UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report provides data related to out-of-school children around the world. While the global average of out-of-school children has been decreasing for both primary and secondary school children, some countries have experienced steep increases in the number of out-of-school children in recent years. The Marshall Islands reported that 24% of primary school children were out-of-school in 2016, nearly three times the global average of 8.2%. Furthermore, the Marshall Islands reported a higher than average out-of-school rate for children in secondary school (UNESCO, n.d.).

Why are there such high rates of out-of-school children in the Marshall Islands? What factors impede access to education in the Marshall Islands?

Background

The Marshall Islands, a chain of islands and atolls in the North Pacific with a population of just over 50,000 inhabitants, present unique challenges to providing primary and secondary education. Access to education remains a persistent challenge, not only in the Marshall Islands but several other Pacific Island nations, due to countries being made up of many islands spread across a vast geographic area.

In 1986, the Marshall Islands gained independence from the United States. Following independence, the Marshall Islands and the United States signed the Compact of Free Association agreement (Kormann, 2020). Under this agreement, the United States maintains a military base on one of the atolls. In turn, the United States provides the Marshall Islands with significant funding for education as well as several other areas of development (UNICEF, 2017).

Education Challenges

When it comes to access to education, the Marshall Islands face a number of challenges. Poverty remains relatively high on the outer islands with no or limited access to basic resources such as drinking water and electricity. Fishing and farming are often the only jobs available on outer islands and these demanding jobs may require families to rely on their children for extra help or income, preventing them from attending school (Children of Marshall Islands, n.d.). Health and nutrition also impact the ability of children to attend school with stunting being a common affliction among children and other illnesses impacting their cognitive abilities (World Bank, 2019).

However, the greatest challenge impacting the Marshall Islands, contributing to several educational problems, is the geographic spread and range of development on the separate islands. The outer, sparsely populated islands provide unique challenges regarding access to education. At the beginning of the Education for All initiative, the Ministry of Education set access to all levels of education as a major priority. Transportation from outer islands to the urban centers, where most of the schools were located, was unreliable and expensive (UNESCO, 2015). To begin to address the access issue, it was determined that more schools would have to be built, focusing specifically on the outer islands (Ministry of Education, n.d.).

While a majority of the population lives in the urban centers located on Majuro and Kwajalein, there are only 15 public schools serving this large student population (UNICEF, 2017). This results in overcrowded urban schools, which decreases the quality of education and availability of resources such as books (UN Human Rights, 2018).

The Ministry of Education established 65 public schools on 20 of the outer islands to increase access to education for rural students. These schools are often serving very small student populations (Ministry of Education, 2008). They also bring a new set of challenges: multiple grades in one classroom; teachers teaching subjects in which they are not familiar; and limited classroom resources (UNESCO, 2015).

While discussions have proposed consolidating schools with small student populations on rural islands, this does not address or correct the issue of access and what that would mean for students who live on islands without schools. Consequently, the issue of students being out-of-school because they don’t have access to schools will continue.   

Other Challenges

Of course, there is only so much the Marshall Islands and international development organizations can do. New challenges have also arisen in recent years or become more dire to address.

Migration

Migration has become a popular option for Marshallese citizens. Under the Compact of Free Association agreement, Marshallese citizens can, without a visa, live and work in the United States. In Arkansas alone, there is an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Marshallese citizens (Kormann, 2020). Those who choose to remain in the Marshall Islands rely heavily on remittances from their family abroad (Kormann, 2020). This is relevant to education on the Marshall Islands because as more families leave, schools on outer islands risk being closed, limiting access to families who stay.

Climate Change

Climate change has increasingly become a vital concern for many Pacific Island nations. The Marshall Islands sit a mere six feet above sea level, severely threatening life on the islands (Kormann, 2020). In 2013, major flooding closed schools for nearly 2 weeks to provide shelter to families who lost their homes. Droughts and severe storms have increased in frequency (Kormann, 2020). This continues to hinder access to education as classes can’t be held, because school buildings have become unsafe to be in and already limited resources are diverted to more pressing concerns (UNICEF 2017). 

While information and data from this area of the world remains scarce, the Marshall Islands did begin addressing the education access issues by building more schools. However, compounding factors, such as the poor quality of education, enticing migration opportunities to the United States that are detrimental to students who remain in Marshall Islands, and the increased risks associated with climate change, have caught the Marshall Islands in a cycle it can’t seem to escape.

What the Marshall Islands may need now is a way to keep education afloat.  

References

Children of Marshall Islands. (n.d.) Humanium. Retrieved from https://www.humanium.org/en/marshall-islands-2/

Davenport, C. (2015, December 1). The Marshall Islands are disappearing. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/world/The-Marshall-Islands-Are-Disappearing.html

Kormann, C. (2020, January 10). The cost of fleeing climate change. The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-cost-of-fleeing-climate-change-marshall-islands-arkansas

Ministry of Education. (2008). The Republic of the Marshall Islands: education for all mid-decade assessment. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000221791

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Republic of the Marshall Islands: education for all national action plan 2002-2005. Retrieved from http://www.paddle.usp.ac.fj/cgi-bin/paddle?e=d-010off-paddle–00-1–0—0-10-TX–4——-0-11l–11-en-50—20-home—00-3-1-000–0-0-11-0utfZz-8-00&a=file&d=rmi004

UN Human Rights. (2018, January 29). Committee on the rights of the child examines report of the Marshall Islands. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22615&LangID=E

UNESCO. (2015). Education for all 2015 national review report: Marshall Islands. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000229722&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_04f01fa1-2c72-45f2-9266-fe233c276766%3F_%3D229722eng.pdf&locale=en&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000229722/PDF/229722eng.pdf#%5B%7B%22num%22%3A75%2C%22gen%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22XYZ%22%7D%2Cnull%2Cnull%2C0%5D

UNESCO. (n.d.). Global education monitoring report. Retrieved from https://www.education-progress.org/en/articles/access/

UNICEF. (2017). Situation analysis of children in the Marshall Islands. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/1146/file/Situation-Analysis-of-Children-Marshall-Islands.pdf

World Bank. (2019, November 7). Human capital in the Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/11/07/human-capital-in-the-pacific-islands-and-papua-new-guinea

By Hinda Majri and Maria Mongelluzzo

Climate change is a topic dominating many conversations in recent years. From regular reports of the increased occurrence and intensity of natural disasters, like wildfires in Australia, to young activists like Greta Thunberg voicing their concerns on a global stage, to the continued fight for environmental protections and policies, such as the Green New Deal, climate change seems to be on everyone’s mind.

But who is responsible for teaching K12 students about climate change in the United States and ensure future generations have a more sustainable relationship with the Earth? What impact does climate change curriculum have outside the classroom?

Background

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 13[1] specifically addresses climate change. Target 13.3[2] and Indicator 13.3.1[3] stress the need to incorporate climate change curricula at every level of education (UN Sustainable Development Goals, n.d.). Current UNESCO data suggests their focus is on the targets and indicators related to resilience and adaptation to natural disasters and hazards (United Nations, n.d.). This seems appropriate given the dire circumstances surrounding natural disasters but leaves individual countries, states, and even schools to make decisions about how, and if at all, they will address climate change education.

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While UNESCO data is not currently available, other institutions have attempted to gauge attitudes about climate change education in schools in the United States. An NPR/Ipsos survey considered teacher opinions of climate change education in the classroom[4] (Kamenetz, 2019).

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Using this and other information, the U.S. can begin to understand public opinions and how to incorporate climate change education into classrooms.

Who Takes a Stand Around the World?

It is important to consider the progress made by other countries in incorporating climate change education into the classroom.

In late 2019, Italy became the first and only country to create a policy that requires public elementary schools to incorporate climate change education into courses including geography, math and physics (Nace, 2019).

In January of this year, New Zealand created a national climate change curriculum for middle school students. While not compulsory, teachers will have access to classroom materials and teacher resources to help students learn about climate action and managing climate anxiety (Ramirez, 2020).

Who Takes a Stand in the U.S.?

In most U.S. states, it is up to individual schools or school districts to decide how to incorporate climate change education into their curricula, a challenging task considering the little resources and lack of funding most schools are facing.

Thankfully, many organizations and initiatives provide support to schools, local districts and communities. NASA dedicates a section of their website to professional development courses, workshops and resources for schools. The STEM412 Global Climate Change Education for Middle School course, for example, is a collaborative effort with PBS Teacherline that offers education professionals training on how to engage middle-school students and help them understand the causes and effects of climate change (PBS, n.d.).

In 2019, Washington state invested $4 million to train teachers on how to incorporate climate education into their lessons and classrooms (Pailthorp, 2019). Focusing on local, visible problems, hundreds of teachers have participated in various training across the state including going on-site locations where climate change problems, such as wildfires and sea-level rise, can be seen and better understood (Pailthorp, 2019). For example, during a training focused on solid waste and garbage, teachers visited and learned from Seattle Public Utilities (Pailthorp, 2019).

The Zinn Education Project offers workshops for schools and teachers unions as well as classroom-tested lessons for elementary through high school through their Teach Climate Justice Campaign. Their People’s Curriculum for the Earth is a collection of articles, role plays, simulations, stories, poems, and graphics to help animate teaching about the environmental crisis.

One of the simplest and most successful actions the Zinn Education Project promotes is to take the pledge to teach climate justice. Sarah Giddings, Middle School Social Studies teacher in Mesa, Arizona took the pledge and says that lessons on climate change took her students “from a place of what appeared to be indifference and complacency, to a place of inquiry, compassion, and activism” (Zinn, 2020).

Teachers also get students involved in activities like The Climate Change Challenge where students come up with creative solutions to reduce harmful effects of climate change. Stephanie Kadison, a High Science Teacher from Alabama, shared that “one student came up with [a] light switch that turned off if there were no sound waves for more than 30 minutes to save energy” (Bigelow & Swinehart, 2020).

Beyond the classroom, the Zinn Education Project encourages youth engagement by offering a list of opportunities to engage in climate justice actions like the Nature Bridge Summer Programs or Climate Generation.

Finally, the project also encourages grassroot organizing by featuring successful resolutions to adopt a climate curriculum like the one passed in Portland School district from the continued pressure from students, parents and teachers.

The Impact

Students are having an impact outside of the classroom. From what they learn in school, students are influencing their parents, changing and opening their parents’ minds about climate change: “The North Carolina study, published in May 2019 in research journal Nature Climate Change, found that middle school-aged students who learned about climate change were pretty good at getting their parents to think differently about the issue.” (Sayler, 2019)

Climate change education also has a real impact on communities: “In 2016, Nature Energy released a study that showed that Girl Scouts who learned about energy-saving techniques were able to bring them into their homes. Kids have also proven effective at getting their parents to recycle more, according to a study in Waste Management” (Sayler, 2019).

As our climate continues to change, climate change education offers some hope. Hope that decision makers will make this a priority for future generations.

We leave you with this final thought:

Footnotes

[1] Goal 13: take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
[2] Target 13.3: improve education, awareness-raising and human institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
[3] Indicator 13.3.1: number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early earning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula
[4] The NPR/Ipsos survey resulted from polling approximately 1,000 adults and 500 teachers

References

Bigelow, B. & Swinehart, T. (2020). A People’s Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/peoples-curriculum-for-the-earth

Kamenetz, Anya. (2019, April 22). Most teachers don’t teach climate change; 4 in 5 parents wish they did. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/04/22/714262267/most-teachers-dont-teach- climate-change-4-in-5-parents-wish-they-did

Nace, Trevor. (2019, November 19). Italian law to require climate change education in grade school. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/11/19/italy-law-to-require- climate-change-education-in-grade-school/#12c82e765dae

NASA. (2020, February 12). Professional development courses, workshops and resources. https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/education/edOpps/

Pailthorp, Bellamy. (2019, March 4). Washington invests $4 million this year to bring climate science into classrooms. Retrieved from https://www.knkx.org/post/washington-invests-4- million-year-bring-climate-science-classrooms

PBS NASA. (n.d.). Resources for Teaching Global Climate Change in Middle School. http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/catalog/courses/STEM412/?utm_source=em&utm_medium=new s&utm_campaign=courses_sum10

Ramirez, R. (2020, January 14). New Zeal(and) for climate education. Retrieved from https://grist.org/beacon/new-zealand-for-climate-education/

Sayler, Z. (2019, May 23).

UN Sustainable Development Goals. (n.d.). Knowledge Platform. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg13

United Nations. (n.d.) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2019. Retrieved from https://undesa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=48248a6f94604ab98f6ad29fa 182efbd

Zinn Education Project. (2020). https://www.zinnedproject.org/campaigns/teach-climate-justice