Today - December 8, 2022 - is Education Day. This year's motto is: "Good education in difficult times". It's a motto that speaks to us from the heart and there couldn't have been a better one for 2022.
Education systems have suffered greatly as a result of the coronavirus pandemic - in Germany, in Europe and worldwide. Children and young people had to stay away from school. Educational institutions were closed for weeks and months and, in addition to the cancellation of classes, social contacts were extremely limited. Even though normality has returned in some countries, this period has left huge gaps that are difficult and slow to close.
The school closures have had a very different impact on children due to the different ways in which they can organize resources or take advantage of educational opportunities via the internet. The already existing difference in educational opportunities has thus been further exacerbated (Human Right Watch, 2022).
This inequality exists in our German society, but is even more pronounced globally. Some governments do not even have the resources or the political conditions to implement "home schooling", for example.
If you look at our project country Myanmar the conditions are even more serious. The pandemic was compounded by the military coup at the beginning of 2021, which led to the further closure of countless educational institutions and the massive loss of teaching staff. It is inconceivable that this situation still persists and that the younger generation has already missed out on over two years of education. There is no online teaching or other support, as neither the necessary infrastructure nor the teachers required are available.
We see this development as very critical, as no education also means a major shortage of qualified staff for nursing professions, for example. We are all the more hopeful after our visit this year to our colleagues in the Irrawaddy River Delta, which showed us that the work we support there continues to be carried out at a high level. In order to do our part to improve education in the country, our Burmese team will continue unwaveringly with the prevention program in the communities in the delta.
