Education systems in many of the world’s poorest countries are now experiencing the aftershock of the global economic downturn.

The 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, released on 19 January, argues that the crisis could create a lost generation of children whose life chances will have been irreparably damaged by a failure to protect their right to education.

Mobile School for Sundel selling Children at Marina Beach by Chennai Corporation scheme Education for all Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) Photo S. Thanthoni

The Hindu: India still has the largest number of illiterate adults in the world, but has made “rapid advances” in cutting down the numbers of school drop outs, a new UN report on education has said.

The Education For All-Global Monitoring Report, released here on Wednesday finds that out of the total 759 million illiterate adults in the world, India still has the highest number.

“Over half of the illiterate adults live in just four countries: Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan,” the report said, adding the progress has been “painfully slow” and threatens to obstruct the Millennium Development Goals.

It said about 72 million primary school age children and another 71 million adolescents are not at school, and on current trends, 56 million primary school age children will still be out of school in 2015, it said.

UNESCO’s top official Irina Bokova said the world body was apprehensive that the financial crisis would cause governments to scale back funding on education.

“With the world’s largest illiterate population, India has been making progress,” the report said.

While in 1985 -1994 just about half of the adults in the country were literate, now the number has gone up to two-thirds. “Since the adult population increased by 45 per cent, this marks a real advance,” it said.

Gender disparities remain deeply engrained, with 28 nations across the developing world having nine or fewer girls in school for every 10 boys.

The report said two-thirds of the total illiterate people are women.
On a positive note, it says that out-of-school numbers have fallen “driven by rapid advances in India”. In the three years to 2007, out-of-school population fell by 8 million.

“Much of the decline took place in India, which reported a fall of almost 15 million in out-of-school numbers in the two years after the 2001 launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (universal primary education) programme,” the report said.

It finds that with the exception of China, progress towards halving illiteracy has been “painfully slow,” which will make meeting MDG targets difficult.

“On current trends, the world will be less than halfway towards this goal by 2015. India alone will have a shortfall of some 81 million literate people,” it said.

Ms. Bokova, Executive Director of the UN body for education, warned that the present financial crisis would cause parents and governments to scale back on educating their children.

The Education For All Monitoring Global Report comes out in the backdrop of a financial crisis that is driving millions into extreme poverty. “In short it would create a lost generation… a tremendous cost to society,” she added.

“It could force governments to cut their spending on education and parents to pull their children out of school or simply not to send them,” Ms. Bokova said, at the launch of the report here at the UN headquarters.

The report also finds that low-income countries provide poor quality education and caste system obstructs education in South Asia.

Article from The Hindu | Link

Mr. Prasad was born into the Pasi community, once considered untouchable on the ancient Hindu caste order. Today, a chain-smoking, irrepressible didact, he is the rare outcaste columnist in the English language press and a professional provocateur. His latest crusade is to argue that India’s economic liberalization is about to do the unthinkable: destroy the caste system. The last 17 years of new capitalism have already allowed his people, or Dalits, as they call themselves, to “escape hunger and humiliation,” he says, if not residual prejudice.

At a time of tremendous upheaval in India, Mr. Prasad is a lightning rod for one of the country’s most wrenching debates: Has India’s embrace of economic reforms really uplifted those who were consigned for centuries to the bottom of the social ladder? Mr. Prasad, who guesses himself to be in his late 40s because his birthday was never recorded, is an anomaly, often the lone Dalit in Delhi gatherings of high-born intelligentsia.

He has the zeal of an ideological convert: he used to be a Maoist revolutionary who, by his own admission, dressed badly, carried a pistol and recruited his people to kill their upper-caste landlords. He claims to have failed in that mission.

Read the Full Story | NY-Times

As the expenditure by States declines, it affects the target to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) which has been abysmal in the country. The expenditure on education currently remains at 3.54 per cent of GDP against the target to increase it to s ix per cent, Higher Education Secretary, Mr R P Agrawal said at a conference of State ministers here.

“We find the States’ contribution to education sector has been dwindling. Unless they increase their share, we cannot achieve the target of six per cent GDP expenditure on education. This may affect quality and our target to increase the GER, that shows the percentage of youths in the age group of 18 to 24 years enrolled in higher education,” he said.

The secretary said in the 3.54 per cent of GDP being spent on education, the Centre’s contribution is about 0.79 per cent while the states put 2.75 per cent. However, the share of the states was over four per cent in 1999.

The States’ share started declining from 2001 onwards. States such as Maharshtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Bihar spend less than two per cent of their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), he said.

“The Centre has made significant increase in the spending on education in the 11th plan. The States have to at least increase their spending by three times,” Mr Agrawal said.

The HRD Minister Mr Arjun Singh also asked the States to cooperate the Union government in achieving the targets in education. – PTI

Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications | Link

The children who are in age group of 6-14 years must not roam on roads and streets but they must be seen in the school premises. A school going child should not work as porter on railway stations, as domestic servants in houses, as servants in hotels and shops, the girl child should not remain in houses to look after the siblings, helping parents in house chores and lending help in agriculture fields. In fact, a school going age child should remain in the school with cheerful mind and should study and play.

The children of disadvantaged groups and disabled children must be given special care in sending them to schools. Various studies have revealed that poverty can be reduced by sending the children to schools instead of sending them to work on wages. If a child is in the school then certainly, adults of his/her family will get work from where the child used to work. Thus adults will get employment and comparatively more wages than the children. It is also found that when the child of family goes for work then, adults of that family generally sit idle and the wages earned by the children are ill spent by their family. The employers prefer to engage children on work rather than adults so that they have to pay less wages to children. In this way, the children are exploited by the employers.

So, it becomes the duty of parents, teachers, educational administrators and society at large that school going age child should not remain at work site or out of school for any other reason but in neat and clean atmosphere of the schools. The Child herself/himself cannot ensure this environment. It needs to be watched by parents, teachers, community and educational administrators that child should not leave the school in between due to any reason. The child once admitted in school should remain, there till he/she completes the schooling. Thereafter, quality education becomes right of the child. To ensure this, every stakeholder should participate in the mission as detailed below :

Teacher should ensure enrolment and retention of the child in the school through quality education and enriched environment.

Community /Parents should cooperate at each stage in learning processes of the child.

Educational Administrators should develop, design and ensure implementation of the strategies specifically: teacher availability, teacher competence and teacher motivation shall be ensured so that they impart quality education to children.

Meanwhile, the absolute number of illiterate people in the population is steadily rising year after year. At about 50 crore (500 million), the number of illiterates in today’s India is larger than the total population of the country 30 years ago.

Even in the younger age groups, illiteracy remains endemic. About half of all adolescent girls, for instance, are unable to read and write.

The low priority given to education by this nation is apparent from the mean years of schooling, the average period spent in school by a citizen. Indians spend a little over two years in the classroom. The Chinese spend five, the Sri Lankans over seven and the South Koreans nine.

That so many children are out of school is a profound tragedy. Education is a basic tool for self-defence in modern society. The feeling of powerlessness that goes with being illiterate comes through loud and clear in any conversation with ordinary people. As Shankar Lal of Gadaula village in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, put it, “Anpadh aadmee jeevanbhar kasht mein rahta hai (An illiterate person is handicapped all his life).”

Lal was one among 1,221 Indian parents who were interviewed in a recent survey planned by a group of researchers based at the Delhi School of Economics and the Indian Social Institute. The survey covered all the schooling facilities in a randomly selected sample of 188 villages in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The survey’s findings will be released soon as part of the Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE).

The probe findings provide a startling picture of the schooling situation in India’s villages. To begin with, they shatter two myths that are often invoked to “explain” the slow progress of elementary education: one, a supposed lack of parental motivation; two, that work keeps children from going to school. The survey gives an eye-opening account of the appalling condition of elementary education in rural India — and of the government’s apathy. It makes it clear that the battle against ignorance is a grim one.

INDIA TODAY presents an exclusive preview of the PROBE findings. | Link

Concerts and Art Auction in New York City for India’s Neediest Children

In one of the poorest parts of India, there’s a school that provides an education, meals and perhaps the only encouragement 220 students have ever had. Along with coursework, the school provides medical care, clothing, and food—often the children’s only meal of the day. It’s a school that will make the difference between aspiring to be doctors, lawyers and statesmen, or starvation, prostitution and early death. It’s immensely important to the fragile welfare of local children, and is entirely dependent on charitable contributions to survive.

The first concert and silent art auction is on
Saturday June 7th
the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
58 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope
at 7:00 p.m.

The second concert and silent art auction is on
Friday June 13th
the Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street
at 7:00 p.m.

Performers include a mix of world, jazz, rock, and contemporary classical musicians, including such New York luminaries as Margaret Leng Tan, Hui Cox, Beth Levin, Stephanie Griffin, Christine Perea, Ana Milosavlevic, Ben Robison, Katie Down, Judy Tint, Bob Lampell, Masha Lankovsky, Uli Geissendoerfer, Ben Yarmolinsky, Ivan Rubenstein-Gillis, Brian Thompson, Julieanne Klein, Emily Howard, and others.

Artists include Joe Ciardiello, Bruce Waldman, Betsy & Ted Lewin, Michael Sloan, Rebecca Allen, Sara Varon, Jacqui Morgan, Frances Jetter, Joan Chiverton, Al Pels, Paul Jervis, Laura McCallum, Elizabeth Jordan, Margaret Noel, Jim Spanfeller and many more.

Tickets are $20. To reserve tickets, or if you’d like to donate art or perform,
email buddhabenefit@yahoo.com.

If you can’t attend, but want to make a tax-deductible donation, click here and specify that your donation is for Buddha’s Smile School. Every penny donated through Amistad goes to Buddha’s Smile School (with the exception of fees Amistad must pay for credit card donations, so please donate by check if possible).

Amistad International website | Link

Now I am grown up & still now I have a deep love for my aunty & I am proud of her and her family. Rajan, Sukhdev, 11yrs Daisy & 5 yrs Rosy, filled with so much love. My father and mother have accepted their love marriage.

As my beloved aunt Rajan is now running a free school for the poor and needy children and I visited my aunt’s place to spend my vacations.

As, on 15th of August which is our Independence day, after the flag hosting ceremony, the students of Buddha’s Smile School delivered the speech and did some dance programme. Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that all sentient beings, particularly human beings, want happiness, love and care & do not want pain & suffering. On those grounds, we have every right to be happy & to use different methods or means to overcome suffering and to achieve happier lives. I exchanged my feelings with them and also shared their thoughts and soon realised how tough their life is; so pathetic; so miserable. Poverty is a curse. I felt that these students have the determination of a mirror which never loses it’s ability to reflect in spite of it being broken into pieces.

I was observing these students and their action; suddenly tears rolled down from my eyes and I felt that really these children need love, attention, education, care for making their future bright and colourful.

From the deep core of my heart; I am feeling proud of my Rajan aunty who is sincerely doing her job with full dedication. She is very kind hearted women, who is enlightening the minds of young children. She showers her motherly affection on these needy children. According to me , only eyes speak the truth, neither the mirror nor the lips.., the person who loves can see the pain in the eyes while everyone else still believes in only smile. I have noticed , immense love, care and respect towards me from these children.

As, I am a student belonging to a middle class family with lots of hopes & big dreams in my small socket of eyes. From my childhood, the thing which stood as a obstacle in my educational career is ‘money’. But fortunately, money never motivates me, the thing which motivates me is my grade in the class. I am really impressed by the way, the students of BSS, are learning. Upon asked by my, Rajan aunty, I have got the opportunity to teach these students and I felt myself very fortunate to share my knowledge with them.

These children are ignored and not cared at all in their home. Here, in U.P I saw that untouchables and caste system is still prevailing in the society. There is a great deal to teach these children as they do not get support and guidance from their parents. We must seek our happiness in the happiness of all & regard the sorrows & sufferings of others as yours and hasten to assuage them. This is a true life.

It’s very difficult to find someone like Rajan (my aunt). It’s like opening a 1,000 shells under the sea to find one pearl. Anybody can love a rosebud it takes a great deal to love a leaf! It’s very easy to love someone who is beautiful, but love the one who can make your life beautiful…I have spend my few vacations with BSS children and provided the vocational training to them. They all were excited and curious to learn and gain the knowledge. It’s true to say that when you start caring about yourself, you start loving somebody. But when you start caring about others, somebody will start loving you. It was my first experience though it was pleasant. From these experiences my life has been enriched and I have learned many valuable things.

Priya Saini, a student of microbiology; B.SC (Honours) studying at Calcutta university (Maulana azad college) – Govt. college of West Bengal.

Here is a excerpt:

Dream in Sarnath: Buddha’s Smile School

by Vanessa Turner

I have seen miracles in action here and hope our dreams will come true.

First, let me begin by saying that until I saw it with my own eyes, I had no conception of the intensity of the poverty, destitution, and sheer starvation that beset many of the local poor in the area of Ashapur, Sarnath, and the larger city of Varanasi. The suffering here is so prevalent it is almost nightmarish. I have seen far too many beggars’ children, age five and below, walking barefoot and nude under the scorching Indian sun, their bodies so emaciated and ruined by hunger and malnutrition that you can see the cracks in their bones and the outline of the skeleton frame against their dry and pallid skin. Many have swollen stomachs, a sign of severe malnutrition, and these sights have become so mundane and banal to the local affluent (upper caste) people of this area as to become inconsequential to those who are not affected by such poverty. The lack of attention and sheer humanity to this epidemic of childhood poverty and mortality among the shudra, or untouchable caste of Uttar Pradesh (the larger state within which Sarnath and Varanasi are couched) is truly astounding to me, for I cannot understand how any human being could bear to walk past a starving young child and not even feel a minor pang of sympathy and an almost innate impulse to pick them up and carry them to a restaurant and feed them for the mere forty rupees (one US dollar) it takes.

Now the situation of the shudra castes in this district is much more severe than many other areas in India. The caste system, though ostensibly outlawed by the Indian government years ago, is acceded to religiously by the locals of Uttar Pradeshian society, and their glaring lack of concern for the increasing number of starving, dying children in the poorer areas of Varanasi is simply tragic. I became involved in Buddha’s Smile School for Underprivileged Children after meeting Rajan only a month into my stay in Sarnath. I am here on a Fulbright scholarship, as encouraged by my teachers, including Alan Wallace and his inspirational wife and my Sanskrit teacher, Vesna. Meeting Raj and her family was like finding a diamond cluster of jewels amidst a narrow-minded society of self-involved people. I was immediately taken by her warmth and open- mindedness, her gentleness and her kindness to me. I was homesick and confused, and she and her family immediately accepted me as a part of their family and insisted I take my every meal with them and their family of husband, wife, and two very young adorable daughters, ages 7 and 2. Our karmic bond and the uncanny feeling of familiarity that we shared led me to believe that it was no accident that I had become so instantly close with this exceptional Indian family, the kind of people who always invited the Rickshaw walas and other beggars and poor locals to their home for chai and food, who would not kill even the smallest insect if it crawled on their floor.

Getting to know Raj even better, I soon became aware of her great mission and current project, a recently-started free school for underprivileged beggar children in the surrounding area that would provide a comprehensive education covering Nursery school to Grade Five, giving them hope and encouragement for a brighter future, opening their young minds and stimulating their innate creativity, teaching them to think critically and to always question everything, to learn the ways of the previous great thinkers of India’s past, such as Gandhi and Mother Theresa.

You can download and read the rest of the article here.

Sukhdev was a pure and honest man, but his family’s religious background differed slightly from Rajan’s, so both sets of parents ardently forbade the relationship. Nonetheless, Rajan chose her true love for Sukhdev over the economic and social pressures inflicted upon her by her family.

After completing her B.A. in Education and English from Calcutta University in 1993, she and Sukhdev married and moved to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Rajan immediately got a job teaching at a prestigious public school in Varanasi. But after her teaching day ended she would return to their small flat in Ashapur, the poorest and most troubled part of Varanasi. There Rajan would open up her front yard to the nearby beggars’ children, who were not attending school, and teach them reading, writing, and mathematics.

Thanks to donors like Amistad International, Rajan has been able to increase the size of her free school for underprivileged children. Two hundred children are now receiving their education in a warm, loving, and nurturing environment. Rajan is also able to provide snacks and occasional meals for the hungry children. Thanks to Amistad some of the students even have uniforms so that they do not have to attend school in rags and bare feet, giving them pride in themselves and their education.

The students’ parents are rickshaw drivers, sweepers, cow dung collectors, or weavers who are paid well below the minimum daily requirement to live and survive. Many children still beg at the brutal command of their desperate parents, who threaten to beat and even kill them if they do not return with money for dinner.

Many students have come to school with horror stories of dead relatives, brothers, sisters, mothers, who either fell sick from hunger and disease or simply died from cold in the winter or from heat in the sweltering summers. The poorest children have learned to catch rats and snakes and cook them in a fire without even spices or other flavouring, just so that they do not die of starvation.

Vanessa Turner