Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Accomplishments of The Global Partnership for Education

The_Global_Partnership_for_Education2015 has been an active year for global education. The fourth Global Goal in the new Global Goals for 2030 focuses on education. But according to Results, The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is the only international partnership exclusively dedicated to achieving education for all.

The Global Partnership for Education had five major accomplishments over the course of 2015.

1. GPE welcomed Bangladesh and the Republic of Congo as new partners.

Bangladesh became the 60th developing partner of the GPE. As a GPE member country, Bangladesh is now eligible for a Program Implementation Grant worth $100 million dollars over the course of three years. The Congo is the 61st developing country partner of GPE. The GPE is working with the Congo to give all children a basic ten-year education.

2. GPE calculated that it takes only $1.18 to pay for a day of primary to secondary education for a child in a developing country.

This calculation comes from The Education for All Global Monitoring Report and IMF figures for historical US inflation. According to GPE, 88 percent of $1.18 will be provided by developing countries themselves, making the international funding gap just 14 cents a day per child.

3. GPE received new funding from Canada.

Canada decided to double its contribution to the GPE. They agreed to donate $98 million dollars during the 2015-2018 replenishment period. More than half of GPE’s financing to countries in 2014 went to conflict-affected countries.

4. GPE allocated more than $245 million in grants and distributed more than $400 million.

GPE approved $245 million in grants fro Bangladesh, Mozambique, Nepal and Rwanda. It plans to use this money to provide imperative funding and momentum toward quality education for children.

5. GPE adopted a new strategy for the next five years.

The new strategic plan sets out contributions that GPE will make to focus on the Global Goal for education. The new results framework will be used to measure achievements and ensure accountability for results. GPE is invested in delivering the Global Goal of quality education for all.

GPE hopes to continue to make a positive impact in global education and to reach the global education goal. Their new strategy for 2016 identifies their biggest challenges to achieving quality education for children around the world.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: Global Partnership for Education, Results
Photo: Global Partnership for Education

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Learning to Read in Tonga

TongaThe Global Partnership for Education reported that if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty. That would amount to a 12 percent cut in global poverty.

In Tonga, the Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) project is driven towards preparing children for school. Funded by the Global Partnership for Education, and implemented by the World Bank, PEARL has two main goals. The first goal is to support children in developing key skills that will be useful at school. The second goal is helping more children learn to read and write well in their first years of elementary school.

According to the Global Partnership for Education, 40 percent of children in the developing world live in extreme poverty. Around 10.5 million children under the age of five die from preventable diseases each year because of extreme poverty. They also said investments in quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) can improve an individual’s well-being and close the education and poverty gap.

Early childhood is defined as the period from birth to eight years of age. Quality ECCE guides children towards fulfilling their potential and promotes social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Young children who benefit from ECCE services are more likely to be healthy, prepared to learn, stay longer and perform better in school.

Nadia Fifita, Director at Ocean of Light International School in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, said, “We see a big difference in the children who have had some early childhood [education] experience, whether that is formally through a school-based program or informally through parents.”

Tonga is not the only nation benefiting from PEARL. The project is also helping other Pacific Island countries improve policy and programming around school readiness and early grade literacy in Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In those countries, the World Bank and other partners are supporting each country’s Ministry of Education to make changes strengthening early education.

While early childhood education has increased globally, it is still limited and unequal in developing countries. The Global Partnership reported Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab states have shown the lowest gross enrollment ratios at 18 percent and 21 percent respectively in 2009. In some countries, children from privileged backgrounds are four times more likely to receive pre-primary education than poor children.

Tongan teacher Seini Napa’a said, “My dream is that the students in Tonga have the best future, the best readers and the best writers.”

– Kara Buckley

Sources: Global Partnership 1, Global Partnership 2, World Bank
Photo: World Bank

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Improving Education in Pakistan’s Sindh Province

sindh province

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently pledged more than $100 million towards improving education in Pakistan‘s Sindh Province. The funds will go towards the Sindh Reading Program (SRP) which will work to improve reading and mathematics in primary school.

The Sindh Reading Program is a five-year initiative that works under the umbrella of the Sindh Basic Education Project (SBEP). The SRP aims to address critical issues that are affecting reading and mathematics scores in primary school. It will do this through continuous teacher development, improving student assessment, providing supplementary materials and promoting family involvement.

A crucial component of the SRP is its focus on improving teacher performance. The program will provide 25,000 teachers with professional development opportunities in order to improve their instructional competencies in reading and mathematics.

New lesson plans will also be provided to the teachers to increase student engagement. The format of the teachers’ lesson plans will become activity-based, which will result in a positive student-teacher relationship.

USAID’s program manager for Sindh Basic Education, Dr. Randy Hatfield, added to this sentiment when he said, “USAID is striving for quality assurance of teaching and learning practices in schools by creating avenues that empower teachers in the classroom.”

So far, the USAID-funded program has distributed more than 120,000 teaching and reading resources in almost 1,500 schools in the Sindh province. This is in an effort to reach the SRP’s goal of reaching 750,000 students through improved teaching, learning and assessment testing in grades K-5.

The program also hopes to enroll 100,000 out-of-school children, of which there are more than four million in Sindh province. The goal is for these children to reenter school, and have a greater likelihood of escaping poverty. The program also aims to enroll the parents of these children in literacy programs.

The SRP works under USAID’s Sindh Basic Education Project. The SBEP is similar to the SRP in its goals but differs in scope. Instead of focusing only on improving reading and mathematics, SBEP aims to improve Sindh’s education as a whole.

SBEP’s main objective is to increase student enrollment. It achieves this by creating school environments that are conducive to learning and renovating or constructing schools that were harmed by the 2010 floods.

USAID’s SBEP also has a goal of increasing girls’ enrollment and improving the nutrition of the students.

To date, the USAID-funded SBEP has achieved the construction of 26 new schools, the financing of seven schools, 1000 new girls enrolled in primary classes and a survey of student nutrition. Dr. Hatfield praised the program’s success when he said “We welcome and appreciate these strategic interventions by US Government, which are facilitating fulfillment…for children between the ages of five and 16 in Pakistan.”

Through its Sindh Reading Program, the Sindh Basic Education Project hopes to lower the 10 percent illiteracy rate in its province. Considering the statistically proven relationship between poverty and illiteracy, SBEP hopes to increase literacy to lower poverty.

– Andrew Wildes

Sources: Chemonics, Daily Times, Language and Literacy for All, Sbep, USAID
Picture: Google Images

Employing Young People with Disabilities in Zambia

Zambia_Children_Health
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched an innovative new pilot program to improve access to vocational training and employment for young people with disabilities in Zambia. ILO has been working with the Zambian government since 2012 to make training institutions more inclusive, and this new program will augment that effort.

Zambia currently has 300 vocational training institutions serving over 33,600 students, but ability-based discrimination during enrollment has lead to high levels of exclusion and unemployment for many young people. ILO hopes this program will change that.

“The program will give young people with disabilities the skills they need to enter the open labor market,” the report read.

ILO currently audits training institutions against international standards to identify barriers to entry, ease of campus accessibility and adaptability of curricula for students with special needs. Recommendations are then made to the colleges to make improvements.

Instructors also undergo disability awareness training that includes not only insight into the physical limitations of students but also ways in which students are hindered by societal attitudes and stigma. Instructors are then supported in finding ways to overcome these obstacles.

Under the new pilot program, 20 teachers at five training institutions will take courses on how to build inclusive educational environments, and they will become certified to train other teachers, creating a sustainable education model. Training for new teachers will also be redesigned to include disability inclusion from the outset.

Partner colleges have embraced these efforts. “Our goal is to be a fully inclusive vocational training institution within three to five years,” said Samuel Mayo, Chief Executive of Lusaka Technical and Business College.

But discrimination continues beyond education into working life in Zambia, where over 45 percent of young people with disabilities are unemployed. Employers hesitate to hire these candidates because they incorrectly assume there will be costs associated with doing so. They might also assume that these candidates will require complicated special accommodations, which has also proven to be untrue.

In response, ILO held a roundtable discussion on the business-case benefits of hiring qualified candidates regardless of ability. The event brought in 50 representatives from private companies and launched the formation of the Zambia Business and Disability Network, which now works to build capacity for inclusive hiring practices among employers.

While the organization works primarily with business leaders to foster inclusive workplace attitudes, it has also partnered with hiring agencies to develop skills and confidence for candidates of all abilities.

ILO is confident that this program’s sustainable model will allow it to have a broader impact outside of Zambia. “By being both a source and a catalyst of knowledge-sharing and innovation, the ILO program is helping countries around the world achieve better results for men and women with disabilities,” they say.

– Ron Minard

Sources: ILO, UN, WHO
Photo: Flickr

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Global Education Conference Redefines Education

global education
As the world becomes more tightly connected, the opportunity and demand for education increase.

The sixth annual Global Education Conference explores the concept of redefining education. Over a period of four days, from Nov. 16 to 19, the conference promoted both classroom and “real world” education to provide participants with a well-rounded and highly informative experience.

The annual online event connects classrooms, raises awareness of cultural diversity and supports educational access for all. Anyone with internet access can learn more about upcoming changes in education, as well as promote their own ideas.

Though the Global Education Conference isn’t a conventional method of online learning, it offers many of the same benefits. Participants learn from speakers and instructors of many different countries and backgrounds and receive a much broader perspective on the topics.

Technology allows questions to be answered immediately and for multiple discussions to take place at once. The nonstop sessions make sure everyone, no matter how busy, can attend at least one seminar a day and choose the topic that best meets their interests.

The conference presented two topics in particular that could prove beneficial to the war on global poverty: learning more about refugees and understanding the relationship between poverty and education.

Because half of the Syrian refugees are children and many are in refugee camps instead of schools, the Global Education Conference dedicated a session to The Refugee Story Circle, a student-run project founded by Qatar Foundation International.

Resettled refugees had the opportunity to tell their personal experiences in a respected and dignified environment. The audience was then able to connect first-hand with the refugees through online discussions and letters of encouragement.

Richard Close, CEO of Chrysalis Campaign, Inc., explained the viewpoint of poverty and education. “Students who are given resources and encouragement realize over time that they have a bright future. Children who live in poverty learn early on to think, ‘What future?’ Consequently, they don’t develop the skills and self-motivation needed to succeed.”

Mary Brownell, a member of iEARN-USA, explained the nonprofit network’s partnership with Kids Can Make a Difference to encourage teachers to discuss hunger, inequality and poverty with their students.

“The goal is to imprint upon students what the effects really are on our world,” Brownell said.

Furthermore, impoverished students will feel like their needs are being addressed. Those who can’t attend schools will, hopefully, receive more attention and assistance.

– Sarah Prellwitz

Sources: Elluminate, EdSurge, Franklin University, Global Education Conference 1, Global Education Conference 2, iEARN
Photo: Europa Education

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South Korean Villages Fight to Keep Primary Schools Open

south korean villages
While rural schools in South Korean villages are facing closings, communities are trying to find solutions to keep them open. Next spring, local school Nogok Primary will close after its only enrolled student graduates, 12-year-old Chung Jeong-su. For the one student enrolled, it costs more than $87,000 per year to keep the school running.

In South Korea, 93 percent of students graduate from high school on time compared to 81 percent in the United States, an average considered among the best in the world.

“Villages around here have no more children to send,” the school’s only teacher, Lee Sung-kyun said. “Young people have all gone to cities to find work and get married there.” Located 110 miles east of South Korean’s capital, Nogok is a typical farmland town where farmers tend to potatoes, beans, and red peppers.

In the aftermath of the Korean War, farmers found premier education as a ticket to freedom for their children to escape poverty. By sending their children to Nogok Primary, students graduated and earned wages that were significantly higher than their parents.

Along with other Nogok Primary youth, recent high school graduates began moving to big cities where they could pursue university or receive higher-paying jobs. This demographic shift hit rural towns, including the Nogok community.

In 1960, the population of Nogok was 5,387. In 2010, the town reported a population of 615. That year, only 17 were primary school age. Since 1982, nearly 3,600 schools have closed across South Korea due to lack of enrollment.

“It’s a sorry sight,” said Mr. Baek, a graduate of Nogok Primary. “When I was a student here, 300 children were crawling all over there, giving weeds no time to grow.”

While the country has an excellent education system, rural South Korean villages are suffering, creating a larger gap between the rich and the poor. With the 13th largest economy in the world, South Korea’s rural towns have taken initiative, starting campaigns to save their schools. Some solutions include hiring buses to transport children from neighboring towns and providing free housing for families moving to the rural towns with school-age students.

Continued efforts give villages hope they can bring another generation of students back to the once prospering population.

– Alexandra Korman

Sources: ABC News, The New York Times, U.S. Department of Education
Photo: Google Images

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Global Schools Foundation Set to Build Five Schools in India

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Global Schools Foundation (GSF) is a leading name in global education across South East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and India. The organization, which operates 20 schools in India, South East Asia, Japan, is looking to expand its reach with five new schools in India.

GSF plans to have the five schools up and running in India within the next two years according to the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, Karmal Gupta. The schools will be built in the populous cities of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Bangalore.

The foundation will introduce the International Baccalaureate program in each school, adding to its offerings of a Central Board of Secondary Education curriculum and the Global Montessori Plus program.

In addition, GSF has created the Global Indian International School (GIIS), an international network of award-winning institutions with 21 campuses in seven different countries. GIIS schools offer holistic personality development and learning opportunities for all students.

The GIIS institutions have been honored with several international and national awards for excellence in education. The schools have also been lauded because they provide a home for students of diverse nationalities.

According to Gupta, the foundation hopes to build the schools in collaboration with property developers in new housing and commercial estates in India who will help to manage the capital investment in assets.

In addition to it’s plans in India, GSF is in the process of completing its goal to build a $100 million dollar campus in Singapore by 2017. The campus will be the foundation’s largest since it began operations in 2002.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: The Economic Times, Global Schools Foundation 1, Global Schools Foundation 2
Photo: Flickr

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Intel: Preparing Nigerian Students for Future Employment

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Intel Corporation is using its resources to improve education in Nigeria by teaching educators to successfully incorporate technology into classrooms. The company believes this program will be the key to increasing 21st-century employment opportunities for Nigerian students.

Intel’s technology teacher training program is being implemented in conjunction with national governments and public institutions. The program focuses on a student-centered approach to learning instead of the traditional teacher-centric one.

Through this method, the teacher serves as a guide for students and helps maintain group collaboration. The students learn together and with each other. In addition, they also choose their own areas of study which keeps them engaged and fosters a passion for learning.

Another problem related to student engagement is the generation gap. Elderly teachers are not familiar with the latest technology and therefore, shun it in the classroom. This upholds the traditional pen and paper classrooms with their teacher-centered focus leading to boredom in the classroom.

Intel’s technology teacher training will help address this problem by educating instructors. For example, Dr. Kemi Banjoko, a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, said what intrigued him the most was “the use of mobile phone and tablets in teaching.”

Intel’s corporate affairs group manager, Babatunde Akinola, stressed the importance of this education for Nigeria. He said, “The world is getting more global and if you do not fit in, you face being dis-enfranchised.”

Nigeria is a growing country with massive oil reserves and a large youth population. However, the country lacks a strong education system. Notably, the primary school attendance rate for males is 72 percent but drops to 54 percent for secondary school. The government is hoping that the inclusion of technology will help keep Nigerian students engaged in learning.

Intel’s program has trained over 10 million educators in 70 different countries and Nigeria is hoping to benefit from the collaboration. Since 2013, Intel has teamed up with major educational institutions in Nigeria like Tai Solarin University of Education and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education.

– Andrew Wildes

Sources: AllAfrica, Edutopia, Intel, TechTrends Nigeria, UNICEF
Photo: Flickr

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Bamako School: Improving Education in Mali

Bamako
According to UNICEF, the enrollment rate in Mali, Africa is 80 percent. However, the achievement rate stands at 54 percent for boys and 44.8 percent for girls due to a low supply of qualified teachers, high student-to-teacher ratios and poor learning materials. The poor and rural areas of Mali fare worst of all, experiencing a 70 percent dropout rate before sixth grade.

The most qualified teachers accept positions in well-off urban communities, which offer sufficient pay and lodging. Consequently, inner areas traditionally receive the superior education in Bamako.

According to Yahoo News, Youchaou Traore, a former translator for diplomats founded a school in one of the poorest neighborhoods on the edge of Mali’s capital—Bamako. Ten years later, École Privée Youchaou (EPY) is helping its students place first or second in national exams, surpassing the elite private schools.

Traore, who didn’t begin first grade until the age of 13, is very familiar with the struggles and shortcomings of the Malian education system. He designed EPY to confront and rectify the complications that prevent impoverished children from receiving a quality education in Bamako. Bamako.

A 2011 report by Education International revealed that over half of Mali’s 40,000 instructors are unqualified to teach primary levels. Students sit in class day after day and absorb less than a quarter of what they should be learning at their level. Furthermore, bribery for exam scores allows students to graduate without developing basic literacy and mathematical skills.

“It’s possible to reach 9th grade here and barely be able to read,” Traore told Yahoo News.

Instead of pulling competent instructors away from other schools, Traore chose members of his own community and put them through intensive training to learn teaching techniques and management skills.

The community-centered education system helped ease issues of money and trust that plague many Malian parents. The adults in Bamako feel comfortable approaching Traore and his staff to inquire about scholarships and other funding opportunities.

Traore does his best to accommodate families that can’t afford school fees, allowing them to sell snacks to students. There are times when he provides funding from his own personal finances.

For students like Traore who start late or transfer, EPY offers catch-up lessons to ensure that each child who comes through the doors learns to read, write and solve mathematical equations.

EPY incorporates all of the high-risk groups—orphans, girls, extremely poor families—yet its dropout rate is less than one percent because the students feel comfortable there. They realize they have the chance to receive the best education in Bamako.

“If I have a chance to talk to people in the world, I would like them to understand that here in Mali it’s not very easy, but students are serious,” said Bourama Fomba, a 13-year-old student in a Guardian article.

– Sarah Prellwitz

Sources: Education International 1, Yahoo, Education International 2, The Guardian, UNICEF
Photo: Flickr1, Flicker2 

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Do You Know Enough About Antibiotic Resistance?

antibiotic
Antibiotic resistance poses one of the greatest threats to global health and so-called “superbug” infections continue to grow. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) survey shows widespread confusion surrounding antibiotic resistance in developing countries.

The WHO reveals that those most affected by and at risk for antibiotic-resistant infections are confused about them. This poses a challenge to the treatment and eradication of antibiotic-resistant infections, which are propagating all over the world.

“Antibiotic resistance is occurring everywhere in the world, compromising the treatment of infectious diseases and undermining many other advances in health and medicine,” says the WHO.

According to the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, bacteria become resistant either by a genetic mutation or by acquiring resistance from another bacterium.

The survey, carried out in September and October 2015, covered 12 countries including Barbados, China, Egypt and India. The statistics cover the countries’ use of antibiotics and knowledge of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.

The results were below expectations. Although respondents acknowledged that antibiotic resistance is a threat to them and their families, they did not fully understand how it affects them or what they can do to protect themselves.

According to the findings, “64 percent of respondents believe antibiotics can be used to treat colds and flu, despite the fact that antibiotics have no impact on viruses.”

Almost one-third of respondents believe they should stop taking antibiotics when they feel better, rather than for the full course of the prescription, which is also incorrect.

This uncertainty is occurring at a time when the threat of antibiotic resistance is reaching a peak. Deaths caused by antibiotic-resistant infections, known as “superbugs,” are growing faster than we are able to respond to them. The death rate for patients with infections caused by common but resistant bacteria treated in hospitals can be about twice that of patients with infections caused by the same non-resistant bacteria, says the WHO.

With results as pronounced as these, the WHO has started a new campaign to increase global awareness and improve understanding of the problem of antibiotic resistance.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, WHO 3, TUFTS
Photo: Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance