How did the world do on its primary education goal, why Eritreans are fleeing their country, and how to help Nepal
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Version 0 of 1. How close has the world come to ensuring every child receives a primary education? In the latest instalment in our series looking back at the millennium development goals, we examine the second goal: universal primary education. There’s an explainer on what global leaders agreed to in 2000, a list of 15 achievements of the past 15 years, and case studies of education delivery in Uganda and Mali. As the migrant crisis escalated and more lives were lost at sea, we spoke to Eritreans who explained why they felt compelled to flee their country. Researcher Dan Connell also shared his views on the crushing repression that drives Eritreans to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean, and Syrian-Palestinian refugee Ali Sandeed spoke of his earlier plans to pay a smuggler to take him to Europe. And as the Nepal earthquake disaster continues to unfold, here is a list of some of the appeals that have opened to assist survivors. Elsewhere on the site Opinion Two years after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 1,000 garment workers, Labour Behind the Label’s Sam Maher asked why worker conditions hadn’t changed. Kishore Singh, UN special rapporteur on the right to education, argued against the privatisation of education, claiming it worsens inequality. Plus, Anti-Slavery International director Aidan McQuade wrote on the important distinctions between smuggling and trafficking, and why politicians must know this in order to address the migrant crisis. Multimedia Video: Sierra Leone: ‘Schools are opening, but I can’t afford food or to pay the children’s school fees’ Podcast: Water and sanitation in health centres in Mali Gallery: Fishermen and tigers struggle for survival in India’s Sundarbans Take part Is education making the grade in your part of the world? Tell us what education delivery is like where you live or work. If you’re a student, teacher or parent, share photos of your classroom via Guardian Witness. If possible, please include any details you have on average class sizes at the school, the graduation rate, teacher-to-staff ratios, and how the quality of education has changed over the past 15 years. We’ll publish the best submissions as part of our coverage on the state of education around the world. What you said: top reader comment On the piece Rana Plaza: Two years after the tragedy, why has so little changed?, igloo43 wrote: Though I don’t disagree with any of the points made by the author, we have to be careful we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater here. I’ve been working in Bangladesh for the last three years and have had the opportunity to visit both RMG factories and also the rural villages from which the workers originate. While it is no doubt true that working conditions in the factories are often unacceptable and need to be reformed, there is certainly nothing idyllic about life in poor, rural communities in Bangladesh and it is doubtful that the women would be better off if they stayed back in the village. Economic growth and industrialisation is not the problem; it is actually a major part of the solution (the other ‘part’ being to ensure that a policy and regulatory framework exists that ensures that the economic growth is equitable). It is not beyond a country like Bangladesh to achieve this, though it will take time and - regrettably - more pain along the way. Highlight from the blogosphere From Oxfam’s Poverty to Power: Sport can reach places where other aid and development programmes struggle. So why are we ignoring it? And finally … Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global Development website. Follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @swajones,@LizFordGuardian, @MarkC_Anderson and @CarlaOkai – on Twitter, and join Guardian Global Development on Facebook. |