Promoting Education & Social inclusion of the Youth

Transcription

1 Promoting Education & Social inclusion of the Youth Forum: Human Rights Council I Student Officer: Tuneesha Roy, Deputy President of HRC 1 Introduction Students in Côte d Ivoire are handed out school kits by UNICEF. The term social inclusion refers to the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity (World Bank). Indigenous people, minorities, migrants and the youth are often prevented from engaging and having a voice in their country s social system. This is due to the numerous stereotypes, stigmas, cast, creed, gender and age discrimination that deprives them of the opportunity to succeed. Poverty and social exclusion are interwoven, where the former is the effect of the latter. In addition, the promotion of education will prepare the youth to contribute to their country and lead productive lives. The lack of social inclusion and education is damaging not only for an individual, but also for the development of the human capital. One in five adolescent children in Sub-Saharan Africa are out of school, and about 60% of children aged are lacking access to education. Moreover, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) 263 million youths were excluded from education in Shockingly, 617 million youth lack knowledge in the field of mathematics and literacy. The absence from schools can be accounted for the lack of classroom amenities, access to electricity, and the scarcity of adequately trained educators. Obtaining quality education is crucial for improving the quality of life to combat the world s greatest problems with advanced and feasible solutions. Furthermore, access to quality education is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs aims to promote education to break the cycle of poverty, increase gender equality, encourage people to live sustainable lives and foster tolerance within communities. Without education, the youth are following a path of ignorance. Background Information Segregation is defined as the act of setting someone apart from the others. As a matter of fact, school segregation in Europe is still prevalent. Children with impairments, refugee and migrant status, and even children with troubled social and personal circumstances are separated from the more advantaged children. According to a report in 2012, countries with higher social

2 inclusion rates commonly had schools that combined the education space of the disadvantaged students with the more advantaged. This could be seen in the results of a math survey, where students scored significantly better as a result of peer effect. The segregation of students is the worst form of exclusion, as they are forced out of mainstream schools. Segregation and xenophobia exacerbate social exclusion by jeopardizing democratic values. The example presented above is a fairly new case of social exclusion; however, racial segregation can be dated back to 19 th century in the Americas. Education is a major pathway to promoting social inclusion and reducing poverty, but war and violence can lead to detrimental consequences. The exposure of violence destroys the infrastructure of school buildings, displaces people, and significantly reduces schooling opportunities. Not only this, the long-term effects include the negative impact on the individual human capital formation and labor market prospects. UN & International Actions World Bank and Education for All (EFA) 189 countries have signed the Education for All (EFA) goals, which the World Bank is liable to support in order to fulfill their commitment. The World Bank supports the EFA to provide primary education for all by advising countries on financial and knowledge service to achieve their own educational goal. Young boy studying Kiswahili. Global Partnership for Education (GPE) GPE is a global collaboration supported by 60+ developing countries. It strives to increase access to education. To promote education worldwide, GPE trained 238,000 teachers to deliver quality education. This global collaboration has also built and rehabilitated more than 53,000 classrooms since The GPE managed to supply schools in Ethiopia with 146 million textbooks. All in all, the GPE has made its top priority to promote and deliver quality education to all locations. European Union The EU aims to combat poverty and social exclusion for at least 20 million people out of the 120 million people who are already at risk of poverty and social exclusion by The Europe 2020 Strategy aims to see a growth in jobs for the current decade. To achieve the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU focuses on sustainable and inclusive growth to eliminate European economies structural weakness and to reinforce a sustainable social market economy. EU Youth Strategy: EU Work Plan for Youth The EU Work Plan strives to increase social inclusion of the youth who belong from a migrant background and are marginalized in society. To increase social inclusion, the EU plans to promote access to quality services, including public transportation and health care services.

3 Moreover, by creating equal opportunities for the youth to be in school and involved in the labor market, this recognizes the optimum potential of the youth. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UNESCO Institute for Statistics UNESCO is assigned the global education agenda for 2030 through SDG goal 4. The UN affiliate is working towards a world of quality education along with UNICEF, World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women, UNHCR. Data from 2000 shows that the out-of-school percentage in sub-saharan Africa and South Asia have declined more than a half. Places of High Concerns Sub-Saharan Africa Majority of the population in sub-saharan Africa live below the poverty line and half of the children are not enrolled in school. Moreover, in this region girls face barriers to receiving primary and secondary education. Girls between the age of 6-11 have a high possibility of not attending school at all. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of outof-school children in the world and holds the title for the highest education exclusion rate. This corresponds to the lack of vital Out-of-School children statistics of children around the world educational amenities. These areas are deprived of electricity and potable water, which act as an inhibition to the growth of society. Also, as obvious as it might seem, many children are unable to attend schools because they do not have a suitable classroom for education. Since the children are crammed into small classrooms, UNESCO and UIS have prioritized education of Africa by means of monitoring the classroom quality. On the contrary, even being able to be part of the many students in the tiny classrooms is a privilege, especially if you are a girl. Those who attend school are trapped in rote learning; however, their condition is better than the rest of the population, who cannot even attend school. South Asia Another place of high concern is Southern Asia, where 13 million children aged 8-14 are out of school, and those who go to school are unequipped with sufficient knowledge to be socially included into society. Those who do complete primary school lack basic numeracy and literacy rates. The poor quality of education in Southern Asia directly impacts the region s future economic prospects. If the children are unprepared to join the workforce, they cannot contribute their society s political, economic, social and cultural life. The cause for poor education is the increasing poverty in this region. According to the World Bank, teachers in this region have no more

4 knowledge than their students. The crucial problem in South Asia is not the absence of education, but the poor quality of it. Altogether, the importance of being equipped with literacy makes inroads towards a much broader issue of decreasing poverty and social acceptance into society. One way to reduce the out-of-school percentage is to encourage greater private sector partnership with the government. The government in many places cannot afford to improve schooling quality; therefore, by the participation of private-sectors, many children can attend schools. European Union People at risk of social exclusion in the European Union. The chart shows the goal for % children that are a part of the EU are in peril of poverty and social exclusion. As of March 2018, 3.5 million young people between the age of 15 and 24 were unemployed in the EU. The youth is at the highest risk for poverty. Most children born in the EU are limited from obtaining proper education, which inhibits social mobility, leaving the individual in the same social status they were born in to. Even when one is employed, the wages are extremely low, barely or even not enough to support the family. In addition, belonging from a marginalized community can lessen one s chances of getting out of poverty and being protected by social exclusion, due to xenophobia and segregation. However, to combat social exclusion of the youth, the EU ministers have signed for cooperation to actively engage the youth in societal matters and to promote equal opportunities for the youth by implementing the EU Youth Strategy. Possible Solutions Promoting education of the youth is a key factor to making inroads into reducing poverty. Among the numerous solutions that can be proposed for this issues, these are a few: 1. Encouraging cooperation between the private and public sectors. a. One of the major reasons why some countries have poor education facilities is due to the fact that it is unaffordable by the government. Therefore, by encouraging private sectors to improve the quality of education so that more can attend school will promote education. This will increase the prospects of social inclusion, finally resulting in the reduction of poverty. The potential drawback is that private sectors are expensive; therefore, to face this challenge, governments should cooperate to create effective public and private partnerships and simplify entry barriers. 2. Promoting social inclusion of the youth through social protection. a. Social protection, as defined by the World Bank, is to assist the poor and vulnerable by helping them find jobs, invest in health and education of the youth and protecting them from crises. 3. Asking governments of developed countries to provide underdeveloped countries with school amenities and trained educators.

5 a. Countries suffering from poverty do not have access to the fundamental schooling facilities, which is a major reasons why innumerable children in underdeveloped countries cannot attend school. If developed countries can provide underdeveloped countries with proper school supplies and trained educators, many children will have the opportunity to attend schools, which is the primary source of education. Above all, it is the responsibility of the privileged individuals to reach out to the disadvantaged and marginalized people and educate them to bring them to the mainstream society. It can be called an Each One, Teach One chain of goodness and would have a greater localized impact. Glossary Social Inclusion-The process of improving the terms for an individual or a minority group to take part into the society s political, economic, social and cultural life Social Exclusion-Social exclusion is when one does not have recognition in the society s political, economic and cultural life. It is also the exclusion from prevailing a social systems rights and privileges. Most common factors of social exclusion include: youth, financial hardships, poverty, social status, etc. Social Protection- To assist the poor and vulnerable by helping them find jobs, invest in health and education of the youth and protecting them from crises. Youth- The period between childhood and adult age. Timeline UNESCO adopted the Convention against Discrimination in Education, which aimed to highlight education role in ensuring equality of opportunity between any caste and creed exclusion EFA was launched to provide universal primary education to all citizens in every society. To accomplish this goal, the EFA, UNESCO and the World Bank Group committed to achieving six specific education goals. January after the expiry of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs came into action. SDG goal 4 aims to obtain quality education by 2030.

6 Sources Education. UNICEF, Education in Africa. UNESCO UIS, 26 Sept. 2018, uis.unesco.org/en/topic/education-africa. Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion. Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings, ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catid=751. Europe 2020 Strategy. Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings, 1 Aug. 2018, ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-policy-coordination/eueconomic-governance-monitoring-prevention-correction/europeansemester/framework/europe-2020-strategy_en. How to Fix Poor Quality Education in South Asia. World Bank, PhineasJFR. 10 Barriers to Education Around the World. Global Citizen, Promoting Social Inclusion of Excluded Youth Groups Through Volunteering, United Nations Development Program. of_excluded_youth_groups_2017_unv_in.pdf ent_data/file/359358/socinc.pdf Promoting Social Inclusion of the Youth Through Social Protection, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Social Policy and Development. Quality Education, Sustainable Development Goals, 4.pdf Social Inclusion. Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings, 24 Apr. 2018, ec.europa.eu/youth/policy/youth-strategy/social-inclusion_en. Topics. World Bank, The Promotion of Social Inclusion. Charity Commission, Youth and Education. United Nations, Youth and Education. The Global Partnership for Education, Young Delegates Urge Better Access to Education, Inclusion of Youth in Decisions, as Third Committee Tackles Inequality, Unemployment, Conflict Prevention Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. United Nations, United Nations,