Give Them a Chance.

My son tells me I am an old man. I don't usually feel old, but my greying beard, follicley-challenged scalp and width of girth all suggest that he might be right, as does the music he insists on playing. Also, regardless of how I might feel, if 50 years is old then I am guilty as charged.

Why am I offering this small scrap of self-revelation? Not because I believe it will be of interest to many of you, but to provide you with some data for a simple but revealing equation. Of those 50 years 17 were spent in full-time study in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Moreover, on top of that I have studied part-time to complete another post-graduate degree, and half a post-graduate theological degree. So, of my two score years and ten, nearly a half has been spent in formal study.

This is not a complaint or confession, but an acknowledgement of how incredibly fortunate I have been. I have been spoiled. My parents encouraged me to pursue studies, and they did so in a society which believed that the provision of high quality educational opportunities was a collective social responsibility. If it was not for this belief, and a taxation system spawned by underlying convictions about common wealth and common good, quality educational opportunities would have remained the private domain of the rich. Then I for one would have missed out.

Tragically, in so many contexts today, children and adults in poor communities do miss out. For various reasons they are denied access to a reasonable education. This is especially so if they are girls or women.

The emphasis is on denial. Contrary to much prevailing and prejudicial myth, there is ample evidence that the poor place high value on education. Many of them will be quick to take advantage of a good quality educational service.

A recently completed study in India concluded that it is poorly equipped classrooms, combined with disinterested or even hostile teachers, that discourages school attendance among the children of the poor. The same study dispelled another significant myth which claimed that the economic necessity of child labour also prevented poor children from consistently attending school.

Provide them with a well-resourced school and motivated teachers, and the overwhelming majority of poor children will come. The classes will be full! Time and time again I have seen this - in the city slums of Delhi, Dehra Dun, Manila, or in the rural villages of Uganda. As an ex-school teacher it always gladdens my heart when I enter a classroom full of bright-eyed kids, full of energy and enjoying their learning.

Give illiterate adults a chance to learn to read and write and many of them will grab it with both hands. Can you imagine the motivation of rural women who add literacy lessons onto the end of an already punishing day's work?

Strategic investments in education and training are high on TEAR's agenda because of their effectiveness in helping individuals and communities loosen the grip of poverty. That is also why TEAR has so strongly supported the debt cancellation objectives of Jubilee 2000 - the debt repayment schedules of countries like Tanzania and Zaire savagely erode their education and health budgets.

It is also the reason for our special focus this year. Our hope is that many churches and fellowships will use the special "Learn to Live" resources developed by TEAR and, as a result, new opportunities for learning and living will be given to poor communities.

Steve Bradbury National Director