Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

010CHAPTER 32Education for All Global Monitoring ReportBy helpingpoor peoplemanage risk,social protectionprogrammescan broadenopportunitiesin educationin 2004 and have submitted proposals aimed atbroadening and strengthening multiculturalismin Bolivia’s schools (Gamboa Rocabado, 2009;Howard, 2009; López, 2009; Luykx and López, 2007).The Bolivian experience draws attention to abroader feature of the interaction between politicsand law in combating marginalization in education.Political mobilization is important because it givesa voice to social groups facing discrimination andstigmatization. In New Zealand, the kōhanga reolanguage movement provided a social, politicaland cultural focal point for empowerment of Māoripeople. Political mobilization has contributed todevelopment of a more multicultural educationsystem, which in turn has extended opportunitiesfor Māori children (Box 3.22). In Bangladesh, anational non-government organization called NijeraKori (‘We do it ourselves’) has helped landlesslabourers, primarily women, strengthen their abilityto claim rights and entitlements (Chronic PovertyResearch Centre, 2008).Political mobilization can also pose risks. Themarginalized are not a homogenous group, andpolitical parties, social movements and nongovernmentorganizations take up their problemsunevenly. In India, the rise of political partiesBox 3.22: New Zealand’s Ma – ori Renaissancerepresenting low-caste groups in northern stateshas been described as a ‘silent revolution’(Jaffrelot, 2003, p.10). Yet that revolution has donelittle to address poor schooling for low-castechildren, suggesting that political priorities havebeen in other areas (Mehrotra, 2006). Some highlymarginalized groups have a weak voice even withinbroad-based civil society lobbies seeking improvedaccess to education. The rural poor, ethnic minoritywomen, children with disabilities, slum dwellersand children in conflict zones are groups whosecauses have not been widely or effectively taken up.Social protection:conditional cash transfers and beyondHousehold poverty is one of the most potentfactors in education marginalization. If a poor familyis hit by a disaster such as a drought, a flood,unemployment or a serious illness, it may have nochoice but to take children out of school. By helpingpoor people manage risk without compromisinglong-term welfare, social protection programmescan also broaden opportunities in education.Such programmes take many forms. They rangefrom cash transfers to employment-based safetynets and interventions to support nutrition. Inaddition to reducing destitution, such programmesNew Zealand’s kōhanga reo movement has demonstratedwhat a powerful force indigenous language revitalizationcan be, not only for education but also for social cohesion.In the 1970s, the Māori language was on the edge ofextinction. A grassroots movement arose to save the languageby educating a new generation in total-immersion ‘languagenests’ (from which the movement takes its name). Todayit is a national institution widely credited with sparkingthe language’s revival and fuelling a powerful assertionof Māori identity in almost all walks of national life.The concept is simple. Māori under age 6 get their pre-schooleducation in a community- and family-based environmentwhere only Māori is spoken. They spend their early yearssurrounded by the culture and values of their people.Kōhanga reo are typically found in church halls, schoolsand marae, traditional Māori community centres. Like manysocial movements, this one started small. It was begun in 1981by the government’s Department of Māori Affairs but grewquickly as a grassroots, mostly volunteer-run movement.Thirteen years later there were 800 kōhanga reo cateringfor 14,000 children.With their ethos of self-help and commitment to continuityacross generations, kōhanga reo became a source ofinspiration for young Māori parents, many of whom couldnot speak their ancestral language. The movement nurtureda generation of bilingual Māori speakers, with alumninumbers estimated today at 60,000. In 2008, one-quarterof all Māori children enrolled in early childhood programmeswere in kōhanga reo.As graduating Māori speakers turned 5 and started school,they generated demand for Māori immersion schools(kura kaupapa). Today, there are sixty-eight kura kaupapawith 6,000 students. Year 11 Māori students in immersionschools have recorded significantly better achievement ratesthan their Māori peers in English-medium schools.Kōhanga reo have not solved the marginalization in educationthat many Māori children experience. Māori youth are stilltwice as likely as their non-Māori counterparts to leave schoolwith no qualification. But the movement has played a crucialrole in challenging discrimination and forging a moremulticultural national identity.Sources: Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust (2009); New Zealand Ministryof Education (2008a, 2008b).206