According to Henry Jenkins of Essaygator.com, “An investment in education is the best investment of a lifetime.” Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the 101 million children who don’t attend school worldwide.
High tuition fees, school supplies, learning disability, family priorities are some of the many reasons why there is such an alarming learning deficit rate. Most of these students don’t develop the essential skills necessary for a job, so poverty prevails.
In the US, 65% of jobs require postsecondary education and training. Despite which:
- 40% of studentsquit four-year degree courses, especially students with disabilities and those from rural backgrounds, low-income, backward, and minority communities.
- Over 1.2 million students are high school dropouts, while 25% of first-year high school students don’t complete graduation.
Most countries and governments around the globe have initiated programs to ensure every child has access to education. Such initiatives have improved the rate of enrollment in primary and secondary education and gender parity.
Yet, many countries are “left behind” in academic progress due to various factors, including unsustainable learning conditions and the government’s lack of focus. It’s the responsibility of the governments to implement norms that ensure every child receives education. It falls on the government to honour their commitments made through human right treaties.
Such education deficit deprives children of their fundamental right to education and restricts the development of the community, generation, and the country.
Before I discuss the causes and possible ways of reducing learning deficiency, let’s look at some numbers.
The Education Deficit In Numbers
- 124 million children between 6-15 years old either quit school or never started school
- Seven hundred fifty-nine million adults are illiterate with no awareness of proper living conditions.
- Seventy-two million children have no primary education.
- Thirty-one million girls worldwide don’t have primary education, while 24 million girls have never attended school.
- Twenty-nine million children don’t go to school due to political conflict and displacement.
3 Primary Causes Of Learning Deficit
- Poverty:
Most students in developing and developed countries don’t have access to education due to existing marginalisation. Poverty, illness, malnutrition, unemployment and illiteracy of parents are also the reasons behind high dropout rates.
- Inadequate financial resources:
Many developing and underdeveloped countries don’t have the financial resources to create proper schooling facilities. Students don’t have sufficient resources to provide assignment help them establish a career path. Lack of funds affects the quality of teaching as teachers receive no proper training to benefit the students. As a result, the deficit remains high.
- Gender inequality:
Gender inequality is still a burning issue, especially in central, southern and western Asia and the Arab States. The girls are restricted to domestic activities, while the boys are sent to school to receive an education. In Yemen, 80% of girls don’t get the opportunity to go to school. Certain countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and sub-Saharan Africa make no significant effort to encourage equal education rights.
5 Ways To Reduce Learning Deficit To Improve Universal Education System
Education is a basic human right, crucial for the sustainable development of an individual, community and the country. It empowers students to overcome challenges and reduce poverty and inequality and promote social development.
In this era, governments are accountable for developing necessary agendas to resolve the factors undermining the Child’s Rights. Governments must take essential steps to curtail discrimination, lack of accountability, rate of dropouts and ensure quality education for all children and adolescents.
Here are five ways governments can end the learning deficit and improve education:
- Reducing education costs:
Many education services and products don’t reach students belonging to a low-income economic background. Governments must ensure the international funds are utilised to give students of all communities’ access to education. African countries like Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Ethiopia, have seen a large increase in primary school enrollment after abolishing school fees.
- Introducing free meal programs:
Malnutrition is another reason why students tend to drop out of school. They fall prey to child labour and child exploitation, trying to earn minimum wage to buy food for themselves and their families. Providing free school lunch will alleviate children’s hunger and encourage them to attend school daily. Reports show free lunch program has improved student’s health conditions and increased their academic performance.
- Educating parents about the benefits of learning:
A parent’s role in a child’s education is immense. But when 759 million adults are illiterate and lack understanding of the value of education, the chances are high that they would be pressured to support their families instead of attending classes. Hence, if a government aims to increase and maintain school enrollment, it must teach the parents the positive outcomes of schooling.
- Breaking learning barriers with new learning models:
To make education accessible for all means using new tools and advanced education models. Not all students respond to traditional study models. Hence, educators should combine authoritative content with essential modern academic skills so that students develop critical thinking, leadership qualities and get the opportunity to work on entrepreneurship for the social and economic developments of their communities.
- Empowering teachers with improved teaching resources:
The majority of the teachers in rural and underdeveloped nations don’t have adequate teaching experience. They lack access to upgraded resources to make teaching fun for students. Computer-assisted learning can enhance students’ learning experience and encourage them to complete their homework efficiently.
Computers with suitable learning software can improve staff’s teaching experience and simplify study materials so that students like studying. The government should organize training programs to educate staff about the latest academic resources and maintain them.
Reducing The Learning Deficit – Final Note
When we talk about reducing the learning deficit for better education, it means every child gets access to education without any obstacle. The governments take suitable measures to monitor the situations forcing students to drop out of school.
While it depends on robust governance systems, it also depends on various influential personnel to initiate and promote multiple academic programs through different channels. UNICEF goodwill ambassadors, the World Bank, and other international financial bodies must uplift the minorities, help children with disabilities, and provide sufficient resources for the overall development.
Furthermore, the UN should introduce strict norms against the governments violating a child’s Right to Education. With stringent government regulations and prospective learning programs, students can overcome illiteracy and build a bright future.
