The Luxembourgish NGO CSI Lëtzebuerg presents its new campaign called « It's time to go to school ».
The campaign is part of the International Education Day, celebrated every year on 24 January.
The United Nations General Assembly established the day five years ago to celebrate the role of education in peace and development. This year's theme is: "Investing in people, making education a priority.
According to UNESCO, 244 million children and young people aged 6 to 18 worldwide are still not in school and are therefore deprived of their right to education. The regions most affected by non-enrolment are sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South East Asia.
Some of the obstacles include conflict, discrimination against girls, lack of infrastructure and disability, to name but a few.
The Luxembourg NGO develops and implements projects in Africa and Asia that always aim to overcome these obstacles and improve access to education for disadvantaged populations.
In addition, CSI works to raise awareness in Luxembourg, notably through activities with schools or campaigns.
CSI Lëtzebuerg's objective is to work for a more equitable world, by making education accessible to all, regardless of their religion, gender, origin or ethnicity, and by improving the quality of education.
Education changes lives! Help us promote education around the world.
#cultivateeducation
While poverty is often the reason for not accessing education, access to education significantly reduces poverty. Lack of food, lack of access to care, lack of financial means to pay school fees are all factors influencing children’s lack of schooling.
Being a girl drastically reduces the chances of access to education. Even more so being a daughter of a poor family living in rural Africa. The weight of traditions, housework, early marriage and pregnancy are determining factors.
Many children do not go to school because there is none or it is too far away. Overcrowded classes, lack of school equipment and transport, lack of sanitary facilities, lack of teachers are some of the problems discouraging schooling.
Children with disabilities in a developing country have only a 10% chance of going to school. Shame related to disability, discrimination, lack of means of transport, inadequate school infrastructure and teachers not trained to welcome students with disabilities make their schooling very difficult.
27 million children living in conflict zones do not go to school. Some because they are refugees and no longer have access to education. Others because, often targeted, schools have been destroyed, are used for other purposes or because teachers have been killed or have fled.
Global education - explaining why 244 million children and young people have no access to education
In 2012, CSI created a board game about access to education in Africa. The game was a huge success. Last year, the global education team reworked all the LEKOLI materials, both content and form, and an English translation was added. We are pleased to announce that the printing of the "large model" and "small model" games is now underway! Lekoli is designed both as a family game, and as a basic tool for animation or further reflection on topics related to access to education. The game touches on many concepts and the game is even more enriching when preceded or followed by a discussion with the children.
A great way to combine learning and play!
CSI Luxembourg is a State-recognised NGO, which has been supporting disadvantaged and marginalised people since 1989 by launching tangible projects which aim at helping them out of poverty and which offer them better future prospects.
In addition to the development cooperation, which concentrates mainly on educational projects, CSI is also active in the field of "Global Education". This means that we organize awareness workshops in primary schools. Access to education is the focus of these workshops.