After much browsing this website I ran into very interesting topics on their news site. In particular, a recent unfortunate event where a center who served 17 children and families in rural Kansas came to a closure due to the sequestration. This center was located in a very rural area where poverty is very high. As the title of the article was "Congress turns its back on rural America" (Kaufman, 2013). In this article he explains how programs who serve children and families, who live in the most remote areas where poverty and unemployment has risen are being left without services provided by the program. These families count on the the program comprehensive family service approach as well as the teachers guidance and support to be better parents as well as help their child succeed in life. Unfortunately rural areas in that part of the country are being overlooked by policy makers. I am sure there are other parts of the country with the same struggles. In my opinion why is it, when there is a major set back economically the first human beings affected by it are children and disadvantage families? How can policy makers or whoever is in charge on deciding the financial area be so selfish against the most vulnerable? The more I read articles like these one, the more I want to keep doing what i do and more.
From UNICEF focus in Uganda:
Although I could not find anything specifically related to equity and excellence, I found a very interesting program UNICEF is doing in Uganda girls and that is an Education Movement. This program focuses on increasing the participation of girls in school. Many of the girls who attend are either orphans due to the terrible slayings happening in Uganda or their families are not able to afford the school fees and materials. There is a lot of awareness approach within the community to put children in school. The article talks about a little girl who lives with her grandma whose parents were killed, she spends her early mornings before attending school gathering running water for her grandma, then she takes off in her one hour walking journey along with other children to her school. Her main dream in to become when she grows up (Nakibuuka, n.d.).
Reference
Kaufman, G. (2013). Congress turns its back on rural America. Retrieved from
http://billmoyers.com/2013/06/13/congress-turns-its-back-on-rural-america/
Nakibuuka, (n.d.) Thank's to the Girl's Education Movement. Retrieved from
http://www.unicef.org/uganda/6005_9755.html
It is sad that the program is not there to assist the parents and their children. Through various early childhood programs, the parents look to the teachers for the extra support system to help meet the learning needs of the children. It is a major setback when early childhood programs are not in place to meet the children's learning needs academically and developmentally.
ReplyDeleteIt is very frustrating to know that the airlines got their sequestration cuts reversed almost immediately because so many travelers were complaining but there is no one complaining for the children who are having their educational services cut. Where are our priorities?
ReplyDeleteAna,
ReplyDeleteThe information you share about Congress turning its back on rural America is so very true. At least that how many members of rural American feel. Since I live in a rural area I see first hand how the taking way of certain educational programs such as head start directly impacts the families and their children with in my community. I agree with April's post as well, sad but true.