On a recent visit to a camp for
Syrian refugees in Turkey, I witnessed some of the most powerful displays of
human endurance that anyone can imagine. And yet, amid all the stories of
trauma and loss, what affected me the most was these refugee families’ unquenchable
thirst for education.
The children I spoke to told me of their continued desire to learn in the
camp’s makeshift schools, crammed into classes and taught in shifts running
from before dawn until after dark. Their parents spoke of the hope they place
in the transformative power of education.
Syria once boasted universal education. Now, with more than four million people
forced to flee their homes because of the violence wracking the country, it has
become one of the world’s many places suffering from what can only be described
as a global education crisis. There are an estimated 58 million
primary-school-aged children out of school worldwide, and those affected by
conflict and natural disasters are among the hardest to reach.
Worse, the number of child refugees cut off from school – in places like Nepal,
Myanmar, and Yemen – is increasing at an alarming rate. If the international
community does not act to nurture and educate these children, the cycle of
poverty and conflict will be reproduced for generations to come.
The fact that so many children are cut off from education constitutes a clear
failure on the part of the world’s governments, which promised in 2000, when
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted, to ensure primary
schooling for all children by 2015. To achieve this, it is not enough to enroll
children in school; they must be kept there and provided a quality
education. UNESCO estimates that at least 250 million of the world’s
children of primary-school age are unable to read, write, or do basic
arithmetic.
This week, the international community will have a chance to do something about
this scandalous state of affairs. Policymakers from around the world will meet
in South Korea at the World Education Forum to agree on the global
education targets that are set to replace the MDGs.
It is truly fitting that South Korea is hosting this forum, because it is so
often seen as a model of what investment in education can deliver. Some 8% of
South Korea’s GDP is spent on education, and UNESCO estimates that every dollar
invested in primary schools generates $10-$15 in economic returns. South Korea,
which has lifted itself up from the ranks of the world’s poorest countries to
among its richest in just two generations, is living proof that education pays
off.
The new Sustainable Development Goals that are to be agreed this year
underscore the challenges that world governments must address by 2030. I insist
that quality universal primary education must be one of the SDGs’ top
priorities. The emphasis here is on quality. Success is measured not only by
the number of children we enroll, nor by their achievements on standardized
tests; the most important outcomes are the tangible and intangible impacts of
education on the quality of students’ lives. This is the unfinished business of
the MDGs.
Wherever I travel with the Education Above All foundation, I encounter bright,
motivated children who have been denied the chance to learn. As the world moves
on to new priorities, we cannot forget our responsibility to those who have
been failed by our complacency. The job is not done. We must remain committed
to achieving the goal of quality primary education for all children – not some, and not
even most – wherever they live.
Writer: Moza Bint Nasser
Source: Project Syndicate
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