Time for School: 2003-2016

Although the United Nations has mandated that every child should receive at least a primary education, many do not: in 2000, for example, 100 million children around the world never entered a classroom. Filmmaker Nina Chaudry's PBS-aired documentary follows five students from different countries through the years 2003-2016, illustrating the challenges of providing education to all. Young students are hobbled by poverty, absent fathers, poor nutrition, crowded crime-ridden surroundings, and all too often a lack of community support. In India, a young girl goes to night school after an exhausting day of helping herd her family's cattle, while in Brazil, children often fear attending school due to rampant gun violence and crime. As they mature, too many students succumb to the lure of easy money acquired from drug dealing or prostitution. In Kenya and the West African nation of Benin, parents often have no education themselves, and students have to walk two hours simply to get to their schools. In many places, much of a child's education is consumed by instructing students on hygiene and the need for vaccinations. Worst of all, girls in Afghanistan are often threatened or attacked by Taliban extremists, who want them out of school. Teachers and administrators are fighting the odds, trying to keep kids in school, and the five students interviewed here talk about their dreams versus the many obstacles that they face every day. Offering an eye-opening look at the larger world's educational dilemmas (education being a privilege that many Western students take for granted), this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)