Blog 5

Nardos Debru

SOC-202-01

3/16/15

LSE students stage occupation in protest at ‘profit-driven education’

This article tells about the students of London School of Economics and their attempts at receiving an equal chance. The education that they are receiving is one that they feel is conditional and ultimately the most beneficial for the school rather than the students. With high tuition fees, ties with war sought organizations not to mention constant police lurking the school campus students feel very limited and  restricted. Students have realized that not only are they being changed an unfair amount for school, but they are not receiving their moneys worth due to the schools business driven intentions. “We demand an education that is liberating which does not have a price tag. We want a university run by students, lecturers and workers” the students wrote in a section of their written debate. The students hope that all of their efforts lead to a change in the universities system. Regardless of whether or not LSE decides to go through with any of the changes that the students are demanding, the students themselves will continue to protest until they continue to see changes.

I think that the students of LSE are asking for nothing more than what an education should entail. For one thing, in todays day a college education is just too expensive and although there are things like financial aid and scholarships, many people do not qualify for them or they simply do not come as easy to them as it does to others. Also a school should give all students the simple freedoms of life, rather than forcing your own opinions on them. Being a college student myself I could not imagine being at LSE and having to deal with these issues. But on the other hand I can relate to the idea of having to protest your stance to make a change in something that you believe. I think that it is very impressive how much progress that these students have made so far. It is so unfair how some people let their power go to their heads.

Test Blog

Women in Afghanistan: Blog 8

Don’t Abandon The Women of Afghanistan

            Over the last several year the country of Afghanistan has improved its gender gap exponentially.  Now that the country is no longer under the Taliban the country has flourished and women are continually receiving new freedoms in. The number of females being educated has gone from 5,000 to 2.4 million, women are becoming police officers and achieving higher places of leadership like the country has never seen before. This example of positive growth is reflected in the country’s economic success. Amidst all this positivity and success there is a worry looming in the back of some minds. Because of women’s new freedoms this has also made them the target for terrorists groups and organized crime. Women have been shot and killed for no apparent reason besides their occupation. BBC reports that the numbers of women and children killed in the first 6 months of the new year of 2013, were the same and higher as previous years. We want to make sure that Afghanistan does not sink back again.

            So we see that just because freedoms are made available to women does not mean that the problem is alleviated completely. Cultural norms and activists groups are still organizing crime against these progressive women and fear is being provoked in women. Still we see the evidences of women being educated, less infant mortality, more children in school and overall a better international standing and economy. In order for Afghanistan to continue to progress in its area of equality it must make steps in that direction. This will be brought about through tireless pursuit of educating these Afghanistan women and girls. With the U.S. now moving out of Afghanistan, Afghanistan government and policy will have to remain very intentional in order for the gender gap to continue to decrease and violence done to these women punished.

Anna Jacobsen

November 1, 2013

2:09pm

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/opinion/dobriansky-verveer-afghanistan-women/

Blog #5 Malala Impacting Her World

How Malala Yousafzai is Impacting Her World:

Malala’s popularity is rising in the Middle East as her speeches air on the news and young girls speak passionately about her in conversation. Many young girls were praying with zeal that Malala would win the Nobel Peace Prize. Devastated when she did not, the girls tell of how she is changing their hopes for education. The Taliban who still continuously threats Malala for wanting to now be a political leader was happy she did not win the Nobel Prize. They praised the committee for not choosing her, as false stories circulate the Internet about her not really being shot.

            Meanwhile Pakistani schoolgirls are now studying to be engineers, psychologists and doctors, they speak of Malala’s bravery, they have a Hero, and someone who has gone before them so that they know it is possible. One of the young ambitious woman states that there is nothing in the Quran that forbids women from being from being educated. In Pakistan 61% of the children that do not receive education are women, and Malala’s national presence is changing this for them.

It seems that Malala’s popularity is pushing education into the foreword in Pakistan agenda because although women are lucky to be educated in Pakistan, education in general suffers very much. This is very much a social issue in education policy as well as gender inequality. Instead of young women receiving an education, they are sold by their parents. But why is it the daughter that is sold? We see the Gender gap displayed in the differences in opportunity structures. We see that the woman has less mobility then the man. In Pakistan young girls are studying to go into specified disciplined professions such as doctors and lawyers. Even in America there is a very large gap when it comes to women being involved in these professions as much as men.  

Women are still threatened by terrorists in Pakistan because the society has for so long has been patriarchal. The strict religious groups have a hard time excepting positive change. Even if the Quran does not explicitly say women are not to be educated, the religion has manipulated to imply it because of this societal trend. The reason change is so hard is because tradition rules in the country of Pakistan. Tradition is beautiful and should be preserved, but also sincerely evaluated. It is important to look at where the power lies and how that is being distributed to others, or abused. 

Anna Jacobsen

10-11-2013

4:53pm

 http://world.time.com/2013/10/11/there-are-thousands-of-malalas-what-pakistans-teenage-activist-has-already-won/

 

Blog #10-Alex Plummer

The following article communicates the importance of worldwide education for primary school age children by 2015. Of this segment of children, 61 million are not in school and half of them are living in only 8 countries. These countries include Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Yemen, and South Sudan. The dismal amount of educated youths is being attributed to the factors of inequality such as where they live, poverty, conflict, gender and ethnicity. But factors differ for each country and some have made progress in changing their educational systems. In most low-income countries, more boys than girls attend school. But thanks to a cash stipend program for girls, Bangladesh has begun to see a larger female population in their schools. In Nigeria the chance of children entering or completing primary school depends greatly on their residence and the wealth of their family. Nigeria has the world’s highest number of out-of-school children, amounting to 10 million. Statistics from 2008 reveal that in northeastern Nigeria almost three-quarters of the poorest children aged 7 to 16 had never been to school, while almost every affluent child had. Factors of regional conflict have a great affect on children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In regions of conflict, the richest children have a similar chance of going to school as those in the major city of the Congo. But 1-in-3 of the poorest children has never been to school and girls make up 44% of those children. The author believes that the ministers of finance need to work together with ministers of education in order to mend these disparities.

Education worldwide needs great improvements and the poorest people in each society are suffering the most when it comes to education. I do agree with the author in the sense that renovating the educational system takes the resources and skills of various governmental parties. Income inequality obviously places the largest role in the division of who receives an education through school and who doesn’t.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/pauline-rose/inequality-education_b_3106557.html

Blog #9-Alex Plummer

                        The following article highlights the vast inequalities that occur between affluent and less-privileged university students. The author states that large state universities have failed to create social mobility and put too much emphasis on students who come from more privileged backgrounds. Research conducted for the book, “Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality,” followed 53 women at the start and end of their college career.  Few of the women from less-privileged backgrounds realized their dreams of mobility, while the majority from privileged backgrounds remained ready to reproduce their parent’s wealth. This article is quite relevant to our studies of education this week and reflects a major societal problem. This major issue reflects the alleged benefits and success, provided and promised to individuals through a college experience. The university under discussion in this article supported a strong party pathway, a social and academic infrastructure with a powerful Greek party scene. Said pathway adapted to the interests of socially oriented and out-of-state students. These out-of-state students were the major segment the university catered too because of their affluent background. This one view of a single university reflects the large occurrence of massive cuts to state and federal funding all over the nation. Many large state universities have been force to raise tuition and recruit students from out-of-state who can pay. The authors of the book previously mentioned, suggest eliminating the Greek system in schools and empowering other student groups. This could potentially increase student mobility for first-generation students and minorities. Income inequality is increasingly affecting numerous aspects of people’s lives. Personal betterment through higher education is becoming harder to accomplish. Even though there are scholarships and resources such as financial aid to assist low-income families, once students graduate they are riddled with debt and face a difficult job market. Due to these factors many young adults are all together losing interest in attending or finishing college.

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/04/09/2933969/book-featuring-uc-merced-examines.html