Fight to Learn: The Struggle to Go to School

by Laura Scandiffio

Overview

In many countries around the world, universal access to education is a seemingly unattainable dream; however, determined individuals with vision and drive have made this dream come true for many. This book highlights people such as Okello, a former child soldier in Uganda, who founded a school for children like himself whose education was derailed by war; Julia Bolton Holloway who realized that the only effective way to educate Roma children was to teach literacy to their parents at the same time; Shannen Koostachin, a passionate 13-year-old whose fight for the right of First Nations children to have proper schools endured even after her untimely death. These uplifting stories of people who were undeterred in their fight to bring education to children will leave young readers with excellent models of how to mobilize support when fighting for social justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554517978
Publisher:	Annick Press, Limited
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	1,059,628
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	990L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Laura Scandiffio is the author of many non-fiction books for young readers, including the award-winning title, People Who Said No (2013 Skipping Stones Honor Award, Independent Publishers Book Award, 2013 Eric Hoffer Book Award.) She lives in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Poverty 1

Child Workers 2

The Boy with a School in His Backyard 2

The Roma 17

Alphabets, Chisels, and Cradles: A Family School for Roma 17

Taking Roma Learning Online 26

"Every Child in School" 29

Discrimination 35

Gender: Girls in the Muslim World 36

Vie Other Malalas 36

Sharing the Knowledge that Changes Lives 50

Caste 58

Outcasts from Learning; Teaching the Untouchables 58

Violence 75

Gangs 76

Caught in the Crossfire 76

War 98

Forced into Battle 98

Protest Movements 113

Equal Schools 114

Shannen Koostachiti: The Right to a "Real School" 114

Affordable Schools 135

Education for All: Chile's Student Protests 135

Afterword 155

Main Sources 156

Further Reading 161

Index 162

Image Credits 166

Acknowledgements 168

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/01/2016
Gr 5–8—The obstacles children face worldwide to obtain an education are discussed in accessible terms using real-life examples of how youth and adults fight these barriers—from gender bias in the Middle East to gang violence in Chicago to poverty in India. The work is divided into four topics: poverty, discrimination, violence, and protest movement. Each subject has two sections that discuss the situation through personal narratives, usually from the perspective of an educator. The stories are engaging and well paced. Readers will learn a bit of backstory about how educational inequality is built into a particular culture or region (for example, Roma people were ostracized from the larger European community), what this discrimination means (systematic poverty, high rates of illiteracy), and what people are doing to make a change (Julia Bolton Holloway's Alphabet School and Emir Selimi's activism for Roma people in Sweden). Softly colored pages, clear photographs, and small chalkboard and pinned note insets with quotes from the text help to create visual appeal. Further information is offset in notebooklike graphics. An introduction, an afterword, and main sources are included. VERDICT This is a fascinating and frightening examination of international education issues; a solid addition for libraries wanting more titles on education or social justice.—Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA

School Library Journal

2016-06-01
A collection of stories about children who risk much to avail themselves of learning opportunities and determined individuals who fight to bring education to those children.Scandiffio takes readers on an inspiring tour around the world to countries where obstacles to universal access to education such as discrimination, poverty, and war seem insurmountable, yet driven individuals do what they can to bring schooling to many. Okello Kelo Sam, a former child soldier in Uganda, is the founder of a school for children like himself. In a backyard classroom in India, teenager Babar Ali passes on what he has learned to child workers too poor to afford the required uniforms to attend school. Young women in Pakistan risk their very lives to attend school. Obstacles to learning persist even in developed nations, such as Canada, where inequitable resources are allocated for First Nations children, and the United States, where rampant gang violence in Chicago and other cities keeps children from attending school. The book's design features decorated, multicolored page backgrounds and frequent color photographs. This moving look at children going to extraordinary lengths, even risking their lives, to get an education should be required reading for the millions of American students who resent going to school. (photos, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews