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You might not always think so, but if you’re in school you’re lucky. School may seem like a drag sometimes, but really it’s a tremendous opportunity. In fact, it is your right.
“Everyone has the right to education.”
It doesn’t get much clearer than that, does it? That’s from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948 by all the Member Nations of the United Nations.
And you know what? You really shouldn’t take your right to an education for granted. A lot of young people in developing countries are denied this right. About 115 million children of primary-school age aren’t going to any classes. About 80 percent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa or Southern Asia. Girls are more likely to be out of school than boys.
The UN has made it a goal to make sure that all boys and girls receive primary education by 2015. It is the second of the Millennium Development Goals.
OK, we can hear you saying: “Hey that’s rough, but what does this have to do with a food and agriculture organization?” Fair question. Here’s your answer. Most of the children who aren’t in school live in rural areas of the developing world. They’re hungry and they’re poor.
Many of their families rely on farming to feed themselves and earn a living. And it doesn’t take much imagination to realize how a lack of a basic education can limit a farmer’s chances of getting out of poverty. If you can’t read and write or do simple math, how can you understand the instructions on things like farm supplies or medicines? How can you fill out an application for a small bank loan? How can you think about starting your own business? You’re trapped.
So making sure rural children get an adequate education is more than a matter of human rights; it is one of the most effective ways of preventing hunger and malnutrition. There, does that answer your question?
FAO helps countries take steps to increase school attendance in rural areas and make sure that girls have the same opportunities as boys.
But you know kids need to know more than just how to read and write. They need to learn how to take care of themselves. And one of the most important things anyone can learn is how to stay healthy through good nutrition.
FAO helps countries provide nutrition education in all their schools. And it’s not just the children in the developing countries who need to learn about nutrition. Every student should learn about hunger and nutrition. That’s why FAO has created a Web site to help teachers all over the world teach about hunger and malnutrition. Why don’t you check out Feeding Minds Fighting Hunger.
And you know, education doesn't have to take place in a regular school. In some countries, the public school system can’t provide adequate services or classrooms to many communities. FAO helps these countries find alternative ways of educating their people. In Chad, for example, FAO has helped establish "community schools" to teach people about the environment and managing natural resources like land and water in sustainable ways. These locally managed schools are set up by the community or village chiefs to respond to local needs. Lessons are taught in local dialects and deal with subjects that are important to the community.
Education isn’t just for kids. To help farmers understand new and better ways of farming, many governments offer them some kind of agricultural training. But good education in the field means having good teachers in the field. FAO works with countries to make sure agricultural colleges and universities prepare their students for the real world. A big part of this is teaching students not only about new developments in agriculture, but also how to respect, listen to and learn from the farmers themselves – including women farmers.
FAO also knows that when farmers work together and share ideas they can learn a lot from each other. That’s the idea behind Farmer Field Schools.
Farmer Field Schools have been really successful in countries all over the world. FAO has adapted the idea to help young people in AIDS-affected communities. At Junior Farmer Field Schools, children pick up important vocational skills and learn about HIV and AIDS.
One way FAO encourages school attendance and promotes better nutrition is by helping countries start up school gardens and school feeding programmes. Since 1997, over 150 school garden microprojects in more than 40 countries have been supported through FAO's TeleFood programme.
