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Challenges in Education in Guinea-Bissau

Education in Guinea-BissauWith a population of 1.8 million, about 69% of people in Guinea-Bissau live below the poverty line and 25% experience chronic malnutrition. In addition to working toward reducing poverty, there is a focus to improve education in Guinea-Bissau, which faces many struggles, including low enrollment rates, limited financial support and gender inequality.

Education Statistics in Guinea-Bissau

In Guinea-Bissau, the literacy rate is around 53%. Only 30% of children begin school at the specified age of six. According to a study conducted by UNICEF, as a result of late enrollment, a significant proportion of children in lower primary grades are overage. As of 2010, 62% of children finished their basic education. About 14% of those in grade one end up completing grade 12. Additionally, out of the 55% of children who attend secondary school, about 22% complete it. As of 2014, the net primary school attendance was 62.4%. Lack of accessibility to school, especially in terms of secondary education outside of urban areas, contributes to these statistics.

Schools also receive insufficient funds for quality education and have to rely on families for support. Adequate standards for physical school buildings and textbooks are also lacking. Teachers tend to lack a proper level of competency in regard to the subject they teach and have insufficient teaching materials. According to a text published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “At a level corresponding to the fifth year of primary education, teachers fail to answer a quarter of the questions on Portuguese and under a half of those in mathematics arising from the syllabus for their pupils.” Furthermore, many schools fail to offer a full curriculum and 46% of teaching days from 2016 to 2017 were lost because of teacher strikes. More than 20% of students aged 7 to 14 years old reside over half an hour from a school and distance decreases their likelihood of attending. Furthermore, many students, the majority being girls, drop out of school due to early marriage and child labor.

Gender Inequality

A gender gap is prevalent within Guinea-Bissau’s education system. Of children aged 10 to 11 years old, 17.5% of boys are not attending school as opposed to 25.7% of girls. Among impoverished families, boys are 1.8 more likely to reach grade six than girls. In general, boys are 1.5 times more likely than girls to take part in General Secondary Education. Moreover, boys obtain 59% of public resources for education, while girls get 41%.

The gender inequality in Guinea-Bissau’s education system leads to consequences, such as child marriage among girls. About 54% of women without an education experienced child marriage, as opposed to the 9% of women who achieved secondary education or higher. The average age of a woman without education for the first delivery of a child is 18.2 years old as opposed to 21.4 years old for a woman who studied for 14 years. Women who received an education of 14 years have an average of about 1.2 kids. On the other hand, women without education have an average of 3.3 children.

Decreasing the gender gap in Guinea-Bissau’s education system would lead to benefits for not only women but the entirety of the population. Women who achieve higher education are 50% likely to vaccinate their children under the age of 5, whereas the likelihood for women without an education is 26%. Furthermore, the likelihood of women who did not attend school using a net to prevent malaria for their children under the age of 5 is 71%, as opposed to 81% among women who studied for at least six years.

The Quality Education for All Project

In July 2018, the World Bank developed the Quality Education for All Project in Guinea-Bissau. The goal of the Project is to improve the overall environment of schools for students from grade one to grade four. Through the Project, the World Bank aims to reduce teacher strikes by providing training. The World Bank also plans to update the curriculum taught as well as educational supplies and materials. Furthermore, the Project encourages greater community involvement in the management of schools.

UNICEF’s Educational Efforts

UNICEF aims to improve the quality of education in Guinea-Bissau, especially with regard to early childhood, through partnership and the rehabilitation of classrooms. Alongside PLAN international, Handicap International and Fundação Fé e Cooperação (FEC), UNICEF monitors schools by training 180 inspectors who are responsible for over 1,700 schools. The monitors focus on teacher attendance as well as the process in the classroom. In order to establish standards, such as National Quality Standards and Early Learning Development Standards, UNICEF also partnered with the Ministry of Education. UNICEF launched Campaign “6/6” to encourage the enrollment of children in school beginning at age 6 and maintaining their attendance throughout primary education.

Response to COVID-19

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which coordinates with UNICEF, allocated $3.5 million to Guinea-Bissau for a COVID-19 response from 2020 to 2021. Through its grant, GPE plans to achieve greater health standards in schools and training among community members to increase awareness of COVID-19 prevention. GPE also supports a radio distance education program as well as a distance program that addresses gender-based violence and the inclusion of children with disabilities. UNICEF broadcasts programs three times a day for radio distance learning. Additionally, GPE aims to assess preschool and primary age students to gather further information about learning loss and to create a program for children out of school.

– Zoë Nichols
Photo: Flickr

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5 Countries Using EdTech to Improve Distance Learning

Distance Learning
The appearance of COVID-19 late last year left education systems in disarray. The following months saw school closures across nations and the emergence of a completely new structure to education. In order to slow the spread of the infectious disease, governments closed schools and enforced quarantine guidelines. Students and teachers turned to education technology (EdTech) to continue schooling. School looked completely different— students and teachers interacted virtually, isolated within their homes. Some say the shift to distance learning is an opportunity to explore more personalized approaches, and may eventually improve education methods. However, that result can only be expected when countries and people have sufficient programs to support Edtech.

5 Countries Using EdTech to Improve Distance Learning

  1. Afghanistan: In order to combat the educational challenges of COVID-19, Afghanistan shifted to distance learning. In-person classes became broadcasted lessons. This solution is viable for the country because it utilizes existing technology throughout the nation. Broadcasting also offers advantages because it is compatible with so many different technologies, granting access to more people. Lessons could be broadcasted through television, websites, social media, or radio. Rumie.org, an international organization working to reduce barriers to education, has a program in Afghanistan that works to increase access to technology in struggling communities. They distribute digital learning resources and format their education plans to make them relevant across the nation. This organization aspires to make education more accessible, especially when distance learning is the only option available. Broadcasted school, in combination with organizations spreading interactive learning materials, is the future of Afghan education during the pandemic.
  2. Argentina: Argentina also has broadcasting capabilities and expands education options by offering both public channels run by the Ministry of Education and private channels contributing to university or community content. They also provide notebooks for children without access to broadcasting. Notebooks contain educational information and require the child to fill out the lesson plans. Seguimos Educando is another initiative supported by the Argentinian Ministry of Education. It is an online program that offers education by subject and includes everything from “self-learning resources, suggestions for families and teachers, films, interviews, educational and communication proposals through social networks and videoconferencing tools, agendas for online events as well as proposals for free time for students.” The government is committed to equal opportunity for students. The Argentinian government is asking companies to keep digital education free of charge. Additionally, they have been distributing tablets and netbooks to communities who would otherwise be unable to afford them.
  3. Bulgaria: Bulgaria began their adjustment to online learning by creating online textbooks and corresponding broadcasting channels. Using this method, students were expected to learn for about six hours a day. The Ministry of Education and Sciences has since introduced new programs to support their textbooks and broadcasting. For example, they organized an online library, the National Electronic Library of Teachers, where teachers can share resources, lesson plans, and ideas about how to make online learning the most effective for their students. All schools also received free Microsoft team accounts so teachers and students can communicate on a digital platform.
  4. Columbia: Colombia approached the COVID-19 school closures by developing two separate education plans based on internet access and resources. Students with internet access can use “Aprender Digital”, a website with learning tools for students, teachers and the general community. It features games and video games to keep students excited and engaged in the material. It also encourages language acquisition through its National Bilingualism Program. For students unable to use online resources, Columbia developed at-home kits to continue learning. The kits are also very interactive learning devices, equipped with games, art projects and even family activities.
  5. Kenya: Kenya established four major platforms for distance learning. The first two options are radio and television broadcasting. Their third option incorporates a new digital learning platform: Youtube. They created a Youtube channel called EduTv Kenya which live streams lessons. The last platform is the Kenya Education Cloud which stores electronic copies of textbooks so students can access them for free. However, Internet access is not guaranteed throughout the country. To make sure that students everywhere could use the internet, Kenya partnered with Google to allow Loon Balloons to fly over rural areas. Loon Balloons create internet connectivity with 4G-LTE capabilities. One balloon provides internet access to a population within a 40 km radius. Using a balloon-provided network, students can continue distance learning despite the pandemic.

COVID-19 pushed education into an unprecedented space. These countries, all with significant portions of their populations below the poverty line, utilize the resources available to them to continue to progress the education of their youth. Edtech is here to stay so that populations can stay safe from COVID-19. By prioritizing distance learning, these countries are displaying their attention to both education and safety.

– Abigail Gray
Photo: Flickr

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Tata Sky Classroom is Transforming Distance Learning in India

Learning in IndiaDistance learning transformed modern education in the last decade. However, according to Tata ClassEdge, technology alone is not a solution. Technology’s role should be to empower teachers, not to replace them.

Tata ClassEdge was conceptualized in 2011 in order to do just this. The service was created in collaboration with Tata Group, an Indian television company with more than 25 years of experience with e-learning.

The goal of Tata ClassEdge is to use technology to improve the effectiveness of education systems in India. Tata ClassEdge’s vision is defined by sustainability and social impact. Focusing on these core ideas may reduce inequity among students and build a platform to reach out to even more students in the future.

The organization addresses four challenges in Indian school systems:

  1. Varied learners in the classroom
  2. Lack of personalization in education
  3. Administrative burden of teachers and principals
  4. Low parent involvement

To address these problems, Tata ClassEdge created Tata Sky Classroom, an interactive service that provides distance learning to students from the comfort of their homes.

Tata Sky Classroom runs videos on a systematic schedule. It also provides students with multiple choice questions, learning games and mock tests to solidify concepts taught in school.

The material is always presented in an interactive format. This makes subject areas such as math and science both interesting and easy to grasp. The service is available to all subscribers, covers more than 500 topics and is aligned with each student’s school syllabus.

Tata Sky Classroom allows students to deepen their understanding of core concepts at any time of day. These core concepts are “the key building blocks for [the] future, as we see this as a clear need gap,” says Tata Sky’s chief commercial officer Pallavi Puri.

Tata Sky Classroom is a successful example of technology’s potential to effectively enhance education. So far, more than 1,300 schools and 70,000 teachers across India have adopted the Tata ClassEdge way of teaching.

Tata ClassEdge’s staff has high hopes for the service’s future. According to Rajesh Khandagale, another chief commercial officer, “This partnership [with Tata ClassEdge] will further support our vision of educating 10 million students annually by 2025.”

– Liliana Rehorn

Photo: Flickr