Since 2009, public education has been both free and required for all children between the ages of six and 14. Yet many families in Mumbai slums, where they lack even toilets and basic sanitation, save up their meager earnings to pay for private school education for their kids. A recent Economist article states that between a quarter and a third of school children in India attend private schools. In India’s cities, experts estimate as many as 85 percent of children attend private schools. According to another report, 73 percent of …
Foreign aid as a development tool has been tried and found wanting. Decades of handouts from developed countries to developing countries have done little more than promote corruption among developing country leaders and continue a cycle of dependency. As governments and large, bureaucratic international organizations are slow to change their ways, innovators and entrepreneurs are stepping into the gap with some creative ideas. Social entrepreneurship is a growing phenomenon among business-minded people who want to make a difference for those in poverty. Social entrepreneurship is different from current corporate social …
A study released Thursday shows that young people in the Arab world overwhelmingly want greater economic freedom and opportunity, and that conditions prior to the current uprisings left them “crying out for change.” Gallup conducted the large poll before the current unrest began, providing a unique, retrospective look at conditions prior to the uprisings. The poll asked over 16,000 nationals, aged 15 to 29, from 20 Middle Eastern and North African countries questions about job creation, access to job-related tools, and obstacles to their success. Young people reported feeling “unable …
Several weeks ago, Tunisia began what has become a trail of protests and uprisings in the Arab world. Tunisia had a number of characteristics that leant it to uprising, including empowered and educated people and few economic prospects for those people. The country needs improved economic freedom. Tunisia in recent years has made great strides investing in its human capital—educating its people and providing some basic health care. According to the U.N.’s Human Development Indicators, Tunisia has outpaced the rest of the Arab world over the last three decades. Other …
The referendum for southern Sudan’s independence, which began on January 9, reached the necessary 60% participation a few days ago. Official results will not be released for a couple of weeks, but an overwhelming “yes” vote is a safe assumption. The referendum is a momentous step; as the capstone to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the two-decade civil war, it will create the world’s newest country. While southern Sudanese are celebrating their almost certain independence, the challenges ahead are daunting. Southern Sudan will be one of the most poorly …
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India have been taking a serious beating recently. The threats and actions of politicians are so bad that they threaten the future of the industry in the country, and the primary reason is microfinance’s success. MFIs are working wonders to help people pull themselves out of poverty. Foreign aid has a bad track record over the past decades of being largely unsuccessful in alleviating poverty. MFIs have shown that there are alternatives to government-driven aid and that the private sector can—and under the right circumstances will—play …
The U.S. military has undergone a crash course in economic development while fighting the war in Afghanistan, and development agencies could stand to learn some of the military’s lessons. Take for example the National Guard unit out of Indiana. The unit is called an “Agribusiness Development Team” and is teaching Afghan high schoolers about agriculture and business. The unit provides lesson plans on over 60 subjects, including financial management and record keeping. U.S. Army Major Jeremy Gulley is quoted as saying, “Improved education will illuminate the path to a future …
A recent Reuters article on Chinese health care points to a problem endemic in much of the developing world: a massive shortage of trained health care workers. China’s problem is unique in that it has the money for equipment, and is supplying top-notch tools and clinics, but as it considers spreading health care coverage to its rural areas, it does not have enough skilled technicians and doctors to work the equipment and run the clinics. A man whose company trains rural doctors says, “The single biggest issue today is still …
Stories of corruption in India have filled the news in recent days. First there’s the corrupt Communications and Information Technology Minister, whose scam to pocket money from telecommunications firms may have topped $37 billion. Then there were accusations that politicians, officials, and contractors had pocketed more than 70% of $2.5 billion meant for flood relief in the state of Assam. There are the officials arrested for corruption in the planning for the Commonwealth Games and there reports that businesses over the last six decades have made billions through tax evasion …
A recent New York Times article on microcredit in India may have missed the whole point. Their headline implies massive defaults in the microcredit industry, yet in the first paragraph they state, “borrowers in one of India’s largest states have stopped repaying their loans, egged on by politicians.” If borrowers are defaulting because their businesses are failing, or because the microcredit institute shouldn’t have given them a loan, then ok, perhaps there is a place to examine industry practices. In this case however, it sounds more like the politicians aren’t …
