replied ‘I am not amongst the illiterate.’ The Imam was the treasure of knowledge (Bakir al-Uloom). The Imam was carrying the same torch from Imam Ali (A.S.) of (Salooni) ASK ME? I HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF SKIES MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE OF EARTH. We as the followers of the Ahlul-Bait should acquire knowledge and part with knowledge whatever we can.

LEARNED MEN ARE OF MANY KINDS

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) is quoted to have said:

"He who learns for the sake of haughtiness, dies ignorant. He who learns only to talk, rather than to act, dies a hyprocite. He who learns for the mere sake of debating, dies irreligious. He who learns only to accumulate wealth, dies an atheist. And he who learns for the sake of action, dies a mystic."

Imam Jaffer as-Sadiq (A.S.) has said about acting with knowledge:

"Accept not deed without knowledge, and there is not knowledge except with action. So, whoever knows, his knowledge leads him to action, and whoever acts not has no knowledge."

DEATH OF A RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR

Imam Musa al-Kazim (A.S.) has said: "When a believer dies, the angels weep over him and so do the portions of the earth on which he used to worship Allah and also the doors of heaven through which his good deeds ascended. His death causes such a void in Islam that nothing can fill up because the learned believers are fortresses of Islam like the protecting wall built around the city."

The above hadith is trying to tell us that if we have knowledge we will succeed in the hereafter and if you have knowledge, don’t be proud of it. All the Imams and the Prophets were never proud of their knowledge and we should follow our Imams and the Prophets.

To end this essay, I will caught the Prophet: "O Lord, increase my knowledge!"

This above saying is trying to tell us that knowledge can never end, you can increase knowledge everyday.

MANIFESTATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION: MALAWI. ZAMBIA AND ZIMBABWE.

2012-06-13T15:49:00.002-07:00

Introduction

One of the most enduring types of educational inequality is that of gender. At a global level, the gender gap in education has been reduced significantly in many of the countries of the North although it remains extreme in parts of the South, particularly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). South Asia has the largest gender gap at both the primary and secondary levels followed by SSA.
In the poorest countries of the world, gender inequality is reflected in lower enrolment, attainment and achievement, and higher wastage rates for girls. While SSA has the lowest levels of education as a region, it has, nonetheless, made the most progress in increasing schooling for girls and women over the past three decades (UNESCO, 1993). Thus, the enrolment of girls has increased at a faster rate than that of boys although starting from a much lower base level. This is largely the consequence of the expansionary education policies followed by post-independence African governments. Even so, gender inequalities with respect to enrolment levels and educational outcomes are still very marked both in absolute terms and in relation to other developing countries. During the 1980s, two-thirds of primary school-aged African children who were out of school were female (Colclough, 1994). While it is true that the enrolment gap between boys and girls has diminished in many SSA countries at the primary level, the education of women and girls remains highly inequitable, particularly at the tertiary level.
Generally speaking, economic recession and structural adjustment policies (SAPs) have over the past decade deepened social and gender inequalities in African societies. Widespread concerns have been expressed about the adverse impacts of SAPs on education sectors mainly in terms of declining overall enrolments for both males and females and deteriorating quality of provision at all levels. Due to the multiple political, social and economic constraints operating against females in SSA, deteriorating economic conditions have had a particularly damaging effect on the education and employment prospects of women and girls (Elson, 1994).

The importance of female participation in education

The very considerable private and social benefits arising from the education of girls are now well documented (see, for example, Floro and Wolf, 1990, King and Hill, 1991, Herz et al, 1991). The level of women's education affects economic productivity, child health and welfare, and influences the length of time daughters are sent to school. As schooling tends to improve the mother's knowledge and use of health practices, each additional year of schooling is estimated to decrease the child mortality rate (Hartnett and Heneveld, 1994). Research reported in two World Development reports (See IBRD 1989 and 1992) confirms that female education reduces fertility, especially where family planning services are available. Female education is linked with later marriage, lower fertility, desire for smaller families, and increased practice of contraception. The relationship is stronger as women's education increases (see Herz et al, 1991).
There also seems to be a strong link in rural areas of SSA between education of women and agricultural productivity although this has not been adequately researched. In the rural areas of Ghana (where currently three-quarters of female farmers have no education), lack of female education limits farm productivity. Inadequate literacy and numeracy skills are also reported to affect adversely the efficiency of women traders (BRIDGE, Ghana, 1994). Another study on Ghana finds that maternal education is the main influence on children's schooling, whether for boys or girls. But the effect on girls is twice as great - with respect to both girls' actual enrolment and the probability that girls will continue to the next grade (Herz et al, 1991).
The positive impact of maternal influence on schooling has been found right across the developing world in different cultural settings. Studies conducted in Latin America indicate that parent's income and own years of schooling have a strong positive impact on children's education with the mothers' educational level appearing to have a greater impact (Bustillo, 1989). An ILO study on vocational training in Zambia (Kane, 1990) also shows that well educated women are more likely to educate their daughters.
The influence of mothers on their children's education is particularly important in the African context where in many countries a relatively high proportion of households have a female head. This includes many of the countries of Southern Africa where male migration is widespread. Many women are the prime movers with respect to their children's education and their own levels of education and command over resources are important factors in their ability to send children to school (Fuller et al, 1994). In rural Botswana where 48% of households have a female head, it has been found that investment in a daughter's schooling is higher for those households. A recent household survey in Botswana also found that the mother's literacy levels and reading practices were closely related to their daughters' level of school attainment (ibid).
Research has shown that both the social and private rates of return to girls' primary education are generally high. For this reason, King and Hill (1993) recommend that governments should invest in basic education for girls in both formal and non-formal settings. Recent World Bank studies have suggested that returns to secondary education for girls and boys are now comparable to those for primary (Herz et al, 1991). However, rates of return estimates for SSA countries should be treated with caution since the data and/or the methodology used in many country studies are seriously flawed (see Bennell, 1995).
Due to the undoubtedly positive impacts of female education, a somewhat instrumentalist view has emerged from the World Bank and some other aid donors regarding gender and education. Primary education is now seen as a particularly 'good investment' both generally and from a gender perspective. However, the factors militating against the education of African girls cover political, social and economic factors. While it is important that the economic and social benefits are highlighted, the key issue remains one of equity, namely that education must be recognised as a basic human right. Furthermore, it is important that women are not merely the 'objects' of policy but rather that they themselves become part of the process of transformation of not only education but social attitudes. Thus, investing in girl's education cannot be a 'quick fix' solution to economic and social problems, since any kind of progressive change will need to involve a long term process of political empowerment as well.

Educational expenditure patterns

Any analysis of enrolment patterns must be placed in the context of government spending on education, and the differential spending between primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels. As elsewhere in SSA, the education policies of the three countries under consideration have been severely affected by financial stringency in the 1990s.
Primary: In 1990, Zimbabwe spent approximately eight times more (in US dollar terms) on each primary pupil than either Zambia or Malawi (see Table 1). Zimbabwe's expenditure per pupil was at its highest in 1980, fell in 1985 but then rose again in 1990 (although not reaching the 1980 figure). However, Zimbabwe since 1990-1991 has seen a reduction in real per capita government expenditure of 32% while government spending on secondary and higher education has fallen but not as fast (Chisvo, 1994). Malawi's expenditure per primary pupil fell slightly during the 1980s and was only $15 in 1990. Since 1991, however, Malawi has been involved in a major expansion of the primary education sub-sector which renders this disparity less extreme. Due to deep financial cuts, spending on primary pupils in Zambia fell consistently throughout the 1980s, so that by 1990 it spent only $16 per pupil, about half the 1985 figure and the same as Malawi. Primary education in Zambia has borne the brunt of recent reductions in education expenditure, while spending on tertiary education has been maintained and even increased (Kelly, 1994).
Secondary: While the differences between the three countries with respect to public expenditure per secondary school student are not so marked as at the primary level, they are still relatively large. In 1990, Malawi spent $41 and Zambia $95 per student, far less than the $233 per pupil in Zimbabwe. Moreover, the drop in spending per secondary school pupil between 1985 and 1990 was not nearly so drastic in Zimbabwe as it was in Malawi and Zambia (see Table 1).
Tertiary: In Zimbabwe, real expenditure per tertiary-level student almost doubled between 1970 and 1980, but during the 1980s, expenditure per student fell by more than half, so that by 1990 it had the lowest per capita tertiary expenditure of the three countries, the highest being Malawi at $1 782 per student. It should, however, be borne in mind that Malawi has a much smaller proportion of the relevant age cohort attending tertiary institutions than Zambia and Zimbabwe. In both Zambia and Zimbabwe, as we have seen, the cutbacks in expenditure on the tertiary sector have not been severe. In Zimbabwe, real per capita spending on higher education declined by only 4% between 1990/91 and 1993/4 (Chisvo, 1994). This seems curious given the prioritisation of many aid donors, (notably the World Bank) of primary education while pruning expenditure at the tertiary level.
Total government expenditure on education: Educational expenditure expressed as a percentage of GNP was nearly four times higher in Zimbabwe in 1990 than in Malawi and Zambia. Zimbabwe's expenditure on education as a proportion of both government expenditure and GNP rose consistently between 1970 and 1990. On the other hand, public expenditure on education in Malawi as a percentage of total government expenditure and GNP has remained consistently low. Zambia has experienced the largest fall in education as a proportion of government expenditure and GNP between 1985 and 1990 (see Table 1a). Real spending on education stands at less than half what it was in 1984 and by 1994 education accounted for only 2.5% of the GNP (Kelly, 1994)

Enrolments

Primary: Both primary and secondary schooling have expanded phenomenally since independence in Zimbabwe, which consequently has high gross enrolment ratios (GER). In contrast, GERs in Malawi for both primary and secondary education (at 69% and 3.9% respectively) were the lowest for 1990 (see Table 2). However, primary school enrolments in Malawi are now expanding very rapidly as a result of the new policies introduced by the democratic government (which was elected in May 1994). In particular, primary education was made free in October 1994. Between July and September 1994, over one million new children were pre-registered and 19,000 new teachers recruited. In October 1994, with over three million children estimated to be in primary school, the GER was 132% (38% of the projected enrolment was in Standard 1 and from all ages). The new policy increases access to education but poses severe problems of quality delivery, particularly in the light of a substantial shortage of fully trained teachers and classrooms (ODA, Malawi Primary Community Schools Project, 1994). In a way, this situation is a replay of the conditions facing the education sector in Zambia and Zimbabwe after their rapid expansion of primary and secondary schooling in the 1970s and 1980s respectively.
The problems of access to primary education have largely been overcome in Zimbabwe. Each of the three countries now has nearly equality of overall enrolments between girls and boys at primary school (see Table 3). By 1992/3, girls in Malawi made up 51% of enrolments in Standard 1 but in Standard 8 their share had dropped to 35%, mainly because of relatively high drop out rates among girls in the lower grades of primary (GABLE, 1995). In the senior grades of primary school, there is a greater propensity for boys to repeat years in order to increase their chance of gaining entry to secondary school (Zeitlyn, 1994). However, Malawi admits a much smaller proportion of students of the relevant cohort to secondary school and the average transition rate from Standard 8 to Form 1 is approximately 8% (in 1992) with the transition rate being higher for girls than boys although boys do have higher scores than girls on the Primary School Leaving Exam (Hyde and Kadzamira, 1994).
Primary and secondary school enrolments also grew rapidly in Zambia during the 1980s but this expansion was not properly resourced. As a result, the quality of educational provision declined dramatically. For example, in the early 1990s there were only 20,000 classrooms for 1.5 million primary school pupils and some large schools ran three or four sessions a day (IBRD, 1992). The gender gap in primary enrolment does seem to have narrowed in Zambia in recent years, with girls as a proportion of the total number increasing from 47% in 1987 to 49% in 1992. Similarly, improvements in girls' enrolment were made in Standard 7 where the proportion of girls rose from 43% in 1987 to 48% by 1992 (Maimbolwa-Sinyangwe, 1994).
The rather favourable overall primary school enrolment ratios for all three countries at the national level mask severe regional inequalities in both the quality and quantity of educational provision. Available evidence suggests that early drop-out and wastage is considerably higher in remote rural areas than in urban and peri-urban areas. In the large scale farming areas of Zimbabwe, due to various logistical and household constraints, the drop out rates for children are three times the national average for eight year olds and five times the national average for 11 year olds. Worse still, the rate of drop out for girls is estimated to be on average three times greater than that of boys overall the age categories (Nyagura, 1995). These particularly high drop out rates are due mainly to the strong demand for child labour to support households.
There are also large differences between rural and urban areas in Zambia. In rural areas the GER is 69% while in urban areas it is 100.8%. In both rural and urban areas, however, the net enrolment rates for girls are almost identical with those of boys (Kelly, 1994). In the provinces with the highest levels of poverty: Eastern, Northern, North-West and Western have the lowest GER and the highest drop out rates (UNICEFb, 1995).
Regional variations in enrolment are also significant in Malawi; in the northern region in 1990/91, 80.8% of eligible children attended primary school whereas in the less developed south only 45.5% attended (Hyde, 1992). Policy makers concerned with equity of provision and gender inequalities need to focus their attention on these disadvantaged rural areas.
In Zambia and Zimbabwe, much higher proportions of students are admitted to secondary school than in Malawi, with GERs for 1990 of 21.3%, 50.0%, and 3.9% respectively. The primary drop out rates in both Zimbabwe and Zambia are only a little higher for girls than boys. For example, in Zimbabwe the primary drop out rate for the 1985-1992 cohort was 28% for boys and 29% for girls, although the proportion of Grade 7 enrolment moving on to Form I was 73% for boys but only 64% for girls in 1992 (UNICEF, 1994). A similar level of drop out of girls occurs between '0' level and 'A' level. In Zimbabwe, it 'would appear that primary school completion rates are deteriorating for both sexes but to a greater extent for girls (UNICEF, 1994). Ministry of Education Statistics show that through grades 1-7 more girls are dropping out than boys (UNICEFb, 1995).
Secondary: The secondary and tertiary education sectors in Malawi are relatively very small. Only 31.000 students were enrolled at secondary schools in 1990 compared with 672,000 in Zimbabwe and 195,000 in Zambia (see Table 3a). Secondary education GERs were 3.9% in Malawi and 50.0% in Zimbabwe in 1990. Despite the rapid expansion of provision, primary education is still considered to be terminal for most Malawians.
Table 3a shows that in both Malawi and Zambia, the proportion of girls attending secondary school increased steadily during the 1980s. In Zimbabwe, this proportion fell from 42% in 1980 to 40% in 1985 but rose again to 46% in 1990. The rate of expansion of secondary schooling in Zimbabwe during the 1980s decade was phenomenal; primary school enrolments in Zimbabwe increased three times while secondary school enrolments increased tenfold. This expansion as well as the abolition of tuition fees at primary level benefitted both girls and boys (Gordon, 1993).
In Malawi, the average transition rate from Standard 8 (primary) to Form 1 is currently 8%. In Malawi's mixed secondary schools, boys outnumber girls by approximately three to one (secondary school places are reserved for girls). Approximately the same ratios prevail in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Even though there was a slight improvement in the proportion of girls in secondary grades 8 to 12 in Zambia between 1980 and 1989 (i.e. from 35.1% to 38.7%), the drop in the proportion of girls attending grades 8 (41.2%) and 12 (33.9%) in 1989 remains significant (IBRD, 1992, Annex 1a). For those Zambian girls who do manage to secure places at the secondary level, most of them are channelled into non-technical disciplines and traditionally female subjects such as home economics and social sciences. Boys, on the other hand. are encouraged to study technical subjects similar to those offered in the boys only technical high schools which existed up until 1993 (Republic of Zambia, 1995). As indicated earlier, the overall figures for primary and secondary enrolment disguise the progressively lower participation of girls in the upper grades.
Tertiary: The tertiary education sector in Zimbabwe is the largest with 49,400 students in 1990. Enrolments grew particularly rapidly between 1980 and 1985. In contrast, in Malawi and Zambia, enrolments stagnated in the early 1980s but increased, especially between 1985 and 1990 (see Table 4). However, during the 1990s, enrolments in all three countries have remained fairly static given the financial stringency facing governments and the prioritisation of primary education by donors.
Despite the fact that university entry requirements for girls are lower than for boys in Zimbabwe and Zambia, access to tertiary education is even more limited for girls than at the secondary level. In 1990, the proportion of female university students were as follows: Malawi (24%), Zambia (28%), and Zimbabwe (27%) (see Table 4). In the 1992/93 academic year, female students accounted for only 19.3% of total enrolment (Kelly, 1994). However, overall enrolment figures at tertiary mask the high concentrations of female students in teaching, arts and humanities. In 1990, females comprised only 24% of science students in Malawi and 8% in Zambia (DAE, 1994). In Zimbabwe, this figure was an incredible 1% although by 1993 female student enrolments in science had risen to 20% (Sibanda, CAMFED Conference, 1995). The particularly low enrolments of women in science subjects is the consequence of a gendered subject specialisation as early as primary and lower secondary school. This means that by the end of secondary few girls have the requisite entry qualifications to study science or vocational subjects such as engineering or medicine.
What is particularly apparent is that the gender gap in enrolments between boys and girls becomes progressively more pronounced from the end of primary up to tertiary in all three countries. Although very little data are available for the past few years, it seems likely that SAPs have had a negative impact on the numbers enrolled at primary, secondary and tertiary sectors (particularly in rural areas) in both Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is clear that primary GERs in Zimbabwe and more particularly, Zambia dropped between 1985 and 1990 (DAE, 1994 and Kelly. 1994). More research is certainly needed in this area. In the light of present financial stringency, educational expansion has slowed considerably in Zimbabwe and more particularly, in Zambia. Malawi could also find its current expansion programme curtailed as a consequence of its present financial difficulties.

Performance and attainment

The mean educational attainment of girls in SSA is low because enrolment is low compared with boys and wastage is high (Hyde, 1993). While it is well known that girls' educational attainments are, in aggregate terms, considerably lower than for boys in SSA, this is not easy to document for many African countries. Adequate records of school-based performance by sex are not kept on a consistent basis for all schools in many countries. However, some research has been conducted on exam performance in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. Enrolment figures by grade can also give an indication of the stage at which girls drop out of the school system although it is not possible with the present data to determine the reasons for their departure.
Wastage includes both grade repetitions and drop outs. The reasons for wastage are complex and will be explored more fully in the next section. Statistical information about drop outs and exam performance can help illustrate the problem of gender inequality. Detailed classroom based research is needed to illuminate the precise nature of the attainment difficulties faced by girls.
In all three countries, girls perform worse in all examined subjects except local languages and, in the case of Zambia, English. Primary school leaving exams are a way of screening out those with weaker academic grades. Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe all have leaving exams at the end of primary and the pattern of girls' performance is consistently worse that of boys in most subjects. A situation which is then repeated at the end of secondary school for those girls who have made it that far.
Zimbabwe: Up until 1993, drop out rates for girls in every age cohort were higher than for boys (Gordon. 1993). Since then, however, the drop out rates for the primary grades have been similar for both girls and boys (UNICEF, 1994). In 1991, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the International Institute of Education Planning (IIEP) found no difference in achievement levels between boys and girls at the primary school level (MEC, 1994). However, in the same year, Riddell and Nyagura carried out a study of academic achievement among boys and girls in secondary school and found that girls' achievement was significantly lower than boys, particularly for maths. They recommended that more observational studies were needed in order address this deep seated problem through improved teaching practices (Nyagura and Riddell. 1991).
In Zimbabwe, primary school completion rates declined for both boys and girls between 1985 and 1993, although girls tended to drop out in larger numbers than boys at all the transition points in the school system (UNICEF, 1994). The poorer performance of girls through the school system is reflected in '0' level results from Zimbabwean secondary schools. It should be pointed out that these examinations are the potential passport to the job market or higher education and are, therefore, ferociously competitive. The overall '0' level pass rate in Zimbabwe has declined as school enrolments have increased. In 1986 and 1987, 15% of boys but only 7% of girls passed five or more subjects to earn a Cambridge School Certificate. The performance of boys in individual subjects was better than that of girls with the exception of three areas: the vernacular language, physics and chemistry. However, girls did not do well in maths and other science subjects (Dorsey, 1989). It is clear that since 1980 girls have consistently performed worse than boys in the '0' level exams (Gordon, 1993).
In a sample of secondary schools in Zimbabwe, Bennell compared different groups of children in terms of their performance in the '0' level examinations and their job market experience. He observed that among the 1985 group of Form IV school leavers, 31% of the males and 15% of the females passed more than 5 '0' levels whereas the corresponding pass rates for the corresponding 1988 group were 19.9% and 8.6% respectively. This decline in performance for both sexes was put down to the deteriorating quality of provision (Bennell, 1994). Due to the importance attached to certification, a high proportion of students retake their '0' levels (between 15-20% of the school leavers surveyed by Bennell). In 1993, only 5% of girls as opposed to 16% of boys obtained 5 passes or more (UNICEF, 1994). Thus', it would appear that the performance of girls in the crucial '0' level exam seems to have deteriorated still further vis-a-vis boys during the 1990s.
In the November 1992 '0' level exams, there were 103,753 male candidates and 76,678 female candidates (42.5% of the total). Apart from Shona and Ndebele, in all subjects taken by more than 2000 candidates, boys did significantly better that girls. For most subjects, the male pass rate was, in fact, double or three times the rate for girls. These disparities in examination performance are puzzling because the girls who reach Form 4 are more highly selected than comparable boys (IBRD 1992a). Possible reasons for this poor performance are the negative attitudes of teachers and the hostile learning environment in secondary schools for girls.
Depressingly, Bennell and Ncube's research on Zimbabwean school leavers using two cohorts in the 1980s, shows that even among the best qualified school leavers with 5 or more '0' levels, 71.8% of the 1985 male school leavers were in wage employment by early 1991 compared to only 52.9% of their female counterparts (Bennell and Ncube, 1994). Gender segregated job markets and prejudice against women entering traditionally male preserves make access to well paid employment difficult even for those girls who do overcome the hurdle of formal schooling. Labour market prospects undoubtedly influence the decision of parents to send their daughters to school and to keep them there. According to recent research, girls who leave the education system are much less likely than boys to find their way back into either formal or non-formal education systems (UNICEF, 1994).
Malawi: A similar pattern of poor achievement and low persistence for girls can be found in both primary and secondary schools in Malawi. Throughout the school system, girl's performance lags behind that of boys. Girls are more likely to repeat a grade in primary school (except in Standard 8 where the reverse is true) and pass rates for girls are lower than those of boys. In the primary school leaving examinations, girls do worse than boys in all subjects examined (Kadzamira, 1994).
Several studies in the 1980s on sex differences in academic achievement and exam performance (at primary and junior secondary level) have revealed that sex differences in maths and science exist from primary school onwards. Boys outperformed girls in the Malawi School Certificate of Education exam in geography, history and English although girls outperformed boys in Bible Knowledge and Chichewa (Kadzamira. 1987 and 1988). Furthermore, fewer girls than boys obtained passes with distinctions and credits in English, maths and physical science.
There is evidence to suggest that girl's academic performance has not improved in Malawi since the early 1980s. in fact, for maths and science the gap between girls and boys' examination performance actually widened during the 1980s (Mwanza, 1990). Despite fluctuations, the difference between the pass rates of girls and boys at the JCE exam increased from 24.2% in 1985 to 28.3% in 1989 (Hyde, 1992). Some studies have attempted to analyse exam results by type of school i.e. single sex or mixed. The results usually indicate that girls in single sex schools generally perform better than girls in mixed schools (Kadzamira, 1987 and Hiddleston, 1991). Although nearly half of the girls taking MSCE exams attended mixed secondary schools, over 70% of the girls entering Chancellor College come from single sex schools. Despite this improvement in performance for girls in single sex schools, their pass rates are still 10% lower than boys at single sex schools and 5% lower than boys in mixed schools (Hyde, 1992).
Girls' performance in maths and science is particularly problematic in both primary and secondary schools. However, Hiddleston's study undertaken in 1991 of undergraduate girls from single sex schools taking maths and science at Chancellor College (University of Malawi) indicates that girls moved from being below average in their first year to above average in their fourth year even though they had poorer scores on entering college (Hiddleston, 1994). Similar observations have been made in Kenya. This change in the pattern of girls' performance in maths and science is significant and the learning environment at university should be closely examined. More research is needed generally on how pedagogical practices affect girls and women in different contexts.
Zambia: There appears to have been little systematic research on learning achievements in primary schools in Zambia and apparently the country does not have any good indicators of learning achievement (Kelly, 1994). In all of the six papers of the primary school leaving exam the mean scores for boys are higher than those of girls and the difference is greatest in social sciences and maths (ILO, 1990). At Grade 9 the overall picture is of weak performance for both girls and boys although there is a significant gender gap with only one-third of girls getting a full certificate compared with half of all boys. The performance of girls in the end of primary exams has deteriorated in recent years whereas the performance of boys remains unchanged (Kelly, 1994). Very similar patterns of poor female retention and performance would appear to exist in Zambia as in Zimbabwe and Malawi. Thus, girls fail more frequently and do worse than boys in every exam at primary and secondary level except for English literature in the school leaving exam (ILO, 1990)
A higher proportion of girls drop out at all levels than boys, although the drop out rate at the higher grades is more pronounced. Information on the progression of one cohort from 1978-1989 shows a sharp fall off for both boys and girls after grade 7, with the gap between boys and girls widening from grade two onwards (IBRD, 1992). Of those who enter grade 1, only 11% of boys and 3.8% of girls complete grade 12 which is the end of the secondary cycle (Ibid). The highest repetition rates occur at standard 9 where pupils take an examination to qualify for further studies at higher grades. Repetition rates at secondary level ranged from 2% in the Central Province to 6.7% in the Western Province in 1994 (Republic of Zambia, 1995). For all the years between 1980 and 1992, completion rates for girls are lower than those for boys, sometimes by more than 25 percentage points (Kelly, 1994).
A major programme of gender research in Zambia that includes surveys of the factors contributing to gender inequalities in education is currently underway as part of the World Bank's ongoing Education Rehabilitation Project (IBRD, 1992). This should be of considerable assistance in pinpointing more precisely the reasons for girl's low attainment throughout the schooling system.

Literacy

A key indicator of the success of past educational policies and practices is the rate of literacy for the population as a whole and women in particular. Zimbabwe and Zambia present a very similar picture: overall literacy rates in 1990 were 66.9% in Zimbabwe and 72.8% in Zambia and female literacy rates were 60.3% and 65.3% respectively (UNDP, 1993, UNESCO, 1993). Kelly stresses that the relatively high adult literacy rate in Zambia is a considerable achievement given the level of under-resourcing of the schools over the last two decades (although he cautions that the female literacy rate of 72% for 1990 from the Census could well be an over-estimate (Kelly, 1994)). In contrast to Zambia and Zimbabwe, the literacy rates in Malawi are among the lowest in SSA with a very large gender gap: the female literacy rate was estimated at 17.7% in 1990, less than half the rate of males (see table 5). These figures for Malawi are an indication of the very low rates of education spending in the past and consequent inadequacy of both formal and non-formal education provision. They highlight the need not only for the building up of primary education but also the development of an efficient, community based adult education system.
As in the case of enrolment ratios, there are huge differences in literacy rates in all three countries between urban and rural, with the more remote rural areas registering much higher rates of illiteracy. In Zambia, for example, according to the 1990 Census, the percentage of persons aged 1 5 and above who cannot read and write is 55% and 21.5% for rural and urban females and 32.5% and 9.2% for rural and urban males respectively. The disparity between male and female is larger in rural than urban areas which reflects the better male access to schooling and employment opportunities.

Education of women and socio-economic development

2012-06-13T15:46:00.002-07:00

Introduction

In the Bahá'í teachings there are two extraordinary statements about the education of women. First, that women's education is of greater importance than men's education and, secondly, that not until the equality of opportunity in education for the two sexes is established will the foundations of war be removed.⁽¹⁾ These challenging ideas deserve study in order for us to understand their meaning and ramifications.
The principle of sexual equality in education - one facet of the general principle of the equality of the sexes - was revolutionary when given by Bahá'u'lláh in the mid 1800s.⁽²⁾ It was set forth more than half a century before western thought added sexual equality to its list of rationally-based moral principles of relevance to political life, such as democracy, secularism, and the rights of the individual, and long before it became enshrined in numerous national and international documents as a politically correct, universal value.
The signs of the rapid convergence between the ideas of the secular world and the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith are abundant. In the political and economic spheres, for example, this is conspicuous presently in the enthusiasm for global governance among thinkers, academics, and international institutions.⁽³⁾ It can also be seen in the acceptance, among many influential opinion-makers, of the need for a world currency and for international economic policy coordination.⁽⁴⁾ Many other ideas and institutions prescribed by Bahá'u'lláh in the last century have been embraced by the world in the past few decades. The recognition of the wisdom of the Bahá'í emphasis on women's education is a recent addition to the list of areas of convergence.
Women's status

Women account for roughly half the world's population, perform two-thirds of the hours worked, receive one-tenth of the world's income, and have less than one hundredth of the world's property registered in their names.⁽⁵⁾ Female deprivation is particularly acute in the developing countries with high levels of poverty, though in affluent nations women also suffer low status due to conservative attitudes.
The most dramatic and telling statistic of women's status is the sex-ratio in the population, that is, the number of females per 100 males. It is a well-known fact that life-expectancy at birth favours females. This appears to be a biological constant. Yet, the proportion of females to males varies greatly across different regions of the world. For example, the proportion of females is 52.5% in the industrialised world but in sub-Saharan Africa women account for only 51% of the population. The figures are 48% of the population in East Asia and less than 47% in South Asia. From figures such as these, economist Amartya Sen⁽⁶⁾ has estimated that there are 100 million women "missing" in the world. Sen describes the fate of these women as "one of the more momentous problems facing the contemporary world." This is a moral as well as a development-related problem.
The overwhelming reason why 100 million women are missing in the world is excess female mortality. In the developed world, women outlive men by an average of six years; by contrast, in large parts of South Asia, men can expect to live longer than women.
Differential mortality is only the most dramatic manifestation of systematic discrimination against females. Women and girls are more likely to be impoverished than men and boys. Also, studies have found that girls are fed less than their brothers and that their illnesses are less likely to be treated. It should come as no surprise then that, in most regions of the world, female literacy and education fall far short of male literacy and education, as shown in Table 1. While poverty and cultural factors must surely influence the extent of female deprivation, they do not explain it entirely. For example, sub-Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world but the problem of excess mortality of females is much less severe there than in South Asia.

Table 1: Male-Female Gaps in education, 1990 (Index: Males = 100)
Region	Adult Literacy	Primary enrolment	Secondary enrolment	Tertiary enrolment
Nordic countries	—	100	101	121
OECD	—	99	98	103
All Developing Countries	73	88	78	70
Least Developed Countries	57	84	67	44
Arab states	61	92	77	65
East Asia	80	96	79	73
Latin America and Caribbean	97	98	98	70
South Asia	55	75	60	48
SE Asia and the Pacific	90	97	95	73
sub-Saharan Africa	66	85	72	46
Source: Human Development Report 1995, Annex table A2.6, page 68. Notes: The figures relate to women's education in relation to men's, the index for men being 100. Thus, for example, in least developed countries, the adult literacy rate for women was only 57% that of men, while in Latin America and in the Caribbean, it was 97% that of men.

The economic and social gains from female education

Equality of the sexes - in terms of men and women's command over resources, their access to education and health, and in terms of freedom to develop their potential - has an intrinsic value in its own right. The equal treatment of the sexes for intrinsic reasons is, in the parlance of welfare economics, the equity reason for reducing gender-imbalances. A second important reason in favour of reducing gender-imbalances is what might be termed the instrumental reason, that is, the gains to be had from granting equality. For example, if with equal education, women's contribution to economic development (or to other desirable goals) is comparable to men's, then reducing gender-imbalances in education will enhance women's capacity to contribute to economic progress. This is the efficiency reason for reducing gender inequality in areas where women are currently deprived. Both the intrinsic (equity) and instrumental (efficiency) based reasons for gender equality are emphasised in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.⁽⁷⁾
Economic efficiency

Human capital theory suggests that just as physical capital (machines) augments people's economic productivity, so human capital acquired through education improves the productivity of individuals. Studies of the sources of economic growth demonstrate persuasively that education plays a major role as a factor in the rise of output per worker. The new growth theories in economics place education and human resource development at the centre of their explanation for long-term economic growth.⁽⁸⁾ Confidence has grown in the belief that education affects economic growth because many studies have shown the positive correlation between a country's educational effort and its economic status, and causality has been attributed to education. Prominent examples of this are the so-called "miracle" economies of East Asia.
If female schooling raises human capital, productivity, and economic growth as much as male schooling does, then women's disadvantage in education is economically inefficient. Research world-wide shows that, in general, the economic benefits from women's education - calculated as the economic rate of return to education - are comparable to those from men's education.⁽⁹⁾ Thus, from the point of view of economic efficiency, the gender gap in education is undesirable.
Social efficiency

While the economic benefits of educating girls are similar in size to the economic benefits of educating boys, recent findings suggest that the social benefits from investing in female education are far greater than those from investing in male education. Specifically, female education has powerful effects on the total fertility rate (and hence on population growth), the infant mortality rate,⁽¹⁰⁾ the female disadvantage in child survival, and on child health and nutrition. By contrast, statistical analyses show that male schooling has relatively much smaller effects on these important social outcomes.⁽¹¹⁾
For example, a recent study by Subbarao and Raney (1995)⁽¹²⁾ using national aggregate data from 72 countries regressed the total fertility rate of 1985 on the male and female secondary school enrolment rates lagged by 10 years, i.e. on the enrolment rates of 1975. The objective was to examine the effect of education on fertility, controlling for a number of other factors such as family planning service provision and per capita income. The results show that female secondary school enrolment (lagged by 10 years) is inversely correlated with the total fertility rate but that male secondary school enrolment shows no strong correlation. Similarly, a regression of the 1985 infant mortality rate on 10 year lagged male and female secondary school enrolment rates shows that while female education is associated with lower infant mortality, male education has no statistically significant effect.
A similar exercise by Murthi, Guio, and Drèze⁽¹³⁾ for India using district level aggregated data shows that whereas the district female literacy rate had a strong inverse correlation on the district average total fertility rate, on under-five child mortality rate, and on the female disadvantage in child survival, the district male literacy rate had no significant effect on each of these outcomes. Moreover, district per capita income, urbanisation, and the spread of medical facilities were not statistically significant determinants of total fertility rate. While these latter three variables do have positive effects on child survival levels, their effects were relatively small compared with the powerful effect of female literacy.
Numerous studies have been carried out using household-level data that confirm the findings from studies using aggregate data. To cite one example, an examination of the determinants of fertility in fourteen countries of sub-Saharan Africa by Ainsworth, Beegle, and Nyamete (1996)⁽¹⁴⁾ using household survey data shows an inverse correlation between female schooling and fertility in virtually all of the countries, though the relationship is non-linear: female primary schooling has an inverse relation with fertility in about half of the countries only but female secondary schooling is universally associated with lower fertility, and the strength of the correlation increases with increasing years of schooling. Among ever-married women, husband's schooling has no significant relation with fertility in about one-third of the countries. Moreover, in cases where both women's and men's schooling matter, women's schooling exerts a much larger negative effect on fertility than men's schooling.
Simulations show that the benefits from expanding female education are far greater than the benefits from other public interventions such as improving family planning service provision or increasing the number of physicians in the population. For example, Subbarao and Raney (footnote 12) found that a doubling of the 1975 average secondary school enrolment ratio in the 72 sample countries from 19% to 38% would have reduced the average number of births in 1985 by 29% compared to the actual number in 1985, whereas a doubling of the family planning provision would have reduced the number of births by only 3.5%.
The gains in terms of deaths averted are also striking. Simulations predict that doubling the female secondary school enrolment ratio from 19% to 38% in 1975 reduces infant deaths in 1985 by 64% while doubling the number of physicians reduces the number of infant deaths by a mere 2.5%. Doubling per capita income (or GDP) from the average of $650 in the 72 sample countries to $1300 would have no effect on the number of infant deaths!
Subbarao and Raney also reported data on desired family size from the World Fertility Survey for 37 countries. Econometric analysis of this data suggested that after controlling for per capita income, female secondary school enrolment was a highly significant determinant of desired family size (and therefore of the total fertility rate and population growth rate). Male school enrolment ratio, however, had no impact on desired family size.
Finally, a large body of microeconomic evidence shows that increases in women's education generally lead to increases in their labour force participation as well as in their earnings.⁽¹⁵⁾ Educated women's greater participation in labour market work and their higher earnings are thought to be good for their own status (economic models say "bargaining power") within the household, and are good for their children because it appears that a greater proportion of women's income than men's is spent on child goods.⁽¹⁶⁾ On the down side, it may be thought that educated women's greater labour force participation takes them away from their children for longer periods of time (than is the case for uneducated or less educated women) and this may disadvantage educated women's children through neglect. At present this is a relatively unresearched issue. However, limited evidence suggests that children whose mothers work have just as good or better educational outcomes than children whose mothers do not work.
The findings in the studies cited above are corroborated by international as well as national studies, and they demonstrate the powerful role of women's agency and women's educational empowerment in reducing desired family size, fertility, population growth, child morbidity, child mortality, and gender-bias in child mortality, while at the same time showing that men's education mattered comparatively less to these important social outcomes.
Pathways through which education affects social outcomes

Why should education of females significantly reduce the fertility and mortality rates and improve child health? What are the pathways through which girls' education leads to these social gains? Bahá'ís have tended to focus importantly, though not exclusively, on the value of an educated woman for the upbringing and education of her offspring. This benefit is now prominently recognised outside the religion.
Economists tend to focus on the role of incentives as a way of understanding phenomena. They reason that female education lowers the fertility rate by reducing desired family size and that this, in turn, is because education raises the value of women's economic activities by raising the labour market rewards from going out of the home for work. In other words, the opportunity-cost of staying at home for child bearing and rearing increases as women become more educated and, so, educated women desire smaller families. Education may also change women's preferences about the quantity versus the quality of children, with educated women choosing fewer children but of better "quality". Moreover, as mentioned earlier, recent research suggests that a greater proportion of women's cash income than men's is spent on child goods,⁽¹⁷⁾ so that women's education and the consequent increase in women's income would appear to have particular benefits for child quality.
Education of women improves child health because of educated mothers' greater knowledge of the importance of hygiene and of simple remedies. All this lowers infant mortality, which in turn means that a family does not need to have a large number of children in order to hedge against the possibility of premature death of some children. Further, it appears that education of females increases the age at marriage (or at cohabitation) and through this delay, lowers the total fertility rate, i.e. number of children ever born to a woman.⁽¹⁸⁾
Finally, some studies find that mother's education has a greater impact on the educational attainment and school achievement of children than father's education. This is plausible given the greater interaction between mother and children in most families since, in most countries, fathers are usually the main earners in the household. In this way, education of females contributes more significantly (than the education of males) to increases in human capital, productivity, and economic growth not only in their own generation but also in the next generation.
Gender equality in education: a universal value?

It appears that there is an increasing challenge to the principle of gender equality not only from religious fundamentalists but also from a broader current, particularly in Asia, that questions the universality of the principle, contesting it as a "western value". For example, when a recent study found that Pakistan had forgone much economic growth between 1970 and 1985 because of its large scale failure to invest in the education of its females,⁽¹⁹⁾ a large group of angry Pakistani economics academics called education of females a "western value" and argued that education of females had led to increased incidence of divorce, family breakdown and social problems in western countries. As Fred Halliday, professor of International Relations at London School of Economics, says, perhaps the most pervasive and difficult of all the moral issues confronting the world at the moment is that of universal versus particular values.⁽²⁰⁾
Indeed, the Pakistani detractors who questioned the usefulness of women's education and claimed that it had wrought family breakdown in western countries might have a valid argument. Access to education per se is not sufficient; the content of education is also important, as emphasised in the Bahá'í writings. Could recognition that content of education is fundamentally important be the next stage in the convergence of secular and Bahá'í thinking?
The way forward

In order to see how more girls can be educated, it is essential to ask what holds them back from gaining education currently. There are many reasons why women's education seriously lags behind men's education, particularly in developing countries as seen in Table 1. The most commonly cited is that in certain societies many parents continue to envisage a strict gender division of labour. If for most of her adult life a daughter will be a housewife, it seems pointless to educate her. The immense contribution that education can make to women's efficiency in child rearing and in domestic tasks is insufficiently recognised. In some countries, societal norms such as early age marriage or the dowry system militate against girls' education. But, most importantly, when people live on low incomes - as in rural areas of all developing countries - it is the mismatch between the costs and benefits of girls' schooling that causes the gender gap in education to persist. In most developing countries, where typically there is no social security or state pension, male children still provide old age support to their parents but female children do not, any benefits of a daughter's education being reaped by her in-laws. Thus the expenditure on boys' schooling results in benefits for the parents but not expenditure on girls' schooling. In other words, there is an asymmetry in parental incentives to educate sons and daughters.
These explanations of the gender disadvantage in schooling have important policy implications. First, they suggest the need for public education about the intrinsic and instrumental value of women's education. Such a policy step would aim to change conservative attitudes towards girls' schooling. Secondly, they suggest that public policy should compensate for the asymmetry in parental incentives to educate girls and boys by giving extra subsidies for girls' schooling. This makes sense because many of the benefits of girls' education are public benefits, i.e. they accrue not only to the educated individual and her family but also to society in general - for example, lower infant mortality and fertility rates. One further policy suggestion is that governments should improve the economic incentives for women's education by attempting to reduce job and wage discrimination against women in the labour market, for example, through stricter labour legislation. This would raise the economic returns to women's education. Evidence suggests that cultural inhibitions can be overcome if the labour market (i.e. economic) incentives for acquiring education are strong enough.
Summary and conclusions

In this paper I have summarised the findings of recent research showing that the social gains from female schooling are generally far greater than those from male schooling. These findings have led, in recent years, to a widespread recognition of the importance of women's education, though the principle still faces challenges from certain quarters. International agencies that provide development assistance to economically less developed countries have come to realise the momentous advantages of expanding girls' access to schooling and are now enthusiastically championing the cause.⁽²¹⁾ This convergence of secular and Bahá'í thinking on a key issue like education is welcome indeed.
The main policy prescriptions of this paper are that governments and other organisations should attempt to educate people about the equity and efficiency benefits of female education and that public policy should encourage girls' access to schooling by extra subsidies in order to compensate for the asymmetry in parental incentives to educate sons and daughters in poor societies. I have also argued that education per se is not sufficient. It is clear that societies which have achieved universal education are currently extremely deficient socially despite their economic prosperity. The next step in the evolution of secular thinking will, it is hoped, be in the important area of the content of education.

Endnotes

"The education of women is more important than the education of men... When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realised, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. Without equality, this will be impossible...." ('Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace [Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982] 175).

Indeed, the early Bahá'ís of Iran suffered persecution partly for their belief in this principle. For example, analysing the causes of the persecution of Bábís and Bahá'ís, Lord Curzon, a British diplomat in Tehran in the 1880s, notes that "the charge of immorality [against Bábís and Bahá'ís] seems to have arisen partly from the malignant invention of opponents, [and] partly from the much greater freedom claimed for women by the Báb, which in the oriental mind is scarcely dissociable from profligacy of conduct" (quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By [Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974] and taken from A Question of Persia by Lord Curzon of Kedleston). See the article on persecutions of Bahá'ís in this volume, page 1.

For example, see Paul Streeten's paper "Global Institutions for an Interdependent World," World Development (Sept 1989). Also, see "Global Governance for Human Development," Occasional Paper No. 4, Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme, 1992.

For example, see the lead article "Get Ready for World Currency," The Economist (9 Jan 1988). See also contributions by Rupert Pennant-Rea (then Governor of Bank of England) and Fred Bergsten (Director of the Institute for International Economics) in "The Future Surveyed," The Economist (11 Sept 1993). Both authors believe in the inevitability of a world currency and in the idea that global co-operative economic management will become the norm in the next century.

Janet Momsen, Women and Development in the Third World (London: Routledge, 1991) 1-2.

Amartya Sen, "Women's Survival as a Development Problem," Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 43 (1989): 14-29. Also see A. Sen, "Missing Women," British Medical Journal 304 (1992): 587-8.

For instance, 'Abdu'l Bahá underlines the equity argument when he states that "men and women are equal in the sight of God and that there is no distinction to be made between them" (Promulgation of Universal Peace 174). The instrumental benefits of female education are also elaborated in many Bahá'í writings. For example, there is a strong focus on the beneficial effects of mother's education for the quality of her children.

The new or 'endogenous' growth theories initially set forth by P.M. Romer, "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy 94 (1986): 1002-37; and R.E. Lucas, "On the Mechanics of Economic Development," Journal of Monetary Economics 22 (1988). See also the subsequent vast literature sparked by these major contributions to economic growth theory. For example, see the Economic Journal (June 1996) for a collection of relevant papers.

See review of studies in T.P. Schultz, "Returns to women's education," chapter 2 in E. King and M. Hill (eds.), Women's education in developing countries (Washington D.C.: Johns Hopkins Press for the World Bank, 1993).

The total fertility rate (TFR) is simply the number of children ever born to a woman. In aggregated national data, the TFR of a country is the average number of children born per adult woman in the country. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of children - per thousand born alive - that die before reaching the age of one.

See J. Strauss and D. Thomas, "Human Resources: Empirical modelling of household and family decisions," in J. Behrman and T.N. Srinivasan (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, Vol III, 1995.

K. Subbarao and L. Raney, "Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study," Economic Development and Cultural Change 44.1 (October 1995): 105-128.

M. Murthi, A. Guio, and J. Drèze, "Mortality, fertility, and gender bias in India," in J. Drèze and A.Sen (eds.), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997).

M. Ainsworth, K. Beegle, and A. Nyamete, "The Impact of Women's Schooling on Fertility and Contraceptive Use: A Study of Fourteen Sub-Saharan African Countries," World Bank Economic Review 10.1 (January 1996): 85-122.

For a recent example of such a study, see Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, "Does the Labour Market Explain Lower Female Schooling in India?" Development Economics Research Programme, STICERD Discussion Paper No. 1 (New Series), London School of Economics, January 1997.

For example, see John Hoddinott and Lawrence Haddad, "Does Female Income Share Influence Household Expenditures?" Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 57.1 (1995): 77-96. This study finds that, in Cote D'Ivoire, raising wives' share of cash income increases the budget share of food and children's and adults' clothing, and reduces the budget share of alcohol and cigarettes.

See previous footnote.

For example, see Simon Appleton, "How Does Female Education Affect Fertility? A Structural Model for Cote D'Ivoire," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 58.1 (February 1996): 139-66. It may be thought that education of females would cause them to recognise the advantages of choosing breast rather than bottle-feeding, or to increase the duration of breast-feeding, thereby suppressing fertility during the period of breast-feeding. However, Appleton (op. cit.) found that, in Cote d'Ivoire, educated women chose shorter duration of breast-feeding, leading to increased fertility.

N. Birdsall, D. Ross and R. Sabot, "Underinvestment in Education: How Much Growth Has Pakistan Forgone?" Pakistan Development Review 32.4 (Winter 1993): 453-92.

Fred Halliday, "The New World and its Discontents," Discussion Paper No. 4, Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics, 1993.

For example, Lawrence Summers, Chief Economist at the World Bank, states "educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world" (see "The Most Influential Investment," Scientific American [August 1992] 108). Similar statements appear in many World Bank documents.

Islamic education and Modern education

2012-05-02T04:05:00.000-07:00

Education means to know about something. Then why there is placed a difference in Islamic Education and Modern education. Education is education, whether that is science or fiqa. Both are going to one destination i-e Almighty Allah. Then why these people are putting parents and our youth in confusion that some are selling oxford/Cambridge education, some are sitting in madras and some are trying to mix them.

Education is Education. The modern science is being defined as "system of knowledge gained by systematic research and organized into general laws".

The Humans are asked, on various occasions in the Quran, to research, to make some thorough investigations about the universe and to find the hidden truth in the things around us. So, whether it is science, history, math or any other subject all is knowledge, all is education The ALLAH ALMIGHTY has invited us to look around and observe the things in order to solidify our belief in HIM. We believe in ALLAH but it will solidify our belief in HIM even more.

Then why is this difference? There is no difference as we are welcomed to observe, to feel and to understand the things to come closer to our CREATOR. It means that we are entitled to learn science as science is the systematic way to observing a fact or finding a fact for which we are asked to.

Now from where does this concept of "Islamic Education" and "Modern Education" come? In fact we put ourselves in confusion to some part of Islam and preaching only that part is given the name "Islamic Education". Will anybody let me know what Islam really is? Islam is the complete code of life which covers all the knowledge exists on this face of Earth.

Now-a-days whenever we discuss the politics we keep Islam aside. Is it right? Of course not! The Quran says:

Mafhoom: Indeed The Messenger of ALLAH is the best example for you.

And we find The Messenger of ALLAH, Hazrath MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H) making the policies in the state of MADINA. Now what is this? Does it not prove that politics is a part of Islam?

The economic policies of Hazrath Umer Farooq (The second Caliph) amazed the European economists. Is it not Islam?

In gazwa-e-Badr some of the enemies were captured and those, who were educated among them, were asked to teach the Muslims. Can anybody tell me what they taught to the Muslims, Islamic Virtues? What do you think?

May ALLAH guide us towards the right way and help us in our life

The value Of bOoks

2012-05-02T03:57:00.002-07:00

Books...!! Hmm sounds very boring topic? Hahn...!! But wait for a minute, do you know? Wise people say: Books are your friends.
If books are boring then how come they are your friend? Because friends never let you get bored or let you be alone.
There are many types of books like story books, school books, informative books, historical books, comic books, novels and so on.
Now just look up on the books list I have just mentioned and think that they are your friends. Now you are going to ask a question: How??
Oh! Wait I am explaining...
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other various material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A book produced in electronic format is known as an electronic book (e-book).
Books may also refer to works of literature, or a main division of such a work. In library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such as magazines, journals or newspapers. The body of all written works including books is literature. In novels and sometimes other types of books (for example, biographies), a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, and so on.). A lover of books is usually referred to as a bibliophile, a bibliophilist, or a philobiblist, or, more informally, a bookworm.
Look may be you got many friends some are talkative, some are funny, some got so much knowledge about things. So they all different, but they are your friends. Am I right...??
Hmm!! Now you are taking my point. Just like that books can be your friend too, because informative books provide you knowledge about things like encyclopedia.
Books got a magic world inside them.
"If you want the deep experience of a book, if you want to internalise it, to mix an author's ideas with your own and make it a more personal experience, you have to read it slowly," says Ottawa-based John Miedema, author of Slow Reading (2009).
I traveled the whole world by just reading many books of geografy. I know the past from history books. I can create my own fairy world by reading the fairy tales.
Books give you wisdom power of mind and knowledge. So make a habbit of reading books...

Education for Global Development

2012-03-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

Education is universally recognized as one of the most fundamental building blocks for human development and poverty reduction. When given the opportunity to achieve their own goals, people are empowered to contribute fully to the development of their communities, societies, and economies. Education remains one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and helps lay a foundation for sustained economic growth. For this reason, it is at the center of the World Bank’s mission.

Getting to Equal in Education

International Women’s Day is a good day to remind ourselves that gender equality is indeed smart economics. As the global economy continues to struggle to regain its footing after a severe economic slump, it is increasingly apparent that the power of women must be harnessed—and it must happen now.

Tags:

Lessons on School-Based Management from a Randomized

In my last blog I wrote about how empowering parents helps increase accountability in schools in rural Mexico. Although I said evidence was sparse, it is accumulating. In Africa, a number of rigorous impact evaluations are underway and starting to report findings.

Tags:

A ‘Skilled’ Approach to Development

These days, there is a lot of talk about skills and their importance for a country’s development. Not too long ago the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called skills and knowledge “the driving forces of economic growth and social development in any country.” Last week, President Obama in his State of the Union address mentioned, once again, the critical importance of upgrading workers skills as part of his call for ‘An America Built to Last’.

Tags:

Empowering Parents to Improve Schooling: Powerful Evidence from Rural Mexico

In a bid to provide quality education for all, several programs to increase accountability in schools have been piloted. So far the evidence is sparse. Recent evaluations suggest that even in rural settings, school autonomy and accountability can help improve learning outcomes. This is further supported by a series of evaluations of programs that attempt to alter the power balance between consumers (parents) and providers of schooling services. Recent studies show that autonomy and accountability can improve education outcomes.

Tags:

How can school compete with Social Media?

I just returned from the Education World Forum with its tied-in British Education Technology Trade (BETT) show. This is an annual, London-based conference focusing on the use of technology for education, bringing together 63 ministers of education from across the world, along with educators, politicians, researchers, and lots of executives from firms producing some of the most innovative products and solutions on the use of technology in schools and school systems.

Tags:

Haiti: Kids, Families Top Agenda Two Years After Earthquake

Two years after a massive earthquake, Haitian parents are finding relief in an education program that helps to cover the costs of school for their children.

Tags:

School Autonomy and Accountability Go Together

A recent OECD note on PISA results, School autonomy and accountability: Are they related to student performance?, suggests that greater school autonomy in decisions relating to curricula, assessments and resource allocation tend to be associated with better student performance, particularly when schools operate within a culture of accountability.

Tags:

When an exclamation point is warranted

At the High-Level Forum on aid effectiveness (known as HLF4) a few weeks ago in Busan, South Korea, I had the pleasure of participating in a panel on education and aid. Unlike the HLF4 plenaries, our session didn’t involve Hillary Clinton or Tony Blair or Ban Ki-Moon, nor did we help to hammer out the Busan outcome documents. But what we saw in our panel on aid for education, and in the one-day pre-conference that informed it, was very encouraging: it showed how Korea’s lessons about student learning are influencing international education policy.

The event had been given the title “Dream with Education!” by our hosts in the Korean government. The exclamation point may seem over-exuberant, but in the Korean context, it’s not. Korea’s universal high-quality basic education and high rates of participation in higher education have helped it achieve development that would have exceeded any dreams fifty years ago, when rapid growth started. Between 1960 and 2001, Korea’s economy grew at an average of more than 7% per year. Equally important, Korea has achieved rapid progress in many other areas of life, from technological to social to political. While the country’s success has brought new challenges, as a recent Economist article pointed out, its ascent to this point has been remarkable.

Tags:

Should developing countries shift from focusing on improving schools to improving parents?

I travel to many developing countries in the context of my work for The World Bank. I visit schools that receive financial support and technical assistance from the Bank to improve the learning experiences and outcomes of students. Each time, I ask teachers in these schools what they think would make the biggest difference in the learning outcomes of their students. The most common answer is “better parents.” I often wonder if this response is, in some conscious or unconscious way, an excuse to help teachers explain the poor outcomes of their students (especially those from the poorest households) and their low expectations of what their students can achieve. However, both common sense and solid research indicate that parents matter.

Tags:

Paying Teachers to Perform: The Impact of Bonus Pay in Pernambuco, Brazil

I recently spoke with Barbara Bruns, lead education economist to the LAC region, about an impact evaluation she is managing on teacher performance pay in Pernambuco, Brazil.

Across the world, teacher’s salaries are almost universally determined by educational background, training, or years of experience, rather than performance. Yet a growing body of research shows that these measures are poor proxies for a teacher’s actual effectiveness in the classroom. They show surprisingly little correlation with teachers’ ability to raise their students’ learning.

Tags:

This content is abstracted from the HIV/AIDS and Education topic page.

The positive impact of education reforms are greatly reduced by the presence of HIV/AIDS. This epidemic is damaging education systems by killing teachers, increasing rates of teacher absenteeism, and creating orphans and vulnerable children who are more likely to drop out of school or not attend school at all.

At the request of countries affected by HIV/AIDS, the UNAIDS Inter Agency Task Team (IATT) for Education was established as a mechanism for coordinating action on AIDS and education among the UNAIDS co-sponsors, bilateral donors and Civil Society. In 2002, the IATT established a Working Group, coordinated by the World Bank, with the specific operational aim of helping countries to “Accelerate the Education Sector Response to HIV/AIDS in Africa”.

The World Bank works with several developing countries to create stronger links between education and other sectors, especially health, to mainstream HIV and AIDS in new programs, and to make resources for HIV and AIDS available to the education sector. Since November 2002, education teams from 34 national governments and 49 state governments in Africa have sought the assistance of the Working Group to assist them in undertaking situation analyses and strengthening education sector strategies, policies and work plans. The work focuses on thematic areas including AIDS prevention, workplace policy and ensuring education access for orphans and vulnerable children.

Tags:

World’s First Education Laureate Announced!

Tags:

World Bank Managing Director Mahmoud Mohieldin writes about 'The Education Solution'

In a recent Op-Ed World Bank Managing Director, Mahmoud Mohieldin, writes about the importance of education and its impact on development.

“Households with more education cope better with economic shocks and extreme weather events. People with higher levels of education earn more, have more control over their fertility, and have healthier and better-educated children.” he says while referencing the World Bank’s new Education Strategy. “The new Strategy emphasizes the need to invest early, nurturing young children to ensure that they arrive at school healthy and ready to learn; to invest smartly, transforming schools with good teachers, good materials, and good management; and to invest for all, laying the foundation for just and equitable societies.”

Click here to read the full Op-Ed which appeared in Project Syndicate, Shangai Daily and The Straits Times.

Tags:

What We Can Learn from Innovative Schools that Cater to the Poor

Governments across both the developing and developed world are experimenting with private management of public schools to better serve the poorest, and most under-served students. But have recent innovations lived up to their promise of improved results?

The verdict from a recent review of America’s ‘charter schools’—the most rigorous analysis of privately-managed schools to date—suggests some cause for optimism, at least at the middle school level. What is more, recent studies show that successful ideas from the private sector can feed back into the public sector to improve education for all.

Tags:

Renewing urgency around Education for All?

As donors, developing country governments, civil society and private sector representatives gather in Copenhagen for the replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), I feel both a sense of pride and urgency.

Tags:

Indian Minister Unveils $35 Tablet at the World Bank

Last month the World Bank hosted Mr.Kapil Sibal, India’s Minister of Human Resources and Development. Sibal spoke to a packed audience about India’s contributions to the global knowledge economy and discussed some of his widely publicized education reforms and plans for the Indian education system. The highlight of the event was Sibal’s display of the $35 tablet PC which he hoped to launch soon as a technology aide to help bridge quality gaps in secondary education. The event was chaired by Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, Vice President of the Human Development Network, and moderated by Mr. Michal Rutkowski, Sector Director for Human Development in the South Asia Region.

Read the full blog post on the World Bank's "End Poverty in South Asia" blog.

Tags:

Stepping Up Skills for Better Jobs Begins with Strong Early Childhood Development

Creating jobs and increasing productivity are at the top of policymakers’ agenda across the world. We heard this message during the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings and during the UN General Assembly meetings in New York last month. We read about disaffected youth in rich and less rich countries who have university education but can’t find jobs. I’m not going to argue that education holds the key to these current issues. Undoubtedly, current high unemployment rates owe a lot to the ongoing global economic slump.

Nonetheless, the current economic crisis forces us to examine why too many workers are unprepared to meet the demands from the modern workplace, particularly in increasingly competitive economic environments. Evidence suggests that education systems in many countries are failing young people with respect to basic skills as well as high-level cognitive skills such as critical analysis, problem solving and communication.

Tags:

The Road to Academic Excellence: Lessons of Experience

When I published my first book on World Class Universities two years ago, I certainly did not anticipate the world-wide exposure it received. Now, I sometimes worry about having contributed to raising expectations about the importance of world-class universities.

When I visited Nigeria last year, I was told that the country wanted to have 20 World Class Universities by 2020. Recently, Sri Lanka announced that it would increase its higher education budget in the hope of having at least one world-class university. Today we launched The Road to Academic Excellence, a new book I edited with Professor Phil Altbach, and already, the burden of guilt regarding the possible consequences of the new book haunt me.

Tags:

Education for All: How We Can Leverage the Non-State Sector to Reach Our Goals

Many have argued this past week for an increased financial boost to achieve the education Millennium Development Goals -- universal primary completion and gender parity in education. But what should spending focus on, and how can we get the best from both public and private financing?

Not only are we missing the mark in terms of the MDGs for education – currently 69 million children of primary age are out of school, but this is only part of the story. Millions of children drop out early every year, and many of those who do graduate are still not mastering the basic skills in reading and math that are necessary to help them find gainful employment. As we scale up efforts, we must leverage the resources and participation of all, including private and non-state actors, to help reach these goals.

Tags:

ThinkEQUAL: What Would Educational Opportunity Mean for Women and Girls Around the World?

Although the gender gap in education has been decreasing over the past decade, many girls continue to lag behind their male counterparts in equal access to schooling and acquisition of basic skills such as literacy. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 17 million girls are still out of school; in South Asia, another 9.5 million are shut out.

What would equal educational opportunity mean for women and girls around the world?

Tags:

Getting to Equal: How Educating Every Girl Can Help Break the Cycle of Poverty

2012-03-17T07:28:00.003-07:00

Investing in girls is both smart economics and the right thing to do. Educating girls is one of the strongest ways not only to improve gender equality, but to promote economic growth and the healthy development of families, communities and nations. Despite tremendous progress in getting girls into school, the global community must commit to making sure education counts and that it reaches the most marginalized girls who need it the most. September 22, 2011 - Women and girls are in the spotlight this week as the World Bank launched its World Development Report 2012, “Gender Equality and Development,” and ignited a global conversation on how investing in girls is both the right thing to do and smart economics. Joined by the Nike Foundation, the Bank hosted its global Open Forum on Gender and the message was clear: the girl effect all starts with education. Investing in Education Improves Gender Equality “Investing in girls is smart,” says World Bank President, Robert Zoellick. “It is central to boosting development, breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, and allowing girls, and then women—50 percent of the world’s population—to lead better, fairer and more productive lives.” Educating women and girls is fundamental to development and growth because learning and skills enable all people to live healthier, happier, and more productive lives. Research shows that providing girls with an extra year of schooling can increase individual wages by up to 20 percent, while also lowering birth rates, which can have a profound economic impact. An increase of one standard deviation in student scores on international assessments of literacy and mathematics is associated with a 2 percent increase in annual GDP per capita growth. The benefits of education can also transmit across generations as more educated people have fewer children and provide their children with better health care and education. Curbing the intergenerational transmission of poverty is especially important for girls and women. The Bank plays a key role in advancing gender equality through girls’ education, building on an over 20 year foundation of research, funding, policy dialogue, and partnerships. The Bank’s commitment and actions are illustrated in a new Companion Note to the WDR, Getting to Equal: Promoting Gender Equality through Human Development. The Companion Note links the WDR 2012 framework (the interactions between households, markets, and institutions) and policy recommendations to the Education Strategy 2020, Learning for All, with examples of global success stories. Reaching the Most Disadvantaged Girls and Making Education Count A combination of effective policies and sustained national investments in education have resulted in tremendous gains in access to schooling. Yet WDR 2012 points toward three challenges for the future of girls’ education: improving learning outcomes, addressing the needs of severely disadvantaged populations, and reducing segregation in fields of study. Evidence shows that it is what students learn—not the number of years that they spend in school— that leads to growth, development, and poverty reduction. As the WDR 2012 notes, “Only 27 percent of children ages 10 and 11 in India can read a simple passage, do a simple division problem, tell the time, and handle money.” The WDR 2012 and the Education Strategy 2020 stress learning and addressing constraints faced by populations contending with multiple disadvantages: gender, poverty, rural/urban divides, ethno-linguistic background, and disability. When an education system fails to deliver learning, the failure is often severe for poor and disadvantaged children and young people. The Education Sector Strategy 2020 addresses the final education policy recommendation of the WDR 2012 in that it aims to improve the labor-market relevance of education by focusing more on the match between skills acquired and skills required. With women representing 40 percent of the global labor force and growing, any discussion of the linkages between education and the labor market must include how all people are given the opportunities to pursue the livelihood they desire. Moving the Pendulum Forward on Girls’ Education As one of the founding agencies of the Education for All (EFA) movement, the Bank, along with United Nations partner agencies, has worked to improve the quality of education and learning for all, especially girls. It also has served as both a convener and a bank of knowledge, helping re-energize the global debate on gender equality in education and accelerate the collective global response to the persistent challenges of women’s equality and empowerment. A growing number of Bank-supported impact evaluations of education projects, such as those in Cambodia, Colombia, Malawi, and Pakistan, are shedding new light on the gender impact of scholarships and other demand-side interventions, as well as on governance reforms that enhance school performance and accountability. In September 2010, the Bank pledged an additional $750 million through 2015 to help countries meet the education MDGs of universal access and gender parity. The Bank will continue to work through partnerships such as the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative and the Global Partnership for Education to advance gender equality in education. Education projects help promote Gender Equality Improving Services to reduce Gender Gaps in Human Capital Enrolling more girls in school in Yemen Yemen has made significant progress toward universal primary education over the past decade, including increasing girls’ enrollment from 49percent in 1999 to 78 percent in 2009. Despite this growth, many girls from rural areas remain out of school—and those who are enrolled tend tobe over-age, with most dropping out before completing the primary cycle. With financing from the Bank’s Fund for the Poorest and the InternationalDevelopment Association, the Basic Education Development Program aims to increase school enrollment in the country (with a particularfocus on gender equality in impoverished districts) and improve the quality of teaching. As of 2009, the project had built almost 4,000 classroomsand trained over 90,000 teachers. To close the gender gap in education, the project has provided conditional cash transfers to more than 30,000girls from the most underprivileged rural households, starting in 2008. It has also focused on recruiting and training female teachers to makegirls’ education more culturally acceptable. The gross primary school enrollment rate in the country rose from 68 percent to 87 percent over theperiod 1999–2009, with larger gains for girls than for boys. This improvement in overall basic education also contributed to a considerable rise inthe grade 6 completion rate for girls, from 38 percent in 2001 to 51 percent in 2009. Making Markets work for Gender Equality Improving education access and quality through private schools in Pakistan Pakistan faces significant challenges in public education: 30 percent of primary school-age children are still not inschool, the primary school gender parity index (GPI) is 0.8, and half of the country’s population is less than 17years old. At the cost of just a dime a day per student, the government is subsidizing private schools as a promisingsolution to these challenges. In Punjab, the largest province and home to 60 percent of the country’s total population,the Bank is helping expand access to quality education and promote better governance and accountability inthe education system. The Punjab Education Sector Project (PESP) is a performance-based project that supportsthe government’s reform program, which aims to increase school enrollment and completion rates, reduce genderand urban-rural disparities in school participation, and strengthen the measurement of student learning. Underthe government’s program, over 400,000 eligible girls receive targeted monthly stipends pegged to school attendancein the 16 lowest literacy districts. In addition, the government financially supports approximately 2,000 low-cost private schools that serve almost one millionstudents from lower-income quintiles. Another Bank-supported project promoting gender equality in education in Pakistan is the Sindh EducationSector Project (SEP), which supports a government reform program that directly affects the schooling conditionsof 3.8 million students. Since 2007 (the baseline for the project), the primary net enrollment rate has increasedfrom 50 to 54 percent, or an additional 600,000 children, and the ratio of female-male primary net enrollmentin rural areas rose from 61 to 76 percent. The government program also includes a public-private partnershipprogram that offers subsidies for individuals or organizations to set up and operate free, coeducational,primary schools in underserved rural communities, with subsidies tied to quality-related standards. Preliminaryresults from the first year showed large gains in getting children into school and even larger gains for girls, erasingthe pre-existing gender gap. The program counted among the cheapest interventions in developing countriesfor generating enrollment gains. Both the publicprivate partnership programs in Punjab and Sindh provinceshave also generated significant achievement gains in program schools; in the case of Sindh, achievementgains in the target communities have been as large as two standard deviations in a span of two academic years. Aprevious, similar pilot project in Balochistan province also resulted in substantial increases in school enrollment, with the gains for girls well exceeding those for boys. Breaking Normative Barriers to Gender Equality Creating more engineering educational opportunities for women in India Through the Second Technical/Engineering Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP), the Bank is working with the government of India to strengthen higher and technical education vital to addressing current skill shortages in the country’s economy. The project is improving the quality of engineering schools and thus helping expand the pool of highly qualified engineers, including by targeting women. Specific interventions include promoting the capacity building of technical education policy planners and administrators and strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to improve the governance of institutions. The project’s Equity Action Plan helps ensure that students and teachers from tribal communities and other vulnerable groups, including girls, benefit equally from the project. Despite rising female enrollment in engineering programs in India, increases are not occurring in all disciplines, and the “gender-friendliness” of many campuses needs to be improved. This means ensuring that all refurbishments financed by the project will follow infrastructure guidelines to improve the ability of campuses to serve both women and disabled students, as well as expanding access to training for female engineering faculty. Using Household Incentives to Achieve Gender Equality Keeping boys in school in the Caribbean Many poor households in both the Caribbean and Central America are unable to invest in secondary schooling for their children due to cash constraints and other factors, resulting in school dropouts. Particularly among boys, limited opportunity for gainful employment contributes to their engagement in crime and violence and an impoverished adulthood. Conditional cash transfers can be designed to address this problem by properly identifying the constraints to secondary schooling and responding with the right incentives to keep boys in school. In 2008, the Bank’s Jamaica Social Protection Project was set up to improve the design of the government’s PATH program, which aims to offset the higher opportunity cost of boys staying in school. The PATH program provides greater benefits to boys than girls for school attendance, which rise incrementally for every additional year of secondary school completed, and a bonus for graduating from high school and moving on to tertiary education or training. Preliminary results and qualitative analysis indicate that the project has already helped increase the school attendance of secondary school-age boys and thus close the gender gap. Getting more girls into school in Cambodia Most Cambodian children attend school, but low completion rates remain an issue, especially in rural areas and among girls. Among rural girls, only 78 percent of 15-19 year-olds complete grade 1 and only 17 percent complete grade 7. In 2005, the Bank launched the Cambodia Education Sector Support Project (CESSP) to address constraints in supply, demand, quality and efficiency, with a special focus on poor and underserved communities. The project has promoted gender equality in a number of ways. First, the project encouraged girls’ school enrollment and attendance by expanding schools in poor areas to shorten travel distances and promote community oversight; improving school sanitation facilities, with separate facilities for girls; and providing a clean and safe physical environment. Second, the project is also using teacher training as an avenue to challenge gender stereotypes, leading to greater awareness-raising about the importance of equal access for boys and girls to education and other opportunities. Third, by expanding the government’s effort to provide scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a disproportionate number of scholarships targeted to girls. The project funded scholarships of $60 and $45 to students ready to make the transition from primary to secondary school, provided that students enrolled in school, maintained a passing grade, and were absent without “good reason” fewer than 10 days in a year. The program resulted in more than a 20 percentage point increase in enrollment and attendance in participating schools for both girls and boys 18 months after they first joined the program, and 4 years later were found to also have increased the transition rates to upper secondary school, especially among girls. Creating opportunities through early childhood development programs in Mozambique Regardless of income, women worldwide bear a disproportionate share of the responsibility for child care, which often limits their ability to pursueeducational or economic opportunities. Access to subsidized, quality child care is positively associated with increases in the number of hourswomen work, particularly in formal sector jobs, suggesting that better access to child care affords women greater flexibility and income-earningopportunities. In collaboration with the Government of Mozambique and Save the Children, the Bank conducted an impact evaluation of innovative,community-driven early childhood development (ECD) centers in the rural Gaza province, where 42 percent of children who do not receiveECD services are stunted and 50 percent are at risk in terms of cognitive functioning. These delays have significant implications for children’sreadiness to learn and, therefore, their future success. The ECD program enrolls poor and vulnerable children aged 3–5 in high-quality, low-costECD services that build the foundation for lifelong learning. The program promotes cognitive stimulation and language skills, as well as goodhealth, nutrition, and hygiene practices at home, which mostly benefit women. After 2 years, girls who participated in the programs were significantlymore likely to be enrolled in primary school at the right age than girls who did not participate. Participants also scored significantly betteron measures of cognitive, fine motor, and socioemotional development, and were better prepared to learn. The gender equality impacts extendeven further, as big brothers and sisters were more likely to be enrolled in school, and both fathers and mothers were more likely to be engagedin income-generating activities, presumably because the preschool program frees up several hours of each day previously spent in child rearing.

Girls' Education

2012-03-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Girls’ Education: A World Bank Priority [FACT SHEET]

The World Bank is committed to fighting poverty and helping developing countries invest in their education systems. In light of this, it has embraced the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals as its main priority and, particularly, “eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education.” The World Bank has recognized that there is no investment more effective for achieving development goals than educating girls.
The World Bank is a partner and one of many players in the international drive to improve gender equality and empower girls and women. World Bank activities focus on assisting countries’ own efforts to advance gender equality. Through its lending and non-lending activities, the Bank has helped to improve lives of girls in client countries. Since the World Conference on Education For All in Jomtien in 1990, the Bank’s emphasis in the area of girls’ education has increased and gender equality has been integrated as an important component of the Bank’s poverty reduction mission. The Education for All – Fast Track Initiative and the recent Education Sector Strategy Update have reinforced the World Bank’s commitment to the Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals.

How are girls doing?: Success and Challenges
Compared with two decades ago, more young people are entering school, completing the primary level, and pursuing secondary and tertiary education. In low-income countries alone, average enrollment rates in primary education have surged upwards of 80 percent, and primary completion rates are now above 60 percent. Remarkable accomplishments have been made towards achieving gender equality at all levels of education. Since 1990 the ratio of girls to boys enrolled in school has risen at all levels of education. The most significant increase in girls’ education enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia has been at the primary education level. In countries in East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the increase in girl’s education has been at the secondary education level while in countries in Europe and Central Asia, girls’ enrollment has risen most at the tertiary education level.

Although most developing countries have made considerable progress in reducing the gender gap in school enrollment, significant gender gaps remain. Estimates show that many countries will not meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Almost 30% of low- and middle-income countries are off-track or seriously off-track from meeting the education Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education. Additionally, more than 20% of low- and middle-income countries are off-track or seriously off-track from meeting the education Millennium Development Goal of empowering women and girls by achieving gender parity in education.

Why is girls' education important?

Why Girls’ Education? The inter-linkages between gender inequalities, economic growth and poverty are the main reasons why girls’ education is a smart investment For developing countries to reap these benefits fully, they need to unleash the potential of the human mind. Educating all their people, not just half of them, makes the most sense for future economic growth.

Systematic exclusion of women from access to schooling and the labor force translates into a less educated workforce, inefficient allocation of labor, lost productivity, and consequently diminished progress of economic development. Evidence across countries suggests that countries with better gender equality are more likely to have higher economic growth.

The benefits of women’s education go beyond higher productivity for 50 percent of the population. More educated women also tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children, all of which eventually improve the well-being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty. These benefits also transmit across generations, as well as to their communities at large..

What is the World Bank doing to support girls' education?

Over the past five years, more than half of World Bank education lending has promoted gender equality in education, including specific interventions targeting girls.

Looking at recent progress and challenges, why is it crucial to ensure that the 3.4 billion girls and women on the planet have the same chances to gain an education as boys and men? First, education is a human right that is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is also a strategic development investment.

The World Bank has embraced the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and, particularly, “eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education” because evidence across countries suggests that countries with better gender equality are more likely to have higher economic growth.

The World Bank is a partner and one of many players in the international drive to improve gender equality and empower girls and women and gender concerns are central to the new Education Strategy 2020, “Learning for All.” The World Bank recognizes that many of the benefits of schooling for girls, whether in terms of employability, income, health, or their own children’s development—depend on what they learn while in school and addressing the multiple sources of disadvantage that many girls face through a systemic, evidence-based approach.

Since the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien in 1990, the Bank’s emphasis in the area of girls’ education has increased and gender equality has been integrated as an important component of the Bank’s poverty reduction mission. The new Education Strategy 2020 and the forthcoming World Development Report, “Gender Equality and Development,” reinforce the World Bank’s ongoing commitment to gender equality.

Recent World Bank projects supporting girls’ participation in education have helped yield the following results:

Bangladesh: enrollment of girls in secondary schools has risen to over 6 million from 1.1 million in 1991
Burkina Faso: 55 percent female enrollment in the 20 most underprivileged provinces in 2006, compared to 36 percent in 2000
Cambodia: a scholarship for girls enrolling in secondary school raised transition rates from primary to secondary school by 30 percentage points
Pakistan: 400,000 girls received stipends to go to school in Punjab, Pakistan's largest province
Yemen: 30,000 girls attend school as a result of conditional cash transfer schemes introduced in 2008 and 2009

Who are we working with?
The World Bank works closely with other development organizations on Girls' Education issues. It has developed partnerships to help identify interventions that improve girls’ education outcomes and to provide resources necessary to support countries implementing such initiatives. The World Bank is an active member of the global partnership for girls’ education and the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), which comprise of the following donors:

UNICEF,
UNESCO,
Department for International Development (DFID),
SIDA,
NORAD,
DANIDA,
Global Campaign for Education

and others.

Education and Fragility

2012-03-17T07:25:00.002-07:00

www.worldbank.org/education/fragility

	OVERVIEW		HIGHLIGHTS
	What is it and why is it important? Where we work? Key partnerships Issues \| Publications \| Projects \| Links		Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Event: Improving Teacher Management Systems in Challenging Situations February 2010.

The World Bank recognizes that state fragility and conflict pose significant challenge to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In an effort to address the unique needs of conflict-affected fragile states, the World Bank has formally identified fragile and post-conflict states as one of the institution's six key corporate “strategic themes”.
Consequently, the work will focus on identifying and institutionalizing technical approaches to the education sector that simultaneously contribute to the provision of quality education in fragile in environments, and strengthen a state’s resilience to prevent further political and economic deterioration.
What is it and why is it important?
Education in fragile environments confronts almost all of the same development challenges that affect education in non-fragile contexts. For this reason there are many lessons to be learned from experience in contexts that are not classified fragile. However, the mix and urgency of the challenges that face fragile states are usually different, which is why fragile states warrant a significantly more intense approach. For example, frequently there is an additional legacy of conflict, including massive schooling and infrastructure backlogs, additional constituencies that require urgent attention (e.g. child soldiers, refugees/returnees, demobilized or alienated youth) and additional demands on the education system issues (e.g. peace-building, vocational training, psychosocial support). Fragile situations often call for different modes of interaction with education authorities, which may be conflicted, fragmented, de facto, or illegitimate, and interaction with different international partners, including peace-keeping, humanitarian and diplomatic partners.
Where we work?
The World Bank will focus its work on fragile situations that meet criteria agreed between the World Bank and other multilateral development banks.
These criteria include evidence of low institutional capacity, and presence of peace-keeping or political missions. Thus low income countries with a Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) score of 3.2 or lower (formerly known as LICUS countries) automatically qualify, to which are added IDA-eligible countries without CPIA scores, and two territories without internationally recognized sovereign status. In addition, this definition adds countries (or “situations” within countries) with peace-keeping or political missions. The number of countries that meet one or both of these criteria changes from year to year.
Moreover, the World Bank will also address situations that exhibit symptoms of fragility in countries that do not meet these criteria.
Key Partnerships
The Fragile States work program has, and continues to support the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) to promote greater access to education in fragile and conflict-affected states. Members of the team have played an active role in the development of the progressive framework and interim financing initiative to channel resources more effectively to assist countries meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the EFA goal that all children complete a full cycle of primary education by 2015.When possible, field work of the work program will be designed in collaboration with FTI to promote greater synergy between the World Bank and FTI and avoid duplication of efforts.
The World Bank has been a partner of The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) since its inception in 2000, and is an active member of the INEE Steering Committee. The Bank currently chairs the INEE Working Group on Education and Fragility, which is working with members to design policies and development intervention strategies concerning education in fragility. The Working Group’s goals include the following:

Strengthen consensus on what works to mitigate state fragility through education while ensuring equitable access for all.
Support the development of effective quality education programs in fragile states.
Promote the development of alternative mechanisms to support education in fragile states in the transition from humanitarian to development assistance.

For more information regarding the Working Group please visit http://www.ineesite.org/page.asp?pid=1424.

Global Partnership for Education

2012-03-17T07:06:00.002-07:00

Global Partnership for Education and the World Bank


Overview How Global Partnership for Education Works The World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education The Education for All – Fast Track Initiative is now the Global Partnership for Education The Education for All – Fast Track Initiative officially became the Global Partnership for Education with an announcement and unveiling at the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2011. This change builds on the initiative’s successes over the last 10 years and is part of a redoubled commitment to making sure all children in low-income countries have access to quality education and opportunities to learn. Read more about the new name change here. Overview In 2002, the World Bank together with development partners launched the Global Partnership for Education to help low-income countries meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the EFA goal that all children complete a full cycle of primary education by 2015. The Global Partnership for Education is a platform for collaboration at the global and country levels. Through the Global Partnership for Education compact, developing countries commit to design and implement sound education plans while donor partners commit to align and harmonize additional support around these plans. Funding is channeled through existing bilateral and multilateral channels and also through the Global Partnership for Education Catalytic Fund, which supports countries with insufficient resources to implement their sector plans. The Global Partnership for Education ranks among the largest global partnerships in which the Bank is a player. How Global Partnership for Education works The Global Partnership for Education is built on the principles of country ownership and local-level empowerment, as well as mutual accountability and donor harmonization rooted in the Monterrey Consensus and Paris Declaration principles. Its vision encompasses: country preparation of a sound education sector plan addressing policy, capacity, data, and funding gaps as well as a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); endorsement of the plan by the country’s Local Donor Group, to signal to bilateral and multilateral financiers that the plan is investment-ready; alignment and harmonization of donor support around this country-owned, investment-ready plan. The World Bank and the Global Partnership for EducationThe World Bank has a significant role and stake in the partnership: it launched the partnership, in collaboration with other donors; it hosts the Global Partnership for Education Secretariat; and it serves as Trustee for Global Partnership for Education trust funds including the new Global Partnership for Education Fund. The World Bank is also Supervising Entity for most allocations provided to Global Partnership for Education countries. Collaborating with developing country and donor country partners at the country level as well as at the global level to realize the promise of Global Partnership for Education is a high priority for the Bank. The Global Partnership for Education: supports the Bank's overall objectives for education, which is a vital contributor to economic and human development and poverty reduction helps countries address the large gaps they face in meeting education MDG 2, in areas of policy, capacity, data, finance helps countries accelerate progress, which requires more effective aid, and more external funding assures improved efficiency and lower transaction costs for donor assistance because donors come together around a single country plan rather than engage in fragmented efforts; this is especially important in the context of substantial donor interest in primary education helps to extend the Bank's reach and leverage in support of education through the partnership recognizes that progress must be country-driven; more money at the global level alone is not enough The Bank's involvement is essential because the Bank: has historically been the largest external financier in education and has a strong presence in most low-income countries’ education sectors brings unique strengths to the table that can benefit recipient countries and strengthen the effectiveness of aid can use its convening power to help take forward the Paris Declaration agenda of donor harmonization and alignment around each country’s own education sector plan (ESP) For more information visit Global Partnership for Education website.

Education For All (EFA)

2012-03-17T07:04:00.002-07:00

What is Education for All (EFA)?Education for All (EFA) is an international initiative first launched in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990 to bring the benefits of education to “every citizen in every society.” In order to realize this aim, a broad coalition of national governments, civil society groups, and development agencies such as UNESCO and the World Bank committed to achieving six specific education goals:

Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free, and compulsory primary education of good quality.
Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
Achieve a 50 % improvement in adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure the excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

After a decade of slow progress, the international community reaffirmed its commitment to EFA in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000 and again in September of that year. At the latter meeting, 189 countries and their partners adopted the two EFA goals that are also Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although MDGs 2 and 3 refer only to issues of universal primary education and gender parity, respectively, the World Bank recognizes that achieving these goals requires supporting the full EFA commitment.

Why is EFA important?
Achieving the Education for All goals is critical for attaining all 8 MDGs—in part due to the direct impact of education on child and reproductive health, as well as the fact that EFA has created a body of experience in multi-partner collaboration toward the 2015 targets. Simultaneously, achieving the other MDGs, such as improved health, access to clean drinking water, decreased poverty, and environmental sustainability, are critical to achieving the education MDGs.

Although there has been steady progress towards achieving many EFA goals, challenges remain. Today, there are about 77 million children of school age, including 44 million girls, who are still not in school due to financial, social, or physical challenges, including high fertility rates, HIV/AIDS, and conflict.

Access to schooling in developing countries has improved since 1990—some 47 out of 163 countries have achieved universal primary education (MDG 2) and an additional 20 countries are estimated to be “on track” to achieve this goal by 2015. However, huge challenges remain in 44 countries, 23 of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa. These countries are unlikely to achieve universal primary education by 2015 unless domestic and international efforts are accelerated substantially.

Although the gender gap in education (MDG 3) is narrowing, girls are still at a disadvantage when it comes to access and completion of both primary and secondary school. Despite recent gains in girls’ enrollment at both the primary and secondary levels—particularly in low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—24 countries are unlikely to achieve gender parity at either the primary or at secondary level by 2105. The majority of these countries (13) are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Poor learning outcomes and low-quality education also remain overriding concerns in the education sector. For example, in many developing countries, less than 60 percent of primary school pupils who enroll in first grade reach the last grade of schooling. Additionally, pupil/teacher ratios in many countries exceed 40:1 and many primary teachers lack adequate qualifications.

What is the World Bank doing to achieve EFA?

The World Bank supports the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI) as the primary vehicle for accelerating progress toward quality, universal primary education, and other EFA goals. The Bank supports EFA through specific operations in almost 90 countries worldwide through multidimensional efforts to:

improve primary school access and equity, as well as educational quality and learning outcomes
improve the dropout and retention rates of girls, as well as their learning outcomes
help education systems cope with HIV/AIDS
pomote early childhood development
potect EFA prospects in fragile states

The Bank has also established a Children and Youth unit to strengthen support for nonformal education, which helps young people develop the necessary skills to improve their opportunities and transition to the labor market.

Policy work is a key component of the Bank’s work to realize EFA. This work involves analysis of individual countries’ education systems and enhancing the capacity of ministries of education to develop and implement policies and programs, as well as to generate reliable data with which to monitor and evaluate educational performance.

Work with individual countries on EFA goals requires a mutual accountability between developing countries and donors. On one hand, developing countries need to develop sound education sector programs through-broad based consultation, lead the development and implementation of a national education program, coordinate donor support, and demonstrate results on key performance indicators. On the other hand, donors need to help mobilize the additional resources needed to achieve EFA goals, work to make donor education funding more predictable, align donor work with country development priorities, and coordinate donor support around one education plan (including the harmonization of donor procedures as much as possible).

Finally, the World Bank also supports EFA efforts through analytic work and the sharing of global knowledge and good practice. The Bank’s analytic work has, for example, helped establish benchmarks for quality, efficiency, and resource mobilization in the education sector. test

Topics

Resources

Education for All: UNESCO site
EFA Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO
Girls’ Education in the 21st Century. 2008
World Bank Progress Report on EFA FTI. 2006.
Achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015 (pdf, 2.1MB)
Inclusive Education: Achieving EFA/Disabilities and Special Education(pdf, 413KB)
Implementation of Free Basic Education Policy(pdf, 6.4MB)
User Fees in Primary Education(pdf, 661KB)
The Costs of Missing the Gender Equality MDG(pdf, 550KB)
EFA Education Notes Series

ICT and Education

2012-03-17T07:03:00.001-07:00

HIGHLIGHTS

NEWS (from EduTech Blog)

An update on the use of e-readers in Africa
March 16, 2012 10:06:17 am
What Sesame Street Can Teach the World Bank
March 09, 2012 06:18:36 pm
Educational technology and innovation at the edges
February 28, 2012 07:10:20 pm
Assessing education with computers in Georgia

February 07, 2012 09:56:45 am

Mobile learning in developing countries in 2012: What's Happening?
January 31, 2012 07:46:30 pm
Key partnerships

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Survey of ICT for Education in India and South Asia 2010
ICTs & Education: Issues and Opportunities (draft) 2010
Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean 2009

View all publications

Unleashing the Potential of the Human Mind with Learning:

2012-03-17T06:58:00.003-07:00

World Bank launches new education strategy for the next decade, with a focus on preparing youth for the jobs market.
Economic growth, reduced poverty depend on the knowledge and skills that people gain, not the years spent in a classroom, says strategy.
New middle-income countries are anxious to boost their economic competitiveness by training more skilled, adaptable workforces.

April 12, 2011 – With a record 210 million people out-of-work worldwide and employers reporting too few workers to hire with the right skills, the World Bank Group today appealed to governments, donors, community leaders, and employers to focus more on education that prepares young people for the jobs market with the right skills rather than emphasizes the number of years they spend in school.

Launching its education strategy for the next decade, the Bank Group said that better learning for all students worldwide is vital because economic growth, better development, and significantly less poverty depend on the knowledge and skills that people gain, not the years spent in a classroom. According to the strategy, “While a diploma may open doors to employment, it is a worker‘s skills that determine his or her productivity and ability to adapt to new technologies and opportunities. Knowledge and skills also contribute to an individual’s ability to have a healthy, fulfilling life, an educated family, and be involved in their community as citizens and voters.”

The Bank’s new Education Strategy for 2020 will chart the Bank’s education course for the next ten years during an especially turbulent period worldwide.

“The bottom line of the Bank’s new education vision for 2020 is: invest early, invest smartly, and invest for all,” says Elizabeth King, the World Bank’s Education Director and lead author of the new strategy. “In today’s competitive global economy, getting maximum value for each education dollar demands smart investments that are proven to contribute to learning. Learning quality needs to be front and center of these education investments, and ‘Learning for All,’ the title of our new strategy, means ensuring that all students, not just the most privileged or clever, gain the knowledge and skills that they need to get jobs and succeed in life.”

Although millions more children are now in school than were ten years ago, with conditions in the world changing rapidly—from a record surge of young people at the secondary and tertiary levels in the Middle East and many emerging economies, to the rise of new middle-income countries anxious to boost their economic competitiveness by training more skilled, adaptable workforces—developing countries must transform these gains in schooling into improved learning outcomes.

The number of out-of-school children of primary school age fell from 106 million in 1999 to 68 million in 2008. Even in the poorest countries, average primary school enrollment rates surged above 80 percent and completion rates above 60 percent.

A successful driver of development is what people learn, both in and out of school, from their very first years of life all the way through school, into the jobs market, and throughout their working lives, says Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group.

"For developing countries to fully reap the benefits of education—both by learning from ideas and through innovation—they need to unleash the potential of the human mind. And there is no better tool for doing so than education,” says Zoellick.

The new strategy calls for stronger systems to improve the quality and reach of education, including prioritizing and financing reform of countries’ education systems as a whole to improve the quality of student learning, matching new education financing with results, and building an evidence base of what works and what doesn’t in education reform.

Education and finance ministers worldwide have endorsed the strategy, including U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who shares a similar education vision, and Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, Nigeria’s Minister of Education.

“I strongly endorse the key messages of the World Bank’s new education strategy,” says Rufai. “ For my country, Nigeria, ‘Learning for All’ is our goal—to ensure that all our children, girls and boys, poor and well-to-do, north and south, can go to a good school and can learn what they need to have successful and happy lives.”

Press Release

New Job Skills, Better Learning Vital for Students to Succeed

Documents

World Bank Group Education Strategy 2020

Websites

Video

Video: Learning for All

Blogs

Issue Brief

Education Brief

Results

WBG Education Results

World Bank Education Strategy 2020

2012-03-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

The World Bank’s new Education Strategy lays out a ten-year agenda focused on the crucial goal of “learning for all”. The bottom line: Invest early, invest smartly, and invest for all. The strategy draws on consultations with governments, development partners, students, teachers, researchers, civil society, and business representatives from more than 100 countries.

DOWNLOAD: Education Strategy 2020
Executive Summary
العربية | 中文 | English | Français | Português | Русский | Español
World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick Launches Education Strategy

Education

Higher Education and its Benefits

Special Education for Special Children

Student's Stressful Situations

Educated And Uneducated People's

Education Portal

101 Excellent Educational Quotes

Online Education Vs Classroom Education

Importance Of Education

Early Childhood Education

Importance Of Education

What is the Relation Between Religion and Education?

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN ISLAM

MANIFESTATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION: MALAWI. ZAMBIA AND ZIMBABWE.

Education of women and socio-economic development

Islamic education and Modern education

The value Of bOoks

Education for Global Development

Statistics

Featured bloggers

Guest Bloggers

Tag Cloud

Archive

Getting to Equal: How Educating Every Girl Can Help Break the Cycle of Poverty

Girls' Education

Education and Fragility

Global Partnership for Education

Global Partnership for Education and the World Bank

Education For All (EFA)

Topics

Resources

ICT and Education

Unleashing the Potential of the Human Mind with Learning:

World Bank Education Strategy 2020