This article is focused on the following Sustainable Development Goals:
To all my students out there - how have you spent the last few months during the COVID-19 pandemic? Economies have crashed, countries have closed down, hospitals have reached maximum capacity, and countless lives have been lost. With the alarming spread of the virus, it’s as if the world has come to a stop. Our daily routines have been disrupted - as students, no longer can we freely commute to school, interact with friends, and participate in class discussions. No longer can we eat lunch from the canteen, make our way to the library to print study guides, or engage in extracurricular activities. I’ve realized, through this pandemic, that what used to be the “norm” was actually a privilege in disguise. Many of you are probably crawling out of bed and groaning over every online class you have to wake up for at 9:00 am - wishing for everything to go back to normal. But have you ever imagined what life might be if you didn’t have a computer or internet access at home?
As an estimate, more than 160 countries have mandated school closures, compromising almost 1.6 billion children’s education (World Bank). Even before the pandemic, 53% of children in low- and middle-income countries were still illiterate by age 10 - illustrating a “learning crisis” labeled by the World Bank and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization as learning poverty (World Bank). Though this “learning crisis” puts emphasis on the urgency of achieving SDG 4: Quality Education, the COVID-19 crisis has posed another layer of challenge to overcome (United Nations). Without adequate access to the internet or computers, children worldwide are experiencing an interruption in their important education - a vital component for a child’s success in the future.
To tackle this issue, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) is just one of the many organizations that have proposed creative and innovative solutions. In line with SDG 4: Quality Education, UNICEF has launched various programs across the globe to help with the continuity of education. For instance, in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ministry of Education has partnered up with UNICEF to introduce the School at Home initiative. The School at Home program is broadcasted on national television, aimed at children who do not have access to the internet or computers at home to resume their education (Miks and McElwaine). Similarly, in countries like Vietnam, UNICEF has also made sure to provide solutions for children who have disabilities or special needs, tying to SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. For children who have hearing disabilities, such as 10-year-old Tran (see fig. 1.), “the lack of accessible information can feel particularly isolating” (UNICEF). Hence, UNICEF Viet Nam has pledged to produce more online videos that accommodate children with hearing impairment. As an example, Tran has helped produce a video that informs its audience about how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (see fig. 2).
Fig. 1. 10-year-old Tran signing for an informational video from: Miks, Jason, and John McElwaine. “Keeping the World's Children Learning through COVID-19.” UNICEF, UNICEF, 20 Apr. 2020, www.unicef.org/coronavirus/keeping-worlds-children-learning-through-covid-19.
Fig. 2. Tran, 10-years-old, signing "A School Day of Little Linh" from"Cùng Nhau Phòng Tránh COVID-19". Facebook Watch, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/unicefvietnam/videos/2466324033678280. Accessed 16 June 2020.
UNICEF’s efforts all around the world are unequivocally helping the children who are in need - especially during this crisis. Circling back to SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, UNICEF’s initiatives are more important than ever. With the threat of COVID-19 on families’ financial stability, millions of children are being forced into child labor in order to support their family income. Not only does this take away from a child’s possible time for education, but it also presents detrimental health and safety issues. ILO (International Labor Organization) director, Guy Ryder, states that “as the pandemic wreaks havoc on family incomes, without support, many could resort to child labor”. According to studies cited by UNICEF, a 1% increase in poverty leads to a 0.7% increase in child labor (UNICEF).
Poverty and lack of education are a self-perpetuating and evil cycle. Without intervention from groups like UNICEF, it is difficult for many families and households in poorer circumstances to break out of the “Cycle of Poverty”. UNICEF allows children, even in communities where a computer or internet access is lacking, to pursue and receive an education online - regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. With education, children are given the ability to escape learning poverty, consequently resulting in higher socioeconomic status and more higher-education/career opportunities (Oxford Reference).
So, you’ve read about what UNICEF is doing - what can you do? The most important step - and arguably the easiest - is to first appreciate the privilege of education. If you were at home receiving an online education, you are part of the mere 10% of children in the world (Ritchie). Appreciate the privilege. Utilize the privilege. The next thing you can get involved with, which ties into SDG 4 and 10, is donating and contributing to UNICEF’s work. Whether that is donating money or resources that will help children and families struggling with the impacts of COVID-19, or simply informing yourself and spreading awareness about the impacts of the pandemic on child education, your actions are part of a bigger movement.
Next time you’re in a class, don’t take it for granted - there are kids who would kill to have what you have. Remember, change starts from you.
Further Reading
Click here for more information on the Cycle of Poverty.
Click here to see UNICEF’s response to COVID-19.
Click here to read 5 ways to help keep children learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An interactive about world education and COVID-19.
Works Cited
Facebook. "Cùng Nhau Phòng Tránh COVID-19". Facebook Watch, 2020,
https://www.facebook.com/unicefvietnam/videos/2466324033678280. Accessed 16 June
2020.
Miks, Jason, and John McElwaine. “Keeping the World's Children Learning through COVID-
19.” UNICEF, UNICEF, 20 Apr. 2020, www.unicef.org/coronavirus/keeping-worlds-
children-learning-through-covid-19.
Oxford Reference. “Cycle of Poverty.” Oxford Reference, Oxford Reference,
www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095655738.
Ritchie, Hannah. “How Many Children Are Not in School?” Our World in Data, Our World in
Data, 23 Jan. 2019, ourworldindata.org/how-many-children-are-not-in-school.
United Nations. “Goal 10 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United
Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg10.
---. “Goal 4 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United
Nations, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg4.
World Bank. “Learning Poverty.” World Bank, World Bank , 15 Oct. 2019,
www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/brief/learning-poverty.
---. “World Bank Education and COVID-19.” World Bank, World Bank, 10 June 2020,
www.worldbank.org/en/data/interactive/2020/03/24/world-bank-education-and-covid-
19.
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