We're Taught Education Can End Poverty. Here's the Truth. | NYT Opinion

there's something I've been hearing my entire life one of my life models is education ends poverty but is that true and if so why aren't we doing it if you educate a child you also find a solution for a poverty imagine if one of the poorest countries in the world put as many kids in school as possible what would happen to that country here's the thing this place actually exists right now we're in a small town in Sierra Leone but this is not about this town or this country this is really about the idea that education can transform societies and create economic opportunities and Sierra Leone is the grandest of that Vision what unfolds here I think will help determine education policy in many other countries it's a gamble I'm hoping and praying that it succeeds but we don't know yet thank you so why is this classroom in a village in Sierra Leone overflowing with students well it starts with a different student I'm on Harvard's campus at a different school this is David sengay he studied engineering at Harvard MIT media lab he got his PhD from MIT he's an author a musician yeah Sierra Leone is known for a complicated set of sociopolitical challenges he worked for IBM it's a post-civil war and post Ebola country of Rapid population growth I will change Sierra Leone then he became minister of Education in Sierra Leone that's what I wanted one of the poorest countries in the world for decades school fees kept Millions from getting an education but under David cenge's plan the government is increased spending on education taking up about a fifth of the national budget now school is supposed to be free this is not the most advanced and forward-thinking educational Bill anyside and enrollment is up 50 percent hello good this is alamatu this is the toilet her father is dead and her mother sells Peppers at the market and the rats and the snakes are there problem here she's the youngest of seven siblings this is where you cook they can't afford electricity yet alamatu is thriving in school that's because of sengay's plan it's supposed to pay for tuition books and for some School meals has it changed your life yes that's how it changed my life your mother got no education she never went to school at all she's the first girl in her family to learn to read and write oh God so I think that if I become a lawyer I would change my family background I've learned there's often a huge gap between policies pronouncing the capital and what actually happens the Grassroots so if we uh see a few kids who are school age and not and you know not in uniform just clearly out of school let's just stop uh you want to hold on stop let's let's go talk to them I'm a journalist are you harvesting Palm nuts to make to make uh oil and are you in school yeah in Primary School do you have to pay school fees what happens to children who do not pay school fees or sometimes and the Bursar has a cane or what a cane and and how many strokes almost looks when the names are called how many children out of the 52 are beaten so almost half of the kids are beaten every week for not paying the school fees you know what do you make of that my immediate response is it's painful it's um because it violates everything that we've been working for it makes me want to cry like it's it's horrible almost every kid I spoke to there was some kind of illegal fee whether a school fee or a book fee or a lunch fee I think change is hard and change is possible changing a policy doesn't change a culture senge banned corporal punishment but everywhere I went I saw canes in classrooms so this is the key you know so even the sights of this this thing you know this get these kids you know conform but it's a tool so why are teachers beating kids for some it's discipline for others it's a punishment for not paying fees fees that shouldn't exist because many teachers traditionally relied on school fees for income how are you teachers paid how you need to survive too you need to eat Charlie the only way we survive because you take a Little Dream from beauty bits is that enough to pay the community teachers enough to survive when people face challenges Justified challenges poverty they can in turn justify their own wrong action those don't get changed by laws within a few days I'm not showing you this because I think senge and his colleagues are hypocrites who were lying about the policy in fact it's the opposite I see real success here they're trying and they recognize that they need to not only increase enrollment but also focus on outcomes that's the path to learning and eventually to Prosperity I've seen it before in South Korea in Bangladesh in China but in many countries we're facing a learning crisis it is proven easy to get more kids into school but those kids often aren't actually learning anything donors and politicians love to cut ribbons and put plaques on buildings things voters can see but changing a culture that's hard getting teachers to show up that's hard and above all investing in what happens inside those schools actual learning that's really hard 22 percent of our budget in Sierra Leone goes to education we don't think about this as a public expense we think about this as an investment you have to invest in people and investment takes time whether in South Dakota or Sierra Leone education Remains the best path out of poverty but that path is still too often broken for the kids who need it most fixing it is really difficult but that's what I see happening here and I return from one of the poorest countries on Earth and see lessons for the world I feel hope [Music] foreign

Channel: The New York Times

Views: 379,968

Keywords: Is education free in Sierra Leone?, Why is education free in Sierra Leone?, Does Sierra Leone have school fees?, Sierra Leone, Free education for all, Nicholas Kristof

Id: vP_VihdeIGY

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 22 2023