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BRAC: Creating opportunities for people to realise potential

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BRAC is creating opportunities on human rights & social empowerment, education & health, livelihood, environmental & disaster preparedness in many countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Philippines, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Sudan, Nepal etc.

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Australia - are schools creating inequality? 

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Australia - are schools creating inequality? 

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Australian schools are more socially stratified than in Canada, New Zealand or even the UK. www.shutterstock.com.au

Like many of the English-speaking market democracies, Australia and, perhaps to a lesser extent the US, like to think of themselves as merit-based societies in which everyone has a "fair go". This idea led to the creation of school systems that guaranteed all children, no matter their origins, access to a publicly funded education. By creating educational and economic opportunity, this arguably helped the emergence of strong middle classes in each country.

But the current reality is of education systems that are socially stratified and full of inequalities. There is much evidence to suggest that our schools, rather than promoting equity, are effectively serving as engines of inequality. This is true of schools in other countries that have embraced choice and competition to organise education.

Social stratification in the Australian education system is sharper than in most countries. Students from wealthy, privileged backgrounds tend to go to high-fee, independent high schools. Kids from low-income, disadvantaged backgrounds tend to go to government high schools.

Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD) show that the proportion of kids who go to a socially mixed or average school is lower in Australia than in most other comparable countries. Our schools are more socially stratified than in Canada, New Zealand or even the UK. The stratification is essentially the same as in the US.

This is a significant problem because social segregation has very large negative consequences for students. And these effects compound inequalities associated with family background.

As we have shown in Australia ( here and here), the average level of achievement of a kid from a low socioeconomic status (SES) background in a low SES school is roughly three years behind a high SES kid in a high SES school. For any given student, attending a low SES school versus a high SES school amounts to more than a year's difference in academic performance. Clearly, where one goes to school in Australia matters ... a lot.

The negative outcomes are related to inequalities in funding, resourcing, teacher shortages and learning environments. We have shown that there are very large inequalities in teacher shortages and the educational resources available to low and high SES schools in Australia. Australia is one of only three OECD countries where high SES schools have substantially better resources. The other two? Chile and Mexico.

Another shocking inequality is access to academic curriculum. For example, we have shown that only 10% of low SES schools in metropolitan Perth offer advanced curriculum in the traditional, core subjects of literature, maths and sciences. For students from these communities, access to traditional academic subjects depends on applying to a non-local high school without any guarantee of acceptance. Or it means paying fees to go to a private school.

Students who reside in more affluent neighbourhoods, on the other hand, are guaranteed free access to this high-stakes curriculum. Does this seem fair? And in the context of shortages in the financial, engineering and health professions, does it seem sensible?

Looking overseas can provide insight about possible solutions. Australia and Canada have similar demographics, economies and levels of income inequality and poverty, but schools are much more socially integrated there than here. Not surprisingly, while privileged students perform the same in both countries, disadvantaged students and schools in Australia perform substantially worse on international achievement tests. The result is that Canada consistently outperforms Australia on international league tables of student achievement like PISA.

The Canadian case is proof that educational inequalities in Australia are not natural or normal. Rather, the differences are the result of the specific sets of policies that each country has embraced.

These are policies related to funding, choice and competition. Rather than create a system in which schools compete with each other for students and funds, Canada (and to an even larger extent, Finland) has tried to ensure that all schools are good schools.

Ensuring that all schools are good schools requires equitable distribution of resources, funds and students from a range of social backgrounds. It requires minimising the number of residualised, high-poverty schools and the number of super-funded, socially elite schools.

As shown by Canada and Finland, this can be accomplished by creating a strong public education system in which all students, regardless of where they live or how much money their parents earn, are guaranteed access to high-quality academic education.

Equity and integration can also be achieved in countries with a tradition of private schooling, as shown by New Zealand, the UK and the Netherlands. How do they do this? By creating publicly funded private schools that do not charge fees.

Perhaps it is time for a new paradigm in Australian schooling, one in which all students are given the opportunity to meet their full potential and choice does not come at the expense of equity. Other countries are doing it, so we know it is possible.

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Australian schools: engines of inequality

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Like many of the English-speaking market democracies, Australia and, perhaps to a lesser extent the US, like to think of themselves as merit-based societies in which everyone has a "fair go". This idea...

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Bengali (or Bangla) is the standard language of instruction in Bangladesh. But classes taught exclusively in Bengali exclude children from indigenous communities who do speak Bengali.

In 2001, BRAC established the Education for Ethnic Children (EEC) unit. The goal of the EEC unit is to adapt BRAC's non-formal teaching model to meet the needs of indigenous children and make education accessible to every child in Bangladesh.

In EEC schools, instruction takes place in a combination of Bengali and ethnic mother tongues. Teachers explain lessons orally in indigenous languages and use educational materials based on local cultures and heritages. Working with students from indigenous communities in their native languages helps them do better in class and participate more at the same time as it improves their enrollment and retention rates.

Bilingual texts and supplementary reading materials in the Chakma language have been developed up to Grade 5. The BRAC Education Program has plans to develop similar bilingual materials for other communities. BRAC's goal is to meet the learning needs of indigenous communities while also closing the linguistic gap and helping indigenous children to become proficient in Bengali.

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BRAC MAKES STRIDES IN EDUCATING INDIGENOUS CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH

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Bengali (or Bangla) is the standard language of instruction in Bangladesh. But classes taught exclusively in Bengali exclude children from indigenous communities who do speak Bengali. In 2001, BRAC established the Education for Ethnic Children (EEC) unit.

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the Link Between Education and Inequality - USA

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the Link Between Education and Inequality - USA

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While many economic and social barriers to progress have been ameliorated over the past 50 years, racial inequality continues to be a defining feature of American life. Understanding the causes of these inequalities is a subject of intense study. However, perhaps the most influential development has been the quantification of the importance of education (see, for example, Lochner and Moretti 2002, O'Neill 2000, and Neal and Johnson 1996) in explaining differences in later life outcomes.

The seminal work of Neal and Johnson (1996), which used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY 1979), showed that controlling for educational achievement shrinks-or altogether eliminates-the wage gap between blacks and whites and Hispanics and whites. Using a test score measure of basic skills that has been shown to be racially unbiased, the authors demonstrate that educational achievement among 15 - 18 year-olds explains all of the black-white gap in wages for young women and 70% of the gap for young men. The Hispanic-white gap is also eliminated. By looking at the test scores from only the younger end of the cohort, Neal and Johnson are examining pre-market skills acquisition-or, the skills and knowledge we reasonably expect children to receive in K-12 education-rather than any other investments in skills, higher education, or any work experience.

Fryer ( 2010) extends this analysis in important ways. He examines similar outcomes for a younger cohort of the NLSY (1997) and adds unemployment as an outcome. Fryer's extended analysis of the NLSY97 cohort reveals the following about the wage gap:

The Black-white wage gap for men is reduced from 17.9% to 10.9% after controlling for test scores. For women, the gap is reduced from 15.3% to 4.4% after controlling for test scores.

The Hispanic-white wage gap is statistically eliminated for both men and women after controlling for test scores.

The unemployment gap is also reduced:

Black men in the NLSY97 are almost three times as likely to be unemployed, which reduces to twice as likely when educational achievement is controlled for. Black women are roughly two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than white women, but controlling for test scores cuts this gap in half.

The Hispanic-white unemployment gap for men and women is statistically eliminated after controlling for test scores.

Fryer also examines incarceration and measures of physical health for the NLSY79 cohort.

Black men are about three and half times more likely to have been incarcerated than whites. That shrinks to about 80% more likely when educational achievement is accounted for.

Hispanic men are about two and half times more likely to have been incarcerated than whites. That is reduced to only about 50% more likely when test scores are controlled for.

While these gaps are still concerning, the reduction in these gaps after controlling for educational achievement is no less striking.

Therefore, despite these persistent disparities, there is a reason for optimism and a clear call to action. While alleviating poverty in developing countries and eradicating the ills associated with it would require massive and coordinated efforts in public health, education, and labor markets, in this country, significant steps towards reducing poverty can be made by ensuring that all K-12 students receive the same education.
Read the full paper on this subject, "Racial Inequality in the 21st Century: The Declining Significance of Discrimination."

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While many economic and social barriers to progress have been ameliorated over the past 50 years, racial inequality continues to be a defining feature of American life. Understanding the causes of these inequalities is a subject of intense study.

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Inclusive Education at a BRAC School - perspectives from the children

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Inclusive Education at a BRAC School - perspectives from the children

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Education for All? This is still not areality for most children with disabilities

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Education for All? This is still not areality for most children with disabilities

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Educate to hate the use of education in the creation of antagonistic national identities in India and Pakistan

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Language policy toward equity how bilingual teachers use policy mandates to their own ends

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When gender-responsive, quality education is available to all it has the potential to transform societies and build sustainable peace. A joint initiative from the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), the EiE-GenKit is a core resource package for gender in education in emergencies. The EiE-GenKit is the first resource of its kind, providing education practitioners with practical tools to promote gender-responsive programming from crisis to peace and sustainable development. The EiE-GenKit is based on extensive research and consultation with the latest resources, evidence, new tools and good practice available in one easy-to-use package. The EiE-GenKit builds on existing humanitarian processes for a streamlined approach to gender-responsive EiE. The EiE-GenKit offers tools for practical and immediate use including checklists, tipsheets and assessment templates supporting practitioners to ensure that each phase of an EiE intervention is gender-responsive. Bridging the gap between what we know about gender-responsive EiE and the tools we need to make it happen, the EiE-GenKit aims to promote improved gender and education outcomes of learners living in crises.

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When gender-responsive, quality education is available to all it has the potential to transform societies and build sustainable peace. A joint initiative from the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI), the EiE-GenKit is a core resource package for gender in education in emergencies.

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Global Data Base on the Right to Education

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Global Data Base on the Right to Education

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Fresh updates available on UNESCO's Global Database on the Right to Education | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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Although education is a well-established and universally recognized human right under international law, it remains out of reach to many. Globally millions of children are out-of-school and millions of adults are deprived of learning opportunities. Despite advances in improving access to education through the adoption of strong national legal and policy frameworks, there is still much work to be done.

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Un Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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Un Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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