Can we keep the difference?
You can wonder why everything is different. You can wonder why it is different building a school in a developing country compared to building a school in a developed country. You may wonder why it is different running a school in a developing country compared to a developed country.
Picture: Thor Heyerdahl Secondary School, Larvik, Norway with 1600 students and a staff of 300.
I no longer wonder because I have been around. I have travelled to many places. I have seen many differences.
To make it more specific, let us look at the school buildings. A school building for upper secondary school. What is typical in a developed country? The buildings are modern. The rooms are well equipped. The rooms have electricity. You have access to wireless internet. You can mention everything. A school is like a modern office.
If we then go to a developing country. What will you see? How is the building for upper secondary school? The building has poor standard. Ironsheet on the roof. Poor equipped classrooms and poor inside the building. Maybe you will find access to electricity, however, may not be on regularly basis. Probably no access to wireless internet.
Picture: Some few examples of schools in developing countries and developed countries.
It is easy to generalize. It is easy to create a black and white picture. I suppose you can find modern well-equipped schools in developing countries. However, up to now, I have not seen any in the countries I have been to (If you know any, please send me a picture).
The wonder is still there. Is it natural that the standard in developing countries shall be poor? It is poor also when people or organisations from developed countries run the schools. Is the thinking like, students in developing countries do not need a school building and equipment like student in develop countries? Do students in developing countries not need access to the internet while the students in the developed countries need access?
Can we expect a good developing as long as students do not experience how a modern classroom is? What will happen if we make a change? What will happen if we build and equip the upper secondary schools in the developing countries similar to what we do it in the developed countries?
Picture: Hunter College High School, Manhattan, USA
