Blog

The climate crisis is already affecting children’s education. We highlight two recent blogs on this issue.

UNICEF’s Ingrid Sanchez Tapia wrote, “On Earth Day, UNICEF urges governments to empower every child with learning opportunities to be a champion for the planet.” The blog presents the outcomes of a rapid survey of UNICEF offices in 94 low- and middle-income countries. It shows inconsistent progress in mainstreaming climate education. “It is alarming to note that 40 of the surveyed countries are assessed as having high or extremely high risk of children’s exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, yet only a third of these countries reported concrete government action to advance greening education.”

Read: Children and youth call for access to quality climate education.

Save the Children posted news about school closures in Bangladesh: “Extreme heat has forced the closure of all schools in Bangladesh this week, impacting 33 million children, as temperatures soared to 42°C (108 F), 16 degrees more than the annual average”

Read: Bangladesh: Extreme heat closes all schools and forces 33 million children out of classrooms.

Light for the World and EENET have developed a free online course on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This fun, interactive course is mainly intended for teachers and educators, but also school or education officers. The course takes about 10 hours and covers how to plan lessons using UDL principles and the importance of collaboration in UDL.

Sign up for the free course.

Watch a short promotional video.

Aubrey Moono and Jesca Ayapo Emaru, two of EENET’s consultants from Zambia and Uganda, recently facilitated several workshops in Ethiopia for the Inclusive Teaching Component of the Together for Inclusion programme.

This was the fourth round of training for teacher trainers (Principal Trainers) and focused on “Promoting Active Learning”. This training module from the series of seven, covers inclusive teaching strategies that promote active learning and are effective in a range of settings, including under-resourced schools with large class enrolments.

During the March 2024 workshops, the consultants first coached six Ethiopian co-facilitators, then trained 11 observers (who monitor the schools where teachers are being trained). The consultants then supported the co-facilitators to train 32 Principal Trainers. During the latter workshop, participants also shared how far their allocated schools had progressed and exchanged experiences. In the coming week, the Principal Trainers will train teachers in their allocated schools and support them to conduct more action research to investigate and act on inclusion challenges.

The training builds on a process originally started in Zambia and Zanzibar. Read more about the background to this teacher training approach.

In Viet Nam, too many children from ethnic minorities do not progress through the education system because early learning does not take place in their mother tongue. Teaching is in Vietnamese, but Viet Nam is home to 54 ethnic groups with 90 languages and multiple dialects. In this blog by Global Partnership for Education, projects for inclusive education for children from ethnic minorities including children with disabilities are described.

Read the blog.

This blog, from a project by UNICEF Pakistan and the Global Partnership for Education celebrates a new school in Balochistan, Pakistan. The UNICEF-supported temporary school construction aims to reduce the key barriers to girls’ education through building gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, creating safe learning environments, especially for girls. For many children in Balochistan, temporary schools have provided their first chance to education. For others who dropped out of school earlier, it is an opportunity to rejoin and catch up.

Read the blog.

World Bank Blogs posted a blog in English and French to talk about the Inclusive Education Policy Academy (IEPA), currently focused on disability inclusion. IEPA promotes a multi-sectoral approach drawing on a variety of professional expertise, including social care and protection as well as health, among others. It identifies the important role of governments and other key stakeholders such as civil society organizations, organizations of persons with disabilities, academia, and the private sector in developing comprehensive inclusive education policies and programs. Examples of its work are given from Rwanda and Zambia.

Read the blog.