Runninghead:TheFightforaRighttoEducation

TheFightforaRighttoEducation
AReviewoftheLiterature
AarathiGarimella
EdinaHighSchool

AuthorNote
ThispaperwaspreparedforPreAPEnglish,hour4,taughtbyMs.Larkins

TheFightforaRighttoEducation

InIndiatoday,4%ofchildrennevergotoschool,58%neverfinishprimaryschool,and
90%dontgoontocollege.Only10%ofthe440millionchildreninIndiagoontocollege(Teach
forIndia,n.d.,para.1).AhugeproblemfacingIndiatodayisthenumberofchildrenwhoarent
receivingapropereducation.Currently,oneinfivechildreninthisworldareIndian.Ifnothing
isdonetostopthisepidemic,theviciouscycleofpovertywillcontinueaddingpeopletothose
whoarealreadyfacingfinancialadversity,exponentiallyincreasingthisnumber.Onlythrough
legislation,enforcementofstandards,andorganizationssponsoredbypeoplewillwebeableto
helpallthechildrenwhodeserveapropereducationbutarentgettingone.
BACKGROUNDOFTHEPROBLEM
HOMELESSNESS
Amajorfactorcontributingtothenumberofchildrenoutofschoolisthehighrateof
homelesschildren.Childrenasyoungassixstartworkingtoprovidefortheirfamilyinpoverty.
AnonprofitorganizationforstreetkidscalledIIndiareportsthatinordertoprovidefortheir
families,childrenbegonthestreetsorgothroughtrashtopickoutrecyclablerags(The
ProblemsofStreetChildren.n.d.,para.4).Themajorityofthesechildrenwouldrathertryto
makealivingthanwastingtimeatschool.Accordingtoanorganizationthathelpsstreetkids
calledSalaamBalaak,streetkidscanearnupto
$4.50,alotofmoneyinacountrywhereabout
80percentofthepopulationlivesonlessthan$2aday(Flintoff,2011,para.11).
With
conditionsthisintolerable,notgoingtoschoolistheleastofboththechildrensandparents
worries.Childrenaremorefocusedoniftheyllbeabletoeatthatdayandtheonlysolutionto
thisproblemisbeingabletoprovidefreeschoolingforthesechildren.

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CHILDLABOR
Anothermajorfactorcontributingtothenumberofchildrenoutofschoolisthechild
labor.Childrenasmorehelpfultofamiliesinpovertywhentheyhelpcontributefinanciallyto
thefamilyratherthangoingtoschool.AccordingtoPoverties,schoolsdontteachchildrenany
usefulskillsthatcanbeapplicableintherealworldatayoungage.Sincetheparentsdontsee
anykindofbenefitfromsendingtheirkidstoschool,thechildrenstayhomeandhelpcontribute
tothefamilyincome(ChildLaborinIndia:APovertyofSchools?,2013,para.11).
Governmentschoolsarentadequatelytohelpchildreneveniftheywantedto.Afoundation
namedSmileFoundationofIndianotesthatbecauseofthegrowingpopulation,thereisan
insufficientnumberofschoolbuildings,teachers,books,andshortageofpublicfunds.The
childrenarefacingbasicchallengesthattheyshouldntbe(ChildreninIndia,n.d.,para.1).
Parentsaremorereluctanttosendtheirchildrentoschoolwhentheyknowthatthechildrens
timewouldbebetterspentdoingajob.Notonlydoesthiscreateaneverendingcycleofpoverty,
butitalsoencourageschildlabor.Spendingmoremoneyandhelpingthefoundationoffree,
governmentaleducationwouldsolvemanyofthepovertyissuesIndiaisfacing.
INFRASTRUCTUREOFGOVERNMENTSCHOOLS+RURALDEVELOPMENT
Thebiggestfactorcontributingtothenumberofchildrenoutofschoolisthe
infrastructureofgovernmentschoolsorthelackthereof.Governmentschools,especiallyinrural
areasarewaybelowsubpar.AUNESCOreportshowsthat,thequalityofschoolissodreadful
thatevenwith5or6yearsofschooling,30%ofthepoorchildrenarestillilliterate(Gohain,
2014,para.1).Alsoinaddition,therearentenoughteachersorschools,theschoolsinsome
ruralvillagesareoverlypackedwithstudentsandtheteachertostudentratioiswaytoohigh

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(Kaur,n.d.,para.3).Themajorityofthesechildrenarentabletoaffordthetuitionsrequiredfor
privateschools,sotheyinsteadchoosenottogotoschool.Accordingtoaneducationalblogrun
by
RamandeepKaur
,sincepeopleinpovertyarentabletoaffordagoodeducation,many
childrendropoutbeforetheirsecondaryeducationsincethereisnopointifthechildgetsto
collegelevelbecausetheywontbeabletoaffordcollegeanyway(Kaur,n.d.,para.5).Poverty
combinedwithruralityusuallymeansthatthosechildrenwontgoschoolbecausegovernment
schoolshavepoorquality,andprivateschoolsaretooexpensive.Unreliableteachers,lackof
supplies,andnostandardregulationisthecauseformanychildrennotgoingtoschool.
DISEASES+MALNOURISHMENT
Oneofthebiggesteffectsofhomelesschildrennotgoingtoschoolisgettingdiseasesand
beingmalnourished.Themajorityofstreetkidsareattheriskofaddictionanddiseases.Digging
throughthefilthmaksestreetchildrenmorepronetoaddictionanddisease.Accordingtoa
statisticgatheredin2005byUnicef,46%ofIndianchildrenaremalnourishedand140million
childrenarelivingofflessthanadollaraday(India,Statistics,n.d.,para.1).Manyofthese
childrendonthaveasetwayofgettingfood,sotheyareoftenmalnourishedmakingtheneven
morepronetoaddictionanddisease.AstudydonebytheSmileFoundationofIndiarevealsthat
outofallthemalnourishedchildrenintheworld,oneinthreeliveinIndia(ChildreninIndia,
n.d.,para.8).Schoolisawaytokeepthesechildrenoffthestreetsandawayfromtheterrible
thingsthatcouldhappentothem.Theonlywaytohelpthesechildrenaswellasmore
generationsinthefutureisbyfixingtherootcauseoftheproblemwhichistheweakeducation
system.

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CHILDLABORISENCOURAGED+CHILDMARRIAGES
Anothereffectofpoorchildrennotbeingabletoattendschoolisthatchildlaborand
childmarriagesareencouraged.Whentheoverallschoolingsystemisdismal,parentswould
ratherhavechildrennotgoingtoschoolorjuststayingathome.Thisleadstochildrenbeingpart
oftheworkforce.Thoughitsillegal,inmanyruralplaces,rulesarentenforcedheavily.A
foundationnamedSmileFoundationofIndianotesthatfortheunderprivilegedpeopleinIndia,
educationisperceivedasahighpricedluxury,andthisnegativeoutlookcontinuesonwithevery
newgeneration(ChildreninIndia,n.d.,para.2).Whileboysworkoutside,girlsare
encouragedtoworkathomeinsteadofgoingtoschoolbecausethatswhattheywillmostlikely
endupdoingwhentheygetmarried.Notonlythat,butaccordingtoanarticlepublishedonThe
Guardian,girlsareeveteasedonthestreetbyboysandtheirfamiliesdontwantanythingto
happentothemsothegirlsgetpulledoutofschooleithertoworkathomeorgetmarried
(Williams,2013,para.1).Educationisntvaluedatallwhenitcomeswithariskofharassment.
Forthesakeofprotectingafamilyshonor,parentswouldratherhavetheirdaughtermarriedoff
atayoungageof16.Inordertopreparethedaughterformarriage,theypullthemoutofschool
andaskedthemtolearnhowtoworkathome.Thusbeingabletoprovidesafe,efficientschools,
createsanenvironmentthatbothparentsandgirlsaresatisfiedwith.
NEVERENDINGCYCLE+GROWINGPROBLEM
Anotherimpactofchildreninpovertynotbeingabletohaveaccesstoschoolisthatit
becomesagrowingandneverendingcycle.Amajorityofchildrenwhodontgeteducation
dontgivetheirchildrenaneducation.Accordingtoaneducationalblogrunby
Ramandeep
Kaur
,whenachildsparentsdontletthemreceiveaneducationthenthepersonisagainstruck

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inthesameneverendingcycleofmoney,lifeandpoverty(Kaur,n.d.,para.5).Notonlyisthis
aneverendingcyclebutitsalsoagrowingproblem.AccordingtoanarticlepublishedonThe
Guardian,eventhoughIndianowhasitsownaidsystemand98%ofallkidsages614are
goingtoschool,thequalityisstilllacking(Williams,2013,para.4).Theviciouscycleof
povertycangoonforgenerationsandeducationisoneoftheeasiestwaystosolveit.Though
manychildrendogotoschool,thepoorqualitydoesntevenmakeitworthit.
SOLUTIONSTOTHEPROBLEM
ACTSPASSEDBYTHEGOVERNMENT
ThoughActshavebeenpassedbythegovernmentbeforeinanattempttofixthe
educationalsystem,withmoreenforcement,thentheyshouldwork.Theprimeminister
ManmohanSinghin2009passedanacttitledRightofChildrentoFreeandCompulsory
Education(RTE)Actwhichgrantedchildrenages6to14therighttoafreeeducation(Setia,
2015,para.2).BecauseofthisAct,now98%ofthechildrenages6to14dogotoschool.All
thatislefttodoispassapieceoflegislationthatdevotesmoremoneyandefforttoward
supplyingandrebuildinggovernmentschoolsaswellasenforcingtheregulationsaboutthe
standardsoftheseschools.Privateschoolsshouldalsobeaskedtolowertheirfees.Whenthe
primeministerpassedthatAct,hemandatedthat25%oftheadmissionsatprivateschoolhaveto
bereservedforthosewhoareunabletoaffordtuition(Setia,2015para.2).Thisistakingastep
intherightdirection.Notonlyisthegovernmenttryingtomakeschoolingmoreaffordablebut
alsoitstryingtomakeeducationoverallmandatoryforchildrenages6to14.

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ORGANIZATIONSLIKESALAAMBALAAK
WeneedmoreorganizationslikeSalaamBalaaktotakeinstreetkidsandprovidethem
withthefacilitiesnecessarytoleadadecentchildhood.SalaamBalaakmeanshello,streetkid.
Thisorganizationwasbuilttohelpkidswhohaverunawayfromhomeandarenowlivingonthe
streets.Themainpurposeofthisorganizationistogetchildrenoffthestreetsandbacktotheir
families.Ifachilddoesnthaveahomeorcantgobackhomethentheycanliveinacommunity
centerthatprovidesschoolingandmedicalattention
(Flintoff,2011,para.32).
Ifmore
organizationswerejustabletoprovideshelter,schooling,andfoodtochildrenwhowere
homeless,thenthenumberofstreetkidswouldobviouslyreducesignificantly.Reducingthe
numberchildrenonthestreetandincreasingthenumberofchildreninschoolwillheavily
impacttheworkforceandhelpIndiabecomealeadingnation.
SPONSORINGAKIDORADOPTINGASCHOOL
Peoplefromaroundtheworldcanfundachildseducationthroughanorganizationlike
BigHelp.Sponsoringachildonlycosts$11permonthandprovidesthechildwithroomand
boardaswellassupplies,uniform,andshoes.Itiscrucialthatthesponsoringremainsconsistent
orthechildwillhavematerialsforonemonthandthenthenextmonth,theywonthaveanything
(SponsoraChild,n.d.,para.1).Sponsoringachildforayearisrelativelyeasyforpeoplein
Americaforexample.Ifeveryonewasabletocontributeevenalittle,thenthenumberof
childrenwhoselifewouldbecompletelychangedisgoingtobeimmense.Someonecould
choosetohelpbyadoptingaschool.Adoptingaschoolhelpsacommunity,especiallyruralones
thatarentabletokeeptheirschoolsupandrunningbecauseofthelackoffunds(Adopta

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School,n.d.,para.1).Themoneysponsoredwillhelptheschoolwithsupplies,teachersand
whateverothermaterialsneededorworkthathastobedone.
Thesechildrenarealreadyfacingmanyhardshipsintheirlifeandbeingdeprivedofa
propereducationdoesn'thavetobeanotherone.Theonlywaywewillseepositivechangeisby
notonlypassinglegislationbutalsostrictlyenforcingthosestandards.Outsideorganizations
helpoutagreatdealforthosechildrenthatthegovernmentcan'thelp.Therighttoaneducation
shouldbeahumanrightbecauseeveryonedeservesachancetoriseupfrompoverty.These
children'schildhoodshouldbethetimeintheirliveswhenalltheyneedtoworryaboutisschool,
notaboutwheretheirnextmealiscomingfrom,notaboutwherethey'regoingtobespending
thenightandnotabouthowthey'llbeabletoaffordaneducation.Ifwecombatthisepidemic,
firstchildreninIndiaandthenovertimechildrenallovertheworldwillbebetteroffinthe
futuregenerations.Theworlditselfwillbebetteroffandit'stimewetookaction.

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