Summer of Service Program

by Christina Malliet

On November 8, Shirley Sagawa, author of The American Way to Change, wrote a piece for The Huffington Post on the importance of a Summer of Service (SOS) in combating the “summer slide” – the academic regression students experience while intellectually unengaged during the summer months. Sagawa suggests that such a program would provide opportunities for personal growth equal to those of summer enrichment camps, especially by encouraging students to cultivate a sense of purpose and take on leadership roles in their communities from an early age.

At ICP, we initiated the idea of Summer of Service in 2005 with our vision of a national program that engages young teens transitioning from middle to high school in an intensive “rite of passage” service-learning experience. In particular, ICP's work on this project included serving as an expert consultant on legislation related to the initiative, building support among stakeholders, and conducting extensive research on existing programs. ICP maintains a significant collection of resources for SOS programs and educators on our online resource center, including information on research, effective program practices, news about SOS, and a database of SOS program around the country.

Like Sagawa, we were excited about our successful advocacy for the inclusion of Summer of Service in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of April 2009. The Serve America Act allotted $10 million in funds for SOS programs, as well as $10 million for grants of $500 for students who complete 100 hours of service in the program. These generous funds allowed nearly 4,000 students to engage in service-learning in summer 2010.

As Sagawa says, this program is inevitably give-and-take for the youth and the communities they serve, proving that young people are effective in building a better world for tomorrow; “Communities across America might find an important new resource in their own backyards -- young people who are ready to serve, if only they are asked.”

Positive Domino Effects: An Analysis of Civic Engagement in Africa Today

I recently attended a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution, conducted by the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative Team about what Africa needs to do in order to speed up its progress and productivity.

One interesting point that came up at the event was about the surplus of young people in African countries, and the potential that lies in their existence. This particular dialogue was from a discussion of supply and demand. And, while the demand was multifaceted and included aid, technology and mobilization, the supply was very specific: young people.

The mass influx of young people has not had a positive effect on Africa as of yet. The existing issue is that along with the large numbers of young people, there are also high levels of unemployment and low levels of productivity. But what if this could be turned around? What sort of potential does Africa have that is stored in its younger generations?

In order to grow, Africa has to maximize its full potential—which is undoubtedly easier said than done—meaning that Africa must mobilize its people and utilize its domestic resources. One of these domestic resources is young people. There seems to be a link between youth productivity and continental recovery. However, the negative stories in the news about various African nations always seem to take a front seat, which in turn makes the small steps that other countries make go unnoticed.

An example of an important program civically engaging young people in Africa is loveLife's groundBREAKERS initiative in South Africa that was established in 1999. Aimed at young people ages 18-25, the national service initiative aims to reduce the prominence of HIV by raising awareness through counseling, clinics and education. The main idea is that groundBREAKERS offers a peer network of young people not much older than the targeted age group, with the hopes that they will be more persuasive and easier to connect with. Overall, groundBREAKERS hopes to raise HIV awareness and foster social responsibility.

In another example, in Nigeria, grants have been given to researchers and faculty who want to write books for schools, so there are up-to-date textbooks. One attendee of the discussion remarked that she had been a teacher in Kenya for five years, but the textbooks used in schools were completely out of date. She questioned how youth engagement could take place if the young people were not accurately learning about their own history or what is going on in today’s world. Now, something is being done about it, but it oftentimes it seems that not many publicly acknowledge these positive steps.

Civic engagement and youth service programs cannot be formed without a foundation first. And that foundation must include youth education. Thus, there are countries where steps are being taken to begin this building process, and we should be doing all we can to not only acknowledge these situations, but promote them to the best of our abilities.

Lastly, a closing point that was driven home by the panel was that Africa today is not the same Africa from 30 or 40 years ago. Africa is changing; intellectuals in the region understand that there are high percentages of youth populations that do not have productive workforces to enter into. I think it is important to acknowledge that the need for youth engagement can lead to mobilization if the right programs are implemented as a response to this need, then mobilization can yield productivity in a country. Since Africa potentially has an empowering domino effect on its hands, it is of the utmost importance that the right civic steps are taken to engage their young people.

To learn more about national youth service programs in Africa, visit ICP's website at www.icicp.org.

photo courtesy of: FutureAtlas.com

Queen Rania and US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis stress the importance of investing in education

On September 24, during a Plenary Session titled “Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities,” Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) participants emphasized the importance of education.

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan said education is a priority during elections, but as a less seemingly dramatic issue it slips down the list of priorities when politicians are in office. Queen Rania said, “Education is an issue of life and death. If you educate a child he is 50% less likely to get HIV/AIDS.”

To create a sense of what is needed internationally Queen Rania said, “We need $11 million to get all children in developing countries into education. That’s about what Americans spend on their pets every month.” Queen Rania believes involving the private sector in efforts for improving education is one way to advance this cause. She said we must “understand that education is not just the government’s responsibility. It’s everyone’s responsibility.”

Speaking about the need to focus on education within the U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said, “The investment is sorely needed in young people. There are a lot of young adults who don’t have the financial ability to enter a four year college.”

Secretary Solis said investment in community colleges is “one step in the right direction,” but work is needed to “allow for four-year universities to make their tuition more affordable.” Speaking to funders and representatives from non-profits Secretary Solis said, “I would encourage people to reach out to this new administration, especially from the NGO side.”

Innovative approaches are needed throughout the education field. In the U.S. teacher retention and shortages are a major challenge in public schools that can impede young people’s ability to access quality education at a young age and create barriers to future academic success. Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) is partnering with the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) in the creation of alternative pathways to teaching for AmeriCorps members.

This project is aimed at addressing the challenges of teacher shortages and retention in the most challenging schools by tapping an important pool of diverse, talented and committed future teachers—AmeriCorps members whose service focuses on education, children and young people in the most disadvantaged communities throughout the United States.

Given their commitment and experience serving in challenging educational settings, ICP and NCTAF believe that AmeriCorps members are a powerful resource for schools with high teacher shortages and low retention rates, if provided with suitable pathways to obtaining the necessary teacher certification. You can learn more about Pathways to Teaching here.

Deadly Youth Riots Erupt in Kenya

Over the weekend, more violent riots broke out in secondary boarding schools across Kenya. Numerous dormitories were vandalized and burned, leading to one death in Nairobi and roughly 200 arrests. The upheaval has caused 200 schools to be closed across the country in the last 3 months. Articles from AllAfrica.com and BBC have attempted to explain why young students across the country are violently protesting school administrations by destroying millions of dollars of property and killing a classmate. One student blamed the upcoming mock exams. Some have blamed overcrowding since the government’s recent increases in school attendance due to a new bill offering free secondary education to over a million students, while others eye complaints of poor food quality for boarders and unbearable rules enforced by the administration. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education blames a ban on corporal punishment passed 5 years ago for creating a nation of undisciplined and violent youth.

How does this crisis relate to youth service or national youth service policy? Kenya’s situation exemplifies the significance and challenges behind how a government views and treats its youth population. The events have highlighted a clear communication breakdown between the youth and the government. The current government is in transition from a punishment-based education system to a modern education policy based on expansion through equality. This change and potential instability alongside major education initiatives cannot be understated. Although Kenya’s education minister, Sam Ongeri, had good intentions in paying the tuition for 1.4 million more students this year, Kenyan infrastructure has been as of yet unable to support this expansion and as a result, the youth cannot be expected to tolerate insufferable learning and living conditions. In dealing with these issues, Kenyan youth need to find and be helped to find a voice and stake in their futures as citizens.

Kenya does have a national youth service policy that was instated shortly after independence. However, the service policy is focused on internal security, recruiting police officers and members of the military. In June of this year, the National Youth Service budget was increased by $3 billion, creating 15,000 more jobs – 8,000 police, 1,000 nurses, and 6,000 teachers, illustrating the government’s emphasis on primarly internal security. This is reasonable since Kenya has experienced violent social turmoil due to elections and youth discontent in the last year. Thus, the government treats the youth as both a security liability and the answer to security. This measure is divisive, as there are youths in government service under the national youth policy attempting to control the civilian youths fighting to have their grievances heard. In considering a means to achieving sustainable peace in Kenya, the need for the 8,000 police and $3 billion budget increase could be diminished if youth programs for service were created to proactively address the students’ issues. These could include after-school programs that build schools, teach food preparation, hold gardening classes to improve quality of produce, or the planning and hosting of youth conferences discussing national testing and elections. Of course this is the idealistic approach: Kenya’s youth improving school’s food quality while learning to garden or sitting at a round-table to discuss the unfairness of national tests. This would mean the government’s perspective on youth would again need to transition from viewing the youth as a group that needs to be controlled to a group that has a positive and active role as well as acknowledging the group’s potential contributions to the democracy.

Until productive strategies and programs are in place, successful public schooling will be a dream, just as independence from oppressive colonial leadership was nearly 60 years ago. Weathering the storm of change towards progress instead of reverting back to older systems will push Kenya towards a more inclusive democracy. National youth service programs based on community welfare could be the peaceful means for Kenyan youth to publicize their grievances and help incorporate Kenya’s youth into a more consolidated democracy.