This is the english version of the 6th January post.
There are many forums, blogs and other sites dealing with education issues in developing countries. Posts and papers are often pleas for more funding for education. Still, few citizens from developing countries take advantage of Internet as a space for expression and it is generally always the same experts who monopolize the floor.
Talks are about aid effectiveness, conflict situations and their effects on education, microscopic innovative programs which have had very positive results, but that are not applied in other contexts as new experiments, new projects are preferred. There are also full of convoluted discussions on esoteric concepts of teaching methods. More recently, e-learning, information technologies open virtual perspectives that only a few science fiction writers have imagined. Fahrenheit 451, and welcome to Kindle, Android, and XO, which will turn us into little robots.
Despite all the verbiage, classroom practices remain very traditional, tradition often taking the appearance of a stick, a leather strap and the whip. Children recite the lesson by heart, beware those who do not repeat in unison. Teachers work their fields and chasing a few guinea fowl with wages that do not allow them to buy as many chickens as required to survive. Textbooks are in short supply, sometimes carefully preserved in a closet and distributed of the cycle to those who have survived so far without even reading and writing.
This might sound as a pessimistic point of view, but this is also a response to overvalued donors aid and projects. Several key issues are not touched by the discussions, forums and newsletters while jeopardizing universal primary education. Always complain, always explain.
At three years from the 2015 target, it is time to address the real problems that are undermining education systems, although the term “system” denotes some form of organization. For 2012, a good resolution that does not come without some sacrifice would be to talk about harsh topics and make revolutionary propositions in order to overcome:
1) Corruption-DONE
(What is the magnitude ? Who benefits ? How donors are silent on this issue ? What can be done to fight it?)
2) Absenteeism and repeated strikes
(What is the scope ? How can we improve the situation : pay teachers by day of teaching, raise teachers salary ?)
3) The new teaching approaches (competencies-based approach, global reading method etc …
(Who is promoting these reforms and what for ? Are they worth large investments in new textbooks and teachers training design? Shall we install a moratorium on pedagogical reforms ?)
4) Violence at school
(How often ? Who are the victims ?How to report ? Are actual schooling institutions structurally houses of violence ?)
5) The politicization of “systems” educational
(How decisions are made with school constructions and teachers allocation? How delivering a few textbooks become an excuse for ridiculous official ceremonies ?)
6) Textbooks’ mafia
(How can we get a global picture of textbooks availability ? What are the restrictions for more textbooks in school ? Launch One textbook for All commitment J ?)
7) Conflicts of interest between private schools and public sphere
(How some public servants somehow benefit from low performance in public schools by personally investing in managing private institutions ? Amend legislation to prevent this ?)
8) Fraud in Examination
(How can we explain bizarre figures on exam success rates ? How these rates are instrumentalized by politicians ?)
…
If you have kamikaze tendencies and want to write about these topics, contact me.
Banzai!
