EDUCATION AS A HUMAN RIGHT

 

“About 87 percent of population aged 7-14 attend schools, and about 49 percent and 9 percent of population aged 15-19 and 20-24 attend school, respectively less than one percent of population aged 25 and older attend schools.” (National Institute of Statistics).

 

How is Education a Human Right?


Education:

In Cambodia, a literate person is one "who has the ability to read and write to a certain extent only." (Kingdom of Cambodia). Cambodia has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world with 4 million people unable to read, with a literacy rate of 74% (National Institute of Statistics). Since there is lack of funding for schools, leading to lack of staff and a shortage of utensils, the attendance rate is extremely low. For the few schools that do exist in rural areas, on average there are 87.3 pupils per classroom (Kingdom of Cambodia). Try to imagine how difficult it would be to learn with 87 little kids running around, playing pranks, and still immature. It's difficult to be in a learning environment that huge, even at college level, so for young children to be forced to learn the basic knowledge of life in such chaotic conditions is a violation to their basic human right to receive an education, the right to learn the basic knowledge for a prosperous future.

 

To gain perspective on the amount of children continuing their education, look at these charts.

*Note how significantly the numbers drop for the total enrollment ratio from primary to secondary

Primary gross enrollment ratio, Male, 2002, % (UNESCO) 130
Primary gross enrollment ratio, Female, 2002, % (UNESCO) 117
Primary gross enrollment ratio, Total, 2002, % (UNESCO) 124
Primary net enrollment ratio, Male, 2002, % (UNESCO) 93
Primary net enrollment ratio, Female, 2002, % (UNESCO) 91
Primary net enrollment ratio, Total, 2002, % (UNESCO) 96
Primary gross enrollment ratio = Enrollment of primary students of all ages expressed as a percentage of the primary school-age population.
Primary net enrollment ratio = Enrollment of primary students of the official age expressed as a percentage of the primary school-age population.
Secondary gross enrollment ratio, Male, 2002, % (UNESCO) 32
Secondary gross enrollment ratio, Female, 2002, % (UNESCO) 20
Secondary gross enrollment ratio, Total, 2002, % (UNESCO) 25
Secondary net enrollment ratio, Male, 2002, % (UNESCO) 30
Secondary net enrollment ratio, Female, 2002, % (UNESCO) 19
Secondary net enrollment ratio, Total, 2002, % (UNESCO) 24
Secondary gross enrollment ratio = Enrollment of secondary students of all ages expressed as a percentage of the secondary school-age population.
Secondary net enrollment ratio = Enrollment of secondary students of the official age expressed as a percentage of the secondary school-age population.

*These charts were taken directly from the International Labour Organization website

BIBLIOGRAPHY

National Institute of Statistics. “Literacy and Education.” 2004. 03 Mar 2007.


International Labour Organization. 2006. 03 Mar 2007.


Kingdom of Cambodia. “Quality and Efficiency of Education.” 15 Dec 1999.

Ministry of Education, Youth & Sport. 03 Mar 2007.

<http://www.moeys.gov.kh/profile/edu_in_cambodia/quality_efficiency.htm >.

 

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