We’ve all been taunted by our parents/grandparents about how they used to walk miles on foot to get to school every day while we’ve had it easy. In fact, it’s become a running joke in our generation. What if someone told you the joke will probably become a reality for a lot of us very soon?
On February 24th, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an on-ground invasion of Ukraine to demilitarize the country. Four months into the war, the situation has alarmingly escalated, compelling international pressure on Putin to call off the invasion.
In the meantime, countries have been discussing possibilities of sanctions for Russian imports which has prompted the European Union and the United States to impose a partial ban on Russian crude oil. Consequently, global petrol prices have skyrocketed, and Pakistan alone has witnessed a 63 percent hike in the month of June alone, forcing citizens to seriously limit their daily commutes to the greatest extent possible. This perhaps affects the daily school-going and working-class population the most as their day-to-day expenses of travel alone have gone through the roof.
With this rate of inflation, a major chunk of the population might have to consider moving their children to nearby schools or relocating themselves, Some might consider taking days off from school, whether it be students or school staff, or worse, rethink the mode of instruction in schools. Forcing, countries to crawl back into the dark days of covid lockdowns.
Until people come up with viable alternatives to petrol use, I’m afraid the schools might see a drastic drop in attendance, further widening the gap between the rich who are only marginally impacted by the hike and continue their education without any major obstacles, and the poor whose lives have come to a halt with the recent developments. What’s most distressing about this whole issue is how a decision made by one country has the power to impact education for millions around the globe!
This is a very interesting perspective, because of all the implications of the war and the rising fuel prices we have seen being discussed generally, none of them have looked at how mobility is affected of students, thus subsequently affecting levels of education provision.
Even though I do agree with the general argument that you present, I do (along political lines) disagree with the idea of framing Russia as the sole perpetrator for these consequences. I do understand that this isn't central to your argument which is why I wouldn't want to delve too deeply into that, but all I would say that to expect a country to not indulge into an act that'd have grave global consequences, when it…
You have raised some very important points. Undoubtedly, the rising global prices of petrol have been impacting the poor the hardest. Education will be severely hit as a consequence, especially for children belonging to poor families. This can have a lot of negative consequences. The rising prices of petrol also mean that it is becoming more difficult for people to afford the necessities of life. This might force them to take their children out of school and encourage them to find jobs and earn money to help their family make ends meet. This means that there is a very real chance that there is an in child labour, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries, due to this conflict.
True! I belong to a village where there is no proper education system in place and the first group of people who are affected by these kinds of exorbitant costs are young girls. Whenever I go back to visit I hear stories about girls having to drop out of school because in addition to paying their schools fees, their parents simply cannot afford to drop them off to schools that are hours away from their homes, both because of how time consuming it is and also because it is so expensive. And yet for many, such an issue is never thought of because they come from privilege and don’t have to think about petrol prices affecting school attendance.
This is such a significant concern that you have raised. I have witnessed something similar to it. A woman in my village used to send her children to the nearby city academy by van to ensure that her children get a quality education, but due to the increase in petrol prices, she decided not to send the children to the city academy and instead asked them to study on their own because she was already struggling to make ends meet. After this inflation, she said, "I'm not able to afford their quality education anymore." So, it's true that this inflation will affect the education of millions.