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Discuss this article (1 Comments)Education is key for developing nations - Sheikh Salman
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Saturday, 17 October 2009
BETTER SCHOOLING: More needs to be done to improve standards of education globally, Sheikh Salman urges. (Getty Images)
The Crown Prince of Bahrain has called for a global effort to improve standards of education in developing countries.
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is also chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB), told international education experts attending the inaugural Education Project in Bahrain that despite efforts the inequality gap in global education continued to widen.
"People are what make a country. They are the key to a country's growth and they are entitled to the education and training they need to win good jobs and a good income for their family. Yet we all know there are gaps in the quality of the world's education systems,” he said.
“In spite of good intentions, increased spending on education often fails to deliver the expected improvements. Too many young men and women – in developed and emerging nations – are thrown into the jobs market without the skills they need to stay afloat in post-industrial, knowledge-based economies.”
The Education Project was initiated by Sheikh Salman and organised by the EDB to address the widening inequality gap in global education.
According to UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning, 774 million adults worldwide are illiterate.
A single year of primary school education can increases a person’s wages in later life by between 5 and 15 percent for boys and more for girls, EDB said in a statement.
Bahrain was the first country in the Gulf to introduce a public education system in 1919, and to open education to women in 1928.
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Education
Posted by Gloria, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 18 October 2009 at 12:18 UAE time
In a lot of developing countries is the problem that teachers are paid a pittance . The old adage " you get what you pay for" is true here. In fairness there are teachers who are dedicated to teaching and have the welfare of the students at heart - but for most, sadly, it is a nice package offering tax free environments and more perks than they could ever get at home or simply a job that they attend in order to get a wage.
Real teachers have a love of the job and a care for their students. The amount of institutes that make so much money in "tuition" for students in areas like TOEFL GMAT SAT LSAT IELTS etc shows how appalling the standard is here. Most students should be able to achieve these entrance tests easily instead of burdening parents with additional costs for bridging english courses. A good percentage of universities offer these courses to prospective students as an additional income factor
Education, sadly, has become a money spinner, not the backbone of a sucessful society as it should be.
Posted by Gloria, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday 18 October 2009 at 12:18 UAE time
In a lot of developing countries is the problem that teachers are paid a pittance . The old adage " you get what you pay for" is true here. In fairness there are teachers who are dedicated to teaching and have the welfare of the students at heart - but for most, sadly, it is a nice package offering tax free environments and more perks than they could ever get at home or simply a job that they attend in order to get a wage.
Real teachers have a love of the job and a care for their students. The amount of institutes that make so much money in "tuition" for students in areas like TOEFL GMAT SAT LSAT IELTS etc shows how appalling the standard is here. Most students should be able to achieve these entrance tests easily instead of burdening parents with additional costs for bridging english courses. A good percentage of universities offer these courses to prospective students as an additional income factor
Education, sadly, has become a money spinner, not the backbone of a sucessful society as it should be.
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