International Contacts - Week 2

I chose to research the country Mongolia and its struggle with poverty.  One interesting insights that I gained was reading that it appears the economic system of Mongolia is improving and becoming more stable, little are seeing the benefits.  The gap between the people living there benefiting from the better economy and those who are not is steadily increasing.

Another insight that I gained is as of 1990 about 96% of the population was illiterate.  Due to significant budget cuts from the national budget, the education programs suffered.  After time, the enrollment rates are beginning to rise and dorms are beginning to open up again.  Children living in poverty have a high dropout rate due to economic reasons.  The buildings and equipment are of poor quality, making the teaching quality to suffer as well.  The children that are fortunate enough to attend school are not getting the education they deserve.

The final insight that I gained from reading about Mongolia and poverty is many children are forced to never attend or drop out of school and work.  They do jobs such as cutting wood or fetching it for factories or markets.  More and more families are resorting to living in the streets with young children, even with the weather reaching as low as minus 30-40 degrees.

The country is suffering and as a result so are the children.  Mongolia needs to reexamine their education system and finds appropriate ways where the children that need to work can still have access to some sort of school.  They can offer courses at night or allow them to bring material home with them to work on independently.  It is difficult to be in that situation, especially if the family ends up on the streets in freezing weather.  They have to find ways to come together as one and fight for their education.

Resource

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo#12