Source: Wide Angle: "Back to School"
In 2002, the nation of Kenya implemented a free public education policy. Children of Kibera, one of Africa’s largest urban slums, are now able to attend school, but some still end up among the street children in bordering Nairobi. In this video from Wide Angle, meet Joab, a 13-year-old boy from Kibera who dropped out of school, but was rescued from the streets with the help of a schoolteacher.
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Many Americans assume that free public education is a fact of life, but that is not true for over 100 million children around the world. The 20th Century saw a growing divide as more and more industrialized countries embraced state-supported education, and non-industrialized countries did not. In the non-industrialized countries, education remained bound by traditional practices or was available only to the wealthy.
To address this problem 1,100 participants from 164 countries met in Senegal in April of 2000 to adopt the Dakar Framework for Action, a re-affirmation of the 1990 World Declaration on Education for All. One of the commitments made in the Dakar Framework was to ensure 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.
While the Dakar Framework states that education is a human right, the reality for children around the world is very different. Education is often restricted by gender and/or income. In some places there is a shortage of qualified teachers. Some children around the world must cope with diseases like HIV/AIDS within their families, schools, and communities. Lastly, there can be a conflict between traditional values and the push toward education.
Securing government and community support for education has not been simple. Looked at historically, education has been a challenge that spans ages. Confined to the secular or religious elite for millennia, it was only at the beginning of the 19th Century that Napoleon introduced the concept of free public education, to foster loyalty to the central government. Enlightenment thinkers and their heirs stressed the importance of education as a foundation for representative government. Later, industrialization created the need for basic literacy for factory workers. At the dawning of the 21st century, quality free public education has now been achieved for the industrialized world. The challenge remains to bring it equally to all the world's children.
To put a human face to the global crisis in access to education, Wide Angle filmed seven children around the world as they began school in 2003. This effort resulted in the documentary "Time for School." The film crew returned to visit them again in 2006, making a second documentary, "Back to School."
LEAH ASEGO When we found him dirty, the head teacher gave some amount so that he could go and shave the hair first. And then we also gave him some uniforms, which were donated by the children who had left school. He told me, "Teacher, I didn't know where I was heading to. But, now that I've come back to school, I will not let you down again." So that is a boy we rescued again to come back to school.
NARRATOR Often the first to arrive in the morning, Joab has been back in school for one year, and has just started fourth grade.
Like children throughout the world, he's learning English, math, and social studies. His curriculum also covers the health crisis that has affected nearly every child in the school.
Since his return, Joab has been chosen as prefect, or class monitor.
JOAB ONYANDO Hey Josephine, sit down. Jones, sit down. Hey you, Ondinyo, sit down.
BESTA NYAKUNDI When I asked the other peoples to select a prefect for me, in fact they gave me his name, because they know he works.
JOAB ONYANDO I like being chosen to be a prefect. I can help our teacher even if our teacher is not in school.
TEACHER Can somebody else tell me another province that we have in Kenya?
JOAB ONYANDO Central Province.
TEACHER Very good.
NARRATOR This year there are 92 in Joab's class, and he ranks third among them.
So far, he has made good on his promise. Joab has not let his teachers down.
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