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The World Education Championship (WEC)

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Human Rights Advocate
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The World Education Championship (WEC)

Measures the Return On Investment of nations have in education.

The World Education Championship (WEC) is an educational competition that is held every four years simultaneously with the World’s Biggest Sporting Event – the World Cup.

This year the World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 20, 2022, to December 18, 2022. The 32 teams in the tournament will measure each nation’s performance in School Life Expectancy, Government Investment in Education, and Adult Illiteracy Levels.

Thirty-two nations’ performances will be compared to each other. The nation with the best results in each category will receive points against its opponent.

The tournament countries are matched the same as their World Cup games and groups. The competition will run from the Group Round, the Round of 16, the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals, and the Finals.

Here are the countries participating in the 2022 World Education Championship:

  • Group A

Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands

  • Group B

England, IR Iran, USA, and Wales

  • Group C

Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

  • Group D

France, Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia

  • Group E

Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan

  • Group F

Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia

  • Group G

Brazil, Switzerland, and Cameroon

  • Group H

Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and Korea Republic

The WEC Competition Categories are defined as:

School Life Expectancy

The definition of School Life Expectancy is the total number of years of schooling that a person of a certain age can expect to receive in the future, assuming that the probability of his or her being enrolled in school at any particular age is equal to the current enrollment ratio for that age.

This means the number of years a country is willing to invest in a child’s education. From early childhood to young adulthood. Most developed countries invest up to 16 years, while poorer countries end between 8 and 10 years.

Government Investment in Education

Government Investment in Education means providing public education to children. Public education is the biggest initiative undertaken by many governments around the world. If spending is a measure of social and economic value, no other governmental program –including national defense in many cases – is considered more valuable than exposing youth to a systematic education for at least a minimum period.

The average investment of a nation contributes 4- 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to public education.

Governments hope that increased investment in education leads to increased economic growth for the nation’s future. This includes higher salaries for individuals, greater workforce effectiveness, and higher gross domestic product.

Adult Illiteracy Levels

Adult illiteracy levels mean – the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who can both read and write an understanding a short simple statement in his/her everyday life.

Most governments rate defines literacy across five levels:

Entry Level 1 is equivalent to literacy levels at ages 5-7. Adults below Entry Level 1 may not be able to write short messages to their families or read a road sign.

Entry Level 2 is equivalent to literacy levels at ages 7-9. Adults below Entry Level 2 may not be able to describe a child’s symptoms to a doctor or read a label on a medicine bottle.

Entry Level 3 is equivalent to literacy levels at ages 9-11. Adults with skills below Entry Level 3 may not be able to understand labels on pre-packaged food or understand household bills.

Level 1 is equivalent to GCSE grades D-G. Adults with skills below Level 1 may not be able to read bus or train timetables or understand their pay slips.

Level 2 is equivalent to GCSE grades A*-C. Adults with skills below Level 2 may not have the skills to spot fake news or bias in the media.

Most adults that are illiterate are more likely to experience poorer employment opportunities, outcomes, and lower income. As a result, they often face welfare dependency, low self-esteem, and higher levels of crime.

The WEC Competition will Measure

The Economic Impact of Education

What is the economic impact? Economic impact studies estimate the total dollars, jobs, and household income generated in an economy due to a new activity; for example, the nation’s job skill development levels, workforce participation of the adult population, and unemployment rate of the head of houses.

Job Skill Levels

A nation’s job skill level of its adult population is a strong indicator of a nation’s economic strength and growth potential. The less skilled the workforce. The less income that can be generated to support its economy and social services. For example, education, health care, and public services for the elderly and families.

Work Force Participation

The labor force participation rate represents the number of people in the labor force as a percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population. In other words, the participation rate is the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work.

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate measures the share of workers in the labor force who do not currently have a job but are actively looking for work.

The Social Impact of Education

The definition of social impact means any significant or positive changes that solve or at least address social injustice and challenges. From housing, health care, schooling, poverty, and family support services.

Here is the definition of three major social areas of concern

Child Mortality Rate

Child mortality or the under-five mortality rate refers to the probability of a child dying between birth and exactly five years of age,

Crime Rate

The crime rate is the ratio between the number of felonies and misdemeanors recorded by the police and gendarmerie and the population in question.

Poverty Level

A level of income above which it is possible to achieve an adequate standard of living and below which it is not. It fluctuates with the cost of living. Therefore, it means unfair living conditions for some of the population.

Why is The World Education Championship Important?

Someone has to be held accountable for the lack of development of our fellow human beings. Something has to be in place to ensure every human has a chance to live a productive life. We hope the World Education Championship can serve as a force of good and provide hope to the hopeless.

According to UNESCO, “Literacy is a fundamental human right and the foundation for lifelong learning. It is fully essential to social and human development in its ability to transform lives. For individuals, families, and societies alike, it is an instrument of empowerment to improve one’s health, one’s income, and one’s relationship with the world.”

The WEC’s mission is to do that. With the mass exposure of the world’s greatest nations’ spectacle (the World Cup). We hope the world will be listening.

What is your countries Literacy Rate?

US Failed Gun Law kills more children in schools

By
Human Rights Advocate
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US failed gun law kills more children in schools

No more thoughts and prayers grieving Americans demand gun control after the worst school shooting in the U.S in a decade but congress has repeatedly failed to pass tougher laws so what stopping action to prevent another tragedy.

Mass shootings have been described as an epidemic that only happens in the United States. The gun violence archive has already recorded 213 shootings this year the latest killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the town of Uvalde in Texas.

The worst school shooting in a decade took their lives just a few days before the start of the summer holidays. Police say the 18-year-old gunman sent chilling messages online before the attack and entered the school despite being confronted by a security guard grief in the tight-knit community is turning to anger as Americans once again demand tougher gun control laws.

Another school massacre in America and more flowers to mourn the dead just before an 18 year old Texas gunman massacred 21 people at Robb Elementary School this month.

Texas Governor says he shot his own grandmother anyone who shoots his grandmother in the face has to have evil in his heart, but it is far more evil for someone to gun down little kids but the Republican Governor’s news conference devolved into political theater when his Democratic rival Beto O’Rourke interrupted to denounce decades of inaction in congress and in Texas.

O’Rourke talked about that this was evil the only thing evil is what he continues to do to the people of this state he says this was unpredictable it was totally predictable and I predict this will continue to happen.

Syria Airs Mendy is a teacher at another grade school but her niece Eliana was a student at Robb Elementary School, said it took hours before she learned that Eliana was among the dead all we heard was whatever we saw on the phone whether it was news or or Facebook or that’s how we found found out of the tragedy.

We didn’t find out about her until late last night around 11 30 that’s when they confirmed Salvador Ramos a high school dropout who for years was bullied in school for speaking with a lisp bought two Ar-15 style assault rifles shortly after his 18th birthday. Police say he carried one of them into the school storming past an armed guard before firing more than 230 times over the course of a harrowing hour before border patrol agents gunned him down.

Ms. Mendy said, I just don’t understand how people could sell that type of a gun to a kid to an 18 year old like what is he going to use it for, but for that purpose. Just what motivated Ramos is a question authorities are trying to answer now police are still scouring that scene and looking for a motive for what set that gunman off before he apparently shot his grandmother and then came here to Robb Elementary School.

It was the second deadliest school shooting in American history but political deadlock on gun control in a long and bloody history suggests it will not be the last. The last deadliest school shooting happened 10 years ago when 20 children and six adults were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A Democratic Senator from that state made this impassioned plea for congress to pass stricter gun laws, stating “I’m here on this floor to beg to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues find a path forward here work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely. I understand my Republican colleagues will not agree to everything that I may support but there is a common denominator that we can find.”

America and Guns

It’s a very very sad day once again for America and the main question is why has America not seen legislative reform especially with public opinion so strongly pushing for it. It’s because America has two major divisions in the country, that are very difficult to overcome policy change in the national level right.

With over, 70 percent of Americans believe that they have a serious problem with gun violence in the country. Yet, they are divided both on political partisan lines and divided based on gun ownership that and those two divisions making it very hard to decide how do they go forward. In terms of gun ownership in this country they are very different than every other country in the world.

The US has 400 million civilian-owned guns in the country and that’s more than one gun per person. With that huge amount of guns which is far more than any other country in the world. Is held by only 30 percent of Americans, so 30 percent of Americans say they’re gun owners holding 400 million civilian owned guns and both the Republican Democrat divide and the divide over the gun ownership combine to make it very difficult for the country to agree on policy measures going forward.

The suggestion from most gun reformers say, individual obtain the gun what could we do to prevent better prevented the wrong individual from getting a gun. Right now under federal law you have to be 21 to be able to buy a handgun from a dealer but only 18 for a long gun. it’s one of the easier things we could do right now is change law and require better background checks.

Suggestions to changing the federal law to 21 may not solve a lot of the gun problems but it is a good starting point.

The Right to Life and Bare the Truth

With so many mass shootings continue to happen in America, it’s important to remember this is a complex public health problem as well. That require a multifaceted approach and when you think about for example the structural racism right that we see in urban cities and that has created this vicious feedback loop. America has to also focus on understanding the how poverty has limited opportunities to lead to increase crime violence incarceration, which of course further you know results in poverty and weakens efforts to invest in communities.

Despite the mass shooting that happened in Uvalde, Texas, the US’s Second Amendment – “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.” – protects gun ownership.

The third of the people in the US that own guns, which is over half of the households in America have someone in the household that owns a gun it’s not surprising that people that own guns care very much about the guns they own. After all they didn’t misuse those guns someone else did and they feel that they’re being blamed for something they didn’t do. They want to blame the person who misused the gun as much as anyone and it’s having that broad understanding that gun owners actually are in large agreement with most of the orientation of keeping guns out of these people’s hands.

To move forward on the gun control debate, American gun owners need to become allies with non-gun owners to enforce stronger background checks for gum ownership, before the next mass shooting, which there will be.

 

Guest Post: Nearly Half of Students Showed up

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Human Rights Advocate
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Nearly Half of Teachers Had Students Who Never Showed Up to Class Last Year: Report

A new report marks the first big-picture look at the obstacles that kept students locked out and what it might take to bring them back.

Nearly half of public school teachers in the U.S. reported at least one student during the 2020-21 school year who was enrolled but never showed up for class, according to new federal data that provides one of the first glimpses from the national level of the major challenges that sidelined student learning and the types of schools they left behind.

The report, originally published by the Government Accountability Office last month but updated with new information this week, is part of the federal government’s ongoing efforts to understand how the pandemic affected the country’s public school system. The data was pulled from a national representative survey of public school teachers that the GAO contracted Gallup to conduct about their experiences during the 2020-21 school year.

High school teachers were the most affected, with roughly two-thirds, or 65%, having at least one student who never showed up, compared to less than half of teachers in kindergarten to grade eight.

In addition, teachers in urban schools were significantly more likely to report having students who never showed up compared to those in rural and suburban schools – 65% compared to 45% and 44%, respectively – as were teachers who taught in schools where the majority of students enrolled are students of color, 56%, compared to those who taught in majority-white schools, 45%.

Economic demographics of schools made a difference, too. For example, 32% of teachers in low-poverty schools, where 20% or fewer students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, reported having students who never showed up compared to 60% of teachers in schools where 80% to 100% of students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch.

While teachers reported a range of obstacles that interfered with their students’ attendance, the challenges mostly fell into two big buckets – limited or no adult assistance or support at home and difficulty learning in or adapting to the virtual environment.

For older students especially, competing demands on time – including providing care to a family member or work commitments that interfered with school – were common reasons for their absence. Nearly half of teachers in grades three through eight and grades nine through 12 said that providing care to a family member was “somewhat” or a “significant” factor for students, compared to about one-quarter of teachers in kindergarten to grade two. And among teachers in grades nine through 12, 57% said work commitments interfered with school – though just 17% of teachers in grades three to eight named work commitments as a reason.

Though data is scarce and patchy due to the varying ways states and districts collect it, education policymakers have been warning that the long-term effect of coronavirus-related disruptions to schools over the last two years on student enrollment and attendance remains to be seen, especially for students who became entirely detached from school. The report marks the first big-picture look at the obstacles that kept students locked out – even those enrolled in schools that provided support, like internet-connected devices and free Wi-Fi – and what it might take to bring them back.

“The high levels of chronic absences means positive conditions for learning are being eroded at a systemic level,” says Hedy Nai-Lin Chang, executive director and vice president of Attendance Works, a nonprofit organization that tracks absenteeism and its effects.

“And the challenges of ensuring school is a healthy and safe place in light of the last two variants is a huge issue – making sure kids and families have access to health care, making sure that when they get to school that school is a place where they feel a sense of belonging and support,” she says. “Those are all things that have had real challenges to put in place.”

“These are things that are more than attendance, but when they don’t exist, attendance is affected.”

The GAO report comes at a time when a handful of states and school districts are beginning to report their own chronic absenteeism data – that is, data on students who have missed 10% or more of a school year, or roughly 18 days.

In New York City, the country’s largest school system, 40% of public school students – roughly 375,000 in total – have been chronically absent this year, up from 26% during the 2018-19 school year. And in Los Angeles, the country’s second largest school district, 46% of students – more than 200,000 in total – have been chronically absent, up from an average of 19% prior to the pandemic.

But the challenges, which have been occurring alongside enrollment drops, aren’t confined to the country’s biggest city school districts.

Chronic absenteeism increased 30% among the 1.4 million students enrolled in New Jersey public schools, according to the annual New Jersey School Performance Reports, released earlier this month. In Camden, one of the last school districts in the state to pivot back to in-person learning full time, five days a week, the number of chronically absent students jumped from 34% during the 2018-19 school year to 57% during the 2020-21 school year.

In Akron, new data shows that half of all students are considered chronically absent. Among high school seniors, two-thirds have missed at least 10% of the school year and 44% have missed more than 20%. In Richmond, more than a quarter of students are considered chronically absent. And in Kentucky’s Jefferson County, 30% of its 100,000 public school students have missed at least 18 days of school so far this year.

Nai-Lin Chang is willing to bet that most states and districts are underestimating the actual crisis.

“The problem with the ‘20-21 data is that so much of it was remote and our attendance-taking practices during remote varied hugely and a lot of times we weren’t very stringent,” she says. “So you do see some increases, but my sense is that it’s probably, in most states, much higher.”

“A doubling of chronic absenteeism is not at all uncommon right now,” Nai-Lin Chang says. “The 40% level is not that uncommon, which is incredibly problematic and distressing. And it means that we really are going to have to double down on engagement and support.”

It’s been difficult for policymakers to glean the situation from the national level since the school year is still in progress and data has been difficult to come by. A survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. from December 2021 showed that 22% of parents reported that their child had missed at least four days of school at that point in the year – in other words, on track to be considered chronically absent by the end of the school year. That’s a worrying data point since the figure is up from the 18% of families who reported chronic absence last spring. Just 8% of parents said their child was on track to be chronically absent prior to the pandemic.

Researchers at Attendance Works estimated that the high levels of absenteeism reported in the McKinsey survey could translate into an additional 1.7 million to 3.3 million students in grades eight to 12 dropping out of school, if historical correlations between chronic absence and high school graduation remain steady.

“The building blocks have been eroded for a lot of kids,” Nai-Lin Chang says. “And we’re going to have to reinvest.”

Article by: Lauren Camera , USNews

2022 Best-Educated Country Projections are here. Some may surprise you.

By
Human Rights Advocate
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2022 Best-Educated Country Projections are here. Some may surprise you.

NJ MED has released their 2022 best education systems projections, and while some of the predictions will come as no surprise (South Korea is the projected favorite), there are plenty of intriguing projections and some significant surprises.

NJ MED used this year’s on-time school openings to determine probable outcomes based on each country last year’s performance in remote learning and their government response to reinvesting in school infrastructure. If countries have a 50 percent increase in offsite learning, it has prepared to keep their students up-to-date with the current learning conditions, and if a country has only a 10% increase in their offsite learning platforms chance of students staying up to date is lessen.

Here are ten interesting facts about this year’s rankings.

South Korea is projected to be the favorite

South Korea is leading the pack in terms of e-learning improvements among Asian countries, thanks to the country’s strong and rising high-tech economy and extensive high-speed internet access. It intends to use its resources to teach students not only in Korea but also in other nations across the world, by expanding English courses and promoting its ability to give “smart learning.”

France ranks second. During the Covid-19 pandemic in France, the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports supplied several materials to teachers to help them establish educational continuity. Online tools, instructional platforms, and self-training guidelines for teachers are all included. The main distance learning platform is “Ma classe à la maison,” which was created by the Centre National d’Enseignment à Distance (CNED – National Centre for Distance Learning) and is available to all teachers and students free of charge. This platform enables virtual classes to be tailored to any level of schooling.

The United States ranks third. With hundreds of online colleges and thousands of online courses available to students, the United States is the clear global leader in online education today. Of course, the United States isn’t merely the most populous country on the planet. It has also served as a paradigm for the development of internet delivery systems. Even more influential are open educational programs in the United States, such as those offered at MIT, which have served as an example.

Japan is ranked fourth. Since the coronavirus outbreak became a national subject in Japan, the government and other public institutions have encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. The recent evolution of internet technologies—such as the emergence of The Cloud or remote meeting software—, the prevalence of computer, tablet, or phone-equipped households, and a new generation of kids who are tech-savvy from an early age are forming a set of conditions that could allow distance learning to succeed.

Denmark ranked fifth. As the COVID-19 epidemic spread across the globe, most governments took the precaution of closing schools to try to stop the virus from spreading further. In Denmark, each week of school closures represents around 30 hours of face-to-face compulsory instruction time at school (lower secondary school – general orientation), or 2.5 percent of the total time spent in school. The capacity of schools to innovate, adapt and support staff varies from country to country and school to school. Yet it is these school capacities that can prove to be valuable assets for responding to crises and uncertain times, as well as building resilience when facing challenges in delivering instruction.

Australia ranked sixth. Distance education has become a more popular alternative for Australians, with a growth rate of about 20% and a market value of US$4.68 billion predicted this year.

The international market for online programs headquartered in Australia that teach students from Asia is forecast to rise to millions of students over the next ten years, making Australia one of the world’s major providers of online education if it comes to fruition.

The Netherlands ranked seventh. The Netherlands has taken the route of establishing primary schools while keeping older pupils in distance learning environments. By reintroducing elementary school kids to the classrooms while national infection rates fell.

The United Kingdom ranked eighth. The government advocated a £100 million investment in online education to help the country grow its brand, develop superior online educational materials, and become a key worldwide player in the distance learning sector.

The financing idea is in reaction to rising tuition costs in the United Kingdom, which were once subsidized by the government but are now deterring students from pursuing higher education.

Sweden ranks ninth. Sweden has a unique approach to school closures, and the overwhelming sense is that the transition to distant learning has gone smoothly so far. Schools have worked hard to solve digital problems and ensure that students have access to online resources. Even before the start of the epidemic, many schools were already using digital platforms and tools. A smooth transition to distant learning was made possible by the utilization of existing digital resources and instructional practices.

Germany ranks tenth. Germany has a reputation for being behind the times when it comes to digitalization. Students are currently experiencing technical difficulties as schools remain closed. Even countries with a better track record, however, are experiencing difficulties with distant learning.

Following the coronavirus epidemic in July 2020, an existing school digitization plan was accelerated, bringing the combined state and federal efforts to almost 7 billion euros ($8.6 billion).

Finland ranks eleventh. Even in the age of technology-driven educational offerings, Finns are passionate about face-to-face education. They’ve made significant investments in new or renovated twenty-first-century superschools, which provide excellent and well-resourced teaching and learning spaces that allow face-to-face and digital interactions between instructors and students. The school is no longer just a place to teach and learn subjects; it is also a phenomenon where the entire learning experience and children’s growth occur, thanks to a serendipitous policy mix of national, local, and school decisions. They put a lot of work into ensuring that the children feel comfortable in a pleasant environment where students and teachers interact.

Canada ranks twelve. The Canadian Department of Education took advantage of the situation by confirming that online learning would continue during the pandemic. The priority would be to keep schools open for in-person learning, but according to a Ministry of Education document, plans are in the works to allow parents to enroll their children in “full-time synchronous remote learning” starting in September 2021. Students would have access to a greater range of courses through online learning, which would assure continuity, prevent learning loss, and give students a wider range of options.

Ireland ranks thirteen. According to international research, Ireland’s schools have substantial digital infrastructure gaps when compared to other industrialized countries, which has become especially crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Students in Irish schools were also more likely than students in other nations to attend schools with poor physical infrastructure, such as buildings, grounds, heating, lighting, and acoustics, which had an impact on teaching quality.

Belgium ranks fourth teen. As the COVID-19 epidemic spread across the globe, most governments took the precaution of closing schools to try to stop the virus from spreading further. Schools were required to replace this time in class with online learning and homeschooling, with teachers and parents assisting in most cases to assess how prepared students were. Teachers, students, and schools gathered in Belgium to confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal to prevent the spread of the disease. Therefore, using future policy solutions to the problem influences and guides the use of remote learning.

Switzerland ranks fifteen. Given the presence of the coronavirus in Switzerland, distance learning may be something that parents, instructors, and students will have to get used to.

Parents indicate that their children are doing their assigned tasks, but that there are some difficulties. Primary school students have been receiving worksheets in the mail or picking them up at school (at staggered, allotted times to avoid other pupils). Some students are already making use of current internet resources. Kindergarten students are given “homework” in the form of regular assignments such as counting or learning songs. Teachers communicate with one another via WhatsApp, email, and phone.

Norway ranks sixth teen. The COVID-19 epidemic has posed significant obstacles to the world’s education system. To slow the spread of the virus and prevent infections, most countries temporarily closed educational facilities. The physical shutdown of schools and university colleges in Norway on March 12, 2020, has hastened the transition to online teaching and learning methods. In comparison to traditional educator-centered pedagogies, active, student-centered learning practices are more effective. Because student-active learning (such as using student response systems and flipping the classroom) increases motivation and improves learning outcomes, the decision to increase the use of active student-centered learning methods and digitalization had already been made at both the governmental and institutional levels at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Slovenia ranks seventeen. Distance education was launched in Slovenia as a reaction to the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, and students found it more challenging than classroom instruction, but also more intriguing and innovative. They loved not having to perform in front of their classmates and being able to plan work during the day. Moreover, a third of pupils said it was simpler to study this way. The lack of social contact with classmates and teachers, as well as the lack of teacher explanation, were the bad features. Some children had trouble utilizing a computer, and about 20% of them had to share one with family members.

Singapore ranks eighteen. As the worldwide pandemic’s aftershocks continue to reverberate, K-12 students, parents, and teachers in Singapore are coming to terms with the fact that hybrid learning is here to stay. With the prospect of returning to full-time brick-and-mortar classes looming, Singapore schools took a bold and internationally lauded step to address mental health head-on by implementing classroom therapy sessions in which students (and teachers) were encouraged to share their experiences and concerns about lockdown and isolation.

China ranks nineteen. China has a long history of distance education, dating back to the 1960s with courses given via radio and television, but it is quickly becoming a pioneer in online education.

In China, however, issues with internet connectivity in rural regions and the growth of diploma mills have hampered progress. The country has experienced significant expansion, thanks in part to a rise in demand for highly skilled members of the global labor from China. The online learning business is predicted to grow by leaps and bounds in the next years, and it has been steadily growing since 2006, indicating that it is on track to exceed all projections.

Latvia ranks twenty. Because of COVID 19, online learning has been implemented in Latvia for a longer period than in other European nations, raising worries about the mental health of children, particularly teenagers. Several national and local support programs have been created to help teachers prevent burnout. To ameliorate the situation in schools, the Minister of Education says that by the end of the year, support for instructors, as well as self-help courses for students, parents, and teachers, will be in place.

Unlike other years, the 2021/2022 school year will see a lot of moving parts. Which nations are best prepared for those changes will dictate whose education systems are the most successful.

How to Develop a solid hybrid learning strategy

According to the 2021 UNESCO COVID Response Toolkit, successful, meaningful hybrid learning involves a three-step methodology supported by continuous monitoring and adjustment:

  1. Understand and Envision: Assess students’ needs and capacities
  2. Decide and Design: Determine the hybrid learning model
  3. Enable and Execute: Operationalize the hybrid learning method for each grade level.

Educators are being encouraged to look both inside and outside the box: According to UNESCO, a successful hybrid education plan is based on a what, when, who, and how to approach. Choosing which educational activities and subjects should be prioritized for in-person or remote learning, organizing a shift system to determine when in-person or remote learning should occur, defining who supports in-person or remote learning by allocating teachers (and parents) shifts and tasks, and determining how we can strengthen hybrid learning capacity.

The Black Hole – 2020-2021

By
Human Rights Advocate
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The Black Hole – 2020-2021

The world came crashing down and ate a future generation of children.

Climate change, poverty, and conflict are all threats. After a pandemic that kept 1.5 billion children out of school, a quarter of countries’ education systems are on the verge of collapsing, according to a new study from Save the Children.

Their study warns that the education of hundreds of millions of children is on a knife’s edge due to an unprecedented severity of dangers, including COVID 19 and the climate crisis.

According to Save the Children, a quarter of nations – the majority of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa – have school systems that are at extreme or high danger of collapsing.

According to the UN, over 1.5 billion children were out of school for the first time in history during the epidemic, with at least a third unable to access remote learning.

The terrible effects of COVID-19 are causing us to lose a generation.

According to UNICEF, while most of the industrialized world is looking forward to a return to more normal schooling during 2021-22, more than 100 million children in other areas of the world are still out of the classroom due to statewide COVID closures in 16 countries.

Between 10 and 16 million children are thought to be at risk of not returning to school at all, with females being the most susceptible.

This year, governments throughout the world will spend $5 trillion on K-12 education. This generation could lose twice or three times that amount in earnings unless they get all children and young people back to school, keep them in class and reclaim the core principles of learning.

The first impact was the loss of millions of lives due to the COVID 19 virus’s sickness. The second factor was human misery brought on by job insecurity and poverty. The third focuses on youngsters and teenagers who were supposed to be in school but were instead told to stay at home.

The link between Education and Poverty

The pandemic has been going on for two years. Almost all governments determined that keeping students out of school and colleges was one of the most effective approaches to combat the pandemic. Keeping educational facilities open, according to public health experts, would encourage the virus to spread further. Kids would have to stay at home to “flatten the curve” and minimize hospital overcrowding.

Many European and East Asian countries swiftly reopened schools this fall, recognizing both the evident costs to children and the lack of evidence of the benefits of a complete closure. However, school closures were continued for unusually lengthy durations in several nations in South Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and even East Asia.

By the end of 2021, the number of school days lost had surpassed 200—roughly a school year and a half. This lengthy pause in learning could have serious long-term consequences, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

The majority of the impact will be seen by children and youth aged 4 to 25 in 2020 and 2021, resulting in significant intergenerational inequity. When children are absent from school for an extended period of time, they not only cease learning but also forget a lot of what they have learned.

According to the World Bank, a 7-month absence from school would increase the percentage of pupils in ‘learning poverty’ from 53 to 63 percent by late 2020. A total of 7 million pupils would be forced to drop out of school. The consequences on women, minorities, and girls will be even harsher. The loss predictions have been revised upwards, and now expect learning poverty to approach 70% unless immediate and aggressive action is taken.

Those with the fewest resources have suffered the greatest losses.

Children from the poorest families suffer the most losses in all countries—rich, middle-income, and poor—because their possibilities to maintain any educational involvement through distance learning are limited. Only half of all students in middle-income nations and a tenth of pupils in the poorest countries have access to the internet. The usage of television and radio, as well as learning materials that make learning easier, has aided, but it cannot replace interactive education. ‘Learning’ cannot be defined as a few hours a day spent watching television or listening to the radio.

As a result, the existing significant disparities in opportunity are widened. COVID-19 may result in lesser growth, higher poverty, and greater inequality in the developing world for a generation, posing a devastating triple danger to global prosperity for decades to come.

The UN has hard data on learning losses in middle-income nations like Brazil and India by late last year. Educators in the state of So Paulo, for example, elected to measure the status of learning on a continual basis, in contrast to many other countries, who have postponed any form of learning measurement, possibly to avoid bad news. Students learned 27 percent less than they would have learned in regular circumstances after a year without in-person classes, according to the researchers. Pratham, a well-known education NGO in India, discovered that minimal competence levels in the state of Karnataka have been lowered in half.

The three new “Rs.”

Many countries had restored schools by the end of 2021, which is encouraging. However, approximately one out of every four school systems remained closed, and many others had just partially reopened. Although 300 million children still need to be securely transported back to school, 1.5 billion youngsters were back in class. But that was before the virus’s Omicron version. Since the beginning of the year, these figures have changed.

Experts believe that a combination of reopened schools, remote learning, and remedial programs can mitigate the effects of the disruptions, serve as a model response for future shocks, and possibly even improve public education compared to a few years ago.

Securely reopen schools. If the idea of millions of children sitting in front of the television disturbs you, consider this: more than half of the households in 30 African countries lack access to power. For far too many children around the world, home settings are not favorable to learning; far too many lack access to the Internet, a suitable device, funds to purchase data or books, and a place to study at home.

And education is a social effort by definition: it necessitates constant engagement. This entails the establishment of physical schools, which must be opened and made safe for students and teachers. It is necessary to make investments. Money is frequently available for this, and there is no shortage of guidance from international organizations on how to do it.

A national feeling of urgency is generally lacking in many countries.

Invest in online education. During the two years of the epidemic, teams from the World Bank and the OECD undertook an assessment of remote learning. The outcomes aren’t always positive. The epidemic, on the other hand, demonstrated that hybrid learning approaches, which combine in-person and remote instruction with the use of smart digital technology, are here to stay. However, technology investments must be carefully paired with investments in learning skills.

The pandemic has hastened a shift in attitude toward the use of technology, and nations only have a little time to persuade teachers and administrators to consider technology as an integral component of the learning process. After all, this isn’t the first time a virus or natural disaster has forced schools to close. Better learning tools in the classroom can make the system more effective both when schools are open and when they must close by supporting the continuation of the learning process at home.

Remediate to make up for lost or missing learning. In the United States, pupils returned last fall with about a third less reading learning than they would have had in the previous academic year. In many nations where schools are closed for long periods of time, kids begin a new grade without having absorbed even a small percentage of what they were taught in the prior grade.

If children do not catch up, especially those in the early grades, when losses are greater, they may drop out. Schools all across the world must adapt to students’ needs, including their basic literacy and numeracy abilities, as well as their mental health and well-being, say experts. Students who learned less last year, on the other hand, tend to rebound faster than others if they are given remedial help. However, without extra assistance for teachers and principals, this will not be possible.

Keeping a lasting loss at bay

The World Bank Group is assisting in these efforts by working on around a hundred COVID-related education programs in over 60 countries. The total cost of these projects is $ 11 billion. These are World Bank records, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the $72 billion the US government has set aside to help public schools reopen safely.

More efforts are needed to fund the return to classroom-based teaching and assist public schools in adopting teaching strategies that integrate online and in-classroom learning and teach kids at the level they require today, focusing on fundamental skills and in their native language, say experts.

A billion children’s futures are in jeopardy around the world. COVID-19 will be a big setback for this generation until we get them back in school and find strategies to mitigate the effects of the disruption. When the effects of the coronavirus are fully assessed, it will be obvious that the greatest loss of learning is the result.

In a decade, we may look back and realize that the pandemic’s most devastating loss could have been avoided. We have the opportunity to act now and avoid regret later.

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