We constantly hear how important education is, how we take it for granted, how our kids view it as a right not a privilege, and how education, as a kid, is a burden, something to complain about...
It was very clear to me today how "first world" our view is, when I was talking with Phokwa, our guide during a two-day trek from Kalaw to Nyaungshwe, a fishing village of 5000 people on Inle Lake, Myanmar.
Phokwa grew up in a small village in the mountains of this area. He went to school until he was 10 years old. His village, like most in the area, had no middle or high school.
When he finished primary school, he was lucky. His parents greatly valued education and allowed him to go to middle school in a relatively close village. He walked one hour, each way, to get to middle school, for four years. That is one hour to get to school, seven hours of school, then one hour walking to get home after school. And then home chores and homework from school - forget about socialization time!
When Phokwa finished middle school, he could no longer go to school. There was no high school in his village. The closest high school was 35 kilometers away. His family could not afford the fees for boarding at that high school. And it was far too far to walk each day.
After middle school, at 11 years of age, Phokwa worked as an ox cart driver, providing transportation for farmers and their crops in his village. It was a decent job, which helped support his family of five (a relatively small family for this area).
Four years later, luckily, his family moved to Kalaw, a Myanamr village of 16,000, where there was a high school. Phokwa was able to stop work as an oxcart driver, and finish high school. Afterwards, Phokwa attended a local university, studying mathematics for two years.
Phokwa now works full time as a tourist guide, as his father did, while taking distance learning classes ten months of the year, with intensive university classes the other two months of the year. He has one year remaining to complete his bachelors degree from this university.
Phokwa wants to be an engineer, but he cannot study engineering. At the end of high school, Phokwa, like all his peers (and high school students in many, many countries around the world), took a standardized government end-of-high-school-exam which determined his future life. Phokwa got a decent, but not stellar, score on the exam.
The high school exam score is final. No matter what he does now, no matter how well he studies, what degrees he earns, or what experience he gains, he is forever in a particular category. He can never earn an engineering degree.
And Phokwa is fortunate! He is the exception. His village had an elementary school. His parents valued education. They sacrificed to pay for his schooling. He is motivated. Very motivated. And he is smart - he speaks six or seven languages and is studying math!
But his fate is set. It is determined by where he lived as a child and how well he did on an exam on one particular day of his life.
Luck is the determining factor. Where you were born. That's it.
Yet again, this trip, these travels, while homeschooling my girls, this is a reminder to me, and my girls, of how lucky we are, to have been born to our parents in a particular place, to have the availability of food and clothes and water and electricity, and the freedoms we have and the luxury of choice...
Nadia
It was very clear to me today how "first world" our view is, when I was talking with Phokwa, our guide during a two-day trek from Kalaw to Nyaungshwe, a fishing village of 5000 people on Inle Lake, Myanmar.
Phokwa grew up in a small village in the mountains of this area. He went to school until he was 10 years old. His village, like most in the area, had no middle or high school.
When he finished primary school, he was lucky. His parents greatly valued education and allowed him to go to middle school in a relatively close village. He walked one hour, each way, to get to middle school, for four years. That is one hour to get to school, seven hours of school, then one hour walking to get home after school. And then home chores and homework from school - forget about socialization time!
When Phokwa finished middle school, he could no longer go to school. There was no high school in his village. The closest high school was 35 kilometers away. His family could not afford the fees for boarding at that high school. And it was far too far to walk each day.
After middle school, at 11 years of age, Phokwa worked as an ox cart driver, providing transportation for farmers and their crops in his village. It was a decent job, which helped support his family of five (a relatively small family for this area).
Four years later, luckily, his family moved to Kalaw, a Myanamr village of 16,000, where there was a high school. Phokwa was able to stop work as an oxcart driver, and finish high school. Afterwards, Phokwa attended a local university, studying mathematics for two years.
Phokwa now works full time as a tourist guide, as his father did, while taking distance learning classes ten months of the year, with intensive university classes the other two months of the year. He has one year remaining to complete his bachelors degree from this university.
Phokwa wants to be an engineer, but he cannot study engineering. At the end of high school, Phokwa, like all his peers (and high school students in many, many countries around the world), took a standardized government end-of-high-school-exam which determined his future life. Phokwa got a decent, but not stellar, score on the exam.
The high school exam score is final. No matter what he does now, no matter how well he studies, what degrees he earns, or what experience he gains, he is forever in a particular category. He can never earn an engineering degree.
And Phokwa is fortunate! He is the exception. His village had an elementary school. His parents valued education. They sacrificed to pay for his schooling. He is motivated. Very motivated. And he is smart - he speaks six or seven languages and is studying math!
But his fate is set. It is determined by where he lived as a child and how well he did on an exam on one particular day of his life.
Luck is the determining factor. Where you were born. That's it.
Yet again, this trip, these travels, while homeschooling my girls, this is a reminder to me, and my girls, of how lucky we are, to have been born to our parents in a particular place, to have the availability of food and clothes and water and electricity, and the freedoms we have and the luxury of choice...
Nadia
Lucky girls doing school work
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