Blog

How can simple, low-cost materials transform learning? On Indonesia’s Morotai Island, one teacher is helping children build literacy and numeracy skills through creative, hands-on activities. Umian is a Grade 2 teacher who participated in a literacy and numeracy club mentor training. Umian uses simple objects such as bottle caps, stones, marble and straws, allowing children to practice by touching and counting objects. Through these simple activities, Umian has noticed clear changes in her students. They are more active in class, more confident trying new things and more enthusiastic about learning.

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Namayingo in Uganda experiences poverty levels higher than the national average, historically low learning outcomes, and severe socio-economic challenges. These conditions contributed to children leaving school to take on income-generating activities, making sustained community engagement essential.

The introduction of “Participatory Budget Clubs” helped children to return to school. These clubs are made up of citizens trained to monitor school attendance, conditions and education service delivery, track education spending and raise issues directly with authorities.

Schools began sharing lists of pupils who had dropped out, and community leaders committed to following up with parents and guardians. Local leaders, parents, and PBC members worked together to identify why children were leaving school and how to bring them back. Attendance has since risen and educational outcomes have improved too.

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A quiet transformation is taking place in classrooms worldwide, where climate change is no longer confined to textbooks but brought to life through everyday learning. From Brazil to Cambodia, Indonesia and Rwanda, teachers are leading this shift, turning sustainability into a lived, everyday experience rather than a standalone topic.

UNESCO is supporting teachers to redesign lessons so that climate concepts connect to students’ realities. In Indonesia, rather than opening a textbook, a teacher holds up a poster of local fish species and asks the children which ones they recognize. Hands go up immediately. What follows is a structured lesson built entirely on lived knowledge – which species get caught, change of seasons and why it matters. The blog gives many more examples of how teachers have changed their lessons.

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What causes a student to leave school? Financial pressure, pregnancy, health problems – the data from a recent external evaluation of “Promoting Equality in African Schools” (PEAS), PEAS-partner, and government schools in Zambia points consistently to external constraints, not disengagement.

Of the out-of-school students interviewed, 88% expressed a desire to return; none described losing interest in learning. Drawing on baseline survey results and qualitative interviews across the evaluation sample, this blog examines why students drop out, how leaving school reshapes their ambitions, and why girls bear a disproportionate share of that risk. The barriers that push students out of school don’t affect boys and girls equally, and neither do the costs of leaving school.

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Street Child and Education Development Center (EDC), have been working in a partnership to test the Engage toolkit in primary schools in Sierra Leone and Bangladesh. The experience of collaboration in education research offers a blueprint of the potential for such cross-cultural partnerships to be equitable, mutually respectful and optimally impactful. The blog describes the process.

They conclude: “Rather than focusing just on a joint outcome, equitable research partnerships must be defined through commitment to a process that prioritises meaningful partner contributions and mutual learning from start to finish.”

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The partners of the Global Coalition for Foundational Learning are working together to support governments in improving foundational learning outcomes. This blog, the first in a series, sets out a framework to help governments navigate decisions on EdTech and AI, with a focus on what will deliver impact in a context where evidence of what works reliably at scale is still emerging.

Evidence increasingly shows that impact depends on how technology is used within systems, not the technology itself. It also points to a small set of system-level approaches, particularly structured pedagogy, targeted instruction, strong teaching and effective assessment, with technology most effective when it complements and reinforces these approaches and keeps the teacher at the center.

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This article from GPE highlights a programme that supports girls to manage menstrual health and hygiene. It gives the examples of Meskerem and Haska, girls who in the past would have missed school when they had their periods but now can attend after receiving the support. It also introduces Asebege, a boy, who participated in training around gender equality and who now says his attitudes have changed. By equipping young people with essential life skills and health knowledge, the program is helping to break long-standing harmful practices and creating safer, more inclusive learning environments where girls and boys can pursue their education with dignity and mutual respect.

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In this podcast, the members of the “Lifting Barriers” team discuss boy’s disengagement from education and their project findings. Globally, an estimated 139 million boys are out of school. Addressing boys’ disengagement is critical not only for their future well-being but also for achieving gender equality and inclusive societies.

Research shows that boys who complete secondary education are more likely to challenge gender-based violence, participate in caregiving, and contribute to shared domestic responsibilities. Conversely, boys who leave school early face heightened risks of unemployment, poor health, and involvement in criminal activity.

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Inclusive education depends on the transformation of gender relations, which necessarily includes involving men in care. A project in Guatemala and Honduras on inclusive pedagogy with a gender perspective works on masculinities and opens up more spaces for men to become involved in care and early childhood education.

In communities in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, and in municipalities such as Danlí and Yuscarán, Honduras, the project has worked directly with teachers, families, community leaders, and children. Experience shows that the most effective approach has not been theoretical discourse on gender equality but acknowledging men’s roles in family and community life. Rather than imposing change, the focus has remained on the exchange of experiences and mutual recognition.

This work is not limited to adults. It also means working with boys from early childhood to expand their sense of identity and shift how they express their feelings. Through play, creative activities and everyday interaction, boys are encouraged to develop skills linked to care, empathy, and emotional expression.

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