© UNICEF/2009/S. Caleo

 Education is the fourth J8 topic, which was decided by the young people. Far from our usual perception of children not wanting to go to school, many of the representatives from the non-G8 countries talked about their struggle to go to school and about how going to school is only a dream for many people. This took place in a large open session led by the education theme group and facilitated by Kefhira Pintos from the US team. 

Samuel Venkatesen from Tamil Nadu in India told the other J8 delegates about the struggle young people in his village face in getting to go to school. Girls in Tamil Nadu, he says, often are kept out of school, because they are doing household work or are married when they are just starting their teens. 

For young people like Samuel there is only one bus a day to school and if you miss the bus, or it does not come, you have to walk up to 15km to school carrying heavy bags. Distance and often fees mean that many young people miss out on their right to education. 

Another of the Indian team from Orissa talked passionately about the challenges she has overcome to go to school. In her community it is very common for parents to arrange for girls to get married at 14. Sanjukta Pangi had always wanted to keep going to school, but it was only following a tragedy in her village that she was able to persuade her father that she should stay in school. A girl in her village died of an overdose of medicine because neither she nor her parents could read. Sanjukta convinced her father of the importance of letting her continue her education, which ultimately has brought her to the J8. 

Sanjukta says she is a changed young woman after being involved in the J8 and can’t wait to return to India to share what she has learned. ‘I want to take back my immense knowledge and skills (that I have gained) and share with other young people my age,’ she says. “My mindset has completely changed.  … A new Sanjukta will be going back to India.’ 

Although access to education is a serious issue for many, too much education was the problem for some. The Japanese team shared their concerns about the pressure in their education system and at home to achieve. This pressure forces people to devote almost every waking hour to studying meaning that suicide rates have risen among young people. Moeko Fuji worried in Japan that they learn so much information but they never learn how to use it. 

Whether it is too much or too little education the main concern for all the J8 was quality of education, which they split up into four working groups to discuss further.