- Economic analysis found that some of
Asia’s fastest-growing economies lose up to 2 percent of their GDP due to
children failing to complete secondary education - Report suggests that educating
parents about the opportunities of continued schooling is the most effective
way to retain students
DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, recently commissioned
a report looking into out of school children in Asia, and the effect this has
had on those economies. A Way Back to
School shows Asia could be losing nearly US$34 billion per year in GDP due
to children dropping out of school. The report supports the company’s GoTeach
program which delivers a range of educational and vocational opportunities to
young people in disadvantaged communities in seven Asia Pacific countries.
According to the report, some of Asia’s fastest-growing
economies may struggle to reach their full potential due to high rates of
out-of-school children, with some countries deprived of up to 2 percent of
their GDP as a result. Out-of-school rates in all seven countries here — Bangladesh,
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam — rose
exponentially as children grew older, with at least one in every three children
dropping out of school by upper secondary-age.
“While everyone recognizes the social importance of keeping
children in school, the economic costs of failing to do so may come as a shock
to many,” said Christof Ehrhart, Executive Vice President of Corporate
Communications and Responsibility, Deutsche Post DHL Group. “The Asia Pacific
region cannot rely on its rapid economic growth to automatically improve social
outcomes like school retention. Although India’s economy is growing at around 7
percent per annum,[1]
over 28 percent of its children exit at
secondary level, while Indonesia — where economic growth has helped halve
poverty levels since 1999[2]
— still sees 1 in 5 students drop out of school by lower secondary age.
If Asia’s public and private sectors do not take concerted
action to reduce the rates of out-of-school children, the region’s most
promising economies may soon face a significant talent shortage that could
limit the speed of their future growth and development.”
“History has proven that countries can only sustain their
economic growth when it translates into greater education and innovation
amongst the labor force,” said Dr. Pumsaran Tongliemnak, Policy Analyst,
Ministry of Education Thailand, who authored the report. “Countries which fail
to adequately tackle the issue of out-of-school children will either hit a
ceiling to their GDP growth, or experience greater instability due to an
increasing divide between out-of-school children and those who stay in school.”
The report’s findings suggest that poverty remains the most
common cause of children exiting school before completion, typically to provide
additional sources of income for their families. Improving parental awareness
of the benefits of completing secondary education — which include wage premiums
of up to more than 44 percent in Bangladesh, for
example — tend to result in higher rates of students staying in school than
other traditional measures like grants and subsidies. According to the report,
schools catering to the special needs of low-income or disadvantaged students
also contribute significantly to reducing out-of-school levels.
“Our investigation confirms that most children who drop out
of school in Asia Pacific do so out of economic necessity, whether to earn a
wage or because of an inability to afford the high costs of staying in school,”
said Ehrhart. “We can address this in two ways: by demonstrating the long-term
benefits of education to income levels, and by offering young people greater
opportunities to develop employability and life skills in and around the
classroom.”
DHL’s GoTeach program operates in all the seven countries
examined in the report, delivering a range of educational and vocational
opportunities to young people in disadvantaged communities. Working in
partnership with global non-governmental organization (NGO), Teach for All,
GoTeach educational activities benefited nearly 11,000 children in Bangladesh,
India, Malaysia and the Philippines in 2017. At the same time, the GoTeach
partnership with global NGO SOS Children’s Villages saw DHL employees spend
more than 2,000 hours mentoring, training and providing internship
opportunities to youths in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. With the GoTeach
program, DHL contributes meaningfully to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development and specifically to the Sustainable Development Goals
number 4 (quality education) and 17 (partnerships for the goals).
“Our latest report hammers home the sheer volume of out-of-school
children in Asia, and the rising costs of doing nothing,” said Ehrhart. “If we
want to tackle this issue in a meaningful way, private-sector CSR efforts must
collaborate far more cohesively with NGOs and governments, investing in
measures like parental awareness and special schooling infrastructure with
proven effectiveness. We have both a window of opportunity and a responsibility
to the next generation of Asia’s young people to do so before it’s too late.”
Full report: https://goo.gl/ER9moh
DHL — The
logistics company for the world
DHL is the
leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions
offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and
international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions,
international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain
management. With about 350,000 employees in more than 220 countries and
territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and
reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth
markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare,
energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility
and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned
as “The logistics company for the world”.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated
revenues of more than 57 billion euros in 2016.
About the Author
Dr. Pumsaran Tongliemnak is a Policy Analyst at the Bureau
of Policy and Strategy, the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Education in Thailand. He has worked with several international organizations
such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF in the
areas of education policy research. He also teaches part-time at several
universities in Thailand. Dr.Tongliemnak has received a BA in Economics from
Thammasat University, MPP from the University of Chicago, MA in Economics, and
PhD in Economics of Education from Stanford University.
