Tag: Culture and education

The report features new data analyses covering more than 100 countries and territories, which reveal in headline terms, that boys are up to 1.3 times likely to get the maths skills they need, compared to girls.

False expectations

Negative gender norms and stereotypes often held by teachers, parents, and peers regarding girls’ innate inability to understand mathematics, are contributing to this disparity.

These stereotypes are projected onto young girls and often undermine their self-confidence, setting them up for failure, UNICEF says.

The report further recognizes the long-term effects of sustained gender disparities, specifically noting how boys are more likely to step up and apply for jobs in mathematics. The finding represents a stark gender gap, depriving the entire world of talent in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Opportunity fails to knock

“Girls have an equal ability to learn mathematics as boys – what they lack is an equal opportunity to acquire these critical skills,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“We need to dispel the gender stereotypes and norms that hold girls back – and do more to help every child learn the foundational skills they need to succeed in school and in life.”

Learning maths at a young age strengthens memory, comprehension, and analysis, in turn improving children’s ability to create, the report notes.

Ahead of next week’s crucial Transforming Education Summit, UNICEF warns that children who do not master basic maths and other foundational learning, may struggle to perform critical tasks in the future.

Figures tell the story

An analysis of data from 34 low and middle-income countries featured in the report, shows that while girls lag behind boys, three-quarters of schoolchildren in grade 4 elementary classes, are not obtaining foundational numeracy skills.

Data from 79 middle and high-income countries show more than a third of 15-year-olds have yet to achieve minimum proficiency in mathematics. These statistics reveal the depth of educational issues plaguing all genders.

Household wealth is also a determining factor. The report notes that schoolchildren from the richest households have 1.8 times the odds of acquiring numeracy skills by the time they reach fourth grade, than children from the poorest households.

Children who attend early childhood education and care programmes have up to 2.8 times the odds of achieving minimum proficiency in mathematics by the age of 15 than those who do not.

COVID millstone

The report further also notes the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on further entrenching gender disparities.

Similarly, mass disruptions to education systems worldwide have delayed progress for all students. In countries where girls are more likely to be out of school than boys, the overall disparities in mathematics proficiency have been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Turning the page

UNICEF is calling on governments to commit to reaching all children with quality education, and arguing for renewed effort and investment to re-enroll and retain all children in school; increase access to remedial and catchup learning; support teachers and give them the tools they need; and make sure that schools provide a safe and supportive environment so all children are ready to learn.

Ingrained within these standards, the agency says there needs to be a commitment to assess learning regularly, improving the delivery of instructions, prioritizing teaching the fundamentals and caring for mental wellbeing. 

In her concluding comments Ms. Russell said: “With the learning of an entire generation of children at risk, this is not the time for empty promises. To transform education for every child, we need action and we need it now.”

In the report, All Inclusive: The Campaign for Refugee Education, data compiled from more than 40 countries highlights a disturbing disparity in the quality of education provided to refugees compared to that provided for non-refugees.

Secondary school drop

According to the report, average enrolment rates for refugee children in primary schools in the 2020-2021 academic year, were broadly stable at 68 per cent. But enrolment drops sharply to 37 percent at secondary level, which refugee learners have historically struggled to access. 

There was, however, better news at the tertiary level, for universities and colleges. Refugee enrolment increased by 5 per cent in the last few years – giving UNHCR grounds for optimism that its tertiary enrolment target of 15 percent by 2030, could be met. 

UNHCR’s annual education report has been published just as world leaders prepare to debate the future of learning at the Transforming Education Summit at the UN General Assembly on 16-19 September.

Fighting ‘systemic injustice’: F1 star

Sir Lewis, who campaigns for greater equality, fairness and diversity in education, as well as in motorsport, said he was “proud to lend my voice” to the campaign for refugee children and youth to be included in national education systems.

Education doesn’t just widen people’s horizons and present them with opportunities they would otherwise never dream of getting. It counteracts the damaging effects of systemic injustice. Sir Lewis Hamilton

He said in the report: “Education doesn’t just widen people’s horizons and present them with opportunities they would otherwise never dream of getting. It counteracts the damaging effects of systemic injustice.”

“It’s not just about creating better life chances for young people, helping them to find their purpose and forge their own futures. It’s about the knock-on effects of that: greater diversity in positions of leadership and influence, in the world of work, in sport, culture, politics.

Examples worldwide

The ‘All Inclusive’ campaign tells the stories of young refugees from Sudan, Ukraine, Kenya and Myanmar as they pursue education despite disruptions, forced displacement and the overall challenges of adapting to new circumstances. 

Also writing in the report, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, noted that many countries had recently made great progress towards including refugee learners in formal national education systems.

Close the ‘yawning gap’

In the report, Mr. Grandi argued that “the saying, ‘talent is universal, but opportunity is not’, describes the reality for millions of refugee children. We need to close the yawning gap between talent and opportunity.” 

UNHCR is calling for the inclusion of refugees in national education systems from the start of humanitarian emergencies, protracted displacement situations and in longer-term development planning.

More support

Among other things, this requires more support for teacher training and salaries, new infrastructure, adequate and relevant learning materials, safe transport to and from schools, access to examinations and certification, and closing the digital divide affecting refugees. 

“Education is an investment in development, human rights and peace”, Mr. Grandi said. “Now is the time to invest in human futures – in budding builders, creators and peacemakers.” 

He added: “In the case of refugees, it is an investment in the people who will rebuild their countries when they can safely return home.”

“Unfortunately, this right continues to fall under attack, especially in conflict-affected areas,” he said in a statement commemorating the day.

“Classrooms must remain places of peace and learning”.

Attacks must stop ‘immediately’

In 2020 and 2021, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack reported over 5,000 assaults and cases of military use of schools and universities.

And more than 9,000 students and educators were killed, abducted, arbitrarily arrested, or injured, the majority of whom were women and girls.

“These attacks deprive millions of vulnerable learners from accessing education and increase the risk of sexual violence and child recruitment by armed groups. They must stop immediately,” continued the UN chief.

Unite for safe education

Mr. Guterres welcomed steps taken by many countries to protect educational institutions and urged “all Member States to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration”.

“International Law and International Humanitarian Law obligations must be respected. We must pursue monitoring, investigate all attacks and hold perpetrators to account,” spelled out the top UN official.

In marking the international day and in the lead up to the Transforming Education Summit, which will be convened at UN Headquarters in New York from16 to 19 September, he encouraged everyone to “act together to guarantee safe education for all”.

Raising awareness

The General Assembly unanimously established the day, calling on the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to raise awareness of the plight of millions of children living in countries affected by conflict.

By its resolution, the Assembly affirmed that Governments have the primary responsibility to provide protection and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels to all learners, especially those in vulnerable situations.

They also emphasized the need to intensify efforts and increase funding to promote safe and protective school environments in humanitarian emergencies by taking all feasible measures to protect schools, learners and educational personnel from attack, refrain from actions that impede children’s access to education, and facilitate access to education in situations of armed conflict.

Results to Date 

The Report indicates that ECW investments have reached close to 7 million children and adolescents – 48.4 per cent of whom are girls – since becoming operational in 2017. Moreover, of all children reached by ECW’s investments to date, half are girls, and 43 per cent are refugee or internally displaced children.

Last year, ECW reached 3.7 million students across 32 crisis-impacted countries, 48.9 per cent were girls. An additional 11.8 million students were reached through the fund’s COVID-19 intervention programmes. These schemes have brought the total number of children and adolescents supported by COVID-19 interventions to 31.2 million, 52 per cent of which are girls.

Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, reflected on the progress made by the fund: “ECW’s solid results in our first five years of operation are proof of concept that we can turn the tide and empower the most marginalized girls and boys in crises with the hope, protection and opportunity of quality education.”

In terms of resource accessibility, last year ECW mobilized a record-breaking $388.6 million. Total contributions to the ECW Trust Fund therefore top $1.1 billion.

Action Items

The report’s results were released in the wake of shocking new estimates issued by ECW in June 2022, which revealed that worldwide, 222 million students are in urgent need of educational support. This includes 78.2 million who are out of school and 119.6 million who are in school but not achieving minimum competencies in mathematics and reading.

“While progress is being made, we still have a long way to go,” said Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

The ‘Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Financing Conference,’ will take place in Geneva in February 2023. It will be hosted by Switzerland and Education Cannot Wait – and co-convened by Germany, Niger, Norway and South Sudan – through the 222 Million Dreams campaign. The Conference will call on individuals and institutions, in the private and public sectors, to make substantive funding contributions to ECW.

Ms. Sherif said, “we urge governments, businesses, and philanthropic actors to make substantive funding contributions to ECW to help turn dreams into reality for children left furthest behind in crises.”  

Key Trends 

According to the report, conflict, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and the compounding effect of the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled an increase in education emergencies. Funding appeals reached $2.9 billion in 2021, compared with $1.4 billion in 2020. While 2021 saw a record-high $645 million in education grants given – the overall funding deficit spiked by 17 per cent. The growing funding deficit signifies a worrying trend in resource shortages. 

 Annual Results Report Highlights  

• More ECW grants are measuring improved levels of academic and/or social-emotional learning; 53 per cent of grants that measure learning levels showcase solid evidence of increased learning levels compared to 23 percent of grants active in 2020 
• The share of children reached with early-childhood education (ECE), and secondary education increased substantially. Among all children reached by ECW: the share reached for ECE increased from 5 percent in 2019 to 9 per cent in 2021; the share reached in secondary education increased from 3 percent to 11 per cent in the same period.   
• 92 per cent of ECW-supported programmes reporting data demonstrated an improvement in gender parity  
• More girls and boys are completing their education and/or transitioning to the next grade/level, with a weighted completion rate of 79 per cent and transition rate of 63 per cent 
• Close to 27,000 teachers (52 percent female) were trained and demonstrated an increase in knowledge, capacity, or performance in 2021 
• Over 13,800 learning spaces are now featuring mental health and/or psychosocial support activities and the number of teachers trained on mental health and psychosocial support topics has doubled in 2021, reaching 54,000. 

“Across the globe, education is in crisis”, warned Secretary-General António Guterres, noting that the crisis in classrooms was “slow burning and often unseen” but with “profound consequences for individuals, societies, and our collective future.”

Still missing out

Reeling from the disruption caused by the pandemic, hundreds of millions of children and young people are still out of school. Many of those who are in school are not learning the basic skills they need, as citizens and participants in society.

Many more are questioning the relevance of their education systems and curricula for today’s world.

A global survey, commissioned by Theirworld, shows more than two-thirds of youth polled feel that leaders are betraying their promise to provide quality education.

The launch of the #LetMeLearn campaign is intended to build the momentum towards the Transforming Education Summit the Secretary-General will convene on 19 September to set out a new vision for education that equips learners of all ages and backgrounds with the skills, knowledge and values they need to thrive.

World leaders will decide what action needs to be taken to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education).

Need for national leadership

The UN chief said the campaign was “to make sure world leaders attending the summit pay attention to the voices and opinions of learners. Through this campaign, the diverse experiences and views of young people and lifelong learners everywhere will feed into the discussions, decisions and outcomes of the summit.”

Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, describes the historic summit as “global education’s COP26 moment – a last chance for action to avert an education catastrophe” for a generation of young people directly impacted by the pandemic, the climate crisis, conflicts and many other challenges.

Crisis of ‘quality and relevance’: Theirworld

The President of Theirworld, Justin van Fleet, said that the decisions that will be made by global leaders next month at the Transforming Education Summit, “will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of children around the world, and reverberate through every community on the planet.”

“Global education is facing a crisis of equity, quality and relevance. Currently, education is a privilege, not a right, and denied to children ased on factors beyond their control at birth”, he said.

“It’s time for world leaders to listen to young people and take action today. Time is running out and inaction is not an option.”

Organizations and individuals can take part in the campaign by creating and sharing short videos in the coming weeks.