Posted: 07 Sep 2011 06:43 AM PDT
Children in developing countries are going to school in unprecedented numbers, with the poorest nations making the most progress over the last few years. But the quality of education has dropped. While more children are going to school, too few are learning to read or absorbing other educational skills critically needed for the betterment of their lives and the lives of those around them. Consider the following story of Aminata, a 9 year-old girl in rural West Africa: It is early morning in Kahalé village, about 45 kilometers from the capital city. It is raining again, and the water is cascading off the thin tin corrugated roof of the one-room schoolhouse at the village center. People are up and about as the day begins. At the school, Monsieur Mamadou, waits for his class to arrive. By 9 a.m. the room is only half-full. Since a full classroom means 65 children and there are only enough benches to seat 50, this is probably not a bad thing. Eventually a total of 35 students arrive. In the front row sit those children with proper sandals and clean shirts that button up. Those with no sandals and not-so-clean shirts sit further back. The children, all in second grade, range in age from 7 to 11 years. Mamadou speaks first in Wolof, welcoming the children, telling them to quiet down and pay attention. He then begins to write a text on the blackboard in French, taking his time to get everything ‘just so.’ The accuracy of the written text is important since only a few children (all in the front row) have school primers in front of them. Mamadou’s writing takes about 15 minutes, during which time the children are chatting, looking out the window, or have their heads bent down with eyes closed on their desks. Some have had nothing but a glass of hot tea and stale bread or mash in the morning, and they are already tired and hungry. Finished with his writing, Mamadou turns around to address the class (in French): “You are now to copy this text into your carnets (notebooks).” Aminata is 9 years old, and sits in the third row. She has her pencil out, and begins to work in her carnet, carefully writing down each word written on the blackboard. While going to school is better than staying home, Aminata has a sense that she is not making very good use of her time. She can copy the text, but doesn’t understand what it ‘says’. Aminata can only read a few French words on the couple of street signs and wall ads in her village. Thus, even as the only ‘schooled’ child in her family, she is not much help to her mother who wants know what the writing on her prescription bottle of pills really says. Aminata feels bad about this, and wonders how it is that her classmates in the first row seem to already know some French. She also wonders why Monsieur Mamadou seems only to call on those pupils to come to the front of the class and work on the blackboard, and not her. She’s heard that there is a school after primary school, but only the ‘first row’ kids seem to get to enroll there. What is the point of studying and staying in school, she wonders? Without quality education the cycle begins, again: This will likely be Aminata’s last year for school. While she may get one more year if lucky, she will probably marry at puberty or shortly thereafter, and begin a similar cycle of non-education for her own children. Aminata’s story tells an all too familiar tale that is repeated in many contexts in many countries around the world. Despite recent gains in enrolling children in school, the quality of learning achieved is being greatly undermined by poor and dysfunctional learning contexts. In order to meet educational quality goals, educational specialists need to do better job of identifying where and how productive learning is falling short. What can be done? Smaller, Quicker, Cheaper,: Improving Learning Assessments for Developing Countries, a book just released and available through the EFA FTI website, explores how learning assessments can give greater voice to critical educational needs and point out proactive methods for remediation. As a part of International Literacy Day, on September 8, 2011, I will be speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on how a range of education stakeholders are addressing the challenge of improving literacy to help fulfill the promise of quality education for all. I encourage you to come and join the event in person or online using www.facebook.com/
Children in developing countries are going to school in unprecedented numbers, with the poorest nations making the most progress over the last few years. But the quality of education has dropped. While more children are going to school, too few are learning to read or absorbing other educational skills critically needed for the betterment of their lives and the lives of those around them. Consider the following story of Aminata, a 9 year-old girl in rural West Africa: It is early morning in Kahalé village, about 45 kilometers from the capital city. It is raining again, and the water is cascading off the thin tin corrugated roof of the one-room schoolhouse at the village center. People are up and about as the day begins. At the school, Monsieur Mamadou, waits for his class to arrive. By 9 a.m. the room is only half-full. Since a full classroom means 65 children and there are only enough benches to seat 50, this is probably not a bad thing. Eventually a total of 35 students arrive. In the front row sit those children with proper sandals and clean shirts that button up. Those with no sandals and not-so-clean shirts sit further back. The children, all in second grade, range in age from 7 to 11 years. Mamadou speaks first in Wolof, welcoming the children, telling them to quiet down and pay attention. He then begins to write a text on the blackboard in French, taking his time to get everything ‘just so.’ The accuracy of the written text is important since only a few children (all in the front row) have school primers in front of them. Mamadou’s writing takes about 15 minutes, during which time the children are chatting, looking out the window, or have their heads bent down with eyes closed on their desks. Some have had nothing but a glass of hot tea and stale bread or mash in the morning, and they are already tired and hungry. Finished with his writing, Mamadou turns around to address the class (in French): “You are now to copy this text into your carnets (notebooks).” Aminata is 9 years old, and sits in the third row. She has her pencil out, and begins to work in her carnet, carefully writing down each word written on the blackboard. While going to school is better than staying home, Aminata has a sense that she is not making very good use of her time. She can copy the text, but doesn’t understand what it ‘says’. Aminata can only read a few French words on the couple of street signs and wall ads in her village. Thus, even as the only ‘schooled’ child in her family, she is not much help to her mother who wants know what the writing on her prescription bottle of pills really says. Aminata feels bad about this, and wonders how it is that her classmates in the first row seem to already know some French. She also wonders why Monsieur Mamadou seems only to call on those pupils to come to the front of the class and work on the blackboard, and not her. She’s heard that there is a school after primary school, but only the ‘first row’ kids seem to get to enroll there. What is the point of studying and staying in school, she wonders? Without quality education the cycle begins, again: This will likely be Aminata’s last year for school. While she may get one more year if lucky, she will probably marry at puberty or shortly thereafter, and begin a similar cycle of non-education for her own children. Aminata’s story tells an all too familiar tale that is repeated in many contexts in many countries around the world. Despite recent gains in enrolling children in school, the quality of learning achieved is being greatly undermined by poor and dysfunctional learning contexts. In order to meet educational quality goals, educational specialists need to do better job of identifying where and how productive learning is falling short. What can be done? Smaller, Quicker, Cheaper,: Improving Learning Assessments for Developing Countries, a book just released and available through the EFA FTI website, explores how learning assessments can give greater voice to critical educational needs and point out proactive methods for remediation. As a part of International Literacy Day, on September 8, 2011, I will be speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, the Education for All – Fast Track Initiative, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on how a range of education stakeholders are addressing the challenge of improving literacy to help fulfill the promise of quality education for all. I encourage you to come and join the event in person or online using www.facebook.com/
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