ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION

Access to Quality Education.

Last week we discussed the imperative of education and its importance in ensuring that we are liberated from mental, physical or emotional shackles. This week we would discuss Access to Education.

103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, more than 60% of whom are women. The UN introduced the 4th goal on quality education by highlighting the fact that access to education can help lift people out of poverty, bring them to an understanding of the world around us and provide better opportunities for everyone.

It's one thing to understand  the importance of education,  to have institutions of learning in every area and corner across the globe yet it's another to have access to education. What then would have to be in place before we can say that every one around the world has access to quality education both young and old?

It is possible to be enrolled in a school and yet lack access to quality education thereby leaving the individual in no place better than he/she was before coming in contact with the institution of learning, a classic example is the situation in Guyana, where UNICEF in a discussion  in 2012, highlighted the fact that 33% of children who had completed sixth grade did not acquire basic literacy skills.
The fourth sustainable development goal enjoins us to ensure that by 2030, men and women have equal access to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education including university.
Access to quality education would mean first the availability of avenues of learning and the complete removal of any form of barrier or limitations that impede people from gaining access to quality education.

These factors could be lack of electricity, environmental factors such as climate change, inequality, poverty, hunger ,  issues on fundamental human rights and cultural practices amongst others.

The list is inexhaustible. The twist to this which is the focal point of this post is that many of us through our actions foster the lack of access to education, either directly or indirectly most especially in our use of the environment. For example, lack of sanitation and good water is an impediment to access to education as students living in unsanitary environments are prone to illnesses incidental to living in a dirty environment, the ultimate effect of which may affect their attendance in school.
We can not begin to discuss all the factors that impede access to education, what we must do is to think about what we do, how our actions impede access to education and what could be done going forward.


We are advised to think of our actions in terms of our use of the environment and whether such actions can potentially impede access to quality education in any way.



We should look out for means by which we could bring education to door steps. This could be by volunteering in a school that is short of teachers, taking education as a career path if you find out that you have a passion for it(not focusing on the immediate financial gain as there is so much money to be made from the education sector on the long run), frowning at illiteracy through sponsorship, you can find out what the average cost of education is in your local community and send a child or adult who is not educated to school or back to school as the case may be. Help provide scholarship schemes for students who are financially challenged. This could be by talking to relatives, friends, persons or organizations who have the capacity to contribute to the scheme no matter how little. You may also contribute by providing learning materials such as textbooks, writing materials, notebooks, school bags, meals and transportation to school amongst others.
Live for access to quality  education! Ensure that you contribute actively to the removal of every barrier to quality education that is existing in your immediate environment.
Be globally conscious. Research, surf the Internet and make good use of social media to find out barriers to access to quality education and join global campaigns and actions aimed at the eradication of such barriers.


Lastly, share this post and contribute through your comments on this post as a sign of acceptance of the challenge to ensure access to quality education.
Equal access  to education for all persons will ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to come in contact with the liberation that quality education affords the ultimate goal of which is progress in the achievement of the sustainable development goals and a sustainable world!
Thank you for taking time to read this post, should you have any comments, questions or contributions do not hesitate to use the comment box.

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