By Abdiaziz Ali
The month of September is the beginning of the school year calendar for most of the countries in the world. While the United Nations Summit is still in progress iin New York, many children living in Sub-Saharan Africa countries will remain out of school. Therefore, they will need the attention of African policymakers and the support of developed nations. Not only do the poor families need support to send their children to school, but also the struggling African governments afflicted by poor governance, war and famine and other artificial and natural factors. Sub-Saharan countries need the support and aid from resource-rich countries and donors like the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and the World Bank to finance their education systems and complement their limited budgets.
Majority of the world’s students, who are out of school due to financial restraints, live in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. These students are forced to abandon schools while they are supposed to be in school by 2015 as per the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of education for all. But this did not come true as “Westerners are in a world that they are sending a man to the Moon and reserving their support and aid…while millions of school age children in Sub-Saharan countries are out of the learning environment.” Borrowing a leaf from the statement noted above, I do infer that Sub-Saharan countries are not reserving enough money for their education sectors. Also, the lack of commitment in terms of financial pledges made by Western countries for the Millennium Development Goal to mobilize all out of school children and introduce them in to the learning environment, has been a handicap and an impossible means to achieving the desired global goals to eradicating illiteracy. Therefore, fulfilling the pledges to achieve universal education could usher in a sustainable development goal–a goal that has become the side talk of meaningful meetings the world holds. Doing so will help these poor children who are out of school to develop morally and mentally.
“I liked reading when the teacher told us to read in class and I read it. I liked a lot, I liked more of the English language because, once I grow up, I would like to teach the English language…Omer Yonis is 11 years old. He lives in north of Nigeria. In June 2017, he finished primary school and he was supposed to start high school this week, but he will not start. Because he lost his father, his mother is unable to pay the school fees for him and his two other siblings…schools are managed by the government and almost free but parents must pay nine US Dollars per school year, so Omer’s mother cannot afford to pay for her children’s school fees at this time”…Source BBC Somali.
This touching problem is not something that Omer is facing alone but the same applies to a lot of children who living in Africa particularly Sub-Saharan countries. To overcome this chronic out-of-school menace faced by children in Sub-Saharan African countries, I am recommending two points:
- Sub Saharan African countries need to allocate enough money from their yearly budgets to education sector.
- Western countries fulfill their pledges that they have made and support education systems in these countries to their last limit and without reservation.
Let us educate our children…let us educate our children…let us educate our children.
Abdiaziz Alibuur
Email: [email protected]
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Abdiaziz Ali is an education professional, campaigner and child right advocate. Mr.Ali lives in Jigjiga, Ethiopia.
Related Articles:
- THE DETERIORATION OF SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN SOMALIA
- EFFECTIVE PHILOSOPHY: THE MISSING CONCEPT OF SOMALIA’S AILING EDUCATION SECTOR
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