Iraq education system on brink of collapse

Asia/ Iraq/ 25.02.2020/ Source: www.aljazeera.com.

Millions of students across Iraq are losing out amid a shortage of teachers and education funding, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said.

Across Iraq, 2.5 million children are in need of education support, including 775,000 internally displaced children residing in and out of camps, the independent humanitarian organisation told Al Jazeera.

According to NRC information shared with Al Jazeera, more than 240,000 Iraqi children were unable to access any form of education in the last year. The United Nations’ humanitarian funding appeals for education in Iraq have also not been met for this year, reaching less than half of the $35m required.

Over recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets to protest against the poor state of public services and corruption. Their demands include more access to jobs and better economic opportunities.

Tom Peyre-Costa, the media coordinator for NRC Iraq, said one way to empower young people would be to provide education and training so that young people would have a better chance of finding work.

«An education system on the brink of collapse can’t effectively address these challenges,» he said.

Teacher shortage

Since the conflict against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group erupted in 2014, no new teachers have been hired, which has led to a 32 percent shortage, according to the NRC. In Nineveh, the second most populated region in Iraq, the number of teachers has plummeted from a prewar level of 40,000 to 25,000.

The aid group said that a lack of teachers has contributed to a high student dropout rate, particularly affecting secondary schools, where 28 percent of girls and 15 percent of boys are not in school. This is compared with primary schools where 9.6 percent of girls and 7.2 percent of boys are out of school.

In addition, a lack of contact time with teachers has hindered the performance of those children who are in school; many schools are now run in a system of two to three shifts a day in order to reduce class sizes, though numbers of students can still reach up to 650 per class.

Nada, a secondary school student in Mosul, said the lack of teachers was shocking.

«Today is my first day in school and I am in shock, we are more than 1,700 students and we don’t have enough teachers,» she told NRC.

Volunteers

With no new teachers hired since the start of the war, volunteers have started to fill the gaps in many areas. In Mosul, which bore the brunt of the war against ISIL, 21,000 volunteers represent almost half of the teachers in the city, the NRC said.

Volunteer teachers are generally subsidised through stipends paid by humanitarian agencies such as UNICEF and NRC, though some, such as those in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps in Duhok, north Iraq, receive no such funding.

«The volunteers are typically not trained teachers and are either unpaid, or working on short-term contracts,» Peyre-Costa said.

He told Al Jazeera that since 2015, NGOs and the UN have spent more than $30m paying teachers in Iraq.

But for this current school year, humanitarian agencies said they will cease funding teachers’ salaries, in an attempt to pressure the government to hire and pay qualified teachers.

«Well qualified teachers, who have strong subject knowledge and effective pedagogical skills, are critical for moving from crisis to recovery in Iraq,» Peyre-Costa said.

IDP camps

Children in IDP camps have been hit particularly hard by the shortfall. At an IDP camp in Kirkuk, the Iraqi education ministry pays two teachers for more than 1,700 students enrolled in two primary schools, the NRC said.

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After ISIL, children try to catch up with school in Mosul

In Hamam al-Ali camp, classes for the current school year have not started due to a lack of teachers, leaving some 5,000 children without access to education.

During the war against ISIL, 50 percent of all school buildings in conflict-ridden areas were damaged or destroyed, the majority of which have not been rebuilt, according to the NRC.

«Now we study in prefabs, it’s cold during winter and burning during summer. We are suffering a lot,» Nada, the student, said.

In some governorates across Iraq, announcements have been made that all support for IDP school facilities would cease from the start of this school year.

In Duhok, northwest Iraq, the Ministry of Migration and Displacement stated they would cease paying rent on buildings used as schools for IDP children.

As a result, approximately 60,000 children in 12 official IDP camps in the Duhok area were at risk of losing access to education, the NRC said.

A teacher counting students in the schoolyard due to a lack of school building - back to school day 2019-2020 in Aljaleel school, Mosul [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]
A teacher counting students in the schoolyard due to a lack of school building [Tom Peyre-Costa/NRC]

Peyre-Costa told Al Jazeera the closure of schools is one of the multiple government measures designed to encourage people to return home.

«But by closing IDP schools, the government just pushes children out of schools, not out of camps,» he said.

«The education of their children is often sacrificed vis-a-vis security issues, or simply the lack of a home to return to.»

Source of the notice: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/rights-group-iraq-education-system-brink-collapse-191028180740513.html

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UK MPs announce cross-party inquiry into school funding

Europa/Reino Unido/ theguardian.com

Resumen: Los diputados están en peligro de comenzar una guerra territorial con el Departamento de Educación, luego de que el comité selecto de educación anunciara una amplia investigación sobre el financiamiento para escuelas y universidades en Inglaterra. Al anunciar la investigación, el presidente del comité, el parlamentario conservador Robert Halfon, dijo que quería que la investigación promoviera una ambiciosa «visión de 10 años para la inversión en educación» respaldada por el público. El anuncio sugiere que muchos diputados consideran que los fondos escolares son una gran preocupación entre los votantes, y no están contentos con la forma en que el tema se ha deslizado por la agenda de Downing Street a pesar de su importancia en los votos en las últimas elecciones. Lucy Powell, la diputada laborista de Manchester Central, dijo que la investigación sería un esfuerzo interpartidario destinado a ser una gran obra. «En las últimas elecciones, los fondos escolares generaron mucha preocupación», dijo. «Lo que queremos hacer es mirar más allá del corto plazo, y ver qué escuelas y universidades necesitan para mantener la educación en este país». Paul Whiteman, el secretario general de la Asociación Nacional de Maestros en Jefe , dijo: «Este es un paso importante del comité de selección de educación. La financiación de la escuela y la universidad es el problema que simplemente no desaparecerá. Hay demasiados padres, maestros, gobernadores y líderes escolares que presionan para obtener más dinero para sus hijos para que el gobierno ignore estas llamadas por más tiempo «. En una convocatoria de pruebas , el comité de educación dijo que su investigación «examinaría si se necesita un plan a más largo plazo para la inversión en educación y qué recursos se requieren para garantizar que las escuelas y universidades obtengan el apoyo que necesitan». Los diputados también analizarán la eficacia de las políticas gubernamentales, como la prima para los alumnos, que otorga a las escuelas fondos adicionales para alumnos de entornos desfavorecidos, y la implementación de la nueva y controvertida fórmula de financiación nacional para las escuelas.


MPs are in danger of starting a turf war with the Department for Education, after the education select committee announced a wide-ranging inquiry into funding for schools and colleges in England.

Announcing the inquiry, the committee’s chair, the Conservative MP Robert Halfon, said he wanted the the inquiry to promote an ambitious “10-year vision for education investment” supported by the public.

The announcement suggests many MPs regard school funding as a major concern among voters, and are unhappy at the way the issue has slipped down Downing Street’s agenda despite its importance in swaying votes at the last election.

Lucy Powell, the Labour MP for Manchester Central, said the inquiry would be a cross-party effort intended to be a major piece of work. “At the last election school funding generated a lot of concern,” she said. “What we want to do is look beyond the short term, and see what schools and colleges need to sustain education in this country.”

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “This is an important move from the education select committee. School and college funding is the issue that just won’t go away. There are too many parents, teachers, governors and school leaders pushing for more money for their children for the government to ignore these calls any longer.”

In a call for evidence, the education committee said its inquiry would “examine whether a longer-term plan is needed for investment in education and what resources are required to ensure schools and colleges get the support they need”.

MPs will also look at the effectiveness of government policies such as the pupil premium, which gives schools additional funds for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the implementation of the controversial new national funding formula for schools.

“The prime minister recently signaled a new approach to funding the NHS. I hope the education committee can help to make the case for a similar plan for expenditure on our schools and colleges,” Halfon said.

“Young people are in compulsory education for around 13 years, yet government only plans investment in education every three or four years.

“We need to move to a situation where education funding is not driven primarily by Treasury processes but rather by a long-term strategic assessment of our national priorities for education and skills.”

Halfon’s remarks were described as “a breath of fresh air” by Geoff Barton, the head of the Association of School and College Leaders, which represents many secondary school heads.

“The funding crisis is putting hard-won education standards at risk and damaging social mobility. Our young people deserve better,” Barton said.

The committee is likely to further annoy the government next month, when it hears evidence from the former chancellor George Osborne on the educational divide affecting schools in the north of England.

Fuente: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/19/cross-party-inquiry-school-funding

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United Kingdom: Special needs children ‘paying price’ for education funding ‘crisis’

United Kingdom/April 3, 2018/By: Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk

Thousands of children with special needs are paying the price of a «crisis» in education funding, a union has claimed.

Official figures show the number of youngsters with special educational needs plans or statements that are awaiting school places has more than doubled in a year.

The National Education Union (NEU) claimed that local councils are being «starved» of the money they need for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with youngsters forced to stay at home because authorities do not have the cash to provide a suitable education.

Overall, as of January last year, there were 287,290 children and young people, up to the age of 25 in England, that had an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), or a statement of special educational needs.

Of these, the vast majority (279,582) were aged 19 or under.

The year before, there were 256,315 children and young people with an EHCP or statement, and again the vast majority were 19 and under.

The government data also shows that as of last January, 4,050 youngsters with an EHCP or statement were «awaiting provision» – effectively waiting for a place in education.

This is up 137% compared with January 2016, when the number stood at 1,710, and up 372% compared with 2013 (858 children).

The NEU argued: «Children facing some of the greatest challenges are paying the price for the crisis in education funding.»

NEU joint general secretary, Kevin Courtney, said: «It is an absolute disgrace that the Government is starving local authorities of the resources needed for children with SEND.

«Children are at home because local authorities don’t have enough money to provide suitable education.

«Local authorities are being placed in an impossible position. They have a legal duty to plan high quality education for every child with SEND, but cuts have taken away the resources they need to educate children with complex needs.

«Extra money is urgently needed for SEND but it must be new money and not come from the already challenged school budgets. Parents and teachers are in despair. The Government is failing thousands of children and families and must act now to resolve this critical situation.»

Meanwhile, a separate survey by NASUWT union has shown more than a half (59%) of all special educational needs teachers said they had been attacked by their pupils in the last year.

Staff among the 1,615 polled said they had been head-butted, punched, kicked and spat on – including, in a handful of cases, on a daily basis.

Almost three-quarters (74%) said they experienced verbal abuse in addition to physical assault. Some 7% said they were not encouraged to report such incidents to their school.

One respondent said: «I receive more abuse as a teacher than friends of mine who are in the police force and prison service.»

Speaking from the annual NASUWT conference, union general secretary Chris Keates said: «No one should go to work expecting to be assaulted, yet all too often teachers who are attacked are told it’s all part of the job.

«Pupils with special needs who exhibit violent and disruptive behaviour need more help and support and all too often their needs are not being met.»

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: «Core schools and high needs funding has been protected in real terms per pupil and will rise to its highest ever level – over £43 billion in 2020, 50% more per pupil spending in real terms than in 2000.

«The budget for pupils with special educational needs is £6 billion this year. Local authorities now have more money for every pupil in every school.

«Our new Education, Health and Care Plans are putting the views of young people with special educational needs and disabilities and families at the heart of the process so they can help shape the support they receive.

«This is a hugely significant reform but local authorities are rising to the challenge and have reviewed almost 222,000 cases with initial inspections showing positive outcomes for young people.»

Source:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/01/special-needs-children-paying-price-education-funding-crisis/

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