Rewiring education

As we reach the end of another challenging year, I was lucky to take part in the RewirED Global Education Summit at Dubai Expo. Alongside many partners, inspiring practitioners, funders, and education thinkers, we took stock of the status of children’s learning globally.

The education of hundreds of millions of children worldwide is at risk from the triple threat of COVID-19, the climate crisis, and conflict. We discussed what is urgently needed to make sure education is part of the COVID-19 recovery, and to meet our promises so that every child can fulfil their right to safe, quality, inclusive education.

We are so grateful for our partner, Dubai Cares and CEO Dr Tariq Al Gurg, and his team for their vision and leadership in bringing together so many of us under challenging circumstances. We at Save the Children were thrilled to speak at three events focusing on the urgent need for more and better education financing, the transformational role of teachers, and innovative approaches to non-formal education with mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) in reaching out of school children. I would encourage you to watch the session recordings here if you can, to get a flavour of these inspiring conversations.

I like to use this time of year to reflect and reset for the year ahead, so in that spirit, here are my top takeaways from the summit:

1. We must keep up momentum

Even before the pandemic, 258 million children worldwide were out of school.1 Most of these children are those most affected by poverty and inequality – girls, children with disabilities, and those impacted by conflict and displacement.

It’s shocking that two years into the global pandemic, the global community has failed to react with enough speed and purpose to prevent a reversal of the hard-won gains that were being made before.

The recent joint report from the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNESCO highlights what’s at stake:

• In low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in Learning Poverty—already over 50% before the pandemic—will rise sharply up to 70%.
• This generation of students now risk losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings, because of school closures and missed learning and development opportunities.

Education needs to be at heart of the recovery from COVID-19, but we also need to learn from this experience. We need to ensure this kind of disruption to education through the climate emergency, conflict and further health shocks never happens again. We discussed the findings of our Build Forward Better report which sets out the lessons we at Save the Children have learned so far, and how to not just build back to how things were, but build forward better, designing resilience into education systems.

Many partners discussed the purpose and outcomes needed at the forthcoming Transforming Education Summit, which will be hosted by the UN Secretary General in 2022. What is clear, is that we need to act together between these global moments to successfully advocate for urgent action, beyond organisational brands to reach shared objectives.

2. Equity-centred innovation is what we need

We believe that education must set children up with the values, skills, knowledge, and experience needed to be resilient, active, problem-solving citizens. But the scale of the learning crisis means we must test new ideas, create innovative partnerships and scale to reach every last child to make that vision a reality.

At the summit, I had many conversations about the role of EdTech in the classroom, for data collection, teacher professional development, as well as the launch of the new Global Declaration on Connectivity for Education. It was also inspiring to hear of Dubai Cares work with H-Farm and their human-centred approach to education ecosystems.

When we utilise EdTech at Save the Children, we put the child’s learning and wellbeing at the centre of any intervention and assess what will be most effective based on needs as well as the unique context. In some cases, EdTech can be useful, but in others, limited resources, and connectivity, coupled with questions of sustainability mean that efforts are better placed into teacher training, paper-based materials or making schools safe.

So, how might we use innovation and EdTech to reduce inequality, not increase it? I want to challenge us all to think about how to apply some of the innovative approaches discussed at RewirED to some of the hardest to reach and insecure places where children are frequently left further behind, using what Dr David Sengeh, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Basic & Senior Secondary Education calls a “radical inclusion” mindset. I spoke with Hon. Undersecretary Ministry of General Education and Instruction, South Sudan, Dr. Kuyok Abol Kuyok who told me that there are 2.8 million children without access to education.2 The majority of these children live in remote places, so we must innovative but practical ways of reaching them.

3. Progress must be led by the people closest to the challenges we face

We were thrilled to co-host a High-Level Panel on the Future of Teaching where three teachers from Lebanon, Uganda and Ghana spoke about their experiences and recommendations for policy makers. Nagham, a teacher that we work with in Lebanon shared her experience of teaching during complex crises, and how the wellbeing of teaching staff needs greater prioritisation. She said, "Children don't care how much you know until they see how much you care".

At global events, we should ensure there are more opportunities for teacher’s like Nagham to be involved in shaping the debate from the beginning, voicing their demands directly with decision-makers. Similarly, the role of national and local civil society in supporting educational continuity has been significant during pandemic. However, the extent to which this has accelerated a meaningful shift in power is less clear.

Children’s right to participate in public decision-making, monitoring processes and advocacy in all matters that affects their lives is critical.

What next?

The UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022 is another opportunity for the global community to come together again. But children can’t wait that long, and this is not always where the work of change really happens. It’s the sustained collective work outside of these moments that can be truly impactful. I’ll be challenging us at Save the Children to keep up momentum on this critical issue facing children, working creatively with current partners and new players regionally to make an impact on learning outcomes for children.

As we reflect over the Christmas period, we’ll return in the New Year with a renewed commitment to tackle the global learning crisis, through responding with innovative ideas that reach the children most affected by inequality and to give them more platforms to speak for themselves.

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