Local and Global Issues

One of the barriers we face today according to the article, 10 Barriers of Education around the world, is classrooms or lack thereof. Classrooms are a privilege to have. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa kids are squeezed into overcrowded classrooms, in Malawi, there is an average of 130 children per classroom in first grade. (Ruekert), there are classrooms that are falling apart, or students are forced to learn outside. Inside the classrooms, they are lacking textbooks and normal school supplies and other tools needed to work. Teachers are also lacking supplies needed to prepare lessons.

Lynch

Another issue is not just the lack of classroom or supplies, but the lack of bathrooms and running water. In Chad, only 1 in 7 schools have potable running water, and 1 in 4 schools have a toilet; and only one-third of the toilets that do exist are for girls only. (Ruekert) Many times where girls don’t have a safe or private area to use the bathroom, they are often harassed and attacked.

 
Another issue is being denied education. Being a human you have the universal right to an education, but being denied access to school education is common for the world’s 93 to 150 million children with disabilities. In the world’s poorest countries, up to 95% of children with disabilities are out of school. (Ruekert) To do well in school you need to go to class and have good attendance in school. Kids with disabilities have lower attendance rates than their non-special education peers and are more likely to be out or leave school before completing primary education. They are suspended or expelled at a rate more than double the rate of their other students. (Ruekert) Most teachers have a hard time teaching kids with disabilities because it makes them use different methods so the students can learn and understand.

Izquierdo

According to the article In New England, Efforts to Rethink Educational Practices Grow, kids learn differently. That’s a fact. There are three main categories of learning. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual is learning by seeing and watching; auditory is learning by hearing; and kinesthetic is learning by doing, touching, and interacting. A school in Rhode Island has taken this into account and has begun to do something. Providence school started using the Summit Learning Program, which is an approach to personalized learning development. This all started when Andrew Frishman, the co-executive director of Big Picture Learning, located his organization at its first school, The Metropolitan Regional Career, and Technical Center, in Providence. (Field) This new way of learning is a great way to help students who learn differently excel and make them a better student. I think it’s important that we have access to something that can help us with our own needs. The program has built a network of 65 “student-centered” schools over 20 years. (Field)

Students post at the Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island. The public
     school, which offers students intensive internships and individualized learning opportunities prioritizes equity and diversity in its admissions practices. (Big Picture Learning)

Works Cited

Feild, Kelly. "In New England, Efforts to Rethink Educational Practices Grow." EWA, 14 Jan. 2019, www.ewa.org/blog-educated-reporter/new-england-efforts-rethink-educational-practices-grow. Accessed 26 Nov. 2019.

Izquierdo, Silvia. A visually impaired student reads braille in Rio de Janeiro. 2 Sept. 2016. Global Citizen, 13 Aug. 2019, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Lynch, Kelley. Students try to get the teacher's attention to answer a question in Sudan. Global Citizen, 13 Aug. 2019, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Ruekert, Phineas. "10 Barriers to Education around the World." Global Citizen, 13 Aug. 2019, globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2019.