Safe Schooling (News and Research 211)

Turkey Safe Schooling & Distance Education Launch with Minister of National Education

Как пандемия повлияет на образование в Казахстане и Центральной Азии? | How will the pandemic affect education in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries? Read an interview with our Lead Education Specialist Ayesha Vawda and in video format (in English): https://www.facebook.com/RadioAzattyq/videos/657650061623316/.

How do Multilingual Children Experience English Language Acquisition in an Urban Indian School? | Subhashini Rajasekaran | In the multilingual, multicultural emerging economy of India, the language debate may seem to have settled with the adoption of the Three-Language Formula in the first National Policy of Education 1968. However, 50 years later, does this policy still hold? Has research on language acquisition informed our education policy and classroom practices, at the school level and the system level? This research attempts to understand how language practices manifest themselves in an urban middle-class English-medium school with multilingual and non-English-speaking students. We examine the students’ communicative practices to uncover some of the patterns in language acquisition across three primary grades and two income levels, using empirical data from survey questionnaires, classroom observations, videography and closed- and open-ended interviews. We present some hypotheses and analyse these against the organisational structure and culture of the school and the larger socio-economic and political context of the education system. The findings suggest that strict compartmentalising of languages for learning, at the cost of isolating social and linguistic identities, is likely to be counterproductive and unsustainable. The sooner we adapt our education policies and practices to support the multilingual practices of students and by association, their diverse identities, greater the possibility of building a strong and confident citizenry.

Uzbekistan stages outdoor exams for 1.4 million university applicants | School graduates take university entrance exams at the Pakhtakor sports arena amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan September 2, 2020 (REUTERS/Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov).

Launching a new academic year under the cloud of COVID-19 | Tigran Shmis, Maria Barron, Kaliope Azzi-Huck | Now published in:            Español          Français         العربية

Quebec invests $20M to help students catch up as they head back to school | Quebec’s education minister has unveiled a series of measures to help students achieve success as they head back to class during the ongoing health crisis. The Government is investing $20 million as a “safety net” to help students catch up amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will be used to hire more staff — such as teachers and technicians —  and carry out individual follow-ups for students. The province is also waiving a bureaucratic process for two years to allow schools to immediately access funding for students who have learning difficulties. The government is launching an awareness campaign to ensure parents know about the safety measures in schools to curb the spread of COVID-19. The other component of the campaign is to encourage students to continue their studies

The Digitization of TVET and Skills Systems | This joint ILO-UNESCO report provides a global, high-level overview of how digitalization is affecting TVET and skills systems. It draws on consultations with key stakeholders in a set of countries and international organizations to provide insights into the nature and scope of digitalisation and how it is likely to affect the management, delivery, assessment and certification of technical and vocational education and training. The study draws on developments in Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States.

Participation in international research is a motivating factor in the development of human capital | Institute for Education Development Strategy of the Russian Academy of Education, the Association of School Librarians of the Russian World, the Higher School of Economics, the World Bank Office in Moscow and the READ program, August 24-25, 2020: “Over two days about 10,000 listeners from 1,000 connection points took part in this event.” Links to webinar recording first day & second day. News coverage in Uzbekistan 24 TV channel & MY5 TV channel (both in Uzbek).

Extracurricular education during COVID-19 | Webinar organized by Institute of Education of Higher School of Economics (Moscow) and World Bank, September 4, 2020 | Sergey Kosaretsky, Pinsky Center of General and Extracurricular Education, HSE; Isak Froumin, Head of HSE Institute of Education; Harry Patrinos, World Bank; Gil Noam, Harvard Medical School; Firuza Sultan-zadeh, Azerbaijan; Dariya Musina, Kyrgyz; Rita Kaša, Latvia; Ludmila Botnar, Moldova; Alina Beșleaga, Moldova; Irina Yakovleva, Belarus; Andrey Pavlov, HSE; Tiko Tsomaia, Georgia; Nataliya Rumyantseva, UK; Boris Kupriyanov, Russia; Larisa Lvova, Russia; and Gulnara Kusidenova, Kazakhstan. Inequality in Extracurricular Education in Russia. Russian Federation: Doing Extra-Curricular Education. The Clover Model of Youth Development. YouTube

Unsafe school facilities reinforce educational inequities among marginalized students | With the new school year now upon us, questions of how to reopen safely are paramount. The nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases over the summer has forced many school districts to  reverse their opening plans, either by delaying the start of the academic year or by switching to remote-only instruction for the initial part of the school year. Given the struggles to keep students engaged with learning when schools shut down in the spring, eventually opening for live instruction is seen as a necessary step to prevent further learning losses. The most vulnerable students—those in poverty or from communities of color—were the hardest to reach during shutdowns and will be further set back if they cannot safely access their classrooms in the new school year.

Supporting Teacher Autonomy to Improve Education Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from Brazil | What is the impact of greater teacher autonomy on student learning? This paper provides experimental evidence from a program in Brazil. The program supported teachers, through a combination of technical assistance and a small grant, to autonomously develop and implement an innovative project aimed at engaging their students. The findings show that the program improved student learning by 0.15 standard deviation and grade passing by 13 percent in sixth grade, a critical year of transition from primary to lower-secondary education. The paper explores two mechanisms: teacher turnover and student socio-emotional skills. Teacher turnover is reduced by 20.7 percent, and the impacts on student outcomes are concentrated in the schools with the largest reductions. The findings also indicate positive impacts on conscientiousness and extroversion among the students. The results suggest that increasing the autonomy of public servants can improve service delivery, even in a low-capacity context.

Educator Knowledge of Early Childhood Development: Evidence from Eastern Nepal | Earlychildhood is a crucial period for the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and language development of children. Of the 200 million children who do not reach their developmental potential worldwide, 66 percent live in South Asia. This paper explores gaps in knowledge among educators in Eastern Nepal about the importance of early childhood. The results of a survey headteachers and teachers show that teachers often do not place enough weight on the importance of behaviors that contribute to the growth and development of children in early childhood. There are also large gaps in teachers’ understanding and practice of classroom accommodations for children with disabilities. The paper illustrates that educators, who play a large role in children’s lives during early years, may be uninformed about the importance of early childhood development. The paper provides policy recommendations that can help policymakers target areas that lack understanding and improve early childhood development education and understanding among educators.

Schooling Covid-19: Lessons from leading charter networks from their transition to remote learning | This report summarizes key actions taken by leading charter school networks that were able to transition quickly and effectively to remote learning. This report distills major lessons learned and offers concrete recommendations for how to significantly improve the remote learning experience for all students, teachers, and families in the critical months and year ahead. Among them: Create and enforce a typical school day for students, with a mix of live and recorded lessons and independent student work; Prioritize student health and wellbeing and reach out to individual students and families on a regular basis; and Lean into a team approach to teaching and instruction, centered around a common curriculum.

About 3,000 students started their school year in completely renovated schools in Moldova.