Doing Business with the World - Mapeo de Promotores de RSE

Engaging with localcommunities to providebasic educationGrupoNuevaMasisa, a forest products company and asubsidiary of GrupoNueva, has beeninvolved in providing basic primaryeducation to remote communities inChile. The company’s factory is thelargest employer in the Chilean town ofCabrera, a municipality with a populationof 30,000. The company has a policy ofrecruiting locally. However, because ofpoor education standards – the regionhas some of the lowest test scores in thecountry – the company was havingdifficulty finding qualified staff who couldbe promoted through the company.Simultaneously, the municipalityappealed for help with basic education.Masisa therefore began a program tooffer training to local teachers, and asecond program to offer pre-schooleducation and social activities to preschoolchildren. This program hasresulted in a better educated work forceand pool of labor for the company andhas helped to stem the flow of peoplemigrating towards the cities and theassociated “brain drain” from the region.Source: From Challenge to Opportunity: Therole of business in tomorrow’s society. 2006.WBCSD.14Key challengeslimiting progressEducation is a key responsibility ofgovernments. In most countrieseducation is compulsory up until the ageof 15, and almost all countries providefree primary education. However, thelarge number of children out of schoolindicates that in some areas the system isfailing. Secondary education is oftenunavailable or dependent on successfulcompletion of primary schooling and/orthe ability to pay for it. Furthermore,according to the World Bank, thesecondary curriculum in manydeveloping countries is not relevant tothe social and economic needs of thestudents. College education is evenharder to come by, while alternativevocational, technical and skills trainingfor those who have been unable tocomplete primary education are ofteninaccessible.Transport to and from schools(particularly in rural areas), schooluniforms, supplies (text books, writingmaterials, etc.) are not always providedfree of charge. These costs proveprohibitive and a disincentive forchildren of poor families to attendschool. Furthermore, social values andcultural norms can constitute animpediment to improved education. Inparticular, the exclusion of girls fromeducation is a serious challenge. Outsideindustrialized countries, more boys thangirls are enrolled in primary – andsecondary – schools.Poverty and disincentives keep childrenout of schools and drive them into thelabor force because their incomes areneeded to secure the survival of theirfamilies. In 2004, the International LabourOrganization (ILO) estimated that some190 million children, or 16%, betweenthe ages of five and 14 were economicallyactive in developing countries, 70% ofthem in agriculture. 16 Child labor poses athreat to the physical and emotionalintegrity of children; by denying themaccess to schooling, it prevents them fromfulfilling their long-term potential, therebycompromising the economic and socialpotential of future generations. Althoughmost countries have signed the principalILO conventions relating to differentforms of child labor, such as compulsoryeducation, these undertakings are oftenpoorly enforced.Armed conflicts keep around 43 millionprimary school age children away fromschool because of damage toeducational facilities, the dangersinherent in traveling to school, orbecause they have been drafted into thearmed forces, according to the UK-basedSave the Children Fund. 17Poverty restricts a government’s abilityto invest in education. Competingpressure for funds (from sectors such ashealth and energy and the military)further compromises spending oneducation. Current levels of educationspending are very low in some countries.Bangladesh spends 2.4% of its GDP oneducation, while Pakistan and EquatorialGuinea spend 1.8% and 0.6%respectively. 18 Such low budgets lead topoor education facilities: ill-equipped,overcrowded schools staffed by poorlyqualified teachers. The result is often apoorly educated work force that lackscapacity and technical skills.People who succeed in attaininguniversity qualifications or acquiringtechnical skills subsequently go abroad insearch of better paid opportunities. In thepast decade, Ghana is estimated to havelost 50% of its professional nurses to theUK, the US and Canada, 19 while 60% ofLiberia’s physicians are in practice in theUS or UK. 20 This so-called “brain drain”constitutes an important challenge formany emerging economies. They losehighly qualified professionals toeconomically advanced nations.