Possibilities for Home Education in Mongolia

Retrieved from: Welcome to Mongolia. 2016.

Hello, Everyone!

My name is Maria Cabrera, and this is my first year with the Center for Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law (CGJ). I am a first-year Masters in Law student with Regent University. My favorite part of the CGJ is learning about people and different cultures throughout the world. Currently, second-year law student Moriah Schmidt and I are investigating the possibilities for home education in Mongolia.

As I begin the journey of learning about Mongolia and her people for home education, my youngest daughter begins her senior year at a local high school. I home schooled my two girls for fifteen years, one of which is a home-educated graduate. While my youngest chose to finish her education in a local high school, I am thankful and will always treasure the time I had and will continue to have with each one of them. Many years ago, my pastor told me, “Make each year count!”

So where is Mongolia?

Mongolia is a landlocked sovereign nation in East Asia surrounded by China, North and South Korea, Russian Federation, and Kazakhstan. According to the website, Welcome to Mongolia, the beautiful capital Ulaanbaatar is the largest city in Mongolia with a population of approximately 1.2 million people. Ulaanbaatar is a major cultural, political, commercial, and industrial hub of Mongolia. Welcome to Mongolia says that the capital city continues to grow with families moving into Ulaanbaatar to work because steady jobs in the countryside have become hard to find.

 

Retrieved from: www.worldatlas.com

While Mongolia is the most scattered populated sovereign nation in the world, with a population of about 3 million people, 30 percent of the population is at least semi-nomadic. Grass-covered steppes cover much of Mongolia, making it difficult to farm the land. The parallel mountain ranges of Altay and Hangayn sweep from the northwest into the heart of Mongolia with the Gobi Desert rounding out the southern region of Mongolia.

Who are the people of Mongolia?

The World Population Review states that approximately “Fifty percent of Mongolia’s citizens are under the age of thirty.” Moreover, over one-fourth of that population is under the age of fourteen! In addition, forty-five percent (little over one million) of Mongolia’s population lives in the capital of Ulaanbaatar. Author and long time visitor of Mongolia comments on The Mongolia Travel Guide how the nomads dress in a traditional garb and the urbanites dress in hi-fashion attire, yet they go about their business side-by-side in Ulaanbaatar. Still, about one-half of the population travel throughout the beautiful grassy steppes and Gobi Desert of Mongolia. 

 

Retrieved from: www.mongolia-travel-guide.com

The website, Countries and their Cultures discuss Mongolians and their value of family, parents, and children. Large families help one generation grow into the next generation; however, today the family size is smaller than in times past. “All family members participate in the rearing and moral education of their children.”

What does teaching and learning in Mongolia look like?

A blog for UNICEF states that 98 percent of the adult population of Mongolia is literate. While Mongolia has done so much for making education accessible throughout their land, a nation can always improve learning. Home-education could be an additional option to the present educational system for the parents and children of Mongolia.

Whether families live in the city or the countryside, they can benefit from a tailored curriculum of the parent’s choice and provide a great education for their children.

International speaker and educator Dr. Brian D. Ray states on his website,

National Home Education Research Institute that the “home-educated student usually score 15-30 percentile points higher than their public school colleagues and colleges are actively recruiting home-educated seniors at an increasing rate.”

I hope Mongolia can achieve its twin interest of ensuring children in its territory will continue to thrive with an additional choice of home-education while promoting freedom and competition in the realm of education. Whether one lives out the nomadic life in the great steppes of Mongolia, or enjoying the bustling life of Ulaanbaatar, home-education offers another feature to making education engaging and fun!

#homeschooling #home-education #Asia #Mongolia