|
Volume 12, Issue 5   REGIONAL NEWS PRACTICAL INFORMATION RESEARCH
eWENR Index: Contains links to all eWENR issues that are currently available for viewing.
Masthead: Learn more about eWENR and its editorial staff.
Subscriptions: Don't miss future issues of eWENR.
World Education Services: Learn more about the organization that brings you eWENR.
Comments: eWENR's editor welcomes your comments. If you have story ideas, suggestions or feedback regarding eWENR, e-mail us with the details.
WENR Archives: You can read WENR back issues from Summer 1995 through Fall 1996.
WENR Article Index Through 1996: Features an index of all WENR articles through Fall 1996.
|
Regional News
But according to a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson, the situation for boys in Lesotho is becoming increasingly difficult. The rise of livestock theft has meant that many of these boys have to go without pay — sometimes for up to two years.
They also face another problem. When young males get too old to work as herd boys, many find work in the mines of South Africa. Recently, however, the mines have been cutting back on migrant laborers, preferring to hire local workers instead.
All of this has impacted female education. A vital source of income has been cut off, and women and girls are now forced to find work to help support their families.
At the same time, UNICEF has attempted to set up weekend and night classes for male children who work as herd boys. But these efforts have not met with a great deal of success. It is difficult to set up classes in such remote areas and even more of a challenge to convince parents of the educational benefits for boys.
— Daily Mail & Guardian
Thanks to one Refugee Trust project, five schools were built and rehabilitated in the village of Giti and four in Mugambazi. The UNDP contributed $997,000 to this project.
“Education is the key to national reconciliation and skills-building in the future,” said Vincent O’Reilly, deputy director of Refugee Trust. “This must break down the barriers of ethnicity, gender and age bias.”
Many Rwandans endowed with professional skills, including educators, either fled the country or were killed during the genocidal war that began in 1995. In the last five years, about 90 percent of the population has been forced out of the country, and resettlement of refugees remains a top priority.
— CHOICES
The EC program is rebuilding five schools, in addition to facilitating the development of a school administration system for Merca. At present, less than 25 percent of the town’s children are enrolled in primary school, but the EC project is expected to encourage more to attend.
The Merca program is part of a larger, ongoing project to rehabilitate more than 150 primary schools throughout the country by the year 2000. Somalia’s education sector has been devastated by the civil war that followed the overthrow of Muhammad Siad Barre in 1991.
In addition to EC efforts, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are providing teaching materials and teacher training at the local level. UNICEF and the World Health Organization are also offering child health care services.
—Yahoo! News Asia
|
Unlike female children in most developing countries, girls in Lesotho are educated while their brothers have to work. As soon as they are old enough, male children have traditionally been sent off by their families to become herd boys in rural areas. The income they earn is used for household expenses and to help pay for their sisters’ school fees.