Last month, we had discussed how the community could support underprivileged youths through various means such as performing volunteer work, donation of funds to charities, and the contribution of goods to shelters. We briefly spoke about the donation of supplies like textbooks and reading books as it directly correlates to development and growth of a child’s education. To build upon that subpoint, for June’s blog, we will be highlighting the value of education in an underprivileged society and the importance of raising awareness in our own communities about supporting the underprivileged youth.
As of 2019, an estimated 8% of the 787 million primary school children (58.4 million) have limited or no access to education, according to UNESCO. Even though the data fluctuated post pandemic, as of 2023, 244 million of children are still out of school. This is devastating news because this means that the majority of the children from places like sub-saharan Africa, south Asia, southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East can not read or write. The ability to read, write, and efficiently communicate are essential tools that a person must have to be successful in the working world. When a person is not equipped with these basic life skills, they are faced with limited opportunities for personal growth and development, leading to a lack of self-confidence, ultimately lessening their chances to live a successful and happy life.
Since the beginning, the country has put in some effort in supporting the underprivileged youth such as the EASA (Every Student succeeds Act) that was established in 2015. Like the No Child Left Behind Act, it gave support to students despite their race, income, zip code, disability, home language, or background. However, there is still much that our community can do to ensure that more students have access to education. For example, in the Bay Area, we can push for governments to allocate additional resources to education budgets with the focus of providing financial support to schools in underprivileged districts like the Los Angeles Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District. Funding can be implemented to improve the infrastructure, teacher training, curriculum, and school supplies. To add on, governments and institutions are adding scholarship and grant programs to support low-income families and underprivileged students.
In all, everyone can contribute by either donating materials to their nearest charities, non-profit organizations, or shelters! Every penny and pencil given is a step towards a better future!
Bibliography:
“/ /.” / / - Wiktionary, https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/244m-children-wont-start-new-school-year-unesco?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab20005515a77718e8e292f3ca3ef2b1c6668edade0bb2e5dea36963e32a45460864d408926496c4143000374251bb9c5baeb9f6f2f2db1b14dad5b28f6c26d1dcc5d65aac53c00163d1c1b. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Roser, Max. “Access to basic
education: Almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school.” Our World in Data, 2 November 2021, https://ourworldindata.org/children-not-in-school. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) | U.S.” Department of Education, https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn. Accessed 21 June 2023.
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