Janina Pescinski (Egypt)
Hillsborough High School
UNICEF
Access to Education
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 26 states that “Everyone has the
right to education,” and it is the obligation of the United Nations to uphold that right for all
people. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) strive to provide universal primary
education by 2015, and but in order to achieve this noble goal, serious action needs to be taken in
Africa. In African nations education is limited by gender inequality, war and conflict, lack of
resources, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. Many of the schooling programs that do exist are remnants
of colonial systems, and they do not reflect the current political and cultural aspects of the nation.
Many parents are reluctant to send their children to school because children are needed to bring
in additional income for the family. Girls are often left without education because parents are
reluctant to send them to schools with male teachers and parents want their girls to marry as soon
as possible, usually in the early teens. Africa could make great steps in minimizing disease,
poverty, and conflict if only all children received proper education, and governments have to be
committed to this cause in order for any action to be successful.
Egypt has been able to develop very strong education programs for its children, along
with the help of various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The World Food Program
(WFP) sponsors a program in Egypt that provides female students with monthly rations for their
families if they maintain adequate attendance at school. This program encourages girls to go to
school by providing them with food that makes up for any income their family might loose due
to their children attending school instead of working. Another program that works in Egypt is
called the Mosaic Foundation, which sponsors Approaches and Methods for Advance Learning,
a program that aims to prevent girls from dropping out of school due to lack of money or
unfavorable sanitary conditions. This program also trains female teachers so that parents are
comfortable with their child’s education atmosphere. In January 2006 Egypt launched the
Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI), the government’s commitment to strengthening national
education programs. The EEI includes a partnership with the multinational corporations which
are members of the World Economic Forum. These corporations provide funds and resources
that are used to expand education initiatives in Egypt. Egypt also receives support for education
programs from the United States Agency for International Development and Save the Children,
as well as many other NGOs. Part of the reason Egypt is able to receive such extensive support is
because the government has proved dedicated to education reform. If other African nations show
the same drive to improve education, they will be able to receive similar support and make great
progress.
Egypt believes that it is possible to achieve the MDG of universal primary education by
2015, but it is necessary for countries, NGOs and the UN to commit themselves to cooperative
action. The first step is assessing the educational needs of each country, and this can be done by
the government or by NGOs. Once each nation knows what specific aspects of education they
need to reform, they can appropriately direct their resources and receive suitable aid. Egypt
strongly encourages nations to define their plan for education, as Egypt has done in the EEI,
because NGOs are more willing to support nations that have a plan in place. It would be ideal for
each nation to form bonds with international corporations that can provide funding, because this
will help in the development of education initiatives. Expanding school feeding programs like
that of the WFP will be an effective way to increase school attendance. Most importantly, many
African nations have distinct cultural and religious practices, and these must be respected when
developing education systems, because programs that work in one nation will not necessarily
work in another. Egypt is confident that the UN can achieve universal primary education by 2015
by helping nations pursue step by step programs that respect that nation’s individual needs.