At least it's more gloom than doom

The latest GDP figures for the UK have been released and show that the economy has declined 0.2% from last quarter which means that we are now in another recession - not much of a surprise really. But at least it isn't worse. At least the decline is less than previously.

I've been more aware of the state of the economy. Getting married last year meant that I had to take on new responsibilities. Having previously lived by myself for a short while I had some idea about the cost of living, but was in for a shock when I came to realise that in reality a relatively good salary didn't go as far.

The price of food has been the most shocking thing. On average we must spend around 40% of our income on food - and most of the things we buy is the value range. (Actually it's 10% I just checked but it feels more like 40% and its how it feels that counts). We don't drink and eat little meat - because it's so expensive. I've tried being thrifty, using offal and making more homemade cakes and biscuits, but it still bites.

There are many others who are in a worse still position, hence why initiatives like the food bank have become so popular. Even our church have set up Store City which supports residents of the Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

As I see it, it will take another 6 months or so for the economy to start making positive gains - if it continues on the same trajectory. That is just based on pure instinct - but as we know, anything could happen.

Education improves from terrible to just bad.

Source: The Economist.

Keeping within the same theme of education, I have just come across another article in the Economist from 2010, about improving education in Brazil from terrible to bad. Here is an extract:

IN 2000 the OECD, a group of mostly rich countries, decided to find out how much children were learning at school. At the time, only half of Brazilian children finished primary education. Three out of four adults were functionally illiterate and more than one in ten totally so. And yet few Brazilians seemed to care. Rich parents used private schools; poor ones knew too little to understand how badly their children were being taught at the public ones. The president at the time, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, saw a chance to break their complacency. Though Brazil is not a member of the OECD he entered it in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Brazil came last.

Across Latin America there is far more awareness than a decade ago that poor education is holding the region back.  A decade on, it is clear that the shock was salutary. On December 7th the fourth PISA study was published, and Brazil showed solid gains in all three subjects tested: reading, mathematics and science (see chart 1). The test now involves 65 countries or parts of them. Brazil came 53rd in reading and science. The OECD is sufficiently impressed that it has selected Brazil as a case study of “Encouraging lessons from a large federal system”.

For the full article click here.

Private Schooling for the Poor?

Source: The Economist.

We all can appreciate the value of education. Not necessarily for the subjects learned or even for the knowledge gained, but more so for the signals that it sends to the world; That you are capable and have the ability to succeed in a given task. 

In many developing countries / LDCs the opportunity and privilege of an education is not often available. 

But there are an increasing number of private fee paying schools appearing. Parents are opting out of sending their children to the free schools and making higher and higher sacrifices in order to secure a place for their child in the local Eton. So why is that? 

The Economist offers some suggestions in their article Rich Pickings. Obtaining education, any type of education is no longer enough. Parents require more, they are looking for quality. With an increasing number of highly educated individuals (further and higher education), it is no longer enough to say you have your A-levels, degree or even a Masters. The world requires more and recruiters request more. They want to know what type of education you have, where you obtained it. Education purely as signalling phenomena has less pull. 

And in developing countries, parents know this. Even in some of the poorest regions they will sacrifice their needs to secure a place for their child. According to the Economist, it is not the fancy surroundings that they are after; in fact many of the oversubscribed schools in some parts of India and Kenya are in the smallest darkest rooms in some remote regions.

There are some valuable lessons to be learned here. In securing development it is no longer acceptable to just provide schools. Without adequate resources, investment in teaching (many schools have poor teacher with low rates of literacy) or focus on how skills can be practically utilised in the global market, little progress will be made.

Commercial Goodwill

An increasing number of global brands are investing in micro-finance and subsistence farming projects in Africa. I'm slightly sceptical about motivation, but I guess every little helps.

Here is the campaign from pureDKNY:

MAC also seem to be in the game. All proceeds from the sale of the new lipstick and lip conditioner by Nicki Minaj will go towards (and I quote):

 "HELPING WOMEN, MEN AND KIDS EVERYWHERE AFFECTED BY HIV AND AIDS". 

Is it just me, or does that sound rather ambiguous? I wonder just how much they will raise and just how they intend on utilising those funds. Again, call me a sceptic.