GrimesandLogan1

TannerGrimesandSamanthaLogan
BethanySmith
EnglishIIHonors
1December2015
Education,theUltimateGoal
Imaginenotbeingabletoreadasimplesign,letaloneanentirebook,becauseaproper
educationisnotwithinreach.InAfrica,thisisacommonoccurrenceamongthecitizens,
especiallytheyoungergenerations.DespiteAfricaseffortstoprovideandimproveeducation,
manyfamiliesareincapableoftakingadvantageofitbecauseitisunstructuredandtoo
expensive.
TherearemillionsofpeopleinAfricawhocannotattendschoolbecausetheycannot
afforditormustprovidefortheirfamilies.Thehighcostsofschoolpreventsmanyfamilies
fromallowingtheirchildrentogetaneducation.Mostoftheseschoolscostmorethanthe
averagefamilycouldeverafford.Thecostofeducationisabouteighthundreddollarsperchild
thisincludestuitionandbooks(Weare).Amajorityofthesefamilieshaveaconstricted
budgetleavinglittleroomforextraexpendituressuchasschool.InAmerica,publicschool
comesoutofourtaxesandispracticallyfreeforstudents,evenmostprivateorcharterschools
donothavethedrasticpricetagdependingontheincomeofthefamily.Inmanycountriesthe
minimumwageamountisabouttwoAmericandollarsaday.Thisleavesmanybelowthe
povertyline(Mbengue).TheaveragehouseholdinAfricahastwoparentswithsixchildren.
Theyusewhatlittlemoneytheyhavetosendtheirsonsofftoschoolbecausetheyaremore

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likelytogainhigherpayingjobs(Schuetzenov).Gendergapsstillplayabigpartintheirsociety.
ChildrenfromtherichesttwentypercentofhouseholdsinGhanaaveragesixmoreyearsin
schoolfromthepooresthouseholds(Watkins).Comingfromawealthyfamilyprovidesbetter
opportunitiesforadvancementsinschoolaswellasprojectingabrighterfuturethanotherswho
comefromapoorfamily.SchoolisexpensiveinAfricaandtheconditionsarenotmuchbetter.
Thereislittlebenefitofattendingschoolduetotheconditionsoftheenvironmentorthe
materialtaught.ThirtysevenmillionAfricanchildrenwilllearnsolittlewhiletheyarein
schoolthattheywillnotbemuchbetteroffthanthosewhoneverattendschool(VanFleet).
Whileattendingschool,studentswillnotlearntheimportantskillsthatareneededfora
prominentfuture.TheU.S.literacyrateisalmost98%,whileitisabout58%insubSaharan
Africa(AfricaLiteracy).Manychildrencomefromfamilieswheretheparentscannot
read(Watkins).Oftenenough,achildsrolemodelisoneorbothoftheirparents.Iftheydonot
read,thechildrenwilllackthevisualimportance.Thiscreatesaconstantcycleofilliteracy.The
physicalschoolconditionsalsoneedimprovement.Amajorityoftheschoolslacksuppliessuch
asbooksandthingsthatwouldbeinanaverageclassroom.Someconditionsaresobadthat
classisheldunderneathtrees(Rotberg31).Theseschoolsnotonlylackresourcesbuttheyalso
lackteachers.Thereisnoqualityeducationwithoutaqualifiedteacher(Stateof).Studentsare
notgoingtogetapropereducationiftheydonothavetheteacherstoteachtheimportantskills
studentswillneed.Notonlyisitthefaultoftheteacher,butthesystemofeducation.Different
countriesusedifferentexamsandhavedifferentpassrates(Wilkinson).Everycountryis
differentandeachschoolisatadifferentlevel.ThereisnosetsystemandAfricaneedsto
improveonthat.

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TheeducationsysteminAfricahasmanyflawsandhasmuchroomforimprovement.
Rapidchangesintheworldareredefiningthebroadskillsetsthatstudentsneedtobe
adequatelypreparedtoparticipateinandcontributetotodayssociety(Stateof).Theworldis
quicklychangingeverydayandtheeducationsystemneedstochangewithitsoitcanfittodays
standardsandhelpprovidebetterfuturesforchildren.Earlychildhoodeducationisofcritical
value.Educationearlyinachildslifehelpstodevelopskills,knowledgeasenseof
responsibilityandconfidencewhileprovidingasoundbasisforlearning(Stateof).Education
isimportantforthegrowthofachild.Ifachildisnttaughtthebasicthingsatayoungagethan
whenthechildgetsoldertheywillnotbeabletogetagoodjobandmakeadecentamountof
money.Africaneedstomakeittheirmainconcerntofixit.NotallcountriesinAfricaprovide
pooreducation,butmostofthemdo.FixingthelearningdeficitcanhelpAfricaescapepoverty.
Itwouldopenupmanywindowsofopportunityforthepeoplethere.Kenya,forexample,
makeseducationcompulsoryfor12years,longerthanallothercountriesintheregion,including
thosewithahigherGDP,andithasahigherminimumwageforfulltimeworkthanits
neighbors(Mbengue).Improvingeducationcanmakeadramaticimpactonacountry.The
morepeopleprovidedwithaneducationthebettertheeconomywillget.Educationmayseem
likeasmallproblemcomparedtoeverythingelsegoingoninthosecountries,butitisnt.
Solvingthisproblemwouldhelpinsomanyways.
EducationinAfricaisabigproblemfacingtheirsocietytoday.Thisisaproblemthathas
manycontributingcomponentsandfactorswhichpreventsmanyfromexploitingthe
opportunities.Povertyisawidespreadnationalissuewithmanyeffects.Theschoolsystemsare
greatlyimpactedbythis.Mostfamiliesmakebarelyenoughtoaffordthenecessitiesletalone

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spendalargesumofmoneyonaninferioreducation.Thequalityofeducationislacking
comparedtoothercountries.Thereisnosignificantdifferencebetweenstudentswhoarein
schoolandaveragechildrenwhocantaffordtogotoschool.Inadditionthephysicalschoolis
lackingaswell.Theydonthavetheresourcestheyneedtobuildaproperschool.Africahas
noticedtheseissuesandhastriedtoimprovethesystem.Somecountrieshavemadeschoola
requirementandputafocusonupdatingthequality.Whiletheseupdatesbenefittheschools,
theyeachcreatedaproblemoftheirown.
Thisisacrisisthatcarrieshighcosts.Itisconsigning
awholegenerationofchildrenandyouthtoafutureofpoverty,insecurityandunemployment
(Watkins).

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WorksCited
AfricaLiteracyFacts."
AfricanLibraryProjectChanginglivesbookbybook
.Web.17Nov.
2015.
Mbengue,Catherine."Africa'mustthinkbigforitschildren'."
CNN
.13Feb.2013.Web.17Nov.
2015.
Rotberg,Dr.RobertI,andDr.VictorOjakorotu,eds.
Africa:ProgressandProblemsEducation
inAfrica
.2014.Print
Schuetzenov,ChristopherF."BringingEducationtoAfricanGirls."
NewYorkTimes
.23Nov.
2015.Web.17Nov.2015.
StateofEducationinAfrica."
TheAfricaAmericaInstitute
.Web.17Nov.2015
VanFleet,JustinW."AfricasEducationCrisis:InSchoolButNotLearning."
Brookings
.17
Sept.2012.Web.16Nov.2015
Watkins,Kevin."TooLittleAccess,NotEnoughLearning:AfricasTwinDeficitinEducation."
Brookings
.16Jan.2013.Web.16Nov.2015.
"Weareoneworld."
AsanteAfricanfoundation
.2013.Web.17Nov.2015.

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Outline

I.
Introduction:

A.Hook
:Imaginenotbeingabletoreadasimplesign,letaloneanentirebook,becausea
propereducationisnotwithinreach.
B.Thesis
:DespiteAfricaseffortstoprovideandimproveeducation,manyfamiliesare
incapableoftakingadvantageofitbecauseitisunstructuredandtooexpensive.

II.
BodyParagraph:
(Educationcosts)
Howmuchtheymake
Livinginpoverty
Cantaffordschool
Genderdifferences

III.
BodyParagraph:
SchoolinginAfrica/fallingbehind
Lackofeducation(goingtoschoolfornoreason)
Teachers
SchoolsinAfrica
Knowledgecomparedtootherpartsoftheworld(Africaisbehind)
Lawsandpublicsystems

IV.
BodyParagraph:Howtheyneedtoorareimproving
Importance
Student

teacherratio
Laws
Example

V.
Conclusion