EDUCATION THIS WEEK (8 – 19 March 2021)

GLOBAL ACTION WEEK FOR EDUCATION

26 April to 30 April – The week will focus on more and better financing for education, in-line with the policy framing of the One Billion Voices campaign. Actions and activities undertaken during the week will be focused on securing an increase in the public financing of education to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The GCE movement jointly developed a policy call to action for the campaign and GAWE will work towards the achievement of the policy recommendations as set out in that document, from which the topline recommendations for governments are to: Increase state funding for education to 20% of public expenditure. Increase their tax base in order to increase resources, working towards a minimum tax-to-GDP ratio of 20%. Enable urgent debt cancellation for the least developed countries; and Debt alleviation for middle and upper-middle-income countries. Ensure inclusive education systems through equitable financing and programmes that prioritise the most marginalised. Provide free quality education for all and end the trend towards the privatization and commercialization of education. Improve the quality of teaching through adequate recruitment, remuneration and continued teacher training. Listen and respond to the voices of those affected. Space must be allowed for individuals and civil society to speak up. Developed countries must continue to work towards the goal of 0.7% overseas aid, with 20% of this spent on education, and increasing their contributions to the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait.   Read more here, including actions you can take.

HUMAN RIGHT TO EDUCATION

Human Right to education: horizons and meanings in the post-pandemic magazine from CCNGO CG elected member CLADE. Includes numerous think pieces from Latin American NGOs on education & the pandemic with particular focus on: What next?; Inequalities; Educators and teachers; Privatization; Finance; Human right violations; Social pact for education https://redclade.org/wp-content/uploads/alem_551_en.pdf

SOLIDARITY ACTIONS

From CCNGO CG member Liaison Committee: Solidarity actions to share the voices of the most vulnerable and to understand the changing situations on the ground From the outset of the global pandemic in March 2020, eight NGO-UNESCO partners: Make Mothers Matter, The International Federation of Business and Professional Women,  International Catholic Cooperation Center for UNESCO, The Association Montessori Internationale, World Organization for Early Childhood Education and Care, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, International Movement ATD Fourth World, South Asia Foundation decided to collaborate, together with their local associations, in solidarity actions to share the voices of the most vulnerable and to understand the changing situations on the ground. The exchanges on the Facebook solidarity pages opened on all continents via the Internet have rapidly enabled interconnection between local associations and reliable feedback to international NGOs. Faced with this unprecedented health, economic, social, cultural and humanitarian crisis: What major challenges do local populations face? To what extent is civil society mobilised? What concrete consequences of the crisis should be considered when defining future post-COVID priorities? The project report that you can read and download here provides some food for thought in response to these questions. Based on real situations, experienced by people on different continents and spontaneous initiatives created to fight the pandemic and protect the weakest, this project of solidarity between NGO-UNESCO partners lies within the UNESCO framework and its shared values (Read article on the UNESCO website). This contribution is based on the conviction that the indispensable reconstruction of "living together" will be impossible without strengthening civil society partnerships, particularly with local NGOs, to meet the populations' specific needs and to work towards building a more peaceful and just world. Website : https://www.reseausolidariteong.com/

POWER AND ACTION OF YOUTH VIDEO

Watch this short documentary focusing on the power and action of youth, developed in the framework of a partnership that bridges the justice and education sectors to guide young people towards building strong, just and democratic societies.

ENABLING TEACHERS, EMPOWERING GIRLS

The role of teachers in continuing girls’ engagement with learning, supporting the most marginalized to catch up when they return to school, and creating safe, inclusive environments, is more important than ever. Equally important is the need to focus on supporting teachers and their professional development, bearing in mind the stressors that teachers themselves may be facing due to COVID-19 and as schools re-open. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Girls’ Education Challenge recently launched a Quality Teaching Framework which outlines factors that determine quality teaching for marginalized, adolescent girls. Adolescence is a key moment during which marginalized girls may face increased health, social and protection challenges, which can put their education at risk.  The Framework is a tool to help practitioners and policy-makers working with marginalized girls to think through and adapt their approaches to teacher professional development, including organisation and delivery, content and support mechanisms.

GLOBAL SKILLS ACADEMY UPGRADES GIRLS’ AND WOMEN’S EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

The Global Skills Academy (GSA) continues to work towards its mission of helping young people build employability skills and resilience, with more than 23,000 women and girls in 22 countries receiving access to the GSA’s contributions as of February 2021.  The GSA offers high-quality free online trainings to respond to the growing consequences of COVID-19 on skills development and youth employment around the world, with a priority focus on the least developed countries. Women and girls are among those who have been affected the most by the crisis, which has resulted in economic recession and unprecedented disruptions in the labour market and halted skills development. Training opportunities cover a variety of areas including digital, entrepreneurial and leadership skills and are provided in various languages including English, French and Spanish, targeting not only students, young job seekers and entrepreneurs, but also education professionals such as teachers, trainers, instructional designers and administrative personnel. As part of UNESCO’s efforts to cater to different context-specific skills needs, beneficiaries are identified with the help of the global UNEVOC network to ensure relevant matching the demand and supply. GSA’s current courses providers include members such as Coursera, Dior, Festo, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Orange Digital Centres, PIX, and Telefonica. International Organizations such as ILO, OECD, UNITAR, ITU and WHO will also contribute to the GSA including through skills needs mapping, monitoring tools and resources.

E-EVENTS THIS WEEK

Below some of events for a full list, please visit the events’ page. 18 March: Launch of "Gender-responsive education toolkit for teachers, teacher educators, school managers and curriculum developers in Africa"  in Latin America and the Caribbean: Realities, opportunities and challenges in 2021 From 8-22 March: Talking Across Generations (TAG): Ethics of Artificial Intelligence event on Facebook 24 March 9:00 am to 10:30 am EST (New York) : Gender Flagship Event – Girls and women: Leading the charge to ensure #LearningNeverStops  Register here or follow the event on UNWebTV

LATEST NEWS

Empowering women in Chad through literacy and vocational training Education must deal with demographic challenges Meet four Deputy Mayors and learn about their inspiring journey to becoming women leaders in Nepal Girls’ education and COVID-19: New factsheet shows increased inequalities for the education of adolescent girls Q&A: New research to map Holocaust denial and distortion online The role of education on the transformative journeys of youth at risk Teachers – have your say about education for sustainable development and global citizenship Professional Growth for a Technical and Vocational Education Graduate Through Support Provided by the Republic of Korea and UNESCO Families may not be immune to gender biases in allocating their resources to education Christophe: A COVID-19 learning hero for blind learners in Burkina Faso Sign language in education is oft forgotten Countries are still falling short of developing textbooks free of gender stereotypes New gender gaps are developing as a result of school closures Education for a better future COVID-19: Will it be a game changer for Education? Son preference and girls’ education in India and Bangladesh #AllmeansALL a call to action from 40 million European youth to mark Zero Discrimination Day Latin America: Countries should prioritise training teachers in the language of the community in which they teach

JUST PUBLISHED

Hacia la inclusión en la educación: situación, tendencias y desafíos, 25 años después de la Declaración de Salamanca de la UNESCO    International Literacy Day 2020: report for UNESCO’s international online meetings on 8 September 2020  NEQMAP: Network on Education Quality Monitoring in the Asia-Pacific   Éducation en vue du développement durable: partenaires dans l’action, Rapport des partenaires clés du Programme d’action global (2015-2019) (also available in Spanish) PôleMag n° 30: IIEP-UNESCO Dakar information magazine, March 2021  Continental overview: bridging CESA and SDG 4 in Africa     The International Science and Evidence-based Education Assessment: position paper   Evaluación a nivel de Sistema Nacional: los avances del Perú hacia el ODS 4 Strengthening Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and Data for Increased Resilience to Crisis: country case studies Chad – Ethiopia – Palestine - South Sudan – Uganda   Dix clés pour repenser le curriculum

CONTACT

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