Educational NGOs

Overview of Educational NGOS

NGOs are civil society actors. They have a specific agenda for the improvement of society, and act on the desire to advance and improve the human condition (Gallin 2000). In 1990, the decade of “Education for All” (EFA) was launched in Jomtien, Thailand. There were six goals set in Jomtien and in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, these goals were reaffirmed for another 15 years until 2015 (Torres ). They are:

• Goal 1 - Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
• Goal 2 - Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to, and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
• Goal 3 - Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs.
• Goal 4 - Achieving a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.
• Goal 5 - Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.
• Goal 6 - Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills. (UNESCO 2000)

Since the Dakar conference, the coordination group has been set up to ensure, in collaboration with UNESCO, that there are follow-up of activities as well as programs and mechanisms for NGOs under the area of “Education For All”. The Coordination Group is composed of eight representatives of civil society organizations, comprised of five regional organizations, two international organizations, and one representative of the UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee (CCNGO 2001).

BRIEF HISTORY OF NGOs

NGOs first appeared on the international scene in the nineteenth century (excluding the religious and academic networks from the middle ages) due to a rise in the middle class and their ability to devote time, education, and resources to joining associations. In 1978, The NGO Committee became a permanent committee in the United Nations (Willetts 1996). However, it was only in the 1980s that there was a real rise in international non-governmental organizations (Schafer 1999). The World Development Report 2007 highlights the need for attention in the education sphere. The theme of this report is youth, ages 12 to 24. Along with the struggle with basic needs that many countries face, the global economy also demands from them more technical and behavioral skills, especially those formed during the ages of 15–24. The report highlights the need for education, as young people need to acquire the right knowledge and skills to become productive workers, good parents, and responsible citizens. (World Development Report 2007). Furthermore, overall improvement in education not only leads to economic and social progress, but to a more healthy civil society and democratic processes on all level of societies. In general, the aim of education is not only to acquire practical skills, but to change societal behaviors for a better quality of life, as well as to increase citizens’ participation to community life (CONGAD 2000).

Educational NGOs have played key roles in economic and social development worldwide, from contributing to primary education in Angola to providing secondary school students in Eastern Europe with the necessary computer skills to succeed in today’s increasingly competitive labor landscape. The strengths of NGOs lie in a number of areas. NGOs

• have proven access to poor and remote areas where government programs and macroeconomic policies have otherwise been unable to reach (Chaturvedi 1994);
• are able to mobilize the community through their local leadership (Chaturvedi 1994);
• focus on employing effective trainers and capable organizers of community education programs. By having training material, the community has a long term resource that can be used by future educational organizations. For example, CPAR and OXFAM developed a document entitled, “Training for Transformation, Problem Solving Participatory Approaches” in Malawi. This has been used by other NGOs as a resource in subsequent initiatives in this region (Chaturvedi 1994);
• serve as low-cost intermediaries between government and rural communities, and give assistance to poor/deprived portions of a population (Chaturvedi 1994);
• equip the population to help themselves (CONGAD 2000);
• consider education within the framework of social development, and not as a simple mechanism of instruction (CONGAD 2000);
• consider promotional activities of the educational sector as a natural prolongation of educational practices (CONGAD 2000).

This article will outline some of the activities carried out by NGOs in education, including involvement in civic education, gender issues in education, and peace and human rights education. It will then outline the diversity in educational NGO collaborations, specifically partnerships with governments, the private sector, and multiple stakeholders will be examined.

Civic Education

A civic education program administered by educational NGOs has contributed greatly to democratic processes and more globally and politically-aware populations throughout the developing world. With this awareness, people then become trained in administering justice and ensuring democratic processes (CONGAD 2000). This type of education equips students with knowledge and skills to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens. It also allows for people to build a culture of peace, observance of human rights, and a participatory democracy (HURINET 1999). Educational NGOs in Uganda, for example, have focused on civic education and experienced positive results. In the mid-1990s, four separate organizations pooled their resources to develop a civic education manual entitled “Civic Education and Democracy: Towards Free and Fair Elections 1996 and Beyond”, which was later endorsed by six other NGOs (HURINET 1999). This type of initiative increased the population’s awareness during an election period, and also equipped them with the knowledge and resources to perpetuate the democratic process in the future.

Closing the Gender Gap

The education of girls is closely related to social and economic development. It is also linked to reduced fertility rates, improved child survival rates, longer life expectancies, lower death rates, greater provision of basic needs, and more rapid rates of economic growth (Schafer 1999). It appears that gender inequality in education does impede economic growth. A study by Klasen examines South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and the impact of gender-balanced education on economic growth. The findings show that if these regions had made more balanced educational achievements in 1960, and if they had done more to promote gender-balanced growth in education, their economic growth could have been up to 0.9% per year faster than what actually occurred (Klasen 1999).

Many states have increasingly faced challenges in education, especially in the administering of equal education to female children. Some of these challenges ranged from conflicting views on economic and social outcomes of primary education, to specific school-based issues such as improving the quality of textbooks and improving teachers’ performances, and finally to systemic problems such as reducing the gender gaps in enrollment, retention, and achievement, as well as increasing financing for primary education (Wazir 2000). NGOs have a large part to play in closing the gender gap in education across various countries in the developing world. In Senegal, it was found that women would be the main beneficiaries of programs set up by NGOs. Actions taken by NGOs would focus on combating exclusion, poverty, and ignorance. Specifically, the main actions for women in Senegal were related to building classrooms, women’s homes, kindergartens, reading centers, and libraries. Materials were also developed for this group that included learning guides, audio-visual equipment, a syllabus in national languages, brochures, and films (CONGAD 2000).

There are a number of actions taken by NGOs that can work to decrease the gender gap. They include:

1. Raising awareness on the social and economic benefits to educating girls;
2. Decreasing the cost of girls’ education for parents;
3. Developing relevant gender sensitive curriculum;
4. Promoting the training and recruitment of female teachers;
5. Improving access by reducing the distance to schools;
6. Promoting community participation in the planning, development, and management of educational programs;
7. Promoting literacy training of parents;
8. Using multiple delivery systems ranging from formal to informal to alternative. (Wazir 2000)

Educational NGOS and their importance and peace and human rights education

Peace education is a component of a child’s right to education. Section 1(d) of Article 29 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child addresses this: “The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin ...” The right to an education includes an education in human rights, as it makes possible the educating of people about human rights and prepares them for the active protection of human rights of others (Spring 2004). Some objectives in delivering peace education include:

• Teaching how to think rather than what to think about issues;
• Developing critical thinking skills in an informed citizenry;
• Deepening understanding of the multiple factors at the local, national, regional and global levels that either foster or undermine peace;
• Encouraging attitudes and actions which promote peace;
• Conveying relevant information and fostering a responsive attitude to current and future security challenges through the development and widespread availability of improved methodologies and research techniques;
• Bridging political, regional and technological divides by bringing together ideas, concepts, people, groups and institutions;
• Projecting at all levels the values of peace, tolerance, non-violence, dialogue and consultation as the basis for interaction among peoples, countries and civilizations (Roche 2003).

Many NGOs deliver peace and human rights education to beneficiaries in differing ways. For example, in Japan, organizations such as the Buraku Liberation League and National Association of Disabled People deal with minority education issues, and several Dowa Educators’ Associations across the country deliver ethnic minority education to address the discrimination that face people from the Dowa districts. Some activities run by the National Federation of Dowa Educator’s Associations include an annual assembly of teachers, regular intensive discussions on its own policies, protests, and policy advocacy (Nabeshima et al 2001).

Collaboration

Government - Many NGOs opt to collaborate with the government of the country they are operating within. In India, NGOs complementing existing government educational programs has been an effective form of program delivery (Wazir 2000). Similarly, in Malawi, collaborations have been mainly on a one-to-one basis between an NGO and the government. In both instances, the problem that NGOs have run into is that there is no coordinating mechanism and framework for NGOs in general. Therefore, though NGOs have been welcomed in the implementation of educational programs, often times they have not been consulted on the policies, creation, design and evaluation of these programs (Chaturvedi 1994). NGOs often face insular governmental structures that may not want the input of outside agencies and interests. The Private Sector/Foundations & Educational NGOs - The private sector has also found areas to collaborate with educational NGOs, and is increasingly supplementing resources that NGOs are unable to find in the public arena. For example, in 2005, the Skoll Foundation granted the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) $505,000 over 3 years to support and expand this program that educates girls in poor, rural communities in Africa. CAMFED works with groups of girls who encourage one another to stay in school, get jobs, start businesses and become leaders in their communities. The organization has implemented its program in more than 30 districts in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania and is looking to expand to other countries. This organization supported over 68,290 children in school since 1993. It reached more than 480,000 community members through various initiatives in 2004 alone. Skoll funding will helped CAMFED open 21 new district centers, develop training programs to support replication, promote national-level initiatives to support girls’ education and hire additional staff (Skoll 2005).

Similarly, in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated US$5 million to The Gandhi Institute in India. This NGO runs a program called the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's Free Job-Oriented Computer Training Programme, which targets educated, unemployed youth (Gandhi Institute of Computer Education and Information 2000). Other companies have worked closely with NGOs to support on-going programs in education through technical assistance in the forms of financial or managerial and information systems support. There are many areas for growth in terms of private sector participation. They include supporting

• policy implementation at the management level;
• the training of teachers and curriculum development;
• initiatives that directly reach children (e.g. equipment and materials);
• the general educational infrastructure (Wazir 2000).

Multiple Stakeholders: Powerful Players to Move Global Education Forward - This type of collaboration has been identified as the most difficult to implement, since it requires the consideration of all parties involved, their motivations, needs, and goals. However, if successful, it is an effective way to infiltrate the education system to improve the existing structures. Collaboration between media, people’s movements, government officials, the corporate sector, foundations and philanthropic institutions, and trade unions are all possible avenues (Wazir 2000), and can have an immense impact on education, as each stakeholder covers various needs and can approach problems through their own specific expertise.

A good example of a multiple stakeholders approach is found through the work of the international organization of the educational labor NGOs, the International Federation of Workers’ Education Associations (IFWEA), which was founded in 1947 and has 75 organizations in 51 countries and six affiliated international organizations. Its national affiliates include specialized education NGOs linked to the labor movement, trade unions (often through their education departments), educational institutions of social-democratic parties, think tanks and research institutes. The IFWEA developed the International Study Circle (ISC) project, which aims to facilitate an international education program on globalization issues. The ISC involves using the Internet to bring together groups of participants based in several countries. They then work simultaneously according to a common curriculum, set of materials and educational method. Each local study circle has a facilitator. Between meetings, each group has access to materials on the Internet, including the results of discussions and work completed by other countries in previous sessions (Gallin 2000).

Conclusion

Education is not simply the acquisition of reading skills and simple mathematics. Instead, education encompasses learning about the environment, health and population issues, moral and affective domains, and spiritual and cultural values (CONGAD 2000). Furthermore, high quality education is vital for sustained social and economic development of nations. For many people living in developing nations, international NGOs provide hope for educational opportunities for their children. International NGOs have access to global networks of transportation, communication, and information technology. These associations promote universally recognized norms, including increases in educational enrollments, increased access to quality, standards of teacher training, and equal enrollments of boys and girls (Schafer 1999). Therefore, it becomes clear that educational NGOs are a veritable force that impacts and improves lives in ways that the governmental sector cannot.

References

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Announcements. 2000. Gandhi Institute Receives US$5 Million Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation http://www.gatesfoundation.org/GlobalDevelopment/SpecialInitiatives/Announcements/Announce-287.htm

CCNGO 2001. Collective Consultation of NGOs on Education For All

CONGAD. 2000. Education for all to year 2000: NGOs and civil society contribution assessment. Dakar: CONGAD.

Chaturvedi, Suvira. 1994. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the education sector: a needs assessment. Malawi: USAID.

Gallin, Dan. Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper Number 1. 2000. Trade Unions and NGOs: A Necessary Partnership for Social Development Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development Hill, Felicity; Aboitiz, Mikele; Poehlman-Doumbouya, Sara. 2003. Nongovernmental Organizations' Role in the Buildup and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2003 Vol 28, No 4 Chicago: University of Chicago HURINET (U) Management Committee. Human Rights Network. 1999. NGOs and civic education: a review of the state of civic education in Uganda (1996-1998). Kampala, Uganda: Human Rights Network.

Klasen, Stephan. 1999. Policy Research Report on Gender and Development ,Working Paper Series, No. 7. Does Gender Inequality Reduce Growth and Development? Evidence from Cross-Country Regressions. The World Bank Development Research Group/ Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network

Makuwira, Jonathan. 2004. Non-governmental organizations and Participatory Development in Basic Education in Malawi. Current Issues in Comparative Education Vol 6(2) New York: Teachers College Columbia University.

Nabeshima, Yoshiro; Akuzawa, Mariko; Hayashi, Shinichi; Park, Koonae. 2001. Japan: Human Rights Education in Schools. Human Rights Education in Asian Schools.

Roche, Douglas. 2003. The Human Right to Peace. Ottawa: Novalis.

Skoll Foundation. 2005. Recipients of 2005 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship http://www.skollfoundation.org/grantees/socialentrepreneurship/index.asp

UNESCO. 2000 Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments Dakar: UNESCO

Wazir, Rekha, ed. 2000. The gender gap in basic education: NGOs as change agents. California: Sage Publications.