Just around half of children in Eritrea (52%) have access to basic drinking water services (with 13% using unimproved water and a further 17% using surface water, also used by animals), whilst a mere 12% have access to basic sanitation facilities (67% rely on open defecation) leading to regular epidemics of schitosmiasis, giardriasis, diarrhoea, malaria, and respiratory infections. It should be noted that deeply held cultural beliefs hinder many Eritreans from collecting clean water and washing their hands (these beliefs also prohibit the use of latrines during certain hours of the day). The infant mortality rate (under fives) is a currently 40 deaths per 1000 births (35 female, 46 male), compared with 39 per 1,000 live births in Addis Ababa to as high as 125 per 1,000 live births in Afar in neighbouring Ethiopia. Poverty is also widespread with 81% of children in rural areas living in families with an income of less than £123 per year per person. This in a country ranked in 180th place out of 189 countries and territories in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a country although, of late, GDP in Eritrea has been growing mainly down to the development of the Bisha mine which is now selling zinc, gold and copper on the international markets.
There are three levels of education for children in Eritrea; elementary from 6-11/12yrs, junior from 11/12-15 and high school from 15 -20, however most children go to school either in the morning or afternoon as there are a lack of qualified teachers and actual schools for all children to attend at once. Schooling, which includes mine risk education (a legacy of the 30-year war with Ethiopia), is only compulsory in Eritrea for children from 6 to 14 years and pupils must pass an exam at the end of each school year to be allowed to proceed to the following year. Primary education (grades 1-5) is taught in local language focussing on mathematics, art, social subjects and physical education. Then Basic Secondary education, known as lower/junior or middle level education, lasts 3 years (grades 6-8), and is taught in English. At the end of that three year period, children sit the National Examination and successful candidates can progress onto Senior Secondary education which last for a further four years (grades 9-12).
During this latter period, all students learn Maths and English and can select three other subjects from agriculture, biology, book keeping, chemistry, social science, general knowledge, general science, geography, history and physic. At the end of these studies, children in Eritrea sit the Eritrean Secondary Education Certificate Examination (ESECE). Other students who opt not to pursue Senior Secondary education can, from grade 9, attend technical (TVET) programmes which run for 2-3 years and offer courses including automotive engineering, construction, electrical engineering, metalworking, radio technology and woodwork. These courses conclude with the awarding of the TVET-diploma. Enrollment in elementary school is around 81% falling to 59% for lower secondary education. Around 76.6 % of the population are literate (2018), rising to an impressive 93.3 % for children (UNESCO's Institute for Statistics) however, as ever, lower for girls.
All children in Eritrea as they become adults are required to undertake national service for a minimum of twelve months however often the period of enlistment is much longer than that, with one in every fifteen Eritrean citizens in the armed forces such is the country's distrust of neighbour Ethiopia. Children are often rounded up for national service on the streets and their parents imprisoned if they attempt to escape. One opposition website summarised life for children in Eritrea as they "have no educational and career prospects, and the only thing they can look forward to is a lifetime of quiet servitude." Neither are children in Eritrea provided much protection by the law which only makes illegal corporal punishment against children under the age of 15 which seriously endangers their physical and mental health. This means, in practice, that violence against children both and home and school is generally considered acceptable with little or no awareness of its impact on children's development. The video below shows aspects of daily life in Rwanda. There are a few charities you can contact to help children there together with child sponsor programs. |