un chronicle #3, 2010
TRANSCRIPT
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14 Can Education Be Made Mobile?Aleksandra Vujic
17 National Identity and Minority LanguagesKamila Ghazali
21 Education as a Means to PromoteSustainability
Ben Wisner
22 Make an Academic ImpactEducate WomenAchieve MDGs
Statistics Division, UN Department of Economicand Social Affairs
5 Message of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonfor Launch of the United NationsAcademic Impact
6 Preparing the Next Generation to Jointhe Conference Table
J. Michael Adams
10 Education for All: Rising to the ChallengeIrina Bokova
13 Unlearning Intolerance through Education Saleh Hashem Mostafa Abdel-Razek
Volume XLVII Number 3 2010
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the boundaries and delineations used on this map
do not imply official endorseme nt or
acceptance by the united nations.
26 Academic Impact and Educationfor Sustainable DevelopmentThe Contribution of Black Sea Region
UniversitiesEden Mamut
30 Reducing Poverty Through Educationand How
Idrissa B. Mshoro
33 SimplyHelp CambodiaA Vocational Education Model of Success
Lotte Goede & Donna Pulese-Murphy
36 Civic Education and InclusionA Market or a Public Interest Perspective?
Jacques L. Boucher
AHEAD OF THE CURVE
39 Who Speaks for the Poor,And Why Does It Matter?
Nora McKeon
THE CHRONICLE LIBRARY SHELF
41 The United Nations and Civil SocietyReviewed by Mario Pianta
Cover design by Allan Markman/Graphic Design Unit, DPI
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Academic institutions have an invaluable role to play in strengthening thework o the United Nations. From research laboratories to seminar rooms, rom lecturehalls to inormal gatherings in caeterias, the search or innovative solutions to globalchallenges oten begins on campus. Moreover, the principles that characterize scholarlyenterpriseequal opportunity, mutual understanding and open inquiryare also atthe heart o the UNs global mission o peace, development, and human rights. Theacademic world and the world Organization are already good, close partners, but thereis great scope to go urther still. That potential, as well as ten universal principlesencompassing human rights, dialogue, sustainability and much else, underpin a newinitiative: the United Nations Academic Impact.
Much has been written and said about corporate social responsibility. Today weare also seeing the emergence o a stronger culture o intellectual social responsibility.That is the spirit the UN Academic Impact seeks to embrace and encourage. We hopeto help educate young people about the complex, transnational issues o our time, andcultivate a global mindset and a keener sense o global citizenship. We would like to
empower students and aculty to take their learning beyond the classroomand to theirriends, amilies, and communities. We want to bring the ideas and proposals generatedby institutions o higher learning into the global arena, including the UN system. Wewant, in short, the UN Academic Impact to promote a movement o minds to engenderchange.
The United Nations continues to open its doors to new partners, and weare especially excited about how the scholarship and engagement o the academiccommunity can beneft our work or human well-being. I welcome the more than400 institutions in more than 80 countries that have joined the initiative and haveshown such enthusiasm about supporting United Nations objectives. I look orwardto the contributions this scholarly partnership can make in our eorts to build a more
peaceul, prosperous, and just world or all.
Secretary-GeneralTe United Nations Academic Impact
Ban Ki-moon
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Preparing theNext Generation
to Join theConerence Table
a
dnankhan
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8 J. Michael adaMs preparing the next generation to Join the conference table
By J. Michael adaMs
J. Michael adaMs Prnt, Frg dknon Unvrty, Nw Jry, Usa, n Prnt-t, intrnton aoton of Unvrty Prnt.
the United Nations Charter represents the most ambitious
attempt in human history to unite across borders, secure
peace, promote social progress, and orge solutions to
the most critical problems acing humanity. As US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, Te United Nations repre-
sents mans best organized hope to substitute the conerence
table or the battleeld.1
As noble as its goals are, though, and as determined as
the peoples o the United Nations may be, the Organizationremains a mere conerence table. It is only as strong as the
people who come together at this global conerence table. Te
United Nations can achieve nothing unless people who work
across borders have an understanding o the history o di-
erent nations, an appreciation or diverse perspectives, and
an awareness o the interconnected nature o humanity and
todays most important global challenges.
H.G. Wells once wrote, Human history becomes more
and more a race between education and catastrophe.2 Te
enemies are ignorance and intolerance. Te path to avoiding
catastrophe, the path to achieving the aspirationsthe prom-
iseo the United Nations, lies in education. And to matchthe universal goals and global alliances represented by the
United Nations, we need to oer students around the world a
global education.
Tose who want to join hands across t he table, those o
us who aspire to be world citizens, must have a new skil l set
beyond mere diplomacy. We must have an understanding o
the past, but always with a view toward the uture. We must
understand the complexities, challenges, and risks associ-
ated with decision-making in the twenty-rst century.
Te United Nations was ormed rom the ashes o two
world wars, and its greatest success has been preventing a
third global conict. oday, the importance o the United
Nations has grown even more signicant as the world
becomes more interdependent. With increasing globaliza-tion, nances ow reely across continents, as do goods,
services, and ideas. Unortunately, though, major prob-
lems like terrorism, pandemic diseases, and environmental
calamities also cross borders at will. No nation can protect
its citizens against ideas or problems that do not stop or
passport control.
In some ways, globalization has outpaced our ability to
comprehend whats happening. Tomas Friedman wrote,
Global integration has raced ahead o education. Tanks to
globalization, we all denitely know o one another more than
ever, but we still dont know that much about one another.3
Education must catch up to globalization. Education mustcatch up to the United Nations.
Trough global education, we must prepare world citi-
zens who understand the interconnected nature o our planet
and who are wil ling to act on behal o people everywhere. We
each must spend more time learning about other cultures and
Fulfllingthe United NationsPromise
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9Un chronicle n. 3 2010
The path to avoidingcatastrophe, the path toachieving the aspirations
the promiseo the UnitedNations, lies in education.
Two individuals might lookat the same thing, but each seessomething diferentand neither
is wrong. At the conerence table,
understanding this concept
changes the game.
other lands. Schools and universities need to introduce more
international lessons, expand language programmes, extend
study-abroad opportunities, welcome international students,
and encourage cross-cultural dialogues. Schools and univer-
sities also need to ully employ new technologies to connect
students with others throughout the world and introduce di-
erent perspectives on the lessons being studied.
How does one become a world citizen united in solidarity
with the goals o the UN Charter? Te Greek Stoics believed
that the main task o education is to imagine onesel in the
minds o others. In other words, we must look at problems
through the eyes o others and understand their points o
view. By doing so, we not only learn more about ourselves,
but we simultaneously build solidarity with those rom other
countries that will enable us to solve global problems.
We must understand that geography and culture inu-
ence how each o us sees the world. wo individuals might
look at the same thing, but each sees something dierent
and neither is wrong. At the conerence table, understand-
ing this concept changes the game. It is not right against
wrong, but rather agreeing that we each must move to
another view.
A global education considers the world as a whole, with
a rich interplay o nations, cultures, and societies. eachers
must regularly bring the world into the classroom and link
classrooms to the world. Students must learn to make global
connections and understand that actions around the world can
aect them and that they can have a global impact. A global
education should break down boundaries, expand horizons,and introduce learners to the breadth o human achievement
and diversity. Most importantly, a global education should
emphasize what all peoples share in common.
Buckminster Fuller, the twentieth century philosopher,
described the Earth as a spaceship, and he wrote that all
humans are really astronauts sharing residence on a planet
travelling 60,000 miles an hour.4 He believed, We are not
going to be able to operate our Spaceship Earth successully
nor or much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and
our ate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody.
Tis is exact ly the underlying philosophy that propels the
United Nations. Unortunately, modern educational systems
were not built with such a global attitude. Instead, they have
been designed rst and oremost to develop loyal, nationalcitizens. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with celebrating
national heritages and traditions, however, there must also
be signicant attention devoted to sharing stories rom other
nations. Schools should help urther national goals and inter-
ests, but they also must enable us to understand the whole
world and our role in it.
Te rst declaration in the Preamble to the Charter o the
United Nations afrms the desire to save succeeding genera-
tions rom the scourge o war. Simply put, wars are cultivated
by dehumanizing the other and exaggerating the dierences
between us and them. Tis is much harder to do when we
have learned about our ellow astronauts and appreciate andunderstand their viewpoints and their common humanity.
Gaining that appreciation and understanding has never been
more necessary than today.
Having a global education and being a world citizen is
the key element or peace and or all elements o progress
outlined in the UN Charter. Indeed, that is the ounda-
tion or the necessary new skill-set at the conerence table.
Being able to look at the problems through the eyes o oth-
ers reduces ears and misunderstandings that breed conict
and conusion. We must learn to work together; we must
learn more about each other; and we must come to the table
with resolve to solve those problems no single country canaddress. unc
Notes
1 s. c. sngr, Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations(2003), 287.
2 h.G. W, The Outline of History(1920).
3 T. Frmn, The Lexus and the Olive Tree (1999), 127.
4 B. Fur, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1963).
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10 irina bokova education for all: rising to the challenge
Rising to the Challenge
Educationfor all
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11un chronicle n. 3 2010
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12 irina bokova education for all: rising to the challenge
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Unless we act now by setting strategic
priorities, sixty-nine million childrenwill still not be in school in 2015 and 796
million adults will remain illiterate.
We cannot let this happen.
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13saleh hashem mostafa abdel-razek unlearning intolerence through education
the call or a dialogue among civilizations has become
one o the critical eatures o the twenty-rst century.
Te term itsel has been used to substitute and rethink
the clash o civilizations, proposed by Samuel P.
Huntington and adopted by some Western educators ollow-
ing the end o the cold war between East and West.
Many international organizations and bodies in both theIslamic world and the West have supported initiatives emerg-
ing out o the call or a dialogue among civilizations. Tese
initiatives ocus on the importance o eliminating disparities
through in-depth, extensive knowledge and investigation o
stereotypes in order to erase negative connotations and preju-
dices oen promoted by the media and some political and
civic organizations who considered the others as a threat
or as the enemy. Te need was to concentrate on educating
the media, draing school curricula and by using inormation
technology and modern communication to achieve a more
realistic and neutral vision o the habits, thoughts, behaviours,
and practices o others.
As a religion and as a civilization, Islam is against the
centralization o a dominant culture. On the contrary, Islam
encourages that the world become a orum o civilizations that
interacts and cooperates to strengthen universal values.In its spirit and essence, Islam guarantees reedom o reli-
gions. In act, the Quran requires Muslims to believe in all the
prophets, and orbids the belie in some and not others. Tus,
the Quran clearly accepts the plurality o religions, their di-
erent laws and ways o lie, and treats lie as a challenge or
humanity to coexist in tolerance, thereby strengthening the
orces o peace and moral order which are much more unda-
mental than dierences o aith and devotion. Te teachings
o the Quran in no way adopt a hostile attitude toward other
religions.
Te world must shape a tolerant universal philosophy
deriving its principles rom dierent cultures and laying thebasis or a non-violent resolution o controversies. Islam con-
tains great spiritual heritage as demonstrated by the Universal
Islamic Declaration o Human Rights, which was adopted by
the Islamic Council o Europe in 1981. Te Declaration has
shown that the philosophy o human rights does not confict
with religion, but only with anatical interpretations o reli-
gion. Religions such as Islam and Christianity ocus on and
promote human dignity and, i religion is understood in a
true and reasonable way, there is no contradiction between the
rights o God and human rights. Tereore, intellectuals, cler-
ics, scholars, and educators in East and West should continue
to recognize dierences between religions and doctrines, and
aim at achieving mutual understanding through genuine
receptiveness to other viewpoints. Tey should also work to
reject intolerance and orced conrontations.
New education policies and community activities shouldbe implemented or coexistence and mutual understanding
so as to achieve our goals through a rational perspective. We
need to create a society that shares the values o love, toler-
ance, and recognition o the others. Tis is where the role o
our education institutions is crucial. We need to develop edu-
cation rameworks that eectively ormulate and articulate
the dialogue among civilizations at all levels o our education
system. uncSaleh haShem moStafa abdel-Razek is Scrry Gnr, assciin ar Univrsiis.
Unlearning Intolerance
By Saleh haShem moStafa aBdel-Razek
Towards a neutral vision of the others
through Education
We need to create a society that shares the values o love,
tolerance, and recognition o the others. Tis is where the role
o our education institutions is crucial.
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14 aleksandra vujic can education be made mobile?
the right to education is a undamental
human right, since it is a precondition
or the ullment o other economic,
social, cultural, civil, and political rights.
It enables social mobility and successul
competition in the labour market. Its reali-
zation means overcoming poverty and liv-
ing with human dignity. Being universal,
interdependent, interrelated, and indivis-
ible, the right to an education oers equal
opportunities or all, regardless o gender,
economic or social status.
Te rst attempt to promote the right
to education was Article 26 o the Universal
Declaration o Human Rights in 1948, while
the Convention against Discrimination in
Education, adopted by the United Nations
Educational, Scientiic and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) in 1960, and the
1966 International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) were
the irst legally binding internationalinstruments to incorporate the wide range
o this right. Article 13 o CESCR obliged
United Nations Member States to recog-
nize the right to ree, compulsory primary
education available to everyone, accessible
secondary education, and equally acces-
sible higher education. It pledged states to
develop a system o schools or all levels,
to establish an adequate ellowship system,
and to continually improve material condi-
tions or teaching sta.
Afer sixty years, the UN Millennium
Declaration called or States to ensure that
children everywhere, boys and girls alike,
would be able to complete a ull course
o primary education. Yet statistical data
rom 2007 indicated that one sixth o the
worlds population, approximately 760 mil-
lion persons, cannot read or write.1
It was noted that rural children were
twice as likely to be out o school as chil-
dren living in urban areas and that the
rural-urban gap particularly aects the
education o girls.2 Considering the act
that many children leave school without
adequate literacy, numeracy or with-out possessing basic lie skills, Goal 2
o the Education or All initiative led by
UNESCO called or good quality primary
education, and Goal 6, or improving all
By AleksAndrA Vujic
AleksAndrA Vujic a mmb of s Mahavaaa Wo Pa co, Va, Ata, a th AtaaAoato Yoga day lf, a o-govmta ogazato otatv tat wth th utnato eoom a soa co a aoat wth th un dpatmt of Pb ifomato.
Can EducationBe Made Mobile?
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15un cHronicle n. 3 2010
aspects o the quality o education and ensuring excellence
or all, so that recognized and measurable learning out-
comes are achieved by all.
It becomes obvious that realizing the right to educa-
tion, in particular a good quality education, is a global issue
demanding global responses and the joint eorts o states,
policy makers and civil society. Te question is, is it possibleto share the advancements o the twenty-rst century in edu-
cation with all? Rare examples have shown that it is.
he Gyan Putra project in India, which supports
Millennium Development Goal 2 on achieving universal pri-
mary education, is being undertaken in Jadan, Pali District,
western Rajasthan, under the umbrella o the worldwide Yoga
in Daily Lie societies and inspired by Mahamandaleshwar
Paramhans Swami Maheshwaranand Ji Maharaj. Employing
Te Mobile Schools projectmakes the entire computerlab and library mobile
and independent of local
infrastructure, and travels to
villages at a relatively low cost.
india Mhmleshwr Prmhs Swm Mheshwr JMhrj, who strte the Moble Schools project to ulfl the ees o rurlcommutes, see here wth stuets.
swami cHidanand
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16 aleksandra vujic can education be made mobile?
well-trained, qualied teachers in primary and secondary
school, it comprises 53 modern classrooms equipped with
computers, science laboratories, state-o-the-art sports acili-
ties as well as a well-equipped library. Te project acknowledg-
es the need or rural and marginalized students to not just avail
o ree education, but to have a standard o education equiva-
lent to that which is available to students rom more privileged
backgrounds. Students without nancial means, including all
emale students, study ree o charge and get ree transporta-
tion, uniorms, books, and stationery arranged by the school.
Despite low educational achievements, high drop-
out rates, and no provision or inormation technology
education and library acilities in rural and backward
areas, Yoga in Daily Lie intends to spread its activities to
twenty-seven villages through the Mobile Schools initiative
in vil lage schools up to the
eighth grade. Te Mobile
Schools initiative makes
the entire computer lab
and library mobile and inde-
pendent o local inrastructure, and travels to villages at a
relatively low cost. Te highlights o the initiative are:
Te use o laptops, charged during the evening at a
central location with 24 hour power supply, removes electric-
ity constraints and gives students a chance to ull and aspire
to greater sel-learning platorms through inormation and
communication technologies (IC).
By accessing sofware and learning programmes
rom the organizations world network, the labs can oer high
quality, modern learning materials to students targeting spe-
cic learning objectives.
Quality education and excellent learning outcomes,especially in literacy, numeracy, and essential lie skills, are
obtained by a holistic programme in which ICs are used in
tandem with library and reading programmes.
Te use o media such as photography and video
makes it possible or students to learn about their surround-
ings, hygiene, personal development, and relationships.
High quality teaching sta with excellent classroom
instruction and training improve the learning experience.
eaching sta, combining experts in the eld with
local assistants, bring the syllabus on the ground, increasing
its relevance by giving it local context.eachers are trained to deal appropriately with gen-
der issues and encourage girls to participate and aspire to edu-
cation levels equal to those o boys, and vice versa.
Girl students are given quality, modern education
in the vicinity o their homes, in a sae environment. Access,
saety, social integration and uture benets o any type o
education are primary issues which aect parents decisions
to educate their girls in the rural setting.
By oering a modern, stimulating and socially rele-
vant education experience, children will be motivated to com-
plete a ull course o primary schooling and continue their
schooling in higher grades.
Te Mobile Schools initiative is an exciting, simple, and
eective way o improving the educational outcomes o those
most in need. It is the way to bring quality education to the
most isolated villages, to utilize current inrastructure, and to
establish a partnership between government schools and civil
society. It is a tool or improving attendance in schools in a
village setting and convincing parents an education will bring
tangible changes in quality o lie and open new avenues or
the students in the uture. Giving marginalized rural students
standards o education equivalent to city schools while main-
taining the rural context will increase outcomes and schoolattendance and promote personal development.
Te Mobile Schools project is a practical, viable, and eco-
nomical way to ull the needs o rural communities, paving
the way or the ullment o the Millennium Development
Goals. It is the way to meet the concerns voiced by Heads o
State in the Doha Declaration that the current nancial crisis
and global economic slowdown could jeopardize the ullment
o the MDGs, especially the needs o the poorest and most vul-
nerable. It demonstrates how existing capacities and resources
in civil society can be explored and used to the maximum.
Most importantly, the Mobile Schools initiative can be
implemented and is sustainable in all geographic locations. It
is a model or increasing enrolment, narrowing gender gaps,
and extending opportunities or disadvantaged groups in
education. unc
notes
1 Thmat Pap o th Mm dvopmt Goa, 2010, undvopmt Gop.
2 Millennium Development Goals Repor t 2010.
a.
vujic
aleksr Vujc o the austrlassocto Yog dly Le.
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17UN CHRONICLE No. 3 2010
how ar do we go in implementing language policies into the edu-
cation system so as to integrate a nations peoples? Nearly all na-
tions identiy and determine at least one language as the ocial
language, and some include another as the national language. Tis is
necessary or the obvious reason that a common language would create
solidarity and instil a sense o national identity and pride. However, in
the pursuit o attaining competence in the language o commodity and
enterprise, many minority languages and even cultures are sometimes
sacriced. Studies show that mothers, the primary supporters o educa-
tion in most amilies, take pains to raise their children in the school
language, rather than their own native tongue. Tis is to ensure that theirchildren will have a head start as they enter primary or even pre-school.
Multi-ethnic Malaysia is renowned or its success in maintaining a
harmonious balance among its people. Many know that the country con-
sists o three main ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Within
each, there are several dialects or variations o the main language. In
addition, there are dozens o minority languages spoken all over the
country in the peninsula, as well as on the island o Borneo, where the
two states o Sabah and Sarawak are located. Tese people belong to vari-
ous indigenous communities which come under the Austronesian as well
as the Austro-Asiatic languages.
Te ocial and national language in Malaysia is Malay, or Bahasa
Malaysia, and is the basis or national integration.1 However, theGovernment o Malaysia recognized the importance o English as an
international language and added that measures will be taken to ensure
that English is taught as a strong second language.
National Identityand
Minority Languages
By Kamila Ghazali
kamila ghazali s n assocte Proessor n lnustcs, Unversty o my, kulupur, mys.
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18 KamILa gHazaLI NatIONaL IdENtIty aNd mINORIty LaNgUagEs
In eorts to maintain the languag-
es o the other two main ethnic groups,
the government provides two dierent
types o schools at the primary level:
national schools where the medium
o instruction is Malay, and national-
type schools where the medium o
instruction is either Chinese or amil.
It would be naive to exclude the act that
this is a politically-driven move, given
the act that the ruling government is a
coalition o the three major races. Still,
it is a great eort to ensure the sustain-
ability o these languages up to a certain
point. Even within the three major eth-
nic groups, dialectal dierences exist
(amil to lesser extent). Malays, who
speak no less than ten dierent dialects
based on their geographical locations,
may lose their dialects i there is no
intergenerational transer.2 As long
as amilies use their dialects and pass
them on to the next generation, there is
hope that these dialects will stay alive.
he Chinese speak in dier-
ent dialectsor example, Foochow,
Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, etc
based on ethnic origins. However, as
children sent to Chinese schools learn
in Mandarin, the ocial medium o
instruction, their amilies start speak-
ing to them in Mandarin rom a young
age, even beore they go to school,
so they can cope with their lessons.
Mandarin is the language o choice
or this group o people since it is per-
ceived by them more and more as the
mode o communication or trade and
economy. No one can dispute the posi-
tion o the Mandarin-speaking world
as the next or current economic giant.Te more these parents oresee their
children as being a part o this uture
world, the more Malaysian Chinese
children may lose their own language
and culture.
Tat said, in the case o Malay,
Chinese, and amil, the risk o total
loss o language or dialect is negligible,
as demographically these three ethnic
groups are very stable. Out o a total
population o 28.25 million,3 Malays
comprise approximately 50.4 per cent,
Chinese 23.7 per cent, and Indians 7.1
per cent. As with the Chinese dialects,
the Malay dialects have been researched
and documented by various academ-
ics, both locally and abroad, and there
is still strong ethnolinguistic vitality
among their speakers. In one study, lin-
guists ound that the more vitality an
ethnolinguistic group enjoys, the more
it will be able to use its own language so
as to survive and thrive as a collective
entity.4
Te ate o smaller language com-munities in Malaysia may not be as pos-
itive. Te hundreds o existing smaller
communities make up a total o 18.8 per
cent o the population. Te indigenous
languages ound on the peninsular side
o Malaysia can be divided into three
major language groups: the Negrito,
Senoi, and Malayic (also known as
R
OOsLaNta
NgaH
malaysia English language camp.
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19UN CHRONICLE No. 3 2010
Proto-Malay); these can then be urther
divided into more than 18 subgroups
according to their dierent languages
and cultures.
In a 2006 study on the Mah Meri
people,5 who speak a language which
is part o the Senoi language group, it
was ound that among third genera-tion Malaysians, the use o their native
tongue was slowly diminishing. All
children are sent to school until at least
the age o feen. A handul have made
it to tertiary education. Within the
culture, there is an emphasis on educa-
tion, and some o the Mah Meri people
aspire to assimilate into the Malay com-
munity through their speech as well
as through their attire. In act, when
interviewed or the study, they claimed
to have pride in their own languagebut questioned why they should learn
it. Teir language does not serve any
instrumental purpose or them to pass
on to the next generation. One emale
interviewee even remarked on the not
so nice sounds that emanate rom the
speech o her native tongue, compared
to the more pleasant sounding Malay
language. Tis group o people live in
a suburban area which provides them
easy access to jobs in nearby towns andpeople rom other language communi-
ties, or example, the Malays, Javanese,
and Chinese. Even as they use their
mother tongue, there are many Malay
and English terms which have ound
their way into the Mah Meri language.
Another group I visited, the Jakun
people rom the Malayic language
group, live on the periphery o Endau-
Rompin National Forest Reserve Park,
isolated rom other communities. It
takes about three hours o travelling ina our-wheel drive vehicle on dirt and
jungle tracks in order to reach their vil-
lage. Even though this group o people
live isolated rom other communities,
they are not isolated as a people. Many
work in the national park as cleaners
at the chalets, and some have jobs as
mandatory local guides or tourists who
In the pursuit o attainingcompetence in the language ocommodity and enterprise,many minority languages andeven cultures are sometimessacrifced.
want to go jungle trekking. In a way,
this orces the Jakun to learn not onlyMalay, but also English, as many o the
tourists come rom abroad. It is instru-
mental or the Jakun to be procient
enough in English in order to impart
their local knowledge to the tourists.
For instance, they need to teach sur-
vival techniques in the jungle, includ-
ing necessary dos and donts that are
esoteric to their own culture.
Te Kanaq, also rom the Malayic
group, is one o the most endangeredcommunities in the peninsula, with
only 83 people lef. Tis group is some-
what introverted, and education or
their children is not a main priority,
even though school is within easy access
and transportation is specially provided
or the children to and rom school in
the morning and at the end o the day.
But ofen the children come home at
midday on their own. According to
one mother, they may decide to come
home when they are bored, scolded bythe teacher, or teased by other students.
Tey preer to keep to themselves and
do not open up very easily to outsid-
ers. Although their language has been
maintained, they claim not to have
any olk tales or cultural belies. Im
not sure i this is really the case. Te
greater possibility is that, unlike the
Jakun and the Mah Meri, the Kanaq
do not place importance on passingdown their oral traditions. So this may
be something that the community has
lost irreversibly, even though they more
or less managed to maintain their lan-
guage. From my own observation, this
particular community does not seem to
have any ambition to move up on the
social or economic ladder. It would be
enlightening to see i this lack o inter-
est in education and introversion corre-
sponds to their ability to maintain theirown language.
In the states o Sabah and Sarawak
on the island o Borneo, the domi-
nant languages that cut across ethnic
boundaries are Kadazan-Dusun and
Iban. Even though Malay is still taught
in schools and is the main medium o
instruction, Kadazan-Dusun is used
in Sabah, and Iban is used in Sarawak
or the purposes o social networking,
shopping, and local business transac-
tions. Te Iban and Kadazan-Dusunlanguages are even taught in schools in
Sarawak and Sabah. In Sarawak, there
are dozens o indigenous groups. Te
largest is the Iban. One o the smallest
is the Lugat people, who numbered only
37 when I visited them in Sarawak in
2006. Tey live up the Rajang River and
the quickest way to visit their longhouse
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20 KamILa gHazaLI NatIONaL IdENtIty aNd mINORIty LaNgUagEs
non-prot organization, Malaysia has a
literacy rate o more than 93 per cent.6
As ar as language planning policies go,
the government has been successul in
ensuring that all its people are at least
orally procient in the national lan-
guage, thus inculcating national pride
and identity. With a common language
we have one nation, breaking down
all barriers to communication and
understanding. Many interested par-
ties, oundations, and researchers, local
and abroad, endeavour to describe and
document the various minority lan-
guages in Malaysia or the purpose osustainability. We cannot stop the wave
o modernization and the advancement
in social standing through education in
the ormal languages. But at the same
time it is imperative that we make an
equal eort to maintain the diverse
native languages and cultures o peo-
ple. Otherwise, we will be aced with
the risk o erasing minority languages
rom the ace o the Earth. unc
Notes
1 Trd mys Pn, 1976-1980
2 J. Fsn, gn Cnton (ed.) mntnnlnues: Wt Wors nd Wt Doesnt?Stabilizing Indigenous Languages (Fstf,az: Nortern aron Unversty, 1996), pp.5168.
3 Deprtent o Sttstcs mys ttp://www.sttstcs.ov.y.
4 R.Y. Bours, Donsbc, Won (ed)Etnonustc Vtty nd Cou-ncton (Bcwe Pubsn, 2008)Bcwe Reerence Onne, 5 Septeber2010: ttp://www.bcwereerence.co/pubc/boo?d=9781405131995_
yr2010_9781405131995.5 Co k Yo, k g, ib Se
Se. 2006. in as hj. Or (Ed).Etnograf Kampung Bukit Bangkong. BahasaMah Meri. ku lupur: Unversty omy Press.
6 as/Pcc Cutur Centre orUNESCO, Nton ltercy Poces,(2 Juy 2002): ttp://www.ccu.or.jp/td-bse/pocy/ys/ndex.t.
is by boat. Te longhouse is shared with
the atau people, also a small commu-
nity. It was ound that among smaller
communities like the Lugat and atau,
culturally exogamous marriages are
common. Many are ound to inter-
marry with the more dominant Iban
group. Naturally, the Iban language
takes precedence as a language o choice
within an exogamous marriage, as the
lingua ranca in Sarawak is more ofen
Iban. Driven by the desire or higher
education and a better way o lie, even
among the smaller indigenous groups
in Sarawak and Sabah, people learnand actively use Iban/Kadazan-Dusun,
Malay, and English.
Malaysia is extremely lucky to be
blessed with such diverse ethnic groups.
According to the United Nations
Educational, Scientic and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and the Asia/
Pacic Cultural Centre or UNSECO, a
UNICEF/PaLaNI mOHaN
MALAYSIA Children from the Bajau ethnic group laugh and play during recess atTimbang Island Primary School, on Timbang Island in the state of Sabah.
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21UN CHRONICLE No. 3 2010
One o the myths current today, spread by media events such as Al
Gores lm,An Inconvenient Truth, is that everyone will be equalin acing the ecological and human catastrophe o climate change.
Tis is simply not true. Clear thinking about climate change and its likely
impact on cultural integrity, transmission, and diversity requires that one
take note o the glaring dierences today among people on the planet.
Urgent need to identify winners and losers
Climate change will produce winners and losers. Arica and poor
Aricans will be more heavily impacted.1 Tey and their governments have
meagre technical and nancial resources to provide capital-intensive bu-
ers against the impact o climate change. For example, only one per cent
o Arican agriculture uses irrigation.2 Most people in rura l sub-Saharan
Arica to some extent remain dependent on rain-ed agriculture and live-
stock. While this is also true o a substantial number o rural people in
northern China, parts o South and South-East Asia, Central America and
the Andean countries, in most cases the nation-states in those regions have
more capacity to assist rural people in adapting their livelihoods.
Urgent need to Understand and sUpport
peoples spontaneoUs adaptation
Cultural adaptation to climate change is going on right now. Isolated
groups o rural people in the Andes, the mangrove-orested coasts o South-
East Asia, and the savannas o Arica are not passively waiting or experts
to come and tell them how to adapt. It is urgent to understand how ruralpeople understand climate change and what they, themselves, are doing
about it. Capacity or doing the participatory action research required to
reveal spontaneous adaptation needs to be built up in countries where, to
date, the emphasis has been on technical modelling and national policy
ormulation.
ben wisner dc i su, C s Uv lbch, Usa.
as a Means to ProMote
Education
By Ben Wisner
Sustainability
Continued on page 25
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PreParedforthe UN ChroNiClebythe StatiStiCS diviSioN, UN dePartmeNtof eCoNomiCaNd SoCial affairS.
p huh c h 40% h u v h huh; h huh c
h 60% h u v h h huh. num cu ch ch v 29 39
v (a, am, azj, bh, b, Cm, Ch, C, dmcc ruc
C, dmc ruc, e, eh, gh, gu, H, Hu, i, i, J, lh, l, Mc,
M, M, Mv, nm, n, n, n, pk, ph, r, s, s l, sz, tz,
Uk, Zm, Zm). a cc dmhc Hh suv cuc m 2004-2009.
Eradicate extremepoverty and hunger1
... to provide for their childrens nutrionChildren whose height for age is more than two standard
deviaons below average
Mothers educaon
Secondary or
higher education
Primary education
No education
0% 20% 40% 60%
25%37%
44%
49%
36%
42%
2Achieve universal
primary education
... to get their children to schoChildren 6-12 years old who have ever aended scho
86%
75%
60%
80%
88%
92%
Secondary orhigher
education
Primaryeducation
No education
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
0%Mothers education
5Improve maternal
health
... to have a skilled professional at childbirthBirths aended by a skilled health professional
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
0%
17%
24%
38% 36%
49%
73%
Secondaryor highereducation
Primaryeducation
Noeducation
Secondaryor highereducation
Primaryeducation
Noeducation
Motherseducation
6Combat HIV/AIDS, malariaand other diseases
... to protect themselves atheir families from disease
Heard ofAIDS
Heard ofAIDS
Heard ofAIDS
Used condomin high risk sex
Used condomin high risk sex
30% 39%
47%71%
92%
8% 19%
Seconhigher
Primaryeducation
Noeducation
100%
50%
0% 0% 0%
50% 50%
100% 100%
Bednets in household Bednets in household Bednets i
Educated women are more likelyMAKE AN ACADEMIC
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Poorest households
Wealthiest households
3... to address their own needs
No education
Promote gender equality
and empower women
Women who have a final say in their own health care
Primaryeducation
Secondary orhigher education
58% 67% 74%
4Reduce child
mortality
... to guarantee their children's surviv
Children over one year old immunized against measles
Secondary orhigher
education
Primaryeducation
No education
71%
85%
77%
66%
44%
58%
75%
87%
49%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
0%Mothers educat
7Ensure environmental
sustainability
... to ensure adequate sanitaonWomen living in a household with a flush toilet
27%
76%
54%50%
17%
13%
40%
20%
60%
80%
100%
0%Secondaryorhighereducation
Primaryeducation Noeducation
Richest60%
Poorest40%
8Develop a global partnership
for development
... to benefit from informaon andcommunicaon technologies
Women with access to a cell phone
31% 36% 54%
28%7%4%
Secondary orhigher
education
Primaryeducation
No education
MPACTV o l u m e X L V I I N u m b e r 3 2 0 1 0
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24 bEN wIsNER EdUCatION as a mEaNs tO pROmOtE sUstaINabILIty
ELLIE VaN HOUttE
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25UN CHRONICLE No. 3 2010
Urgent need to prepare for
popUlation displaCeMent
Climate change will exacerbate current trends in rural
depopulation, international wage migration, orced displace-
ment due to mega-projects, and the ight o people rom
conict areas. oday international institutions and non-
governmental organizations are experienced in dealing with
the problems produced by reugees and displacement. Te
Ofce o the United Nations High Commissioner or Reugees
is one, the International Organization or Migration is anoth-
er, the United Nations Development Programme has special-
ists who work on post-conict recovery issues and UNICEF,
the United Nations Childrens Fund, has developed expertise
in providing continuing education or the children o the dis-
placed. Yet none o these agencies has enough resources, and
the demands on them are bound to increase. Tey need more
nancial support.
We also need better understanding o what happens to
rural people and their cultures when they are orced rom
their home localities or even ar rom amiliar regions and
ecosystems. Specialist academic and clinical centres in the
world have worked or some time on post-conict issues.
In a simi lar way, many centres o development studies have
done research on employment strategies, retraining people
or new livelihoods, and creating jobs. Te health specialty
known as cultural psychiatry has concerned itsel with
the impact o migration rom one culture to another, but
the treatment is individualistic; it is not concerned with
the impact on the culture per se, or its transmission and
survival. Developing regional centres that study this set o
problems rom an applied point o view is also an urgentpriority.
reCoMMendations
From this sketch o the key issues, nine specic recom-
mendations ollow:
1 Build local capacity to understand the knowledge and belies
o native people about climate change and their attempts to
adapt their livelihoods to changing conditions.
2 Capture stories rom the older generation o how they copedwith extreme events and crises in the past. Understanding
the oral history o peoples past eorts to cope and adapt
can hold the key to present and uture solutions; yet this
history is being lost.
3 rain technical workers, such as agricultural extensionists,
veterinarians and livestock specialists, and water engineers
and planners to appreciate and respect local knowledge.
4 rain policy makers to appreciate and respect local knowl-
edge without looking through modernizationist and colo-
nial lenses, seeing it as merely an obstacle to progress.
5 rain media representatives to see cultural diversity as
akin to biodiversity, as a resource or the whole o society,
allowing innovative ways o adapting to climate change
based on a dialogue between local knowledge and outside
specialist knowledge.
6 Integrate understanding climate change into ongoing
eorts to give special attention to women and children
in development. Tis includes work on employment and
microcredit, and in areas o energy technology and or-
estry, health, ood security, water supply, and sanitation.
Knowledge rom women and children about climate and
how to cope with extremes should be taken seriously.
7 Redouble eorts to enorce cultural impact assessment and
countermeasures where rural people are unavoidably relo-
cated rom mega-project sites.
8 Incorporate climate change into school curricula and
learning materials, paying attention to the needs o minor-
ity language speakers.
9 Identiy historical buildings and structures o special cul-
tural signicance likely to be harmed by stronger coastal
storms, ooding, landslides provoked by intense rainall,
and rising sea levels. ake steps to protect or to move them.Do this in consultation with the groups o people or whom
the structure has particular cultural signicance. unc
Notes
1 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, 2007.
2 iacm Cuc, 2004.
We also need better under-standing of what happens to
rural people and their cultures
when they are forced fromtheir home localities or even
far from familiar regions and
ecosystems.
BANGLADESH, kitemakingasculturaldiplomacy:Children o Chalna Elementary School sharetheir stories o how climate change hasafected them.
Continued from page 21
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26 eden mamut the black sea region: academic impact and education for sustainable development
Academic Impact& Education
for SustainableDevelopment
the Black Sea region has been de-
ned as a cradle o human civili-
zation. Among its past historical
riches, the region is home to the Legend
o Jason and the Argonauts and their
search or the Golden Fleece, and the
biblical account o Noahs Ark. Athens,
Istanbul, Odessa, Sevastopol, roy, and
Yalta are just a ew o the names on the
Black Sea coast that have a place in
world history.
In antiquity, the concept o uni-versity as an arena or ree debates, and
proound analyses on subjects o major
concern or individuals and communi-
ties, has been conceived and developed
in the Black Sea region.
From the crusades and the Golden
Hoard to the collapse o the Soviet
Union, the region has witnessed mul-
tiple religious and political changes. In
the ace o countless conquests through
the ages, the people o the region have
endured and today represent a remark-able mixture o cultures and religions.
With a large stockpile o oil, gas,
and mineral resources, with excellent
conditions or agriculture and located
at the crossroads o east-west, north-
south transport corridors, the Black Sea
region has large economic potential.
According to the World Bank, with 336
million inhabitants populating 19 mil-
lion square kilometres the region had
a growth rate o 7.3 per cent in 2006
generating a combined gross domestic
product o $1.3 billion.
However, the Black Sea region still
suers rom several unresolved conicts
in rans-Dniester, Nagorno-Karabakh,
Ossetia, and Kosovo.
Industrialization, extensive and
intensive arming, and regional popula-
tion explosion have caused irreversiblesoil degradation, overshing, eutrophi-
cation, and the ow o chemical and
radioactive poisons into the Black Sea.
As a consequence, the sea is in danger
o becoming a toxic and nearly lieless
ecosysteman ecological disaster with
ew equals.
In order to address these chal-
lenges, ollowing a recommendation o
PABSEC or the Parliamentary Assembly
o the Black Sea Economic Cooperation,
the Black Sea Universities Networkwas established in 1998 at the second
Conerence o Rectors rom the Black
Sea Region.
Te regions academic community
welcomed the Network with enthusiasm
and it has grown to 117 universities rep-
resenting 12 member countries o the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, viz.,
By EdEn MaMut
The Contribution of its Universities
eden mamut is dircor, Blck S
uivrsiis nwork, Cos, Roi.
Black
SeaReg
ion
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27un chronicle n. 3 2010
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania,Russian Federation, Serbia, urkey, and
Ukraine.
Since its establishment twelve years
ago, the Network has promoted the mobil-
ity o students and academic sta, organ-
ized scientic meetings, summer schools,
and workshops in dierent elds. oday
it is an extremely valuable platorm or
cooperation, proessional exchanges, and
long-lasting human connections.
Te undamental pillars o the Black
Sea Universities Network are:Active involvement in the sustainable
development o the region.
Promoting the role o universities
rom passive organizations into
active engines o social, economic,
and cultural development.
Involving universities in scientic
research, knowledge transer, and
innovation in order to acilitate the
emergence o high-value economicsectors.
Direct contribution to energy secu-
rity and integration o renewable
energy sources.
Conceiving innovative solutions or
social cohesion and prevention o
conicts in the region.
I shall present a ew achievements
acilitated under the ramework o this
Network.
Te Black Sea region witnessed envi-
ronmental disasters like Chernobyl, spillsin the Azov Sea, and industrial complex-
es that look like landscapes rom other
planets.
Since its establishment, the Black
Sea Universities Network has concen-
trated on the sustainable development o
the region. Te Kiev Declaration o the
University Rectors or the Sustainable
Yuri mechitov/world bank
ukraine Students at the
University of Kiev.
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28 eden mamut the black sea region: academic impact and education for sustainable development
Development o the Black Sea Region,
signed on the occasion o the Networks
2008 Congress, states: We believe that
urgent actions are needed to address
these undamental problems and reverse
the trends. Equilibrated demographic
policies, eco-innovation by adoption o
environmentally sound industrial and
agricultural technologies, reorestation,
and ecological restoration are crucial
elements in creating an equitable and
sustainable uture or all citizens o
our region in harmony with nature.
Universities have a major role in the
education, research, policy ormation,
and inormation exchange necessary to
make these goals possible.
Te outcome o this Declaration is
visible in the many universities in the
region which have introduced new pro-
grammes on sustainable development
at the bachelors, masters, and doc-
torate levels and more environmental
curricula both leading to a more active
involvement by students. New coop-
eration has been recently initiated with
the Baltic University Programme, a
regional university network, to generate
synergies between the Baltic and Black
Sea regions on education or sustainable
development.
he second example o theNetworks activities is in the preserva-
tion o minority languages.
During the centuries o clashes
between military and political powers
in the Black Sea region, the local com-
munities suered complex processes o
relocation, division, or reconsideration
o their political, economic or religious
rights.
A typical case is that o the Crimean
atars whose relocation rom Crimea
started at the end o eighteenth century.But the most dramatic phase had been
under Joseph Stalin whose directive on
18 May 1944 led women, children, and
the inrm to be loaded onto trucks,
taken to the nearest train station, load-
ed onto cattle wagons, and shipped o
to Central Asia, the Urals, and other
remote areas o the Soviet Union. Afer
Since its establishment twelve years ago, theBlack Sea Universities Network has promotedthe mobility o students and academic sta and
organized scientifc meetings, summer schools, and
workshops in dierent felds. Today it is an extremelyvaluable platorm or cooperation, proessional
exchanges, and long-lasting human connections.
fy-ve years, the survivors have suc-
ceeded in obtaining the right to return
to their homeland. But, overlapping
with the collapse o the ormer Soviet
Union and without any political, legal
or economic support, the reintegration
o the Crimean atars opened a new
drama in the region which may turn
explosive in the uture.
Te Black Sea Universities Network
has addressed this issue very careully.
Te aurida National University and the
echnical and Pedagogical University
o Crimea (PUC), in cooperation with
the National echnical University o
Ukraine (NUU), developed advanced
quantitative models and are oering
decision makers and civil society tools
or analyses and simulation o econom-ic, political, legal, or environmental
outcomes in the Crimean subregion.
A working group at PUC dedi-
cated to the reorm o the Crimean
atar language is currently working
with Ovidius University o Constanta
in Romania and Sakarya University
in urkey. In addition, the Network,
in cooperation with the European
Council and European Commission,
organized an International Conerence
on the Protection o Minority andRegional Languages in Bucharest
in December 2008, which evaluated
the status o implementation o the
European Charter o Regional and
Minority Languages. As a case study,
the status o the Crimean atar lan-
guage used in Bulgaria, Romania, the
Russian Federation, urkey, Ukraine,
and several other countries was
assessed and a report presented at
the First World Congress o Crimean
atars held in Simeropol in 2009. Tis
was ollowed by a special committee
rom PUC and other organizations
to reorm the Crimean atar alphabet
rom Cyrillic to Latin, and the rst
draf o the proposed reorm has been
distributed to the Networks member
universities in Azerbaijan, Romania,
the Russian Federation, urkey, and
Ukraine. In parallel, a programme to
teach the Crimean atar language in
Romania and Ukraine has been devel-
oped byPUC and Ovidius University
o Constanta with the support o the
ministries o education o Romania
and Ukraine. Under the agreement,workshops, seminars, training courses,
and debates about the curricula, lesson
planning, teaching technologies, and
support activities were organized using
inormation and communication tech-
nology tools and a dedicated website.
Recently, a group o our teachers
and thirty atar pupils between the ages
o eight and sixteen rom Romania par-
ticipated in a summer camp in Staryi
Krym, together with their colleagues
rom Crimea, Ukraine. Coordinatedby PUC, the camp aimed to test the
nal curriculum, teaching plans, and
methodologies that would be used as
standard reerence or teaching the
Crimean atar language in Romania
and Ukraine.
he third example o activities
developed by the Black Sea Universities
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29un chronicle n. 3 2010
Network is in the area o
energy security and renew-
able energy sources. he
Black Sea region has large
energy resources and is an
important transit platorm
or oil and gas owing to the
European Union countries.
he environmental
problems in the region how-
ever have a direct impact
on the exploitation o
renewable energy sources,
which is possible only with
cross-border cooperation.
Unortunately, with con-
icts and clashes between
dierent communities over
investment projects, includ-
ing the exploitation o renewable energy
sources, the region has inherited a non-
cooperative mentality.
In order to address this, in 1998, the
Black Sea Universities Network, with the
support o the NAO Science Program,
Duke University, USA, and a large group
o scientists rom dierent universities
in the Black Sea region and worldwide,
established the Centre or Advanced
Engineering Sciences (CAES) to
exchange ideas and initiate joint research
projects. In 2006, at the NetworksCongress held in Varna, Bulgaria, a sus-
tainable energy strategy or the region
emphasized the role o universities in
promoting solutions. Soon the Network
established various partnerships: with
the International Centre or Hydrogen
Energy echnologies, a project o the
United Nations Industrial Development
Organization in Istanbul, or cleaning up
the river waters and wetlands; with the
European Commissions Joint Research
Centre in Petten, Netherlands or devel-opment o a regional Summer School on
Fundamentals o Fuel Cell echnologies;
and with the Italian National Agency
or New echnologies, Energy and
Sustainable Economic Development in
Rome or the preparation o multime-
dia training on energy management and
renewable energy sources.
As an exploratory project, ive
member universities, namely, Istanbul
echnical University, aurida Uni-
versity, echnical University o Moldova,
echnical University o Varna, and
Ovidius University o Constanta decid-
ed to harmonize their masters degree
programmes on energy management
and prepare a uture regional joint
degree programme.
Even i the main ocus o the Black
Sea Universities Network is coopera-tion in education, the participation o
its member universities in research and
innovation activities is o equal impor-
tance. In 2008, CAES represented the
Network in a pilot project on knowledge
and innovation communities called
SUCCESS or Searching Unprecedented
Cooperation on Climate and Energy
to ensure Sustainability that dened
requirements or uture knowledge and
innovation communities. Following
this, CAES was selected as a partner inthe European Institute o Innovation
and echnology (EI) sustainable
energy projectInnoEnergy. Te EI-
InnoEnergy Consortium is coordinated
by Karlsruhe Institute o echnology in
Germany, grouping leading universi-
ties, research institutions, and innova-
tive companies, and envisions paving
ukraine Students atthe Taurida National
University.
the way or an independent and sustain-
able energy system enabling a climate-
neutral Europe by 2050 by successul
commercialization o innovations.
In 2010, the Black Sea Universities
Network, the Eurasian Universities
Association, and the Association o
Universities rom the Caspian Sea
Region organized a orum on higher
education at Moscow State University.
With more than one thousand partici-pants, the event captured the attention
o the larger regions academic com-
munity. Speakers said that the Black
Sea region universities should take into
account the social demands o their
communities when considering the
creation, development, and transer
o and inquiry into scientic, techno-
logical, and cultural issues. Likewise,
universities should think about the
scientic and technical support they
can provide their communities in theircultural, social, and economic develop-
ment. But more than ever, the speakers
argued, universities should assume a
leading role in society and participate
actively in crucial decisions by provid-
ing innovative solutions or the sustain-
able development and welare o their
communities. unc
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30 idrissa b. mshoro reducing poverty through education and how
there is no strict consensus on a standard denition o poverty that
applies to all countries. Some dene poverty through the inequal-
ity o income distribution, and some through the miserable hu-
man conditions associated with it. Irrespective o such dierences,
poverty is widespread and acute by all standards in sub-Saharan Arica,
where gross domestic product (GDP) is below $1,500 per capita purchas-
ing power parity, where more than 40 per cent o their people live on less
than $1 a day, and poor health and schooling hold back productivity. Ac-
cording to the 2009 Human Development Report, sub-Saharan Aricas
Human Development Index, which measures development by combining
indicators o lie expectancy, educational attainment, and income lies in
the range o 0.450.55, compared to 0.7 and above in other regions o
the world. Poverty in sub-Saharan Arica will continue to rise unless the
benets o economic development reach the people. Some sub-Saharan
countries have thereore ormulated development visions and strategies,
identiying respective sources o growth.
Tanzania case sTudy
Te anzania Development Vision 2025, or example, aims at
transorming a low productivity agricultural economy into a semi-
industrialized one through medium-term rameworks, the latest being
the National Strategy or Growth and Reduction o Poverty (NSGRP). A
review oNSGRP implementation, documented in anzanias Poverty
and Human Development Report 2009, attributed the alling GDProm
7.8 per cent in 2004 to 6.7 per cent in 2006to the prolonged drought
during 2005/06. A urther all to 5 per cent was projected by 2009 due
to the global nancial crisis. While the proportion o households living
below the poverty line reduced slightly rom 35.7 per cent in 2000 to 33.6
per cent in 2007, the actual number o poor anzanians is increasing
because the population is growing at a aster rate. Te 2009 HDR showed
a similar trend whereby the Human Development Index in anzania
shot up rom 0.436 to 0.53 between 1990 and 2007, and in the same year
the GDP reached $1,208 per capita purchasing power parity. Again, the
improvements, though commendable, are sti ll modest when compared
Reducing Poverty
through Education and HowBy IdrIssa B. Mshoro
idrissa B. Mshoro V-cll, a uvt, d slm, T.
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31un chronicLe n. 3 2010
guinea A boy at Tombo scoo Coay sows apctu dw of a cafta, t most mpotat add-to woud to s at t scoo. T scoo acsa cafta, fs ug wat, fuctog tots, adctcty. DArren OrniTz
india Poto ta sd Pudupt Sum, o of tagst sum coos Ca. At a ag w vy
cd s ad pfs to pay wt toys, ts o was spayg wt a otboo ad p. Ts cd s pobabyaxous to cv a ducato ad stat ag at tsay ag. M.G. ViGneSh MAnikAnDAn
mexico Outdoo cassoom. Tot wom agdspt t ac of comfot. UneSCO/ViCTOr MAnUel CAMAChO
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32 idrissa b. mshoro reducing poverty through education and how
with the goal oNSGRP and Millennium Development Goal 1
to reduce by 50 per cent the number o people whose income
is less than $1 a day by 2010 and 2015.
More deliberate eorts are thereore required to redress
the situation, with more emphasis placed particularly on
education, as most poverty-reduction interventions depend
on the availability o human capital or spearheading them.
Te envisaged economic growth depends on the quantity and
quality o inputs, including land, natural resources, labour,and technology. Quality o inputs to a great extent relies on
embodied knowledge and skills, which are the basis or inno-
vation, technology development and transer, and increased
productivity and competitiveness.
A quick assessment in June 2010 o education statistics in
anzania indicated that primary school enrolment increased
by 5.8 per cent, rom 7,959,884 pupils in 2006 to 8,419,305 in
2010. Te Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) was 106.4 per cent.
Te transition rate rom primary to secondary schools, how-
ever, decreased by 6.6 per cent rom 49.3 per cent in 2005 to
43.9 per cent in 2009. On an annual average, out o 789,739
pupils who completed primary education, only 418,864continued on to secondary education, notwithstanding the
expansion o secondary school enrolment, rom 675,672 stu-
dents in 2006 to 1,638,699 in 2010, a GER increase rom 14.8 to
34.0 percent. Moreover, the observed expansion in secondary
school education mainly took place rom grades one through
our, where the number increased rom 630,245 in 2006 to
1,566,685 students in 2010. As such, out o 141,527 students
who on an annual average completed ordinary secondary
education, only 36,014 proceeded to advanced secondary
education. Some improvements have also been recorded at
the tertiary level. While enrolment in universities was 37,667
students in 2004/05, there were 118,951 in 2009/10.
Adding to this number the students in non-university
tertiar y institutions totalled 50,173 in 2009/10 and the overall
tertiary enrolment reached 169,124 students, providing a GER
o 5.3 percent, which is very low.
Te observed transition rates imply that, on average,370,875 primary school children terminate their education
journey every year at 13 to 14 years o age in anzania. Te
17- to 19-year-old secondary school graduates, unable to
obtain opportunities or urther education, worsen the situ-
ation and the overall negative impact on economic growth is
very apparent, unless there are other opportunities to devel-
op and empower the secondary school graduates. Vocational
education and training could be one such opportunity, but the
total current enrolment in vocational education in anzania
is about 117,000 trainees, which is still ar rom actual needs.
A long-term strategy is thereore critical to expand the capac-
ity or vocational education and training so as to increase the
employability o the rising numbers o out-o-school youths.
Tis act was also apparent in the 2006 anzania Integrated
Labour Force Survey, which indicated that youth between 15
and 24 years were more likely to be unemployed compared to
other age groups because they were entering the labour mar-ket or the rst time without any skills or work experience.
Te NSGRP target was to reduce unemployment rom 12.9 per
cent in 2000/01 to 6.9 per cent by 2010; hence the unemploy-
ment rate o 11 per cent in 2006 was dishear tening.
One can easily notice that while enrolment in basic edu-
cation is promising, the situation at other levels remains bleak
in meeting poverty reduction targets. Moreover, apart rom
the noticeably low university enrolment in anzania, only 29
per cent o students are taking science and technology cours-
es, probably due to the small catchment pool at lower levels.
While this is so, sustainable and broad-based growth requires
strengthening o the link between agriculture and industry.Agriculture needs to be modernized or increased productiv-
ity and protability; small and medium enterprises, promot-
ed, with particular emphasis on agro-processing, technology
innovation, and upgrading the use o technologies or value
addition; and all, with no or minimum negative impact on the
environment. Increased investments in human and physical
capital are also highly advocated, ocusing on efcient and
cost-eective provision o inrastructure or energy, inorma-
tion and communication technologies, and transport with
special attention to opening up rural and other areas with
economic potential. All these point to the promotion o edu-
cation in science and technology. Special incentives or attract-
ing investments towards accelerating growth are also empha-
sized. Experience rom elsewhere indicates that oreign direct
investment contributes eectively to economic growth when
the country has a highly-educated workorce. Domestic rms
also need to be supported and encouraged to pay attention toproduct development and innovation or ensuring quality and
appropriate marketing strategies that make them competitive
and capable o responding to global market conditions.
It is thereore very apparent rom the anzania example
that most o the required interventions or growth and the
reduction o poverty require a critical mass o high-quality
educated people at dierent levels to eectively respond to the
sustainable development challenges o nations. unc
More emphasis must be placed on education as most
poverty reduction interventions depend on the
availability of human capital for spearheading them.
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34 LOttE N. gOEdE aNd dONNa pULEsE-mURpHy sImpLyHELp CambOdIa
led by Pol Pot, seized power in 1975. An esti-
mated 1.7 million Cambodians died; most intel-
lectuals and educated people were executed, and
their cultural heritage destroyed. Te devasta-
tion o the Pol Pot regime remains with the peo-
ple o Cambodia, now one o the poorest coun-
tries in the world.
In 2001, the SimplyHelp Foundation
decided to establish a branch in Cambodia. Te
Foundations two vocational training schoolsa
ailoring School and a Computer Schoolhave
over 4,000 graduates, o which 85 per cent nd
jobs working or large companies, in banking,
or non-governmental organizations or open
up their own storeronts. Some go on to higher
education.
Mobile Tailoring SchoolSewing up
poverTy woundS
Te SimplyHelp ailoring School opened
its doors ocially in 2002. Many had the
means to learn not only a trade but how to be
sel-sucient. Te school is mobile and goes
to poor villages in the middle o rice eldswhere it is needed most. When a arming vil-
lage is chosen as the schools next destination,
the village chie opens up his home and turns
it into a temporary school. A highly-qualied
master sewing teacher is sent rom Phnom
Penh to this village two or three days a week
to train two assistant teachers who teach on
the days she is not in the vil lage. Tere are two
classes per day, which allows the students to go
to school either in the morning or aernoon,
and to work their land the other part o the
day. Students are trained or six months and
classes are ree. Since its inception, the school
has moved eight times and, to date, has gradu-
ated 1,686 students.
Te need or this type o education in
rural Cambodia is staggering. In the village
o Krang, or example, within three months
aer graduation, ten out o eighty graduates
established small businesses in their living
rooms with just a sewing machine and some
abric, and all o them have been able to earn
good money. In other villages as well, gradu-
ates have opened tailoring shops which pro-
vide them with steady, reliable incomesin
sharp contrast to the diculties that go along
with being armers. Some o these shops have
developed into authentic-looking businesses
with glass displays, beautiul clothes, and
proud owners.
Tailoring SchoolS Social and
econoMic iMpacT
Former tailoring school graduates who
have started their own businesses have taken on
apprentices, thus passing on their knowledge.
Tese apprentices pay the master tailor $150and can stay with the tailor until they have mas-
tered the essential skills. When asked why they
choose to pay $150 to learn the trade when they
can get paid to learn it at a government school,
their answer is quality!
According to Vuthi Seng, Coordinator
o SimplyHelp Cambodia, the social status
o women changes ater graduation. Young
Cambodian rural women traditionally have
to stay home, he says. However, once a
young lady graduates rom the SimplyHelp
ailoring School in her village, which takesmuch less time than the two to three years
required in a private school in the capital,
she has a skill and can earn an income. She
now has a more equal relationship with her
husband; otherwise she is treated as a subject
sImpLyHELpC
ambOdIa
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35UN CHRONICLE No. 3 2010
to her husband and has litt le decision-making
power in the home.
Additionally, not only does this height-
ened income afect a womans social status, but
it afects a community at large. For instance, all
students at the tailoring school are armers and
cow herders and have an average income o $1 to
$2 per day. But graduates with their own busi-
nesses increase their average income rom $3 to
$7 per day. Tis extra income is not only used or
basic needs, but is also re-invested in their own
businesses and in their communities.
coMpuTer SchoolproceSSing
The poSSibiliTieS
he SimplyHelp Cambodia Computer
School also opened in 2002 and is located in the
capital Phnom Penh. Due to the high-quality
training and low cost, 200 to 250 students apply
or the 100 available training spots every three
months. ypically, the students selected are rom
low-income households, orphans, or have a dis-
ability. During these classes they learn Microso
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. From 2002 to 2009,
the Computer School had 2,784 graduates.
he schools teacher, Sophat Phoung, is
a disabled young man rom a rural area o
Cambodia. Due to an accident in his early child-
hood, his right leg does not unction anymore,
which signicantly reduced his job opportuni-
ties. So in 2002 he attended the computer school
and worked as a volunteer aer graduation. Dueto his hard work and dedication, he was hired as
a teacher in the school in 2003 and not only can
he support himsel now, but he can also provide
income or his amily.
coMpuTer SchoolS Social and
econoMic iMpacT
Tere are signs that Cambodia is catching
up with the rest o the inormation technol-
ogy world as the Computer School has seen an
increase in demand or more specialized compu-
ter training in QuickBooks, Photoshop, Access,and Peachtree.
A notable trend is that, although there are
more male then emale students, the number o
emale students has steadily increased over the
years. Common jobs or graduates include data
loTTe n. goede s dt f dmt f TSmh Ft s stt sttst t ut nts em S c.donna puleSe-Muprhy s t t t.
sImpLyHELpCambOdIa
entry or companies or working at the cash regis-
ter in supermarkets. It might not occur to people
in the West that one needs to have basic compu-
ter skills to operate a cash register. Many others
become business managers, administrators, or
teachers, such as Ky Bun Heang, who became
executive director or a Japanese NGO operating
in Cambodia and specializing in the education
eld; Miss Chea Lida, who became a manager at
one o the most successul Cambodian Banks;
or Mr. Nuty, who became a provincial man-ager at the Department o National reasury in
Rattanank Kiri province.
SimplyHelp Cambodia is an educational
model or economic and societal success, but
certainly more work needs to be done. No mat-
ter how small or large, it is critical to support
these kinds o vocational education endeavours
which not only help individuals build a new lie
or themselves, but also help perpetuate a sel-
sustaining community. unc
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36 jacques l. boucher civic education and inclusion
Civic Education
and InclusionA Market or a PublicInterest Perspective?
By jacques l. Boucher
in recent years, we have constantly been re-minded that we are living in a knowledgeeconomy. Societies that invest most heavilyin training their citizens will thereore be in
the best position on the global chessboard. Tus,
education is being given a new role in the con-cept o competition. Not only is this concept ocompetition encouraged within society, whetherin the North or South, the implication is thatthe primary benet o an education is economic.For this reason, skills which are not specicallyrelated to knowledge are requently overvalued,oen at the expense o elds o knowledge thatare considered abstract and useless.
It is, however, no secret that the modernworld was built on tacit or explicit knowledgethrough the courageous actions o city dwell-ers who, like Galileo and Michelangelo, chal-lenged established belies and world views thatwere considered immutable. Tey, o course,
jacques l. boucher i Pf, Dptmnt f si Wk nd sisin, univity f q t oti, cnd.
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38 jacques l. boucher civic education and inclusion
did so not only in spite o dominant establishments, but also
with the support o newly-emerging institutions and new types
o power. We should also bear in mind that the dissemination
o new orms o knowledge during the Age o Enlightenment
was acilitated by a signicant technological development
printing. New orms o media communication such as the
Internet are, without a doubt, an equally important step or-
ward in the dissemination o knowledge and inormation.
Yet how much inuence would printing have had with-
out changes in society brought about by rising levels o school
enrolment that gave most citizens o Western