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Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Education
EDUCATION-JAPAN: Visa Crackdown Adds to Foreign Students’ Woes
It took Chaturani Perera two years to convince Japanese immigration officials to grant her a student visa. The 20-year-old Sri Lankan had to prepare the necessary documents and accrue a hefty 10,000 U.S. dollars - her family's life savings - in a bank accountEDUCATION-SWAZILAND: School Funds for AIDS orphans So Near – Yet So Far
Swazi school children returned to their hostels Friday (May 7) in preparation for the second term of the academic year. However, a question mark hangs over the fate of thousands of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children who may not be permitted to continue their schooling this term.EDUCATION-INDIA: Elite Schools Getting Lessons in Equality
Tripping along to her drab, run-down government school in the Okhla industrial suburb of India's capital, Minu Tanwar dreams of the day she can shift to one of the posh schools here, patronised by the rich.BRAZIL: Violence in Schools – ‘Most Fights Are Between Girls’
Marcela, an 18-year-old high school student in this Brazilian city, told IPS that most of the fistfights and shouting matches these days in her school are between girls.RIGHTS: Cult Students Control the Campus, their Parents Run Nigeria
Omoyele Sowore’s attackers wore red baseball hats and covered their faces.COMMUNICATION-BRAZIL: Info Technologies for Social Change
Businessman Rodrigo Baggio, 32, decided 11 years ago to do what he could to "put an end to the digital apartheid" that prevails in Brazil.RIGHTS-UGANDA: Deaf People Speak Out Against Marginalisation
People with disabilities in Uganda say they have been marginalised for too long. They are now demanding that their basic rights be restored and recognised.LABOUR-BRAZIL: Unemployment Up for University Graduates
The Brazilian labour market trends of the past few years belie the notion that a university education is enough to ensure one a decent job and a tranquil future.U.S.: Hub of 1960s Protests Turns Quiet
Walking through the famous Sproul Plaza at the University of California in Berkeley, it is hard to imagine it as the place where thousands gathered in the late 1960s to protest against the Vietnam War.EDUCATION: EU Asked to Counter Child Labour
The EU must promote education as a way of eliminating child labour in developing countries, says an alliance of civil society groups.HEALTH-ZAMBIA: Anger at Move to Declare Schools Condom-Free Zones
One step forward, three steps backwards: that's how various AIDS activists, parents and teachers in Zambia are describing government's decision to ban the distribution of condoms in schools on the grounds that it promotes promiscuity.EDUCATION-PAKISTAN: Children Draw Line on Rights, War and Peace
''He's a freedom fighter,'' said the 11-year-old who had drawn Raphael, of Ninja Turtle fame. No one, however, had drawn the tanks, missiles or armed soldiers commonly seen at children's art exhibitions on war and peace.EDUCATION-CHILE: No More Discrimination Against Pregnant Students
Ruth Muñoz told IPS she was kicked out of her private high school in the Chilean capital when she became pregnant at the age of 16.PAKISTAN: Concern Rises over Torching of Foreign-Funded Schools
Arsonists have struck nine schools in the remote hills of northern Pakistan, sparking official concern that Taliban or other Islamist groups critical of organisations that get foreign aid could be targeting the area.EDUCATION-BRAZIL: Too Many Lawyers, Not Enough Quality
A country with an intense production of sometimes overlapping federal, state and local laws and statutes like Brazil, Latin America's giant, needs many lawyers.INDIA: Gov’t Backs Business Schools More than Primary Education
India's lopsided policy of supporting higher education with public money while grossly neglecting primary schools is now being reinforced by recent moves by the central government, led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).EDUCATION-CAMEROON: Schools for Scandal
Authorities in Cameroon are engaged in a battle to stem corruption in the education system where, as mathematics teacher Victor Pene describes it, graft "is in the process of institutionalizing itself".THAILAND: Amid Violence, Final Bell Tolls for Islamic Schools
As the violence in Thailand's south threatens to spiral out of control, the government has begun sharpening its knives with a view to cracking down on Islamic schools in the region.EDUCATION: Basic Schooling the Foundation of Development – Report
Investing in universal primary education is one of the best ways for poor nations to boost economic growth, their citizens' health and other indicators of development, says a new report released by a group of 16 private U.S. development and relief agencies.ASIA: Region’s Report Card in Education Needs Improvement
A disturbing report card on the state of primary education in Asia highlights the daunting task that governments face in meeting the goal of ensuring universal primary education by 2015.EDUCATION: Zimbabwe’s Miracle Fades
It was once celebrated as a rare African success story, an example of what committed leadership can do.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Two teachers work in a classroom in Forces Vives School in Dori, Burkina Faso. Credit: UNICEF/UNI978361
Safe and uninterrupted education is a fundamental right for all children. Education is paramount to global development, as it has been proven that investing in education – especially for girls and children – contributes significantly to economic growth and prosperity. Although more than 1 billion children go to school, many are subjected to conditions that are not conducive to a proper learning environment, including makeshift facilities, a lack of supplies, violence in classrooms, inadequate sanitation, untrained instructors, and widespread school closures. Since 2015, there have been immense gains in education with an increase of 109 million children in school. However, as of 2023, 272 million children are still out of school.
High poverty levels in developing countries also impede children’s access to a proper education. For example, from the early to mid 2000s, Sub-Saharan African nations witnessed a dramatic decline in trained teachers due to inadequate funding in the education sector. Furthermore, major cuts to United States international aid threaten an estimated 23 million additional children's access to education, as USAID‑funded school programmes across Africa and Asia face closure.
Various other factors contribute to the decline of education, notably hunger, which has increased as conflict and climate change interfere with global food production and dissemination. Meanwhile, certain social and cultural practices also impede children’s access to education, with gender inequality, discrimination, child labour, and child marriages preventing millions of children from attending school. Economic conditions such as the inaccessibility of higher education also affect disenfranchised communities across the world. In extreme situations, such as warfare where educational facilities are destroyed in their totality, notably in Gaza and Sudan, entire generations of children might grow up without access to education. Rebuilding educational infrastructure is a long and arduous process, especially when violence persists across generations, and this significantly stunts the development of societal prosperity and stability.
IPS is dedicated to telling the shocking truths about worldwide education through impassioned opinion pieces and comprehensive articles, highlighting global issues that impede worldwide education and the courses of action being taken by organizations such as UNICEF and Education Cannot Wait.
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