Tag: Inclusive Education

A new report entitled Education in Africa – Placing equity at the heart of policy, published jointly by UNESCO and the African Union, reveals that although many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are taking significant steps to provide quality education for all, the region has the world’s largest out-of-school population.

The report calls on governments to strengthen education systems’ resilience to future crises, by developing flexible forms of teaching, by scaling up the use of digital technology, and by improving data collection to better inform policy planning.

It proposes making secondary education compulsory, building more schools, developing adapted curricula, improving the quality of teachers, and providing financial and academic assistance to children.

Read the full report ‘Education in Africa – Placing equity at the heart of policy’.

The Global Convention on Higher Education is officially in force as of 5 March 2023, following the 20^th ratification on 5 December 2022. The world’s first worldwide treaty on higher education is now a reality, and it’s set to revolutionize the way we approach mobility and access in higher education.

But what exactly does this mean for students, educators, and higher education institutions around the world? The Convention is not just some lofty ideal, but a solid structure for strengthening student mobility and inter-university cooperation.  It tackles distance learning and other forms of cross-border higher education, represent for regulators and quality assurance. The Convention is a game-changer that will help democratize access to higher education and favour cooperation over competition, diversity over uniformity and flexible learning pathways over traditionally structured ones.

And the best part? The entry into force of the Global Convention is just the beginning. By extending the principles of UNESCO’s five regional higher education conventions to interregional mobility, the Global Convention broadens international recognition and will benefit students looking for study opportunities outside their home region, leveling the playing field and increasing access to quality higher education. It also pays special attention to refugees who often lack documentation of their higher education qualifications.

Learn more about Global Convention on Higher Education.

The Inclusive Education in Action (IEA) website is a joint initiative of the Agency and UNESCO. It provides a useful collection of resources and case studies for policy-makers, inclusive education practitioners and other stakeholders.

Check out the two new case studies on the website –  a counselling programme for learners in Slovenia, which aims to prevent their placement in a specialist institution and a case study examining the Walkway School in Pakistan which provides education to people who are vulnerable to exclusion in Pakistan, including women, girls and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Visit the IEA website for more information or to explore the case studies and resources. The open call for case studies provides details on how to submit a case study.

Team Europe, which consists of the European Commission and European Union (EU) Member States, has pledged this month to invest EUR 313 million to the United Nations’ ‘Education Cannot Wait’ fund.  Overall, the EU will invest EUR 3.2 billion during 2021–2027, working in line with  the Transforming Education Summit and Sustainable Development Goal 4.

‘Education Cannot Wait’ (ECW) is a global fund, in 31 countries, to prevent learners from being left behind. It works with partners including governments, donors and civil society and aid organisations to effectively support education in emergencies and crises, such as conflict and natural disasters.

The new investments will help ECW to realise its ambitious Strategic Plan 2023–2026. The Plan includes new priorities, such as responding to climate change, prioritising holistic learning outcomes, and advancing ECW’s commitment to gender equality and disability inclusion.

For more information read the European Commission press release or visit the ECW website.

Student mental health has become a top priority for schools as they hire more counselors, expand services, and invest more deeply in social-emotional learning.

But school buildings and environments—including classrooms, gathering spaces, and everything in between—are often left out of that conversation.

That’s why Claire Latané, a landscape architecture and environmental design professor at Cal Poly Pomona in the United States, has dedicated her career to helping school districts design buildings with a focus on student mental health and well-being.

“The school environment is so often ignored in terms of how it makes students and teachers and the community feel,” Latané said in an interview with Education Week. “For the last 40 years, they’ve really been designed to look like and feel like prisons, often by the same architects that design prisons.”

Read more about her pioneering work in the USA school system.

With a $100 million grant, GPE has supported integrated religious schools and trained teachers in five states in Nigeria to ensure more children attend and stay in school, particularly girls who are most at risk of missing out on an education.

Unlike regular education funding, the GPE grant was channelled directly to school bank accounts—jointly managed by the headteacher and community representatives through the school management committees—for the procurement of materials in support of improved student retention and learning.

A total of 46,366 pre-primary and primary schools were awarded the NIPEP school grants, of which more than 35% are integrated Islamiyya schools. A further 150 nomadic schools in Sokoto also received grants.

In early March 2023 the government responded to the SEND review Green Paper consultation by publishing its ‘SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan: Right support, right place, right time’.

The consultation highlighted very real concerns and a dire need for change in a system that is hampered by inequity, difficult and lengthy processes, and funding shortfalls, and the SEND and AP Improvement Plan outlines the first steps that the government will take in addressing the issues raised.

Nasen responded to the plan citing ‘we feel encouraged by the plan that the government has put before us today. It appears that they have listened, acknowledged the issues, and committed to change. We recognise alignment with Nasen’s vision of an equitable learning experience for all. We acknowledge that this improvement plan is not presented as a finished article, but rather marks the beginning of a new phase. In taking this approach, they are unlocking the true spirit of coproduction, enabling those most impacted to help determine the detail, and offering opportunity to test and learn as the process evolves. Authentic co-production can only be positive.’

Nasen’s full response to the plan is now available to read on their website.

To help bridge educational gaps in Mali, EDC trained 12- and 13-year-olds to provide tutoring to younger students.

Before the pandemic, teachers were taking up the challenge to transform literacy instruction. When the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail the effort, EDC trained 12- and 13-year-olds to provide basic instruction outside of school. Older students tutored younger “brothers and sisters” on the alphabet, read simple stories with them, and taught them how to decode words and write simple sentences.

The results were astounding. The tutors and tutees formed strong bonds and learning flourished. After eight weeks, the younger students, who were most in need of support, learned basic literacy skills and could recognize familiar words (0% recognition pre-tutoring, 79% post-tutoring). The tutors felt great pride, and some saw glimmers of a future as a teacher.

Read more on the EDC website.