Amplified online and via social media, false narratives about the pandemic build on and reinforce existing prejudice and ignorance, undermining trust in science and fuelling hate speech. UNESCO is preparing an advocacy document for educators based on the #ThinkBeforeSharing campaign to assist with addressing conspiracy theories in education contexts. (UNESCO)
The response of education during the pandemic has revealed the possibilities, both digital and non-digital, to reduce the number of out-of-school children, including those who were already excluded before the COVID‑19 crisis. (World Education Blog)
UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank are launching a joint mission – Mission: Recovering Education 2021 – focused on three priorities: bringing all children back to schools, recovering learning losses, and preparing and supporting teachers. (World Education Blog)
As one lockdown week morphs into another, the learning of millions of students continues to be disrupted. UNESCO figures show, on average, two-thirds of an academic year has been lost worldwide due to COVID-19 school closures. The learning loss is enormous. How do we help students who have fallen behind to catch up? (World Education Blog)
Exactly a year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic brought learning to a screeching halt worldwide, creating the most severe global education disruption in history. At the peak of the crisis, UNESCO data showed that over 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were out of school. Over 100 million teachers and school personnel were impacted by the sudden closures of learning institutions. Today, two-thirds of the world’s student population is still affected by full or partial school closures. In 29 countries, schools remain fully closed. (UNESCO)
Education budgets are not adjusting proportionately to the challenges brought about by COVID-19, especially in poorer countries. Despite additional funding needs, two-thirds of low- and lower-middle-income countries have, in fact, cut their public education budgets since the onset of the pandemic, according to the new joint World Bank – UNESCO report, Education Finance Watch (EFW). (UNESCO)
It has become commonplace to acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the inequalities that pre-existed in education systems and has opened new rifts. Targeted financing is particularly critical to respond to the increased marginalization as a result of COVID-19. When closed, schools require adequate resources to reach children through remote learning and to maintain and expand student support programmes. (World Education Blog)
Around 800 million students are still facing major interruptions to their schooling. Two-thirds of an academic year has been lost on average worldwide due to COVID-19 full or partial closures. A recovery package for education centers on inclusion, resilience and transformation. This is about leaving no one behind, bracing for future shocks and gearing teaching and learning to the global challenges of our times. (UNESCO)
One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, over 800 million students, more than half the world’s student population, still face significant disruptions to their education, ranging from full school closures in 31 countries to reduced or part-time academic schedules in another 48 countries, according to new data released on UNESCO’s interactive monitoring map. (UNESCO)
The 21st century brings new challenges to child safety, especially when we think about the digital environment. Children are avid users of digital technologies. During the coronavirus pandemic with national lockdowns and school closures, this use has intensified. Despite all the opportunities the digital world provides – such as playing, learning, socialising and participating in civic life – digital engagement comes with risks to children’s safety that can have real-world implications. (OECD Education and Skills Today)
The need to focus on supporting teachers and their professional development is very important, bearing in mind the stressors that teachers themselves may be facing due to COVID-19 and as schools re-open. Global Education Coalition partner, UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC), recently launched a Quality Teaching Framework which outlines factors that determine quality teaching for marginalised adolescent girls based on practitioner experience from GEC projects. (UNESCO)
The pandemic has brought to light already-existing challenges to education that have not been adequately addressed for far too long. It has highlighted alarming inequalities within and across countries that must be tackled urgently in order to guarantee everyone’s right to education. From monitoring school closures and providing solutions, to setting up a unique global response platform, here are some of UNESCO’s main actions and work in education in 2020. (UNESCO)