From a young age, I have always been interested in a career in education and have had a passion for teaching. This passion has encouraged me to learn more about different education systems around the world and the adversities that many face trying to receive an education. When I began this project, I knew I wanted to look into education. I was unsure about what country to research, so I took some time to learn about which countries around the world have poor education systems. Two countries that stood out to me were Niger and South Africa. I struggled with deciding which country to focus on, and ultimately decided on Niger because it was a country I do not often hear about and I wanted to challenge myself to learn something new.
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I began to hypothesize about the different struggles citizens face in Niger and locate the biggest problems that were affecting their education system. Two prominent issues for Niger were the extremist groups present in their region and the large inflow of refugees they were experiencing due to neighboring conflict. This helped me to narrow in on my topic and create a more concise research question. I decided to research how the neighboring conflict overwhelms the Nigerien government and the effect that has on the education system.
As I went further into my research topic, I struggled to find sources that addressed both the conflict and the education system. I also was overwhelmed with articles that addressed other countries in the Sahel region and failed to mention Niger. I quickly realized I was not going to be able to find any information that answered my research question, but rather I was going to need to draw my own conclusions and the only source that fully answered my question, would be my paper. I had to abandon most of the ideas I had coming into the project of what my paper would look like and reimagine my paper as a unique research that would shine light on an unmentioned topic. Throughout this research I began to think of myself as an advocate for the children trying to receive an education in Niger.
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There has been little to no development in my research since my paper was completed. Niger still has the same plan mentioned in my paper that lists intended improvements in the education system through the year 2024. After completing my research I am excited to continue to follow the plan and hope to see improvements in the near future.