A World Without progress

Erwin Casildo

WLH   

Ms.Tompkins

13 March, 2015

A World Without Progress

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. ” In Tanzania, Africa  there are many families that are currently being affected by the issue of poverty. Because of this issue, they cannot provide their children with a decent education. According to UNICEF  “Across the continent, millions of families currently subsist on less than a dollar a day, only those who read, write can hope to get a better paid job when they grow up.”  It is extremely difficult for the children to get an education because their parents cannot afford to pay for the basic needs to get a decent education, such as books and pencils. The issue of poverty is making the children of Africa blind, they are not able to see what they are truly capable of .

    The number of young girls that are being affected by the issue of poverty is extremely high . According to The New York Times (47%) of primary school aged girls in Tanzania are not attending school” (Tina Rosenburg). This is a huge number, it is nearly half of of the young girls population in Tanzania. The  children  do not go to school  because many of them do not live walking distance to a nearby school and the roads are too dangerous for them to walk alone.  The young girls that do not attend school are forced to stay home and help around the house by cleaning and cooking. According to UNICEF  “40% of  young women begin to have children by the age 18, the country has one of the highest adolescence pregnancy rates in the world.” This is because young girls are not being taught on how to protect themselves. Uneducated women are in higher risk of being contaminated by HIV/AIDS and they are also most likely to have a unsuccessful future.

Not only are girls  being affected, boys are too. The overall percentage of primary age students that do not attend school is very high . According on a Brookings article on education in Tanzania “58% of 5-to-6-year-old in Tanzania do not attend pre-primary schools”  (Justin Van Fleet). This is over half of the children in Tanzania. This affects the future of the young children as each and everyone of them represents the future of Africa. The only way of getting out of poverty is through education but poverty is the reason why  future generations cannot grow as humans. The vibrant children dream of an academic success but they cannot pursue it because they are stuck in a world of no progress.

Overall, poverty is not allowing the children of Tanzania reach their goal of finding an academic success and having a brighter future. It is not allowing the children to make a change in their country. They are stuck in poverty and this  this makes them see no hope, clearly the children are stuck in a world with no progress.

                                                                     Work CitedRosenburg Tina. "Empowering Women, Developing Society: Female Education in the Middle East 

and North Africa." Empowering Women, Developing Society: Female Education in the Middle East and North Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2015 . "(47%) of primary school aged girls in Tanzania are not attending school.”

Van Fleet, Justin. "Africa's Education Crisis: In School But Not Learning." The Brookings Institution. Brookings, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2015. “58% of 5-to-6-year-old in Tanzania do not attend pre-primary schools” 

Unicef. "UNICEF – Schools for Africa – Country Story - South Africa." UNICEF – Schools for Africa. Unicef, 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.  “Across the continent, millions of families currently subsist on less than a dollar a day, only those who read, write can hope to get a better paid job when they grow up.”   “40% of  young women begin to have children by the age 18, the country has one of the highest adolescence pregnancy rates in the world.”