Vector Issue 12 - 2011

www.ghn.amsa.org.au
4
A
young child in Ethiopia aspires to become
a doctor, engineer, or teacher one day. She
dreams of earning an income, owning a house
and providing her children with a life she could
never have. But this seems like a futile dream. Her
family is unable to provide her with an education,
as school fees would consume more than one quarter
of her family’s income. Despite her parents’ wholehearted
efforts to send her to school, the reality of
their situation means that she will be entrenched in
the perpetual cycle that has encompassed her family;
editorialcould still
a nomadic life underpinned by the daily struggle to
survive.
On the other side of town, another child can no
longer endure the darkness, waiting for daylight to
arrive so she can get ready for school. She lives in
a small one room abode, abutted by replicas of her
home. Her mother leaves early in the morning to
work in the mill and returns in the late hours of
night. The child must cook and clean for herself,
and make the arduous journey to school every day.
School for her, however, is a secure and nurturing
setting, where she can come early and often stay
late, and is lovingly equipped with the tools to lead a
better life by her teachers.
Education in Sub-Saharan Africa has prevailed as
a ray of hope, in the midst of proliferating political
warfare, and the truculence of disease and inequality.
The 2 nd Millennium Development Goal - to ensure
that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls
alike, will be able to complete a full course of
primary schooling - has been a key focus in the
vector FEB 2011
s a i o n
chatterjee
editor in chief
m o n a s h
university
countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.
Education has been identified by experts as the most
sustainable and expeditious means of economic and
social development and to alleviate poverty. With
education, employment opportunities are broadened,
income levels are increased and maternal and child
health is improved.
Countries such as Burundi, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda have abolished
school fees, which has led to a surge in enrolment: in
Ghana, for example, public school enrolment in the
most deprived districts and nationwide soared from
4.2 million to 5.4 million between 2004 and 2005 1 .
In Kenya, enrolment of primary school children
increased dramatically with 1.2 million extra
children in school in 2003 alone; by 2004, the number
had climbed to 7.2 million, of which 84 percent were
of primary school age 1 . Despite this, the 2nd goal is
not on course to reach its target of universal primary
education by 2015. Currently, 56 million children
be out of school in 2015 and
girls will still lag behind boys in school
enrolment and attendance 2 .
As the 63rd UN DPI-NGO conference
occurred in Melbourne late last year,
with a large medical student contingent from
around Australia putting in their two cents, this
issue canvasses the progress and potential pitfalls
concerning the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). The MDGS are a series of resolutions
setting a hard target of 2015 to achieve a range of
specific quality-of-life benchmarks agreed to by 192
countries and 23 international organizations. We
can all play our part to ameliorate our globalised
world, whether it be through grass roots action,
supporting non-governmental organisations
though activism and participation, or influencing
health care in developing nations via research and
student placements. Medical students must show
leadership when it comes to issues such as universal
primary education, as factors like this will play an
unprecedented role in the burden of disease and
quality of life people face, particularly in developing
nations, in the years to come.
1. United Nations Development Programme. Achieve universal primary education (Success stories) [Internet]. 2007
[updated 2007 Nov 1; cited 2010 Aug 7]. Available from: http://www.mdgmonitor.org/story.cfm?goal=2/
2. UNICEF. Press release [Internet]. 2010 [updated 2010 May 17; cited 2010 Aug 7]. Available from: http://www.unicef.
org/media/media_53659.html/