Does Education Benefits the Poor in Rural Communities in West Africa?
West Africa countries have been in forefront championing quality education to it emerging populations for decade, there are political will in all ramification to reduce illiteracy and ignorance in many west African countries, for over 50 years these, government across boards have been implementing programs, and strategies to curb illiteracy, poverty and diseases
Since the population of west African nations are not static, it is challenging producing quality education to all communities across millions of rural populaces, especially in sub-Sahara regions
It is worthy to mention that, government programs. The united Nations, the many private organisations are inviting billions of dollars to achieve quality education for the rural communities of west African states
In Nigerian, the most populated west African state, is currently implementing program to wipe out illiteracy, poverty and dieses in millions of communities, thus yielding result, more people are lifted out poverty with sound mind and focused mindset
Nigeria is a proven success in the area of free mass education in rural area, government in many states have introduced and implement free education to all children both the primary and secondary level
As a prove to this, the quality of education has improved, its n longer the way it used to be in the nineties and early 2000s
In Ghana, Bokina Faso, the Gambia and Ivory Coast, the rural communities have received a boost from both government and the international communities, the rate of violence, mal nutrition, poverty and unemployment have reduced drastically
Communities in chad, Niger, Togo, Benin, and Seychelle have one thin in common, they have active small population with effective government programs and structure in curbing illiteracy, poverty and mass employment
In general, education in West Africa have been beneficial to rural communities but more need to be done since the population is growing and government policies are static due to funding
Illiteracy, Poverty & Poor Education in Rural Communities in West African
The west African communities have suffered the so much from poor education, poverty and ignorance, it has led to the poor living, conflicts, mass immigration, death, and hungry
Mass Migration: The high rate of poverty in rural areas across west African nations have led to mass movement to the cities, youths want better life, employment, power supply, security, and stability
Unemployment: Rural communities are known to be underdeveloped, in those days there are little to no infrastructure to cater for the masses, coupled with poor or no electricity supply, people who wants to be productive have no choice but to leave to the cities, thus supressing the little infrastructure in the cities
Insecurity: Banditry, herders and farmers clash, kidnapping, and terror are the order of the day in some communities in west Africa; Nigeria, chad, Niger, Mauritius, most affected
Dieses; Poor education has so many disadvantages in rural area including ignorance about some typical diseases like HIV, cancer, TB, Leprosy, etc, these dieses are more common in rural areas, because of lack of education
Poverty: Rural communities should be the bread basket of all nations, but the situation may not be so in west Africa as poor or lack of education has denied many of the modern ways of producing food
Hunger and mal Nutrition: these are the common in rural areas, it only needs education to curb these menace
See Difference Between University, Polytechnic, and College of Education in Nigeria
Proven Benefits of Education to Rural Communities in West Africa
Before mentioning the benefit of education to the rural communities in west Africa, we need to understand the real situation of poor communities in the early 1990s, where there are no system or structures in place, communities were left in ruins, and there was object poverty and mass migration
But these situations have changed, the current government and the programs from national and international bodies have significantly improves education in Rural Communities via;
Reduced Migration: The cities used to be congested and overcrowded due to migration from rural areas, but many of modern infrastructure like schools, hospitals, roads, clean water are now available at rural areas, the rural commoners see no need to migrate to supress cities infrastructures
Security and Stability: Though the situations have not been eradicated completely, but it has reduced to it barest minimum, Banditry, herders and farmers clash, kidnapping, and terror in some communities in Nigeria, chad, Niger, Mauritius, Senegal have reduced
Health and Hospitals; With the intervention of the government and private organisations like the WHO, hospitals, health canters are being plated in rural communities, these have helped in addressing death and dieses to a large extent
Educational Infrastructure: like schools, vocational canters have been concentrated in some rural communities, some universities, collages of educations, polytechniques, are now been sited at rural canter to encourage full participation by local people
Enhanced and Mechanised Agriculture: The government across many west African states have swung into action with food security, and the rural areas are the target; Tractors and Agro processing equipment have been introduced to boast production and food supply, thus providing the much-needed jobs at the rural areas
Employment Opportunities: The presence of government infrastructures, modern farming techniques, peace and security have created an enabling environment for employments in rural areas ostrachard by education
Does Education Benefit the Poor in Rural Communities in West Africa?
Answering this question require careful investigation and observations, from the early 90ties to the late 2000s, compared with the late 2000s and early 2010 to 2026, there are significant changes and observations.
We can boldly say improved education has benefited the poor and needy at the rural communities in west African states, however many changes still need to be done
What NEED to Be Done
For the gains to be sustained and improved on, there are things that must be done or sustained at the long run including, Political will, stability, and continued policy implementation