Education for Disenfranchised Children

INTER-AMERICAN SYMPOSIUMUNDERSTANDING THE STATE OF THE ART IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND

CARE: THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF LIFE May 14 – 18, 2007

Organization of American States

Dean Cristol

The Ohio State University

What is childhood poverty?(The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, Jenni Marshall, 2003)

• Growing up without an adequate livelihood - without access to the financial and nutritional resources needed for survival and development (economic, physical and environmental resources).

• Growing up without opportunities for human development – opportunities to develop as a healthy person who will fulfil their potential in life. Opportunities include access to quality education and life skills, health and water/sanitation (social, cultural and physical resources).

What is childhood poverty?(The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, Jenni Marshall, 2003)

• Growing up without family and community structures that nurture and protect them - without having parents/guardians with time (or ability/desire) to care for them; without an extended family/community that can cope if parents and guardians are not able (or not there); or without a community that cares for and protects its younger generation (social and cultural resources). Children consulted in a Ugandan study, for example, also stressed that this involves their emotional, personal and spiritual development needs not being addressed.

• Growing up without opportunities for voice. For both adults and children, powerlessness and lack of voice (political resources) often underpins other aspects of poverty.

The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, Jenni Marshall, 2003

Children out of school by region (121 million), 2004

Source: The State of the World's Children 2007, UNICEF.

84.1

2.82.8

42.8

26.1

20.1

9.7

Western and CentralAfrica

Eastern/SouthernAfrica

Middle East/NorthAfrica

Eat Asia/Pacific

LatinAmerica/Caribbean

CEE/SIS

IndustrializedCountries

South Asia

Regional Enrollment and Attendance   Primary school

enrolment ratio2000-2005*net, male

Primary school enrolment ratio 2000-2005* net, female

Primary school attendance ratio (1996-2005*), net, male

Primary schoolAttendance ratio(1996-2005*), net, female

% of primary school entrants reaching grade 5, Admin. Data, 2000-2004* I-1 I-2

% of primary school entrants reaching grade 5, Survey data, 1997-2004* I-1 I-2

Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States

91 89 91 89 98 96

East Asia and Pacific 97 97 - - 93 -

Latin America and Caribbean 94 94 89 89 83 -

Middle East and North Africa 84 78 83 77 91 90

South Asia 90 84 81 75 61 93

Sub-Saharan Africa 70 66 63 59 66 84

World 90 86 78 75 79 90

• Indicator Notes:• I-1Percentage of children entering the first grade of primary school who eventually reach grade five.• I-2Source: Administrative data: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Survey data: DHS and MICS.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, unpublished tables. Calculations by the Children's Defense Fund.

Poverty Status During Previous 12 Months

NumberPoor

Under 18

PercentPoor

Under 18

PercentPoor

Age 18+

PercentPoor

Age 0-4

United States 12,423,390 17.5 10.8 19.7

Rate in lowest state 7.1 5.7 9.1

Name of lowest state NH NH NH

Rate in highest state 30.9 17.5 31.0

Name of highest state DC LA AR

Global Wealth Distribution, 2000

Population Share Wealth Share

North America 6.1 34.3

Latin America and Caribbean

8.2 4.4

Europe 14.9 29.5

Asia: China 22.8 2.6

Asia: India 15.4 0.9

Asia: High Income 4.5 22.9

Asia: Other 17.4 3.1

Africa 10.2 1.1

Oceania 0.6 1.2

World 100 100

James B. Davies, Susanna Sandstrom, Anthony Shorrocks, and Edward N. Wolff, 2006

Recap of the World Today

• Two in every five children in the developing world are undernourished

• 1.7 billion people are without safe water• Over half of humanity (3.3 billion) is without access to

adequate sanitation• One third of all children in developing countries fail to

complete four years primary education- the minimum required for basic numeracy and literacy.

• Nearly one billion people the world are illiterate• 121 million primary school age children (54 percent of

them girls) do not attend school

UNICEF 2002, The State of the Worlds Children, New York, Oxford University Press

High Achievers

“For most of them, their social indicators are now nearly comparable to those of industrialised countries, for their social investment has successfully tackled the worst manifestations of poverty: preventable child deaths, the powerlessness of illiteracy and the debilitation of ill-health. These achievements were made despite the fact that incomes were not necessarily growing rapidly when the ground for future gains was being laid.”

The Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2003

High Achievers

Three of the ten are Latin American and Caribbean Countries: Costa Rica, Cuba, and Barbados.

Bringing Social and Cultural Context to Programs

Working in the western highlands of Santa Cruz del Quiché and more recently in Huehuetenango and Sololá, Save the Children's ECD program is changing how young children learn. The program has expanded to include 35 schools, 2,400 students, and 100 teachers. As a result, children will be better prepared for primary school and more likely to stay in school.

Save the Children, 2007

Bringing Social and Cultural Context to Programs

Building on Guatamala's Mayan traditions, the bilingual approach builds learning skills through Mayan legends that also impart cultural heritage. A range of story-related activities develops children's cognitive, psychosocial, and communication, and problem-solving skills, while teaching them respect for nature, family and elders, and other Mayan values.

Save the Children, 2007

The Roving Caregivers - Jamaica

The Roving Caregivers Program run by the Rural Family Support Organization (RuFamSo), a Clarendon-based NGO and UNICEF partner. The Roving Caregivers Program is a non-formal, integrated program of child development and parenting education provided through a home-visiting service.

The Roving Caregivers - Jamaica

The Rovers reach rural children, many of whom are in families which cannot afford day care or do not understand the importance of providing proper care and stimulation for early childhood development. Rovers go from home to home to work with these young children and parents, introducing them to developmentally appropriate child-care practices. Each Rover is assigned to about 30 families and receives training in child development. They provide colorful and interesting toys and learning material for the children, many of which are made by participants in RuFamSo projects.

Research on Education and Family Size

Lloyd’s (1994) review of 14 studies found that both measures of children’s performance at school and the level of parental investment in children’s education, are mainly negatively related to the number of siblings. Hausmann and Székely (2001) showed that in 13 Latin American countries, on average, 21-year-olds in households with six or more children, have two years less education than children in households with one to three children.