Let us provide better education opportunities for rural children

Emilly Comfort Maractho

What you need to know:

  • A lot of thinking needs to be done to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on education, but also to close the widening gap between learners as a result of location.

Duncan Green tells one of the most compelling stories of inequalities in the book, From Poverty to Power. 
He narrates how a Norwegian girl can expect to go to a good school, followed by a university, and to be healthy and cared for right through to old age. 
And how in Sierra Leone only two in three girls start school at all, and many drop out along the way, deterred by having to find ‘user fees’ levied by the school or the low standards of education, or forced to stay home to care for their brothers and sisters, or to go out to work to feed the family. 

More so, only one in four women is able to read and write. It is crowned with how university is an impossible dream. 
Research like this amplifies global inequalities and attempts to paint the picture of a rich north and poor south. And that is true. 

So global development goals like Sustainable Development Goal four ultimately look to leaving no one behind, envisioning a world where all children can enjoy access to quality education. 
Yet, within countries of the south, there are also inconceivable stories of inequalities. 
Our world is so ridden by inequality it is of little interest to even write about.  We quickly move on. Even those of us saved by education eventually get swallowed up in this thing called life. 

If  we are policy makers, we become preoccupied with the big issues of national transformation, so much so that the small matters of the village are but of small consequence. 
We become consumed by everyday existential matters. 
This month has seen the return to school for our primary school children.  These children have been at home for a year.
 If there was any progress made towards achieving quality education for all, then Covid-19 has surely put them to the test. 

Covid-19 compounded an already difficult situation with equal opportunities in education, let alone quality education.
The risk we have now is that it is unlikely the goal to achieve quality education for all will be achievable by 2030, unless a lot of effort is put in place.
 The net effect of Covid-19 on socio-economic transformation will only become reality in a few years. 
Two things are needed to reclaim the loss of different kinds that has been made by the education sector and in particular to ensure that children in rural areas get fair opportunities.

One, there is urgent need for increased investment in education which, hopefully will be a big part of the national budget. 
Special attention should be paid to the administration of national examinations. 
Whereas there has been improvement over the years in this area, these are likely to regress if not enough is done to bridge the gap that has been created by Covid-19 with wide disparities between rural and urban schoolgoing children. 
For instance, many children in rural areas have been at home with no schooling for the last one year. 

But that is not true of children attending urban schools and of affluent parents, for whom only the mode of education changed, but not halted by Covid-19 per se. 
These have to write the same examinations at some point in the near future. 
The second thing we ought to consider seriously is how to narrow the gaps in learning created by Covid-19 through special programmes for children in rural areas. 
This can include improving conditions of learning environments for these children as well as teacher motivation. 

Rural areas rarely attract quality private education investment.  That is why a good budget for government schools that are affordable for rural children is important.
The return to school will be clearly affected by the stress that parents have had in varying degrees. 
Going back to school is not a matter of announcement that school is open. Where user fees apply, it is also an issue of affordability.
 
The Ministry of Education and Sports may wish to take keen interest on the rate of return to school and who is most affected, where. 
While it is understandable that a staggered return to school is the most logical thing, there is need to harmonise the school calendar before it turns into a big problem at all levels. 
What is clear is that everyone in the education cycle has changed. 
Parents now probably appreciate the work of teachers better, who in turn may not be appreciating the profession anymore. 

It is possible there are more teachers who will return to the classroom in body rather than in mind and spirit. Children may have also shifted in their attitude to learning. 
We need to be deliberate about providing better opportunities for children in rural areas. 
A lot of thinking needs to be done to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on education, but also to close the widening gap between learners as a result of location. 
This is the time for all stakeholders in education to work together for better results. 


Ms Maractho is the head and senior lecturer, Department of Journalism and Media Studies at UCU. 
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