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Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Education
EDUCATION-TURKEY: Children Face Imprisonment
The young girl, GU (13) holds tightly onto her mothers hand and gazes around the court hall with wide, scared eyes. From afar it appears as if she is on a class visit to the judicial courts.EDUCATION: Romania’s Emigrating Youth
Young people in Romania are like the youth in any other European country. They are attracted to racy, trendy things such as fashion, fast foods, the latest computer programmes or hit songs.EUROPE – EDUCATION- Framework For Action Adopted
Delegates from some 40 countries, including ministers of education and social affairs, Wednesday adopted a Framework for Action whichrenewed a commitment for basic education and set new targets for the year 2015.EDUCATION-POLAND: Stock Taking On Basic Education Provision
Delegates from some 40 countries, including ministers of education and social affairs, gather in the Polish capital this Sunday to take stock of basic education provision in Europe over the last decade.EDUCATION-PAKISTAN: Reforms in Consultation with Communities
The military-led government seems to be taking the challenge of universalising education in Pakistan by 2010 very seriously, and has promised quality education with the support of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).POLITICS-MEXICO: Students Vote to End 9-Month University Strike
Approximately 200,000 students, professors and employees of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) voted overwhelmingly in favour of ending the strike that has paralysed the largest Latin American university for the last nine months.EDUCATION-MONGOLIA: Transition Pushes Children Out of School
On a bitterly cold winter day, nine year-old B Erdene Suvd (which means 'Precious Pearl), stands on a crowded downtown bus stop here with her seven-year-old brother, Altanhuyag.EDUCATION-ASIA: Still the Best Fallback in Crisis
Asia's recent economic shock has taught the world that major investments in education are a strong fallback position when hard times strike, government officials and experts said at the opening of a regional education conference here Monday.EDUCATION-ASIA: Fiddling with the Figures
Not just the scorecards that 41 Asia- Pacific governments submit on education - but where they got t heir figures - are being tested at a conference that began here Monday to gauge progress in meeting education goals in the last decade.EDUCATION-VIETNAM: High Marks Hide Rural-Urban Gaps
Vietnam's steady gains in basic education stand up well against many of its richer neighbours, but they mask weaknesses like the sizable gaps between the cities and rural areas.EDUCATION-SOUTH AFRICA: Growing Concern Over Falling Standards
Only 48,9 percent of South African school children who wrote their final exams in 1999 passed the test, according to figures released by the Minister for Education, Kader Asmal.EDUCATION-ARGENTINA: Less and Less a Means of Social Ascent
Public education in Argentina has traditionally provided youngsters from poor families the opportunity to obtain a university degree. But over the past decade, it has become less and less a means of social ascent.CHILDREN-NEPAL: Out of Carpet Factories And into School
Rekha Yogi, 11, might never see the Nepali carpets displayed in plush department stores in the West. But she knows what the little labels attached to the beautifully- woven rugs mean.EDUCATION-PERU: Literacy Programme Targets Women
Cirila Caceres lifts her six-month-old son to her breast and begins to feed him while waiting for the arrival of the instructor of her reading class.EDUCATION-TANZANIA: Quota System Offers Hope For Girls
It is afternoon. Eliudi Namganga (not real name) is having lunch at the University of Dar es Salaam's cafeteria.EDUCATION-BENIN: WFP Hands Out Food Aid To Keep Girls In School
More and more girls are going to school in Benin's southwestern region of Couffo, thanks to a World Food Programme (WFP) initiative which distributes "dry rations" to impoverished parents.TRADE: Schools Brace for Future Trade War
Question: Why is education like a side of beef?EDUCATION-ECUADOR: Teachers Accused of Sexual Harassment
A survey of 36 public and private high schools in Ecuador has revealed the disturbing fact that 22 percent of students are the victims of sexual harassment by teachers.DEVELOPMENT-COSTA RICA: Education and Democracy Still a Challenge
Costa Rica's big challenge, after six decades of major social achievements, is to reverse the backsliding of its education and democracy, says a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).EDUCATION-TANZANIA: A Preserve For A Privileged Few ?
Paul Shabani's day begins and ends at the Indian Ocean harbour in the hot and humid Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam, where he makes about 400 shillings selling iced water to dock workers.RIGHTS-BENIN: Free Education To Increase Female Enrollment In School
The West African state of Benin has set aside 500 million CFA francs to provide free education aimed at increasing female enrollment in rural schools.« 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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