Question 5
An example of policy response by Brazil government to reduce poverty is family scholarship.it is a cash transfer program that gives financial help to poor Brazilian household .the target families are those with proportionate income below the poverty level based on information from household surveys. In 2003, the government created it with the conjugation of the other conditional cash transfer programmes. The three main domains that it has are conditioning elements to enhance easy access to basic social needs in health and Education,financial transfer to promote quick poverty alleviation and supplementary programs to encourage growth family as well as raise social mobility.
It is an advanced approach to eradicate poverty in underdeveloped countries as well as a social safety strategy. The objectives of this policy are, to reduce poverty and inequality in Brazil, break the generational poverty cycle by asking recipients to commit to human capital and empower the beneficiaries.
Payments are made every month and deposited directly to electronic benefit cards of beneficiaries preferentially female head of household.families in extreme poverty are given a maximum amount of BRL 242. In return, the recipients are mandated to take their children aged 6-15 years to school, ensure that those below seven years are vaccinated and that they go for routine health care check-ups including nutritional care, monitoring of growth and development in children and prenatal care for pregnant women or risk being withdrawn from the program. The government supervises their compliance via health and education ministries.
Through this policy, the government has managed to reduce poverty by half from 9.7% to 4.3%.the poor households can achieve the minimum standard of life and better their self-worth with their children having a chance to Education and upward social mobility rather than being forced to child labour.
Data obtained from Brazilian Home Survey and also an institute of applied economic research indicate that this programme is responsible for poverty reduction in Brazil.
Written reports indicate that brazil has reduced extreme level of poverty, decreased drop out rates at school and enhanced daily school attendance. It is estimated that between 2003 and 2009, the program managed to reduce poverty level by 12%-18% showing that it is cost-effective because it costs 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product and benefits more than quarter of the Brazilian population. It also accounts for more than 15% drop in the Gini coefficient in the first ten years of the 21st century. In 2017, the programme led to 3.2 million people rising out of poverty and 3.4 million moving out of the extreme level of debt.
Question 6.
Access and quality of primary Education.
Under the Education for all plan,the primary focus has been universal access to Education.Although there has been a rapid increase in numbers of children in primary school, the attainment of quality education is still futile. An increase in learner enrolment implies bigger classrooms, high student to teacher ratio,shortage in materials for learnig and inadequate school facilities.research has shown that most of the children attending school get poor quality of basic Education.this implies that completion of primary Education does not guarantee acquisition of basic academic skills by the child. this is due to underpaid ,poorly trained teachers ,Overcrowded schoolrooms and unacquainted language of teaching.other challenges that may exist are deficiency of basic teachin instruments like pens,paper,textbooks,chalkboards and poor sanitation.
Quality basic Education is dependent on a course of study that is related to the reality and needs of a learner.the learning outcomes of learners rely on professionally trained teachers who are well equipped with suitable teaching and learning tools .Survey shows that six out of ten learners do not attain the minimum proficiency levels in mathematics and reading.deficiency in learning start beforehand in early grades and such children oftentimes struggle to be at par in subsequent years and most of them drop out of school.
Lack of funding.
Global donor support in education aid has decreased tremendously.the fund was able to provide resources an infrastructure needed in schools to accommodate more children.students are not able to get access to individual teacher attention due to big classroom sizes,have higher grade repetition and high drop out rate .Adequacy and equity outcomes can be improved with adequate allocation of funds to schools.lack of finances in schools affects all aspects of schooling from low salaries for teachers to poor education outcomes in learners.im most undeveloped countries ,most children drop out of school leading rto unemployment,exploitation in child labour,poor health and poor economic development.
Take examples of any education development actors[1] and examine how they can overcome the challenges.
The government can overcome these challenges by capacitating the ministry of Education to effectively monitor school program implementation and expenditure sand ensure Education is focused on learning processe.training of education executive is necessary to quality education. Teachers should be mandated to stick to professionalism from the beginning and throughout their line of work.they should be given opportunities to train with inclusion of topics like gender,disability and inclusion.The government can ensure quality education for all students with closing the fund gap by increasing state education funding on public schools.
Question 3
The success of gender equity a a sustainabe development goal in brazil.
Organised womens movement
The participation of women in the society has increased with the conception of new policies to decrease gender discrimination and let go of old perceptions on roles of women in the society. .during the last period of time womens status has greatly improved with increasing demand for rights for gender equity.with the inception of feminist movement,new public agencies and policies were formulated in the government docket to promote gender equity in brazil. Women rights have been institutionalized with progressive participation of women in formal jobs.they also have a right to acquire,manage and administer property .
Expansion of women education.
The level of literacy for men is correspondent to that of women since the government provides equal opportunities to both gender .in 2004, the national plan of policies for women was formulated to consolidate and promote educational policies for an equal gender participation.in 2010the literacy rate of Brazilian women was estimated as 90.7% and while that of men was 90.1%.the majority of students in universities are women adding up to 53% of the total population.
Rights to participate in public life.
The state with the support of the civil society has been puttin up policies which promote women empowerment including participation in public life and politics .In programs such as “my house my life” created intentionally for poor poeple to buy theit own houses 80% beneficiaries are women.they now have a right to own property unlike before where they were seen as leser beings. Another program like “family scholarship” where conditioned money is given to poor families specifically to female family head has helped in strengthening the duty of women in the society.
The challenges of gender equity as a sustainable development goal in brazil.
Female leadership gap and political influence.
Currently, brazil has has elected only one female governor into office out of 27 states.it has also had only one female president ,Dilma Rousseff between 2011 and 2016 though women are 53% of the electorate population.furthermore,they also correspond to about half of the national personnel.the brazilian law governing elections mandates that 30% of the candidates in each political party must be women but unfortunately,they currently occupy only 9% of the seats in Congress.
The pay gap.
Women in brazil are discriminated against and hence earn less salary than their male counterparts in the same field. They receive less for their work yet they acquire higher degrees and commit more in their occupation compared to male but still only 16%of executive directors are women in financial dervices.. The presence of organizational discrimination against women bar them from employment opportunities and promotion to the top positions in highly ranked organizations.
Women encounter a lot of challenges in professional growth ,do not easily access the labor industry and are to a lesser extent valued for their work.
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