There are two topics that I believe are worthwhile to write about today. A recent study conducted by Save the Children found that over 43 million children in war torn regions around the world are being kept from going to school. The reasons that these children are being denied an education are not just due to lack of resources or their families need for the children to stay at home to work, as is a reality in many parts of the world. The main reasons that these children have little hope for a strong future is because bombs have crushed their schools, teachers have been killed, and the children are needed to help fight in the wars. I cannot help but think about the children in Lebanon and wonder if they have any school buildings left in which to return.
The Save The Children report was published as part of the organization’s five-year Rewrite the Future education initiative, which “Seeks to help millions of children in conflict-affected areas gain access to and reap the current and future benefits of a quality education.”
To help us understand the serious implications of this problem the study offers these grim statistics:
1. In 2003, more than half of armed conflicts had children under 15 as combatants.
2. More than 5 million primary-school-age children (6 – 11 years) are out of school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and more than 6 million 12- to 17-year-olds have never been to school.
3. In Nepal, between January and August 2005, more than 11,800 students were abducted from rural schools for indoctrination or forced recruitment into the militia.
4. In Afghanistan, most qualified teachers fled the conflict. Now fewer than 15 percent of teachers hold professional qualifications.
The lack of education and forced service in the military will have a profoundly negative impact on these children, their families, communities and the world as a whole. Children should have the opportunity to go to school in spite of political conflict.
In other education news it appears that the teachers strike in Detroit may be over. Over the weekend a Circuit Court Judge ordered the teachers back to work on Monday. Only 8% showed up. Negotiations continued. The Governor of Michigan appointed a fact-finding team to join the negotiations. The Mayor of Detroit helped the school board and union broker a tentative deal early this morning. If all goes well the students should begin school this Thursday.