By Moses Owen Browne Jr., A World At School Global Youth Ambassador
On 16 June 1976 Hector Pieterson was shot during a peaceful demonstration in South Africa about the imposition of the use of Afrikaans and English in schools. He was 13 years old. Forty years later, we mark this day - The Day of the African Child - by encouraging young people to step forward and speak up about the issues that affect them.
I believe education can change the world, no matter what. Education can take us into the future that we long dreamed of. What matters most to me is training, teaching and mentoring young people so they can be active creators of the future they want.
A World at School has laid the foundation for real-time advocacy in the 21st century. A World at School provides the tools and creates the platform and modules we need as young education advocates to take our destiny into our own hands. I am passionate about education and this unique organization inspires me to continue to support my fellow young people, street children and out of school kids to see education as the only way forward from poverty and discrimination.
We can no longer sit back and watch millions of children perish in poverty without an education; we must use this day to reecho our calls for governments around Africa to prioritize education.
The Ebola outbreak in Liberia was a great challenge for not just the government, communities and teachers but also national and international organizations responding to the epidemic. Education was one of the forgotten casualties of the Ebola outbreak, like in so many emergencies around the world. Many students have not returned to the classroom since Liberia was declared Ebola free in late 2015. This is in part due to the trauma of loss and greater poverty - many lost their parents and guidance and now lack the financial capacity to restart school so they ending up at work instead.
The education system in Liberia was weak even before the Ebola outbreak, with more than 70% of our schools destroyed during the country's bloody civil war, and most school going children were denied the opportunity of acquiring basic education and enrolment. Liberia's Poverty Reduction Strategy papers of 2008 note that many of our teachers were killed and others fled to exile in fear of being killed in the war.
Liberia's existing schools are in a perilous state. More than half of the country's schools have no water supply and 43% lack working toilets. Where there are toilets, one is often shared by more than 100 pupils. With nearly 60% of children never attending school, Liberia stands as the second worse country in the world for the percentage of children not in education. The challenges are obvious, yet our government contributes a pitiful 10% to education when the target for public spending on education 20%.
We must therefore mark the Day of the African Child in 2016 for young people to call for action against this terrible neglect for education, their futures, and the future of Liberia. We will be using this moment to echo young voices, and call on the government to ensure that young people are protected, and their needs are prioritized.
This year we will also focus specifically on the need to protect children's education in the aftermath of an emergency like Ebola. In partnership with It Takes A Village Africa this Thursday we will be celebrating with a number of events to help raise youth voices. We will host speeches from high school students on education in emergencies and diverse performances including dramas, dance and refreshments.
We will Parade through the principle streets of Monrovia to the capitol building and present the #SafeSchools petition calling for the government in Liberia to support the Education Cannot Wait Fund and increase their contribution to the overall education budget. This day will present a platform for awareness-raising and calling for the national government's attention to the plights of all children, especially for education in emergencies.
I believe we have a massive opportunity to make a difference for every single child, beginning with the education systems in Africa. This is the time for us to take decisive steps and shoulder the responsibility for educating our children.
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Funding from the players of the People's Postcode Lottery has enabled Theirworld to expand its Global Youth Ambassador programme across Africa. A World at School Global Youth Ambassadors are a network of young people campaigning in their schools, communities and countries for action to get every child into school and learning.
Moses Owen Browne Jr. is an A World At School Global Youth Ambassador who has used his experience to garner the support of both the government of Liberia and the private sector in support of global education. He has met Liberia's Education Minister and been able to engage other government officials, including the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to join in the cause for education.