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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
00:36 |
Vrinda facing the camera |
Nurturing the will to choose
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/EUGAD/211965065353
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2 00:09 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2 00:36 |
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Shiva Kumar
- Afford not to Invest in Basic Necessities & is Population the Real
Problem? |
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Shiva
Kumar
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3
The right to education
The “right to education”. When the constitution was
made in 1950, the argument was made that education is not a fundamental
right. Because the government then said that we do not have the financial
resources to ensure that. So they said, give us 10 years. 1960 came, 1970,
1980, 1990… the same argument “we do not have the financial resources. And
at the same time you were seeing that India was becoming a top rate
country for higher education (IITs, IIMs). But the neglect of basic
education in schooling was unforgivable. An it took civil society years of
pushing till it was made a fundamental right in 2003. Only starting in
2010 the government has made the financial allocation. This is the
fundamental question: where does India get the financial resources to
ensure that all children get quality education, that every Indian has
access to health? And what is the answer you give? There are two ways of
looking at it. One is to ask the question “can India afford these high
level investments in basic health and education?” But a more fundamental
way of putting this question today is “can India afford not to invest in
basic health, basic education, basic nutrition and these essentials in
life. |
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
01:05 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
01:40 |
Flash card MDG2 |
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
The second goal is that all children obtain basic
school education. The objective of the MDG
2 is that the right to learn
is guaranteed to all children, boys and girls alike, rich and poor, in
developed and developing nations alike.
Right now, this is not so. In Sub-Saharan Africa
for instance, only 2 out of 3 children receive primary schooling. And it is
especially the girls who get left out.
The current effort is to support African
governments and civil society in following the example of the Asian and
South American nations, that are successfully extending universal primary
education to most of their children. |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
01:05 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
01:40 |
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
01:40 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
011:15 |
INDIA -
India - Right to Learn - Sarnath
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Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which means
'Education for All', is a Government of India's programme started around the
year 2000 aimed at the achievement of Universal Elementary Education by making
free and compulsory Education to all Children of 6 to14 years of age.
The On August 4, 2009 the Indian Parliament passed The Right of Children to
Free and Compulsory Education Act with the challenging reality that there were
still 304 million non-literate people living in India (UNDP 2009).
We are in a girl’s
residential government school in Sarnath, the place where Lord Buddha spent
many years in meditation and gave his first sermon. This school is one of the
model schools specifically financed under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a
country-wide programme started in the year 200, aimed at ending illiteracy in
the country. This school is home to hundreds of girls from
rural families that live below the poverty line.
We followed the
activities of the girls for a whole day. We conversed with the Principal of
the school and her team of dedicated teachers.
With 304 million of its
citizens still non-literate in 2009, this objective has indeed been a
challenge for India.
A part of India’s
commitment to the Millennium Development Goal 2 of achieving universal primary
education, the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” is a jewel among the development
programmes of the Indian government. In fact, India has progressed by leaps
and bounds in the education sector.
And in order to increase
school enrolment among girls between 6 to 14 years, especially from families
living below the poverty line, the government set up nearly 3600 residential
schools across the country. Called Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, named
after Mahatma Gandhi’s wife - Kasturba, these girls’ schools enrol school
drop-out girls whose families cannot afford educating them further.
In 2009, the Indian
parliament took a further step in the direction of the MDG 2 by making the
historic 86th Indian Constitutional Amendment Act, “The Right of Children to
Free and Compulsory Education Act”, declaring elementary education as a
Fundamental Right for all children between 6-14 years and obliging the
government to provide children with free and compulsory education. It is
through efforts like these that 98% of India’s rural population today has
access to primary schools within few kilometres of their habitation; and
primary school enrolment among girls has risen from a mere 16.1% in 1950 to
46.7% in 2005.
Indian government
policies and programmes have greatly contributed to India’s positive literacy
figures – literacy rates have increased from 64.83% in 2001 to 74.04% in 2011.
From a mere 11.79% in 2001, female literacy is now 65.46%. Recognising the
importance of this policy decision made by the Indian government, the European
Commission and the World Bank supported this programme with a contribution of
over 300 million Euros.
Through girls schools
funded under the “Education for All” campaign, the Indian government aims at
providing an environment for girls where girls can stay, where they can
dedicate their time to studies and learning life skills; where they can eat
healthy and nutritious food and where their needs are well looked after.
We visited one of these
residential schools in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s least
developed states in terms of economic and social indicators
We met girls who were
enthusiastic about studying and living in the school. They enjoy doing things
together – studying, eating, playing sports, dancing, singing, learning
martial arts and praying. Here, the girls learn life skills and acquire
self-confidence. They learn to recognise their value in family and society and
to fight for their rights. Here, they learn what their roles and
responsibilities are as citizens. They explore the world through books and
become aware of pressing global issues.
In these schools, the
girls learn “to be” themselves – to be children, students, responsible world
citizens, and above all healthy, knowledgeable, happy and confident girls. For
them, even the sky isn’t the limit.
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Danièle Smadja |
Why should an EU citizen fund the education of the poor children in
India? How would this benefit her? I think that
supporting the education of a child is a wonderful objective, a wonderful
approach to defend human rights; because education is a fundamental right
of every child. The second
element is that the money has been worth spending for in 2003 there were
25 million children out of school in India. Thanks to the program of the
Government of India and the EU in 2009 there were only 8 million children
out of school. The third element
is that when a child is educated, when a teenage is going to college and
when out with a degree a student is getting a job; i don't think we should
think in terms of competitors. We should think in terms of wealth, in
terms of world economic growth. The more children are coming to the labour
market with a degree, with skills... then you make the world economy
run. Today there is so much interdependence between countries; it is
important that there is economic growth in India and china for when our
countries are lagging behind, and when they are in the middle of a crises
it is then important that other countries are the locomotive of the
economic growth. Whenever you give
money to somebody you have less for you; but you may have less now... but
it will bring you more tomorrow. And your child who is going to school in
Europe, tomorrow might need the growth that an Indian child is going to
produce.
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00:46 |
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
011:28 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
011:52 |
Vrinda on camera - social maieutic |
Development
Assistance as Social Education -
http://www.facebook.com/pages/EUGAD/211965065353
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Riflessioni di Stefano in moto in Siria |
International cooperation: is it
dialogue and solidarity or an effort to export Western stereotypes?
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
011:52 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
013:35 |
Flash card for Syria |
Syria (سورية or سوريا ) is a country on Eastern Mediterranean Sea,
bordering Lebanon to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east,
Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. It covers an area that
has seen many foreign occupations but Damascus has always maintained a
status of a regional capital. During the Roman Empire, Syria comprised the
whole Region of Levant.
In 1946, Syria attained independence from colonialist France, which however
split a part of its territory in what is now Lebanon.
A part of Syria, the Golan Heights is under occupation by Israel since
1967. Syria has been one of Israel's harshest opponents, supporting also
many resistance groups in Palestine and Lebanon.
Post independence Syrian politics has been often in turmoil. Syria has
recently abolished the Emergency Law which was effectively limiting civil
rights since 1962, but political unrest has increased since then. The
Government has responded with violent repressions that have attracted wide
international condemnation.
On Internet, there is extensive video documentation of civilian protesters
being fired upon by Syrian security; along with images posted by the Syrian
Government of the casualties among its servicemen that the Syrian
Government attributes to an armed insurgency prompted by hostile foreign
powers. The Washington Post recently published US State Department secret
records leaked on Wikileaks about U.S.
secret backing of Syrian opposition.
EU has been the main donor in Syria and in the last decades. it has been
assisting Syria in its efforts to improve the welfare of its population.
However the violent repression of political demonstrations has created a
political gap. Bilateral government aid has been suspended but cooperation
with Syrian civil society remains in force. |
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MDGs -
EPISODE 2
13:35 |
MDGs -
EPISODE 2
43:57 |
Syria - Improving Schools and
Learning Environment - Damascus |
Da aggiungere se lo trovo l’audio
registrato sul registratore del responsabile dell’Unicef |
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To be
recorded |
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Vrinda talking to Stefano |
The participatory approach
Participation is a key term used in discussions,
discourses and conversations on development.
Participation is an action taken by people when they
want their needs, rights and opinions to be part of the political processes
of their country that affect their lives.
Participation is an action taken by governments or
decision makers when they want people's voices and opinions to be part of
decisions, policies, legislations, plans that they make and that affect
people's lives.
A dialogue happens when there is participation. And
cooperation also happens when there is participation.
When you provide support in terms of assistance,
effort, funds, and resources or make decisions only after considering the
choices, the will, and the needs of those who receive, you are cooperating.
When you participate together with others in the action
of resolving a problem or facing a challenge, you are cooperating.
Otherwise, you only give as charity, not cooperate.
And development neither continues nor does it make a
lasting improvement in people's lives, if people do not actively participate
in all the steps and processes taken to achieve it
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To be
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Is charity
empowering? |
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India - Krishnamurti Foundation
- Rural School and Hospital
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Audio to be written again- see again the interviews
after Vrinda has written the story |
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P. Krishna - Education for the MDGs |
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Prof. P. Krishna |
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Montek
Singh |
There is an opinion that most of the Government's fund which are
allocated don't reach at the grassroots level, why do you think it is
so? No scheme is perfect, it is impossible
to have a scheme which has zero leakage. When you say that they don't
reach at the bottom do you mean that the leakage is 100... absolutely
not! Leakage are high, even as high as 30%, but 70% is reaching at
people. The other reason people think that the schemes are not having
the effect that the effect that were expected, is that the challenges
are very complex one... you can have very good schemes but you don't
deliver the result. (Gives example of education) and
says that Pratham brings out a report every year and saw that 37%
percent of children in class 5 cannot read a text for class 2. Now if
you say that therefore the benefits are not reaching the target
population, in a sense you are right. But what can the government do? It
sets up schools, it higher teachers... we say that you need to have
more parent-teacher involvement, you must have local communities
enforcing accountability, teachers must be made to teach. These are things that are not just done
by governments, these are things done by social pressure, social
awareness, social mobilization and it would not surprise me that it
takes time. It is not true that nothing is
happening, lots is happening! |
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Colombia - City Town villa del
sol - Bario Raphael Ulive |
Audio to be written |
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Jean Drèze
Is a development economist teaching and working in
India. He was interviewed in Allahabad,
India on the 23rd February 2011 |
Differentiate between the Means and Ends of Development
Q: the general perspective is: let us spend some money for the
people…excluded by the profits, let spend some money for the poor people.
But, in order to spend some money for the poor people we must make money.
And is the free market which makes the money. If we take too many
resources out of this free market, which produce the money we will also
not have the money to deal to the poor people. This are general
perspective. When I found that in the Human Development Report, and that
is what I’m interested also, this kind of cultural contest, which you are
also in that…you explain better a part of it, things are looked
differently. The social indicators, the human indicators are not seeing
something as the money being giving to the poor people, but there are
something like, it is seeing as social resources, human resources that
feed into the growth on all the sectors. Is not money taken out from the
virtual economy and given to those which are out of it. That should means
money invested in human social environmental resources which (feed in) to
that feed back, in to the condition that make development possible. Am I
right? Now, this thing seems to me a bit clear, academically, but I found
it extremely difficult to believe to the general perception of the public.
How to go about it? How can I try to, not only to convey the message which
it is strong, that we need to look at the poor, but the more we look at
social justice, the more we look at good social environment, the more we
create resources for the good economic development.
A: it is important….the ends in the means. Growth is a means, is not an
end in itself or thought sometimes there is the tendency to start to treat
it as an ends in itself. And people and the human development is the ends,
even though there is a tendency, as you said, sometimes to treating it
also as a mean, rather than as ends. Now it is true that human resources
can also be a means and…we learned a lot of useful things in development
economics about the importance of human resources for growth, and not just
for growth for development in generally, and in particular about the role
of education, whether you talk of growth, whether you talk of improvement
of health or public participation in democracy, for all these things
education is very important, so these human resources have an important
instrumental role. But I think, what is more important than that is to
think of them as ends of development and to think of them as wellbeing of
people and also as rights of people. You know, in India we have very clear
road map, in the form of the Constitution, which is very progressive in
many aspects and clarifies, without any doubt, that every citizen has
basic rights to education, to health, even to employment, to living with
dignity, and we have to, I think, keeping view these are as the ends of
development. That is not to deny that growth can be important, and you
pointed out that growth generates (?)also can be used, in particular
trough welfare functioning public services, to improve people’s health,
education and nutrition and so on. So growth can be important, but it is a
means and the ultimate objective is people wellbeing and people’s rights,
as (spelt) out in this case, I would say, to a large extent in the
Constitution. I would also say growth, as I said, it is an important
means, but it can also be quite problematic, particularly in environment’s
consequences, I think it has to be looked out. In India this is now a very
big issue, because the past 10/20 years have been extremely destructive,
in terms of environmental consequences. Very rapid growth of inequality
and creation of life style (for humanity) of the population, which I think
are becoming increasing difficult to replicate for everyone else, without
further pressure on the environment and all the public resources. So, you
know, there are a lot of questions that have to be addressed, without
denying that growth can be an important instrument for transforming the
life of people. So I think these priority have to be clear and there is a
very serious confusion, at this time, about the growth being an important
thing in itself, and you know, if you ask why is the Indian elite so
obsessed with growth, why, as you said, it is becoming a kind of
overriding object in itself and there is the tendency to view anything
that stand in the way of growth as an irritation that has to be done away
(within) something or the other, whether is the environment, whether is
equity or anything. I think the obsession with growth is not so much this
believe in the trickle down, what you has describe as the idea that people
will follow. It is not so much the trickle down theory, part of the
trickle down theory, but I think it is also a last (four) power in the
world and for becoming a big power on the world stage. And I think that is
where growth become very important in the mind set of the Indian…and
rightly so, if you really aspire to become a so called civil power on the
world stage, than obviously you will have to become a much richer Country
and it will take a lot of economic growth.
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Julian
Parr,
Regional Manager, South East Asia for Oxfam
GB.
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7 - Do you know of any bad practices in developmental activities?
Where agencies often make a mistake is when they do targeted intervention.
So they decide that on the issue of HIV aids we will target female sex
workers on the root of transmission. You have given people knowledge now
but what do you do with that knowledge and information. So unless you
provide them with softer skills, the negotiation skills, you can't tell
your clients or your husband to put condoms... you have achieved nothing.
I think inclusive development, the most effective development is one you
work across all the sectors of society to make change. This is where
development agencies get it wrong. It is around working out what
information is relevant in order to make change. The second area is around quality. There is no point in putting 500 wells
if 300 of them are salinated, or they are in the wrong area or women
cannot access them...you have achieved nothing! So one paper it looks like
you have done something but if you don't go back and you don't measure
quality and you only measure quantity, you can make some really bad
mistakes.
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8 - Behavioural change in people
You can impart knowledge to people, that is relatively easier. The real
thought challenge is behavioural change and you see this consistently.
People know that it makes sense to wear a safety belt and not to drink and
drive and yet you go out in the street of new Delhi and you see people
completely drunk wearing no seat belts. So it is actually getting people
responsible for their action and translating knowledge into behaviour and
practice. There is no magic formula for this, but the formula is very crude here.
Knowledge lasts roughly as long as a campaign, so if I run an advertising
campaign for six month people will remember it for six months. The trick
is to run it for longer and decide number slots. The problem is that
electronic media is hugely expensive and governments and agencies can't
always afford it... the challenge is about managing financial resources
and dissemination of information.
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12 - What factors make a developmental project successful?
The challenge is to get from a pilot scale to a large scale, to be able to
roll that out and replicate, and that is where development fails and
breaks down. The better practices I have seen is where you integrate a
main stream development practice with government or bringing in private
sector and looking at multi-sector partnerships. In this way you can look
at greater sustainability, greater applicability and more scale and these
are the three things with agencies like mine struggles with.
The real challenge is to get the learning we do through pilot projects to
a bigger scale... and that requires political will. Integration with
mainstreaming with government policies is terribly important. For far too
long civil society has not looked to work with the government.. its
critiqued it, it has tend to undermine it by providing services that
government would be providing but we have now seen a change in this.
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Anurag
Behar is the Co-CEO of the Azim
Premji Foundation and the Chief Sustainability Officer of WIPRO .
He was interviewed in Bangalore, India on the first week of March 2010
by Fausto
Aarya De Santis
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6KiPUIenS4
Azim
Premji Foundation is
working with the public schooling system in India, 1.5 million
schools, to try and improve the quality of education. And the
reason they feel the need of that is that while India has a large
public system, the quality outcomes is far from desirable, it is
actually where poor. So the foundation is focused on improving
that kind of education and it works with the government. They are
setting up an university which will conduct research and offer
graduate programs in various specialization of education:
curriculum development , education management, pedagogy of
language. We have large field programs where we work with
government schools in teacher training, workbook preparation,
curriculum reforms, and examination changes.
Why did
they choose this? You will see causes you want to contribute to:
issues of livelihood, public health, infrastructure, etc, he says.
Anything that you see is a worthy cause. The reality is that we
cannot do everything; we gotta choose something. And when we were
making a choice we said “if you look at all these worthy causes,
what kind of a cause, what kind of an area probably has the
greatest multiplier effect. And we realized that education has the
greatest multiplier effect. And it’s the same old story. If you
give a fish to somebody you feed her for one day, but if you teach
somebody to fish, then you have taken care of her for all her
life. Therefore in our minds, if we can do a good job of education
in this country, that will enable development in every
prospective, whether it’ll be health, whether it’ll be livelihood,
whether it’ll be governance.
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