UNESCO COVID-19 Education Response – Education Sector issue notes – Issue note n° 7.1 School reopening – April 2020

Introduction

As a preventive measure to curb the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, universities and other education institutions have closed in most countries, affecting almost 90% of the global student population. While Member States work to ensure the continuity of learning through alternative delivery modalities, in parallel, they need to start anticipating and preparing for school reopening.

Ministries of Education (MOEs), in consultation with Ministries of Health, Social Affairs and other key public and private institutions, are in charge of planning for school reopening, prioritizing the safety and protection of learners, teachers and other personnel, as well as their health – physical, mental and psychosocial, well-being and social relationships. Back-to-school strategies need to focus on assessing and ensuring the readiness of the education system for school reopening; the continuity of learning; and, system resilience to anticipate and deal with future crises. MOEs will also need to anticipate and prepare for additional challenges resulting from the direct and indirect consequences of COVID-19 and prolonged social isolation, on both the education system and on the school community. These include increased risk of dropout, the exacerbation of existing and new inequalities, or the loss of education personnel.

Despite the great challenges presented by this crisis,the situation also offersthe opportunity to rethink the overall purpose, role, content and delivery of education in the long term, and prepare education systems to deal with current and future crises through comprehensive and inter-sectoral approaches and by tapping into collective experience and practices from around the world.

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Improving primary education in Nigeria

Africa/ Nigeria/ 08.04.2019/ Source: www.blueprint.ng.

Examines the loopholes in education sector and reports that government should focus increased attention on basic school, which is the foundation of tertiary education.

Education is the bedrock of development of any nation. Developed countries of the world became so today because of the early recognition they accorded education.  But unfortunately, education in Nigeria is besieged with a lot of problems.  The worst hit is the primary education, which is the foundation for the attainment of a country’s growth and development aspiration.

Some of the problems include poor funding and the consequent poor educational infrastructures; inadequate classrooms and teaching aids like projectors, computers, laboratories and libraries. Shortage of quality teachers and poor or enervating teaching/learning environment are part of the problems.

In addition to these inadequacies, our school system is plagued with numerous social vices such as examination malpractice, cultism, hooliganism and other forms of corruption.

An educationist, Mrs Olufunmilayo Da_Silva said for meaningful development to take place in the education sector, government needs to re-address the issue of funding. Private education investors, teachers, parents/guardians and children need to be  re-orientated towards achieving the goals of education. Also, education must be made affordable for all but not free, except under the scholarship schemes for disadvantaged children who are also brilliant.

The current casual approach to knowledge acquisition, she said, must be changed, if this nation must move out of this present technological and scientific dependence. She added that government and the organised private sector must as well fund research programmes, invention and mass production of inventions.

We would want the government to take a decisive approach rather than paying lip-service to the outcome of this presidential retreat, when the communiqué is submitted and becomes a blueprint for the education sector, she stated.

“A quick fix of one week presidential summit or retreat would not solve our beleaguering  education system, rather a three-year plan would be ideal for a group of education practitioners, researchers, parents and NGOs from across the country to come together to examine the state of primary education in Nigeria,” she said.

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The three years would allow thorough collection of evidence from research, interviews, focus groups, submissions and official data, interim reports to be followed by a final report with key findings and recommendations. This will call for quick political fixes and snap reforms to be replaced by a long-term, sustainable vision for primary schools grounded in secure evidence. The review then will move into dissemination mode, building a national network with regional centres and generating interest in all the states.

Child poverty

Child poverty currently affects between 17  and 36 per cent of Nigerian children, depending on whether you use the relative or absolute poverty measure, and poverty and social disadvantage impact directly on children’s educational progress and attainment.

Despite a long succession of government initiatives aimed at tackling the problem, most recently through the Universal Basic Education (UBE), the challenges remain severe. There’s a great deal that expert and inspirational teachers and school leaders working against the odds can do, and have done and they must learn from them. But for their work to achieve its full impact, it must be supported by the country’s wider economic, social and educational policies. All too often, such policies pull in different directions.

Ways to improve primary education

To improve education, educators must give children real say in their learning. We must celebrate children’s voice and rights in school and the classroom. As the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child points out, children should “have a right to be involved in decisions about their own learning”. This influence should extend to pedagogy as well as school management boards, for the classroom is where citizenship starts, and we know that discussion, dialogue and argument are very powerful tools for learning.

Primary education should not just be about preparing children for secondary school; we need to sort out what primary education is for, and ensure that aims driving the curriculum are not merely cosmetic. To say, as the government does, that the main aim of primary education is to make children ‘secondary ready’ is to undervalue children’s huge potential for development and learning during the primary years.

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Education is about the here and now as well as the future, but schools should also address the wider condition and needs of children and society in today’s complex world. Children leaving primary school, should of course, be ready for what follows, but what follows year six is life, not just year seven; make ‘breadth and balance’ more than a slogan. Take seriously the curriculum beyond the 3Rs; while primary schools must and do insist on the importance of literacy and numeracy, they should also lay foundations in other areas – in spoken language, science, the arts, the humanities, in physical, emotional and moral developments and lived experience. These are in their different ways no less important for children’s future learning, choices and lives; they might actually make children more “secondary ready” than the 3Rs alone. The three Rs refer to the foundations of a basic skills-oriented education programme in schools: reading, writing and arithmetic.

Educators argue against the old two-tier curriculum – where the basic subjects are covered in detail, while the rest of the curriculum in some schools, are treated seriously but in others, it is left to chance,  and where the idea of ‘standards’ is confined to the 3Rs. This approach undermines the cultural and economic worth of the non-core subjects and flies in the face of research that shows how learning in one area enhances learning in others. Without deflecting attention from the importance of literacy, education experts argue for a primary curriculum whose core includes essential knowledge, skills and experience drawn from all subjects, not just three of them; increase the focus on evidence-based pedagogy. It is only through teaching that the curriculum comes alive for children. And it is only through understanding the art, science and craft of teaching – from research, inspection and shared experience – that teachers can inform and refine their practice. Relying on habit or official pronouncements isn’t enough. A greater focus on what evidence tells us about effective teaching and learning will enable teachers to help every child achieve the highest possible standard in all aspects of their education.

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Assessment

Assessment should be about more than just test results. Where assessment and standards are concerned we need a wider practical repertoire and a more sophisticated vocabulary. We must devise approaches that enhance learning as well as test that supports the curriculum rather than distort it, and that pursues high standards in all areas of learning, not just the core subjects.

It is no longer acceptable that tests at a moment in time and in a narrow spectrum of learning are treated as measures of a child’s entire educational attainment or of everything that schools aim to provide. Tests have their place, but both assessment and accountability should be about much more than test results.

Schools should connect with the community.

Nigeria has immense demographic, economic, cultural and linguistic diversity, which creates a vast array of educational circumstances and needs. The best of our schools don’t just work closely with their local communities but make the curriculum responsive to local needs and opportunities and live the very idea of community in their everyday work and relationships.

Equipping schools, teachers and pupils with 21st century competencies is important. Today, much success lies in being able to communicate, share, and use information to solve complex problems, in being able to adapt and innovate in response to new demands and changing circumstances, in being able to command and expand the power of technology to create new knowledge. Hence, new standards for what students should be able to do are replacing the basic skill competencies and knowledge expectations of the past. To meet this challenge schools must be transformed in ways that will enable students to acquire the creative thinking, flexible problem solving, collaboration and innovative skills they will need to be successful in work and life.

The discourse of educational policy must change radically. As recent events have shown, policymakers tend to be interested only in evidence that fits their ideology or prejudice, and they may ignore or even abuse those who provide evidence that doesn’t fit the political bill. Deep and lasting improvements in our education system will be achieved only when policymakers are even-handed rather than selective in their use of evidence and when they speak about education in a way that exemplifies the educated mind rather than demeans it. The government has to give urgent attention to the Nigeria educational system because if we don’t educate our citizens they will contribute to the social menace that has befallen our dear country because of the high level of illiteracy, Da Silva said.

 

Source of the notice: https://www.blueprint.ng/improving-primary-education-in-nigeria/

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Mongolia: New academic year starts in Mongolia amid teachers’ strike threat

Asia/Mongolia/17.09.18./By/Source: www.xinhuanet.com.

New academic year started on Saturday in Mongolia amid teachers’ strike threat over pay rise.

Teachers of 70 general education schools and 90 kindergartens in Ulan Bator and employees of all Mongolian scientific organizations will go on strike starting Monday over pay rise for an undetermined period, the Mongolian Education and Science Trade Union said in a statement on Saturday.

The Mongolian government has decided to increase the salaries of public servants by 8 to 30 percent starting September, but teachers are demanding at least 50 percent salary increase.

At present, the average monthly salary of a teacher in Mongolia is some 700,000 Mongolian tugriks (282 U.S. dollars), according to official statistics.

Mongolia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports said that a total of 40,000 teachers work in the country’s education sector.

Source of the notice: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/01/c_137437040.htm

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Nigeria: State Of Emergency To Be Declared In Education Sector – Minister

Nigeria/January 30, 2018/Source: https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com

Malam Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education on Monday said  the Federal Government would declare a state of emergency in the education sector in April.

He made this disclosure when he received Gov. Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger and some members of his cabinet at the Federal Ministry of Education Headquarters in Abuja.

Adamu requested the support of all states governors to do the same in their respective states.

“By the end of April, we are proposing there will be a declaration of state of emergency in the education sector all over the country.

“We request all the state governors to do same in their states and we hope that once this is done our educational sector will improve.

“I will also meet with the governors to appeal to them to give special emphasis to address the problem of low standard of education especially at primary level,” he said.

The minister said the ministry was planing to present a proposal to the National Council of State for graduates of education to henceforth be employed on Grade Level 10 of eight.

He said the proposal would also include offering employment to students studying education in tertiary institutions.

Earlier, Bello, said that the state government was revamping the educational sector through provision of good infrastructure in schools and training of teachers.

He said that the state government planned to establish three teachers professional institute in the three zones, adding that one was already being established in Munya Local Government Area.

The governor solicited the support of the minister on the development of the institutions.

Source:

State of emergency to be declared in education sector – Minister

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Buhari’s Statement On How To Improve Nigeria’s Education Sector

Nigerian/November 14, 2017/By: RemmyAlex/ Source: https://www.nigerianbulletin.com

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured of an improved education sector during his opening remarks at the presidential summit on education.

The event held at the Old Banquet Hall of the presidential villa in Abuja.

In his speech, Buhari “congratulated the Minister of Education and the entire education family for setting the stage for this national conversation aimed at refocusing the education sector not only to overcome the numerous challenges, but also to strengthen the Ministerial Strategic Plan.”

Noting that the significance of the summit is obvious, Buhari added that it is those who acquire the most qualitative education, equipped with requisite skills and training, and empowered with practical know-how that are leading others.

He continued: “We cannot afford to continue lagging behind. Education is our launch-pad to a more successful, more productive and more prosperous future. This administration is committed to revitalizing our education system and making it more responsive and globally competitive.

“One of the primary roles of education is to build and sustain individual and society’s development. It renews and improves the economic, social, political and cultural aspects of any nation.

“Education upgrades the living standard of citizens and enables people to become better and more productive citizens. It is a human right that creates a safe, healthy and prosperous society.

“It changes the visions and perspectives of individuals, enhances critical decisions and improves democracy. Indeed education is paramount and necessary requirement for all-round development.

“Nigeria’s participation in all relevant international education fora together with our investment in education and collaboration with development partners is an indication of high level of commitment towards ensuring that every capable Nigerian receives good quality education.

“These efforts are justifiable only to the extent that schooling is effective in promoting the realization of national objectives, attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Education For All (EFA) by 2030.

“These targets are, happily, in harmony with the manifesto and the CHANGE agenda of our Party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

“It is also in agreement with my campaign promises during the 2015 elections exercise and in pursuit of the yearnings and aspirations of the generality of Nigerian citizens.

“That our country is facing numerous challenges in education and all other sectors as a result of historical abuses, mindless impunity and corruption is not news to anyone.

“With an estimated 13.2 million children out of school, high illiteracy level, infrastructural deficit and decay, unqualified teachers, and inadequate instructional materials, to mention some of the challenges, we can clearly see the effect of decades of neglect that the education sector has suffered.

“We are determined to turnaround the sector for the better. We are already making appreciable progress in this respect. This summit must therefore, among other things, sharpen our strategies for addressing the challenges of basic and secondary education, teacher training and professional development; technical and vocational education.

“The summit must work to enhance quality in, and access to, higher education and other challenges in the sector that will debar us from attaining the SDGs and be among the top 20 economies in the world.

“No nation can achieve economic, social, political and cultural prosperity without a sound and functional education system.”

Source:
https://www.nigerianbulletin.com/threads/buharis-statement-on-how-to-improve-nigerias-education-sector.246568/
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Skills Gap – The achilles of Sri Lanka’s education sector

Sri Lanka/October 24, 2017/Source: Lanka Bussines Online

As Sri Lanka enters an increasingly competitive international environment with a renewed emphasis on transforming itself into a modern economy, the importance of promoting technological innovationsand generating an educated workforce with market oriented skills cannot be over emphasized. High quality human resources with science and technology knowledge and a skilled labour force are necessary to keep up and improve on the country’s global competitiveness.

Link between Access to Tertiary Education and Skills Mis-match

As of 2014, only 5 per cent of 20-24 year olds were enrolled at a university, while another 8 per cent were enrolled in other educational institutions and only a 3 per cent of the same age group were enrolled in technical education and vocational training (TEVT) courses. The main reasons behind this lower tertiary enrolment include capacity constraints of the state university system, unavailability of a proper parallel higher education system with private sector involvement, and an underdeveloped TEVT sector. Given these, most of the school leavers usually find unskilled work or engage in casual jobs. This limited higher educated human capital acts as a constraint in catering to the labour market demand for advanced skilled workers.

ICT and English language are the most demanded soft skills in the country. Individuals competent in English have access to better quality jobs with higher salaries and benefits in the domestic labour market as well as internationally. However, the Census of Population and Housing 2012 dataconducted by the DCS reveals that of the age 15 and above population, English literacy (ability to speak, read and write) and computer literacy were around 22 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively. This situation creates a gap in meeting the demand for soft skills as previously noted.

The primary reason behind this skills mismatch is that the quality of the general and higher education systems – provided mainly by the public sector – does not transmit much productive skills to students. Also, there are supply side bottlenecks for more demanding subjects such as Science, ICT education, etc. at the school level — out of 10,162 schools only 10 per cent have the facilities to teach A-Level in the science stream.These have resulted in mismatches between the demands of the market and the skills of school and university graduates.

Sri Lanka also does not appear to produce graduates with the necessary skills needed for the job market. There is a mismatch in the courses offered by universities and competencies needed by the private sector. A major reason for the skill mismatch is the outdated curricula, aggravated by the lack of interaction with the private sector when designing degree programmes. For example, of those who do attend a university, nearly one-third are studying in the Arts Stream, whereas these Arts graduates are less employable when compared to graduates of other subject streams.Finally, there is no proper career guidance system to advise school leavers leading to an inadequate flow of information between youth and the labour market. Inadequate information flows between the youth and the labour market such as of the types of job opportunities in the labour market, limit the aspirations, and life goals of youth.

Reforms to BridgeSkill Gaps to World of Work

It is essential to reform the school and university curricula by introducing more market oriented subjects such as ICT/technological subjects as core subject in each A-Level subject stream, especially in the arts stream, in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply for these vital skills.

It is also a necessity to provide access to equal opportunities for education to all students across the country. Opportunities for education in science should be extended to remove involuntary discrimination for science education. While the number of science teaching schools needs to be increased to address equitable distribution, the technology stream should be strengthened where provision of science teaching is not possible.

It is essential setting national standards for all tertiary providers to revamp controversy surrounding of private higher education providers. Also, state universities should change to become dynamic centers of teaching and learning that will react to changes in the market in a timely manner. Curriculum should be reformed to match the skills demands of the globalized labour market with sufficient practical applications. Linkages should be developed between universities and private sector when designing the courses, securing the relevance of training to the changing needs of enterprises and labour markets.

A minimum of two years training is recommended for students after sitting for O-Levels to address the skill gaps of school leavers. Training programme should be more work-oriented technical training in different fields such as hotel, construction, textile and garment sectors, etc. Vocational education systems should be linked with industries that can absorb these students.

To address the labour market information gap among school leavers, awareness and absorptive capacities of industries, as well as education and training institutes needs to be developed. Raising awareness should be done at the school level after sitting for O-Levels. This awareness campaign should be done in a well-planned manner, with the involvement of vocational training authorities, private sector institutes, etc.

Source:

http://education.einnews.com/article/411285973/pEyjzJxrAfoM0Pk0?lcf=eG8zt30RHq4WcGF5PkFdHg%3D%3D

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Private Sector to Help Drive Indonesia’s Public Education Overhaul: F&E Group

Indonesia/September 26, 2017/Source: http://jakartaglobe.id

Indonesia’s education sector will receive a big boost from a more robust involvement from the private sector to complement existing government efforts to improve the quality of public education in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

F&E Group unveiled a comprehensive plan to inject investment into the public education sector in the country ahead of its Global Educational Supplies and Solutions Indonesia (GESS Indonesia) event, which will take place on Sept. 27-29 at the Jakarta Convention Center.

«Our research shows that Indonesia has already made tremendous strides in improving access to basic education over the past two decades. Efforts are now being made to improve quality, but will need more private sector initiatives to support ongoing government programs aimed at improving teacher performance, as well as student learning experiences and skills that will help them become active contributors to Indonesia’s economy,» F&E Group project director Matt Thompson said in a statement.

According to a United Nations Population Fund report, Indonesia will have 65 million young people joining the workforce by 2035, as the education system is largely expected to give them the requisite skills to become employable.

The report prompted action from the Ministry of Education and Culture, which said the government is currently trying to local empower students to be capable of competing for jobs in Indonesia, or anywhere in the world.

«We are constantly reviewing our policies and programs to ensure no one is left behind, and each student is given the right education to be competent and competitive enough,» said Ananto Kusuma Seta, the Education Ministry’s special adviser for innovation and competitiveness.

Digital Education Market

With policy reforms designed to create a more accessible and responsive education system in the country, the government will also aim to reach its goal of raising the annual per capita income from $3500 in 2011 to $14,250 by 2025 through crucial technology adaptations as smartphone penetration in Indonesia is forecast to reach 100 million users in 2018.

To meet these demands, Indosat’s Ooredoo pledged $1 million in 2015 to enhance digital education aimed at providing cloud-based interactive classroom materials, tablets to schools in five provinces across the country and training teachers to possess necessary IT skills.

On the other hand, educational tech start-ups are also sprouting in Indonesia to help address the flourishing digital education market, like HarukaEdu, ArsaKids, KelasX, Cakra, Rabbit Hole, Generasi Cerdas, Youth Manual and Mediafon.

The GESS exhibition is expected to see more than 100 education suppliers and brands from across the globe showcase a wide range of products and solutions geared towards Indonesia’s education market.

These products include cutting-edge digital tools and software aimed at improving the teaching and learning experience in classrooms.

«In addition, we will also have a pavilion dedicated to start-ups as a way of supporting the private sector’s initiatives in implementing programs that hope to complement the government’s ongoing efforts to improve the quality of education in Indonesia,» Thompson said.

GESS Indonesia’s admission is free for education professionals and will consist of over 100 sessions, workshops and presentations covering a variety of topics and themes addressing opportunities and challenges in Indonesia’s education sector.

Source:

http://jakartaglobe.id/news/private-sector-help-drive-indonesias-public-education-overhaul-fe-group/

 

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