

Classroom in North Africa











–Lynne Diligent


2 Responses to “Developing World Mentality: Is “The Government” Really to Blame for the Poor State of Public Education?”

  1. amseghir Says:

    There are some points which I agree with, but as a teacher from a North African country, there are also a few points I don’t agree with.

    Let me start with what I agree with. First, nobody can deny that, in my country, the government has built so many schools in so many distant and rural areas of the country. Second, It’s totally true that education, including higher education, is free. Third, I also agree that the government is still trying to cover as many parts of the country as possible.

    However, these facts do not exonerate governments from their responsibility in the decline of education in many North African countries. The problem is that governments seem to believe that their only role in education is to build schools and hire teachers. WRONG! governments need to make sure many conditions are satisfied if they truly care about education. Building a plywood room on a mountain’s peak and sending a poor teacher to teach there (usually with no electricity, no roads, no internet and cell phone networks, and even no shops!) is just insane. How is that teacher supposed to feel there? What’s even worse is that they sometimes appoint Arabic speaking teachers in villages where only BERBER is spoken! I’ve heard many stories of teachers who had this problem. My late uncle was one of them. These teachers can’t communicate even with adults, let alone children.

    Moreover, the government has been IMPOSING the percentage of students who MUST pass from a level to the next. This simply means that if you are a primary school teacher and you have a class of, say, 45 students, by the end of the year, EVERYONE of these students MUST pass to the next level regardless of how well they did in their exams. Why? Because the governments imposes a 99% or 100% success rate in primary schools. What’s even more saddening is the reason why the government imposes this rate is twofold: a) BECAUSE NEW CHILDREN WILL NEED THOSE SEATS! b) To send falsified numbers to the Europeans who fund our educational system through their loans. Now, does this sound like an argument of someone who actually cares about EDUCATION?

    What I feel these countries’ governments are doing is that they just want to get rid of their societies’ pressure by building schools and hiring teachers. For instance, our school was built in 1985 and we still have the same chairs that were used 30 years ago! Our classrooms are too crowded, but they tell us to accept things as they are. The educational level of the majority of the students is too low because they were made to pass, but the government blames us for this situation.

    Another problem we have is that of teachers who were trained to teach a certain subject but end up teaching a different one because there’s a lack of teachers of that particular subject. I have a friend who is originally a teacher of Maths, but who was forced to teach Sciences because they school had enough Maths teachers but had a shortage of science teachers. when he protested, he was told to just keep the kids in the classroom and read to them from the book!!!!

    Now let me get to the point where you mentioned the teachers’ rant about their right of pursuing higher studies. I think it’s perfectly acceptable for any person in the world to seek ways to develop professionally and financially. When teachers start working, it doesn’t take them a long time to realize the profession will not satisfy their basic needs. Thus, many teachers start thinking of escalating the social status by getting promoted. If, as a teacher, you wait for your promotion the “normal way,” you might have to wait for TWENTY years to move from a $500/month salary to a $650/month salary. But if you have a higher degree, you can do that in 2 years! So, this is why many teachers, including myself, are interested in pursuing their studies.

    And YES! Education IS a right. The UNESCO states that “Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights.” The “Right To Education” article on Wikipedia states that “The right to education is a universal entitlement to education, recognized in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a human right that includes the right to free, compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all, in particular by the progressive introduction of free secondary education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the progressive introduction of free higher education.”

    The point I’m trying to make here is that by building schools and hiring teachers, governments do try to help people get educated, but that’s NOT enough to make a system work. The variables are just too many, and limiting them to schools and teachers is a defective and incomplete approach. It’s like saying that giving kids money and keeping them under a roof is what good parenting is all about.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Lynne Diligent Says:

    Wow, Amseghir, thank you for these extensive comments. One thing I did not know is that the government imposes universal pass rates in primary schools. Now I finally understand how so many students can arrive in middle school still not knowing much of anything, particularly in rural areas. Regarding free university education, honestly, I feel jealous that developing countries can provide that, when even in America, we can’t. Some people even take decades to be able to pay off their steep loans for a college education. You make excellent points, and have given me material here from which to write several new articles. Thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail!


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