Research has shown that education is one of the most reliable ways to help bring impoverished communities out of poverty.[1] It is also one of the best ways to help instill democratic ideals within societies. A better educated society is a better informed society that can better engage in the political discourse of their community. As Paulo Freire asserted, education is a liberating force. However education in many parts of the world outside of developed nations have continually struggled with providing competent education. The question that is asked, is why? A great deal of this gap between the highly educated developed world and regions like the Near East exists due to cultural and religious norms that exists within these societies. The gap also exists because much like in the US where quality of education is highly dependent on the economic development of two neighbourhoods in New York City.[2] In undeveloped nations, the lack of education exists because simply put, there lacks an infrastructure that will allow even the most basic education programs to flourish due to the lack of capital.
As easy as it is to point out about the deficiencies of education in developing worlds is, there has to be some simple solutions that developed nations and private citizens can take to help spur growth in quality education.
The first way to improve access to quality education, is the spread and access of inexpensive technology. In America, schools across the nation have moved towards integrating technology with education. My old high school in Seattle has moved towards providing students with iPads to improve the quality of education. In america, companies like Comcast are engaging in programs to provide cheap internet to low-income families because they see the importance of closing the internet gap between those who are financially stable and families that struggle living paycheck-to-paycheck. The internet is an essential source of cheap education that can allow anyone to learn outside of school. Programs like Khan Academy have made deep inroads in providing easy and simple videos to learners outside of the classroom. I can attest to that as i probably would have not passed a few of my college level STEM courses without Khan Academy. But in developing nations the ability to access technology can be extremely difficult. However scholars and experts agree that the ability to provide cheap technology has the great potential to close the education gap between developing nations and developed nations. Private citizens and foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are taking initiative in providing easy access to education in developing worlds.
However access to technology is only part of the solution. In order to close the gap, developed nations need to influence underdeveloped nations in changing their domestic policies. Countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, tout relatively high literacy rates but once one examines past the facade, one realises that the quality of education is laughably inadequate in providing its citizens with practical skills and knowledge to thrive in the private sector. SA has the 15 largest GDP in the world but at least 80 percent of its labour workforce is comprised on foreign labourers. This demonstrates an economy that is not supported by an educated workforce. It is up to developed nations to encourage countries like SA to (if one will excuse the vulgarity) to get their shit together. You also have regions where women are pressured into not pursuing education. Females in Pakistan and Afghanistan consistently face the threat of violence for wanting to become educated. Brave women such as Malala Yousafzai are struggling to fight against cultures that for all intents and purposes wish to keep women as second class citizens. Again the onus lies on developed nations and private citisens to pressure regimes and nations to provide better education. Real change occurs when governments and cultures are forced by its people who are part of those societies, to examine and reform their societies, until then we will continue to watch documentaries that deal with how women are continually threatened with violence because they want to get a semblance of a decent education.
Technology will help allow those in impoverished regions to expand their horizons and get a better sense of the world around them. However in order to make lasting and meaningful change, both developed nations and thsoe within developing nations need to work in tandem to pressure their leaders to improve education.
[1] Alberto Alesina, Edward Glaeser, Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference (The Rodolfo De Benedetti Lecture Series) (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
[2] Jonathon Kozol, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation (New York, Broadway Books, 2012)
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