The
UNGEI website is constantly widening my perspectives and significantly contributing
to my professional growth. So far, it has helped me understand the various
effects of poverty on education and the multi-facets of gender discrimination.
Through the thought-provoking topics it strongly tackles and the meaningful discussions
that revolve around the challenges children face in many parts of the world, I have
added a wealth of information that is invaluable to my better understanding of
the implications for policies, and how to effectively advocate for the future
development of the community-a skill that I deeply need to master. As I was exploring
the website, I came across a UNICEF podcast that discussed investment policies
and This topic has sparked my attention because it is the focal point of our
studies this week.
Despite
major success in enabling young children to reach their potential, there are
still more than 200 million children under the age of 5 who are denied the
opportunity to achieve cognitive development, due to many factors. These
include poverty, gender discrimination, malnutrition, and conflict. That's why
advocates call for government actions towards ensuring early childhood care and
education for all children (UNICEF, 2012). To this end, UNICEF turns to scientists
and other experts to show the importance of early childhood experiences, and
how investing early in children's education engenders many positive returns. It
sheds light on the effects of toxic stress on the brain. Dr. Shonkoff (UNICEF,
2012) explained the significance of investing early in education programs
because they play a significant role in enriching childhood experiences. He
explained how adversity results in toxic stress and how, in turn, it affects
the physiology of the brain and leads to impeding the healthy cognitive
development in children. He named some of the skills that get seriously
affected, such as problem-solving, following directions, focusing attention,
etc… (As cited in UNICEF, 2012).
Learning
more from neuroscientists about increasing means in which children’s learning
experiences can be enriched, has further affirmed the notion that experts from
outside the early childhood field can have a notable impact on policy making,
particularly with regard to education.
Reference
UNICEF. (Producer). (2012, April). Podcast
#56: Global Action Week promotes early childhood education [Podcast]. In Beyond
School Books. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/audio/podcast/10755_globalactionweekecdbsb56_podcast.mp3
Reem- The article from UNICEF that you blogged about this week is very informative. It is a sad situation that so many millions of children have to suffer.The long-term results are so devastating and uncalled for. However, it is encouraging that decision makers such as neuroscientists, politicians, and economists are making a stance to support quality early childhood education for all children.
ReplyDeleteDonna
I think you did an amazing job on your post. Being able to read it allowed for me to learn a lot from this article. I look forward to read more of your post and learning new things through different websites and organizations that you post.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned that children are denied education due to gender discrimination, do you mean that girls are less allowed to go to school than boys? Is it religious beliefs or cultural reasons? Did the article say?
ReplyDeleteJulie, gender discrimination in education occurs due to various reasons.Depending on the area in question. In some areas, because of poverty, girls are needed to work in order to increase the family's income. In other cases, traditions and cultures dictate that girls get married very early-something that prevents them from pursuing their education. Conflict areas also contributes to this problem, because usually girls are kept home as form of protection. To learn more about this serious issue, you can visit this link: http://www.ungei.org/gap/reportMideast.html
ReplyDelete