Education+In+Middle+Eastern+Society

=Is it necessary to be wealthy to receive an education in the Middle East? =  More than seventy-five million women and more than forty-five million men are illiterate.  "Education," she said, "can help children see beyond a world of hate and hopelessness to one of unlimited opportunity. Education helps free the mind from ignorance and bigotry. Education unleashes the creative contributions of every citizen, to improve their own lives and to build the common good. Education benefits all," said Mrs. Bush, "and education should be available to all."

- Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady [|Laura Bush's view on education in the middle east.]

Sadly in the Middle East education is not available to everyone, but a select few. Only families and people with the money to attend school and the social rank to get in are the only ones who receive an education. Maybe the poverty rate in the Middle East would not be so low if school was available to everyone.

In the novel, __The Kite Runner__, by Khaled Hosseini, Amir who comes from a wealthy high class Middle Eastern family goes to school every day to learn an education, while the Hazara, a servant boy cannot attend school because of his background and his ranking in society.

In the novel, __Three Cups of Tea__, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, the village of Korphe is so poor that they can only afford a teacher once a week. When they are able to go to school they sit outside and use sticks as pencils and dirt as their paper. The kids in Korphe are desperate to learn and they will sit in freezing cold weather just to get an education. This is a result of not being able to afford an education which is why education in the Middle East is so subdued.

"General literacy levels are very low and it's currently estimated that around two million children of primary school age do not attend classes." http://www.childfund.org.au/work/asiapacific/afghanistan

"In the Middle East money seems to be the biggest issue when it comes to schooling. Although in Sudan it is noted that households headed by individuals with intermediate and primary education were better off in terms of total household income, than those households headed by individuals with higher educational qualifications. This will often raise the question of whether education is really that useful." [|http://je-suis-ici.blogspot.com/2007/06/poverty-reaches-record-levels.html<span]

Money is a large factor when it comes to being educated in the Middle Eastern Society. You need money to attend school, money for books, money for teachers and money for tutors. Money is a hard thing to come across in the Middle East especially because of the turmoil that they are facing now. So many people can not receive an education due to not having any or enough money.

"Bizarrely in the Middle East, the relation between education and poverty is an inverse relation – usually poverty decreases with higher levels of education. It is accepted that poor women are usually illiterate." http://je-suis-ici.blogspot.com/2007/06/poverty-reaches-record-levels.html

A damaged school needing rebuilding.

[|Education Video]

According to Dateline: Baghdad radical Islamic groups are shutting down campuses and student elections due to funding issues and violence. Since there is so much violence and terrorism towards the schools, many need a large amount of money to rebuild. Iraq is very short on money to spend on the educational aspect of the country. Many schools will not ever be rebuilt because many Iraqi students do not have the money to pay for the rebuilding and tuition of the schools. Iraqi students already have to pay a large bill to go to these universities, which only allows this education to be available to very few Iraqi students. Only students that are wealthy and can apply for scholarships are able to attend these universities. Iraq intellectuals have hoped for scholarships, twinning programs, and exchange partnerships, but there been very little luck. Education is a luxury in the Middle east only available to the wealth and social middle eastern.

A school bombed in Afghanistan.

There are 8 million people in Afghanistan alone that do not have enough money to buy food much less education. Do you think that education would be a top priority if your family was starving? The UN Development Index rates Afghanistan as 169 out of 174 of the poorest countries in the world, a country were they spend 82.5 billion on military and only 7.4 billion on development. That leaves little to none money left for education. [|Graph on how much Afghanistan spends on military and development]

[|Document of Poverty in Afghanistan]

One of the few women education classes in Afghanistan.

Overall, money is necessary to achieve education, education is not free. In a society with no money and one of the highest poverty rates, education is not expected to be at an all time high. In the Middle Eastern society we really believe if the government spent more money on education the poverty would greatly reduce in time. Education is extremely important and should be available to all, even in poverty stricken countries.

Bibliography: -Mortenson, Greg. __Three Cups of Tea:__. USA : Viking, 2006.

-Hosseini, Khaled. __The Kite Runner__. USA: Penguin Group, 2004.

-Al-Mansoura, Arima. "Poverty Reaches Record Levels." 29 June 2007. 28 Apr 2008 . -"Education In the Middle East." 04 June 2005. 28 Apr 2008. -Afghanistan. "Why children in Afghanistan Need Your Help." __Afghanistan__. ChildFund. 28 Apr 2008 .