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Mind the gap(s): Are we seeing the full picture of children’s skill development?
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Mind the gap(s): Are we seeing the full picture of children’s skill development?

More than four-fifths of countries lack the data to provide a baseline on the full range of skills children and youth need to thrive in school, work and life. UNICEF uses a fivefold typology for the development of broad, interconnected skills : 1) foundational skills, such as basic literacy and numeracy; 2) transferable skills, or ‘life skills’ such as problem-solving, negotiation and critical thinking; 3) digital skills, which allow individuals to use and understand technology; 4) job-specific skills, also known as technical and vocational skills that support older adolescents’ transition into the workforce; and 5) entrepreneurial skills, which support business and social entrepreneurship (Figure 1).Figure 1. UNICEF’s skills typologyAiming towards more comprehensive measures of skill development, UNICEF has begun mapping available assessments on these five types of skills. The mapping exercise identified large-scale assessments, including household surveys and databases, that: a) measured at least one of the five skills categories; b) were administered within the last 10 years; and c) had data publicly available. Information such as category of skill(s) measured, participating countries and target population were collected to create an inventory of assessments. This allowed us to see where data may be lacking across countries, skill categories and age groups.What gaps do we find? Within the last 10 years, only 38 of 224 countries and territories (17 per cent) have reported data on all five skills categories, while 48 countries and territories (21 per cent) do not have data on any of the five skills. Data gaps are especially prevalent among low-income countries, few of which have participated in large-scale assessments beyond foundational skills measurement. As a result, only 5 per cent of all low- and lower-middle-income countries have data available on all five skills (Figure 2).Figure 2. Data availability across countries and territoriesNote: This map is stylized and not to scale. It does not reflect a position by UNICEF on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.Across skills categories, three-quarters of countries have data on foundational skills, but only about half have data on digital skills and a fifth have data on job-specific skills. Data availability also varies by age group: for instance, a third of countries have data on transferable skills for children of secondary school age, but only 7 per cent have the same for those of primary school age (Figure 3).Figure 3. Data availability by skill category and age groupGaps are also seen in most assessments’ exclusion of out-of-school children, for whom outcomes may be far worse. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment for Development (PISA-D), which includes in-school and out-of-school assessments comparable with the main PISA, reveal exceptionally poor outcomes for participating countries (Figure 4). More than half of 15-year-olds in these countries have dropped out of school before completing basic education. Understanding where out-of-school children are in their skills development will be especially crucial as school closures brought by COVID-19 pose a significant risk of dropout.Figure 4. Percentage of 15-year-olds achieving minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics, PISA-D and PISA 2018Source: PISA 2018 and PISA for Development databases.Note: Percentages of 15-year-olds achieving minimum proficiency was computed as a weighted average of the percentage of students performing at Level 2 or above and that of youth not enrolled in school performing at Level 2 or above. The OECD average is a student average.Lastly, areas such as transferable and job-specific skills are often only partially addressed by existing assessments. Compared to foundational skills, assessing transferable and job-specific skills is less straightforward, with no single approach or tool to measure these skills. Existing large-scale assessments like the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and PISA provide insight into a few select transferable skills such as civic participation and perspective-taking, but they may not fully capture other core social and emotional skills. Similarly, as skills requirements differ from job to job, no single assessment of job-specific skills may apply across all occupations. Participation rates in technical-vocational education and training can give some indication of how many might be acquiring job-specific skills, but this does not tell us about the quality or relevance of skills development in these activities.To help fill some of these gaps, the development of alternative measures for these various skills are now underway. Emerging efforts include the Foundational Learning Skills and Mass Media and ICT modules in UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and the Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) measurement tool co-developed by UNICEF and the World Bank. The LSCE tool, currently being finalized, aims to provide a standardized approach to measuring proficiency in 12 core life skills.It is essential that we continue tracking the development of the various skills children need to thrive in today’s world, especially with the new skills required to adapt to digital learning. This is what we envision through Reimagine Education, an initiative to end the learning crisis by connecting every child and young person to world-class digital learning solutions that help build a broad range of skills for a better future. We must work towards closing the data gaps to ensure all children are set up for success in school, work and life.Download the 1-page infographic on data gap for tracking the full range of skills.Anna Alejo is an education consultant and Haogen Yao, Bassem Nasir, and Rachel Cooper are education specialists at UNICEF New York Headquarters.  
Eight Great Childhood Stories in Eight Decades: A celebration of UNICEF75 in film
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Eight Great Childhood Stories in Eight Decades: A celebration of UNICEF75 in film

UNICEF turns 75 this year. To celebrate its resolute commitment to children – and as we launch the second UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival showcasing new, high-quality cinema narratives of childhood – we look back to some of the greatest film narratives of childhood. After watching hundreds of amazing films about childhood from every corner of the world, from the 1940s to 2010s, we selected one from each decade that tells a story in consonance with UNICEF’s mission to protect children's rights, help meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. From helping displaced or abandoned children to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities – UNICEF strives to work for every child, at all stages of childhood, including adolescence.    The Search, USA, 1948Against the backdrop of post-World War II Europe, is the story of a Karel (Ivan Jandl), a young concentration camp survivor in search of a future; Steve (Montgomery Clift), a US Army engineer in search of justice; and Hanna (Jarmila Novotná), a mother desperately in search of her son. While Steve befriends Karel, he devotes himself to working with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) – re-emerged in 1946 as “temporary” programme then called the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Directed by Fred Zinnemann, a pioneer in “location” films – mostly shot among the ruins of war in Germany – The Search is one the early films to show the horrible impacts of the war on children. It might also be the first Hollywood production to depict the work of the United Nations and UNICEF, which still addresses the most challenging humanitarian issues facing children in conflict zones today. The Search won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Story and a Special Juvenile Oscar given to Ivan Jandl was accepted on his behalf by Fred Zinnemann because he was not allowed to travel to the US from his home in the country today known as Czechia.    Pather Panchali, India, 1955A poetic and immersive directorial debut by one of India’s greatest filmmakers, Satyajit Ray, Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road in Bengali) was a bona fide international film festival sensation. While not widely distributed at the time of its release, it premiered at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1955 – just two years after the UN General Assembly approved a new, and for the first time permanent, mission for UNICEF to assist vulnerable children around the world. Heavily influenced by the Italian neorealism movement, Pather Panchali focuses on the lives of poor children and their family, particularly their female caregivers, in a rural Bengal village. India’s first independent film to attract major international attention and sensitize a global audience to the hardships of the country’s rural poor, it has been criticized for romanticizing the lives of the poor, and praised for its realism and humanity.    L’Enfance nue, France, 1968Abandoned by his mother, François is a child of the French foster care system, continually placed in and kicked out of foster families because of his troubled and, at times, cruel behavior. However, at 10 years old, he also has a softer, reflective side. Maurice Pialat’sL’Enfance nue (Naked Childhood), presents an unvarnished look at what happens to children when things go wrong, and parents cannot provide the care they need. Released during the tense May 1968 civil unrest in France, which began with a series of student protests, L’Enfance nue, drew attention for its unsentimental portrayal of children in the foster care system. At the same time, new research and thinking about children in care showed unacceptable outcomes for institutionalized children. Orphanages and childcare institutions – including the Ospedale Degli Innocenti in Florence – had begun to rethink their forms of care for abandoned children and to consider closing such institutions in favor of homelike care settings, a trend which would grow and expand to countries at all levels of economic development in the years to follow.    Tale of Tales, Soviet Union, 1979Judged in 1984 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be the best animated short film of all time, Tale of Tales is a good example of the great achievements in animation across the Eastern Bloc prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Director Yuri Norstein’s scenes were said to appear like masterful oil paintings that came alive with perfect realism. This powerful impression was said to have been achieved by a unique system of photographing animated cells on multiple glass planes which were moved relative to the camera. The film’s structure is non-linear, and designed to convey the fragmentary and fuzzy images of human memory. The binding element is the perception of childhood during war-time poverty combined with nostalgic scenes of close human relationships experienced during times of deprivation. In Norstein’s words, the film is “about simple concepts that give you the strength to live.” Tale of Tales appeared at a time when international efforts toward the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) began to accelerate with the passage of numerous international agreements in the 1970s, building to near universal consensus on the need for the Convention and culminating in a International Year of the Child in 1979. The CRC was eventually passed by the UN General Assembly in 1989.    Bashu, the Little Stranger, Iran, 1986A dazed and traumatized boy emerges from a truck thousands of miles from his war-ravaged town near the Iran-Iraq battlefront of the 1980s. Little Bashu finds himself in Northern Iran, haunted by the spirits of his deceased mother and family members and unable to understand a single word of the local dialect (Gilaki). Taunted for his dark skin and seemingly alien ways by the villagers, he is taken in by Naii, a mother of two children trying to manage the family farm while her husband is far away in the war. Considered by many as one of the most powerful Iranian feature films of the time, director Bahram Beyzai successfully portrays an ostracized child with dignity and dimensionality, while revealing the problem of racial and ethnic prejudice. At a time of growing awareness of and concern about the dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties of armed conflict, with disastrous implications for children, Bashu, the Little Stranger tells an important story about overcoming differences.   </div><p> </p> <p> </p> <h3>La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil, Senegal, 1999</h3> <p>Sili, an adolescent with a disability in Dakar, decides she will be the first girl to sell <em>Le Soleil</em>, the national daily newspaper – a job ruled by boys. Even though she is repeatedly harassed and mistreated by the boys, Sili overcomes her challenges with unruffled confidence. Despite having only made two features and five short films, Senegalese filmmaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djibril_Diop_Mamb%C3%A9ty">Djibril Diop Mambéty</a> caught the attention of the film world several times before he died in 1998. <em>La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil</em> (<em>The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun</em>) attracted wide acclaim at the Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong and Rotterdam international film festivals when it was released in 1999, and broke new ground by featuring the story of a disabled child. While UNICEF continues to work and advocate for children with disabilities, far too many are still denied a fair chance to make their dreams real or to be included as equal participants in their communities, as recognized in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities. </p> <div class="iframe-container"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ByXuk9QqQkk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"> Spirited Away, Japan, 2001While driving to their new home in a faraway town, nine-year-old Chihiro’s family falls into a mystical world populated by humans and Kami, the traditional Japanese spirits of the natural world. To rescue her parents and safeguard her future, Chihiro embarks on an epic journey, one that will test her judgment, courage and loyalty. That said, Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away – an enormously popular film that remains one of the top grossing Japanese feature films of all time – defies any simple description. It combines the highest art of storytelling with a deep meditation of complex themes: the transition from child to adult; resistance to consumerism; and respect for the natural world. Appearing at a time when UNICEF and others started focusing more attention on adolescent health and skills, it speaks to those same themes. “It's not a story in which the characters grow up, but a story in which they draw on something already inside them, brought out by the particular circumstances.”— Hayao Miyazaki.    La Jaula de Oro, Guatemala/Mexico, 2010Despite the dangers, Samuel, a rag picker, Chauk, an indigenous boy, and Sara – disguised as a boy named Osvaldo – are determined to leave Guatemala for the US. After crossing the Mexican border by boat, the trio hop on slow moving trains headed north. Along the way, they are exposed to violent police, drug cartels and petty criminals, all looking to deceive or exploit them. Only one of the three survives the journey. Screened at Cannes Film Festival’s 2013 “Un Certain Regard” showcase, The Golden Cage (distributed in the US as The Golden Dream) received notable attention. Diego Quemada-Diaz won awards for best director and best ensemble cast (played by young non-professional actors). Shot in Guatemala and Mexico, the film offers a stark look at what happens to the thousands of unaccompanied minors who still undertake this same journey today. When the film opened, the news of surges of unaccompanied minors arriving at the US border began to hit the headlines, foreshadowing an even larger version of the same humanitarian crisis affecting Europe in 2015. The film authentically portrays children on the move in the 21st century, providing an unflinching revelation of the danger and trauma these young people are exposed to and the depths of their determination to move. (Please note: The UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival, 2nd edition is being held in theater at Cinema La Compagnia and online 21 - 24 October 2021. In 2021 UIFF presents 38 films from 29 countries touching on the exhileration, the pain the joys and the dangers of childhood).Dale Rutstein is the Chief of Communication for UNICEF Innocenti and Coordinator of the UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival  which showcases cinema narratives of childhood from all parts of the world. 
How do we balance children’s rights to participation and protection and the tensions this can create
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How is collaboration helping improve approaches to research involving children?

 Consortium on Ethical Research Involving Children (ERIC) continues to develop resources to help ensure children’s participation in research is respectful and safe.The influence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on research practice is now well recognized, particularly in relation to children’s right to participation. This has coincided with significant advances in childhood scholarship across geographies and disciplines — challenging assumptions about the legitimacy of children’s involvement. This movement has ushered in greater development and refinement of methods and tools to help ensure children’s participation is not only relevant and engaging, but also safe. Such shifts are promising, but do they guarantee the research that is planned, or undertaken, is ‘ethical’? And what do we mean by ‘ethical’ anyway, given the very diverse contexts for research involving children? How do we balance children’s rights to participation and protection and the tensions this can create? Do researchers and other stakeholders (funders, ethics review boards, parents/guardians) have ready access to the support, guidance and tools they need to reflect critically on these tensions and the ethical decision-making often required ‘in situ’ and at the start of, as well as throughout, the research process? These are the kinds of questions that inspired an international consortium to embark on an ambitious project, now widely known as ‘ERIC’ (the Ethical Research Involving Children project). The consortium comprised: the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti;the Centre for Children and Young People (CCYP) at Southern Cross University, Australia;the Children’s Issues Centre (CIC) at the University of Otago, New Zealand; and,the Childwatch International Research Network. The initial aim of the consortium was to consider whether more could be done to translate the rights afforded to children under the UNCRC into a platform or framework to enhance the quality of research, ensuring respect for and protection of children and providing support for researchers across very diverse global contexts. In this blog we reflect on the journey of ‘ERIC’, where it began, where we are now, and where we would like to go next. From its inception, ERIC (Ethical Research Involving Children) has been an international collaboration. The seeds for the project were sown in conversations and meetings within the Childwatch International Research Network (comprising 50 global child research centres) during 2004-2011. Extensive research and consultation with the international research community then led to the launch of the ERIC resources in 2013 which included extensive print-based on online resources. Eight years on, the original ERIC compendium, which includes an ethics Charter and extensive guidance on specific considerations, challenges and questions that arise across diverse contexts, has been translated into 6 languages and the associated website is accessed in over 185 countries attracting on average 2000 visitors each month. The website now houses a growing bank of international case studies, an online interactive glossary and a specially curated library of the latest literature on ethical research involving children. It also includes an expert blog, with contributions from leading international scholars and others engaged in cutting-edge research involving children including, most recently, a contribution by young people themselves – members of the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership Child and Youth Advisory Group. The ERIC website is now an active hub for researchers across all levels of experience, as well as other research stakeholders. ERIC has become the international ‘bible’ for ethical child research. It has evolved from the original idea of being a ‘go to’ repository of resources to an ongoing international conversation around some of the most vexed ethical issues researchers and others navigate as we all seek to balance children’s participation and protection rights in very different contexts. As longstanding partners, UNICEF, CCYP, CIC and CIRN are immensely proud of what ERIC has achieved, as evidenced by the sheer numbers of researchers accessing the website globally and the sharing of experiences, questions, concerns and stories about their engagement with research ethics.The initiative continues to attract funding as well as requests for presentations, training and other capacity building activities. ERIC is thriving and we remain committed to its continued evolution to meet future need. In exploring ‘what next’ we want to hear and know what practitioners and other stakeholders need, what are the supports that will help in their reflexive practice, how can we further build and support the community to undertake research in the challenging environments that children are growing up in? To this end, we are currently running ERIC’s first user survey for future support resources and directions. Keep up to date with ERIC via its dedicated social media channels (Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn), or join the mailing list here.Professor Anne Graham is Professor of Childhood Studies and Founding Director of the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University, Australia. She was one of the original initiators and founders of the Ethical Research Involving Children (childethics.org) programme and continues to co-lead the programme in partnership with the UNICEF Office of Research.Professor Nicola Taylor holds the Alexander McMillan Leading Thinker Chair in Childhood Studies and is the Director of the Children’s Issues Centre at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She was also one of the original initiators and founders of the Ethical Research Involving Children programme.
Why measure the skills children and youth need for life?
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Why measure the skills children and youth need for life?

Transferable skills – sometimes also called life skills, 21st Century skills or socioemotional skills – are essential to all of us and act as “the glue of all skills”, including foundational skills, digital skills, job-specific skills, and entrepreneurial skills, enabling us to learn, work, participate in society, and in a nutshell, live. They play a role in every aspect of the lives of children and young people now, and later, as adults.Skills like academic grit and problem solving may help us learn foundational skills like reading and mathematics which are the gatekeepers to further academic learning (for example the UNICEF-supported Tanzania Life Skills Assessment provides information on the connections between transferable skills and foundational skills). Skills like empathy help us to become good citizens, both of one’s own country and the world, and to become good employees or employers. We need a whole range of skills like creativity and critical thinking to get that job, or to start that business.Figure 1: UNICEF Skills TypologyTransferable skills develop progressively from early childhood through adolescence to adulthood and are to varying degrees malleable. Besides foundational skills, transferable skills are a key priority for the UNICEF 2019-2030 Education Strategy “Every Child learns”. Their development is a highly complex process that is not fully understood: one skill affects other skills and development is shaped by multiple internal and external factors, including experiences in school, at home, with peers, parents, and others. Many education systems in the world have promoted the development of those skills through integration into curricula and/or through stand-alone modules and/or extra-curricular activities. They are also essential parts of non-formal education programmes and others programming meant to promote employability, entrepreneurship, civic engagement, empowerment, or other development outcomes.As such, understanding what transferable skills children and youth have, and what skills they need to develop is important for educators, policymakers, programme implementers, employers, parents and caregivers, and of course young people themselves.So, how do we know if children and youth have these skills?For the most part, we do not know the answer in a very accurate way. Ideally, learners would be observed in a wide variety of everyday situations to understand what skills they have in their arsenal to utilize in different scenarios. In reality, this would be impractical and expensive to implement, especially on a large scale. So, we must develop different tools that give us this information.Developing these tools is technically challenging. There is no global consensus on how to define specific transferable skills, how they progress, and what the right benchmarks of those skills should be. To complicate things further, the definition of some skills can differ based on cultural variations. For example, defining effective communication in Rwanda might look different from how you define it in Bhutan.Over the past few years, there has been a growing interest by governments, donors, private sector, academia, and other stakeholders in developing specific tools to measure transferable skills for different purposes and contexts. Several of these tools show promise at providing reliable data to answer some key questions such as:As a policymaker, in particular in the context of education sector planning, how do I know if all children and youth in my country have transferable skills? Some tools give us an overall picture of transferable skills in a population (not on an individual level). The results of these large-scale assessments can often provide more detailed information on skills development for particular groups, and can be further analyzed to provide snapshots of certain population groups to feed into the design of strategies and policies, and to monitor progress made at the national level over time. Two UNICEF-supported examples: the Life Skills and Citizenship Education initiative, being developed in MENA provides an assessment for the skills demonstrated in Figure 2; and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM), with results already disseminated for six countries. These tools are a great starting point for specific contexts, and help to initiate conversations in other regions about measuring transferable skills. Missing is how these relate to one another and can be used across contexts.Figure 2: MENA Life Skills ConceptualizationAs an education sector plan/programme implementer, does my plan/programme support the development of transferable skills? Some tools evaluate the effectiveness of programming on transferable skills. One example: Save the Children’s ISELA (International Social and Emotional Learning Assessment).As a teacher, do I know if my students are developing transferable skills? Some tools can be used by teachers and practitioners to get feedback on the progress students are making in their development of transferable skills, to be used to inform teaching practices and methods. One UNICEF-supported example: the Holistic Assessment of Learning implemented in Syria.As a learner, how do I show that I possess the transferable skills needed for future education and/or employment? There are different types of assessments that certify learners’ skills and enable them to transition to further education or to employment. Some tools rely on individual learners demonstrating skills through projects or portfolios. Many of those are privately owned/non-open sources and rely on a fee per use model such as Tessera by ACT which is intended to certify transferable skills for employment.Open access tools for the assessment of transferable skills are scarce, and many of them are still at the stages of development and validation. UNICEF intends to rally global, regional and national partners around the goal of making tools free of cost to national stakeholders and to develop tools to answer those questions and more.This blogpost is the first one in a series that will go deeper, but still in non-technical terms, into the issues and examples mentioned above.Bassem Nasir, Manuel Cardoso, and Rachel Cooper are education specialists with UNICEF’s Programme Group.*United Nations Children’s Fund, Global Framework on Transferable Skills, UNICEF, New York, 2019.   
Children draw with items from a recreational kit for children affected by COVID-19 in Jombang, Indonesia, on 22 October 2020. The youngest learners missed an average of 106 days of school in 2020, more than any other level of schooling
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Why we can't afford to let early childhood education fall through the COVID-19 cracks

A few weeks ago, after his last day at kindergarten, my son wanted to show me his portfolio. Marveling at the delightful collection of drawings, crafts, photos and teacher notes, I couldn’t believe how lucky we are that he got to experience a full year of kindergarten, in spite of COVID-19.Since we moved to Florence, Italy, at the end of last summer for my work as a researcher with UNICEF Innocenti, we have been under some degree of restriction to contain the spread of COVID-19. Kindergartens have however, for the most part, stayed open.A drawing by Dita Nugroho's son.My nephews, who are the same age, but live in one of many cities around the world where pre-primary* schools have remained closed over the past year and a half, have not been so lucky. They tried different online kindergarten programmes with mixed results and had little to no real-life interaction with children their age. This contrast reflects what was happening around the world. A survey of 143 countries found that while pre-primary students in high-income countries lost fewer instruction days in 2020 than older students, the opposite was true in low-and-middle income countries.A new UNICEF Innocenti research brief, It’s Not Too Late to Act on Early Learning, which I wrote together with colleagues at UNICEF and Inter-American Development Bank, examines the cost impact of these closures, how countries are responding and what can be done to support this group of young children as they prepare to start primary school.Here are some key findings from the brief:#1: The cost of pre-primary school closures is significant…Pre-primary school children in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) lost an average of 106 instruction days in 2020, more than the days lost in primary and secondary schools.A wide body of research tells us that quality early childhood education can have both short- and long-term impact on children’s futures – in schooling outcomes and beyond. Millions of children have and are missing out on this opportunity due to COVID-19 closures. A wide body of research tells us that quality early childhood education can have both short- and long-term impact on children’s futures – in schooling outcomes and beyond. Millions of children have and are missing out on this opportunity due to COVID-19 closures.Building on earlier work done by at the Inter-American Development Bank, the brief estimates the lost pre-primary school days in 2020 can cost at least $1.6 trillion globally in future earnings. Children in middle-income countries are likely to be the hardest hit because, like my nephews, they experienced longer closures. On average, the impact of pre-primary school closures in 2020 is equivalent to over 2.5 per cent of middle-income countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or close to two-thirds of average government expenditure on education among this group. In comparison, the impact on high- and low-income countries is estimated to be around 1 per cent of GDP on average.#2: … but pre-primary education is often left out of responses to COVID-19Although they missed out on more in-person learning days compared to older students, pre-primary students in low-and-middle-income countries were often left out of their countries’ responses to COVID-19. In 2020, the youngest learners were less likely to access distance learning during closures. When schools reopened, they were less likely to return to in-person learning. Countries were also less likely to be assessing learning losses and introducing remedial support measures at this level. And while many countries reported increased total spending for the education sector, this was less likely to be the case for the pre-primary sub-sector. It is important to note here the low starting point of spending at this level, with more than a third of countries investing less than 2 per cent of their education budgets on pre-primary education. Donor spending on the sub-sector is similarly low and prone to volatility. #3: It’s not too late to support the children who missed out on pre-primary learningA recent joint statement by UNICEF and UNESCO called for schools to be last to close and the first to reopen. The brief echoes this call, highlighting the high cost of inaction and limited degree of pre-primary students’ participation in learning continuity activities while schools are closed.Its first recommendation: Prioritize the reopening of pre-primary schools, so less children miss out on important early learning experiences.Reopening school doors alone, however, will not be enough. The children who missed out on pre-primary learning opportunities are not starting school on even footing compared to those before them. Addressing this gap in the early years of schooling will be easier and cheaper for education systems to do, before these children remain or fall further behind. The brief presents key lessons from programmes that have successfully prepared children who missed out on a full pre-primary program for school. Specifically, these were:accelerated programmes (usually run in the holiday period before primary school)bridging programmes (usually run just before or at the start of primary school)remedial programmes in the first two years of primary schoolThese were referred to as “transition programmes” in the brief, as they are often used while countries are preparing for or transitioning to universal pre-primary access. An accelerated curriculum can inform the development of full pre-primary curriculum and can also be harnessed to respond to future crises. Evaluations show that even short, low cost transition programmes can support children’s readiness for school. They can be led by trained teachers or volunteers, but ongoing supervision and support or coaching for educators is beneficial in either case and can be done by linking with existing systems. Engaging families and the local community can help reach the most vulnerable children and support programme sustainability. Many families around the world would share my family’s sentiment that we can’t forget about the young children, like my nephews, who missed out on pre-primary learning opportunities because of COVID-19. Luckily it is not too late nor impossible to help them catch-up. *Pre-primary education is defined as organized learning programmes for children aged 3 years and up to the start of primary education.Read the full reportWatch this webinar on prioritizing pre-primary education in school reopeningDita Nugroho is an education research consultant at UNICEF Innocenti, where she focuses on early childhood education. Follow Dita @ditanugroho13 on Twitter, and for more updates from UNICEF Innocenti, follow @UNICEFInnocenti.  
Sahrul Aini plays with her child at their home in East Lombok, Indonesia. Sahrul receives cash-based assistance from UNICEF, which she used to pay for the costs related to the birth of her child
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Do Cash Grants Increase Pregnancies? Evidence from Asia and the Pacific says “No”

A common fear among policymakers is that government-provided benefits for households with young children – including cash transfers – may increase incentives to have children, to gain or maintain program eligibility. This is a topic we’ve had our eyes on for some time through the Transfer Project.  By conducting reviews of evidence and in our own impact evaluations, we’ve found little evidence to support this narrative from cash transfer programming in low-and middle income countries (LMICs).Until recently, however, evidence to support this from the Asia and the Pacific region has been absent from the debate. As fertility rates, norms around childbearing, and poverty levels differ across regions, it is possible cash transfer impacts may differ as well. With support from the Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19: Expert Advice (SPACE) helpline, I recently took a deep dive into evidence from the Asia and the Pacific region. I was curious not only to read new studies, but also to draw out implications for program design, to help inform design of new COVID-19 related cash transfer programs in the region.How might cash transfers affect pregnancy dynamics?There are a number of ways cash transfers could potentially increase or decrease incentives to have children, especially among programs targeted explicitly to pregnant women or households with young children. Policymakers may fear benefits will increase pregnancies, in line with pro-family policies in high-income, low-fertility settings. However, in theory, the impacts of cash transfers on pregnancies and births are equally likely in the opposite direction. For example, using increased income from cash transfers, parents are able to invest in the health, nutrition and education of their existing children, potentially leading couples to prefer smaller family sizes. The use of family planning may increase among transfer recipients due to income effects or more frequent interaction with the health sector, reducing unplanned pregnancies and allowing safe birth spacing. In addition, recent evidence demonstrates that cash transfers are some of the most promising interventions to delay early marriage and pregnancy for adolescent girls and young women. Therefore, it is possible that total fertility rates may decrease as a result of cash transfer programs over the longer-term. These dynamics are likely to vary based on underlying poverty rates, fertility rates and access to services in a given setting.What does the evidence from Asia and the Pacific say?After reviewing existing published and grey literature, compiled through targeted searches and existing review papers, I found a total of five high-quality studies. These studies evaluated cash transfers targeting households with pregnant women or young children and also measured key pregnancy-related outcomes.What did the studies find? The evidence shows no increase in pregnancies due to cash transfers, and in several cases showed impacts in the opposite direction (e.g. increased birth spacing, delay in first birth).Studies from Indonesia show that the government’s Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) increased birth spacing among women of reproductive age in the short-term, however had no impact on early fertility of girls and young women aged 16 to 21 exposed to PKH when they were school-aged.A study of the government of Myanmar’s maternal cash transfer pilot measured both current pregnancy and total number of pregnancies after 30 months of enrollment—finding no impacts on current pregnancy, fertility desires or use of family planning. However, a small reduction in total number of pregnancies since the start of the program was found in the ‘cash only’ group.A study of the government of the Pantawid Pamilyana Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the Philippines showed no impacts on total fertility rates after three years among women of reproductive age. A second study found a delay in age of marriage and first birth among women in their early twenties who lived in recipient households of 4Ps for a short period when they were in their teens. This evidence showing no link between cash transfers and increased pregnancy is particularly policy relevant, given all programs were government run and often reach the poorest women and households. In addition, evaluations reported a host of beneficial outcomes for children, ranging from child nutrition and dietary diversity, to better schooling outcomes. Programming practicalities and the way forwardTaken together, evidence suggests a number of practical considerations for programs to both maximize wellbeing impacts for maternal and child health, as well as reduce potential unintended consequences:Pregnancy-related conditions: While there has been speculation about program designs enforcing pregnancy-related conditions in program eligibility (i.e. making benefits conditional on limiting additional pregnancies or total number of children per woman), others have noted the ethical dangers of such an approach. Conditions may “undermine women’s and couples’ rights to autonomy and reproductive freedom and may translate into dangerous unintended consequences”, which may include “hiding children, not seeking necessary preventative care and health check-ups for children, or, at the extreme, infanticide.” Assuming a wealth-fertility gradient, conditionalities based on limiting number of children will also exclude the most vulnerable women and households. Therefore, given there is little evidence of pregnancy increases in the first instance--it is recommended programs remain free of these types of explicit pregnancy-related conditions.Messaging and labeling: Program design should consider if a labeled cash transfer or messaging campaign could serve program objectives. This could include labeling the cash as funds for maternal and infant health, or providing messages at pay points or via community structures around the importance of children’s education or family planning. For example, a study in Zambia found that giving men messages quantifying risk of maternal mortality and morbidity led them to reduce fertility desires and communicate more about family planning, corresponding with a fall in their wives’ pregnancy rates. Messaging should also clearly lay out criteria for eligibility and programming, to both beneficiaries, as well as other community members to avoid misinformation.Transfer value and duration: A meaningful transfer value is a key factor in enabling improvements in poverty and broader welling for children and families. However, there may be subtle ways to defusing potential adverse effects via transfer design. For example, capping benefits to a maximum number of children per household – or calculating benefits at a household level could help delink benefit value to new pregnancies and births. Alternatively, expanding the child age range eligibility to 17 years—so caregivers are not worried about children “aging out”—may support families in the longer-term, defusing the need for them to ‘re-qualify.’Health infrastructure investments: Governments should seek to combine investments in cash transfers with improvements to health infrastructure and systems strengthening, including strengthening the quality and accessibility of pre- and post-natal care, family planning and other maternal health services. Studies have hypothesized the key role of these services in influencing positive pregnancy-related outcomes for women and families. If couples desire smaller families over time, but are not able to access family planning, or continue to experience adverse birth outcomes, reducing family size may not be possible.Rigorous evidence refutes the narrative that cash transfers produce increase pregnancies in LMICs, including from five recent studies of government-run programming in Asia and the Pacific. Building on momentum to date, I’m eager to see continued evolution of programs incorporating gender-responsive designs—focusing on promoting wellbeing of women, children and families—rather than on unintended consequences that are not evidence-informed. Finally, as a researcher, I’d be remiss without recommending the continued study of impacts of cash transfers on pregnancy outcomes, including use of family planning and safe transitions to adulthood, in the Asia and Pacific context and beyond.  Amber Peterman is a Research Associate Professor at UNC Chapel Hill and a consultant to UNICEF Innocenti focusing on gender and social protection.*** This work is based on the brief Do Child Grants Lead to Increased Pregnancies? An Evidence View from Asia and the Pacific, developed with support from Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19: Expert Advice (SPACE) - a joint initiative of FCDO’s Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) and Gender Responsive Social Protection (GSP) programmes (funded by UKAid); GIZ (funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development); and the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Helpful comments were received by Juliet Attenborough, Abigail Bakker, Ric Goodman, Lisa Hannigan, Ginevra Jarmaine, Rachel Payne, Jacqui Powell, Dominic Richardson, John Rook and Kathleen Sullivan. SPACE materials including this blog do not necessarily represent FCDO, or GIZ or DFAT’s own views or policies or commit FCDO, GIZ or DFAT to any particular course of action. The author reports no conflicts of interest.
The power of play in the pandemic
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The power of play in the pandemic

Play is key for child development and the mental health of children and caregivers.Play is an essential part of development in the early years. Play is the way young children from birth to three  learn, as they  explore and begin to make sense of the world around them. Research shows that play supports many interrelated facets of development including cognitive, physical, social, emotional and language development in young children, setting the foundation on which new learning builds  throughout a child’s life.  Through play, young children develop social connections, which help regulate emotions, enhance self-esteem and empathy, and even improve the immune system! Playful interactions with parents help children develop their social-emotional skills, including how to manage their emotions and be in relationship with others – important for future emotional health and lifelong skills development.Recent research also shows that playful interactions with young children contributes to parental well-being and positive mental health. This is key, as we know that parental mental health is an essential driver of optimal child development. Parents who struggle with their own mental health tend to be less responsive to their children’s cues and might find it difficult to provide nurturing and responsive care. When parents engage in meaningful play with their children, they are not only supporting their child’s development but also improving  their own emotional well-being.  A recent study in Pakistan found that mothers who engaged in a parent-child play activity with their children over a 10-week period had a decline in depressive symptoms.This evidence doesn’t just come from research studies – parents themselves report that playing with their children makes them feel good. In 2018 the LEGO Play Well report found that 9 in 10 parents say play is fundamental to their own happiness and makes them feel more relaxed, energized, and creative. It also found that play has positive effects on family life, with ninety percent of parents saying play strengthens family relationships and helps them get to know their children better.Now, more than ever, we must leverage the power of play to promote parental mental health and child developmentA home-visiting nurse uses the Caring for the Caregiver approach in Serbia as part of the UNICEF-LEGO Foundation Playful Parenting programmeFor many caregivers, playful interactions with children have never been more important than in the current moment when both child development and parental mental health and well-being are at risk given the consequences of global COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the pandemic, parents and caregivers have had to manage increased financial, personal, and professional stressors.  It has become clear that the stressors of the pandemic, coupled with social isolation, have had a negative effect on the mental health and wellbeing of parents as they try to navigate a new ‘normal’  for themselves and their families.While it may seem difficult to find the time or energy for engaging in playful experiences, here are the ways that just a little play time can support well-being and development:Firstly, as parents contend with the multiple challenges they are facing during the pandemic, engaging in meaningful play activities with their children can improve their mental health and well-being. It’s true that during stressful periods, it can be hard to feel like playing, or prioritize the time for play. However it is during these times that play is most needed. Singing, dancing, and playing games together are good stress relievers, and are a great way for both children and caregivers alike to have fun even in the midst of stressful situations.Secondly, play can also strengthen positive parent-child interactions, which are key for young children’s development. This is particularly important in light of lockdowns and childcare closures which have left children isolated from their friends and peers. Aschildren’s first playmate, parents can continue to provide opportunities for early learning and social connection even while at home. Play also empowers and builds confidence for children and caregivers alike. By playing with their parents, children can learn they are loved, important and fun to be around. By playing with their children, parents can have fun, and be reminded of their unique ability to provide their children with comfort, connection, and love. Even in stressful times, these positive parent-child interactions can lay a foundation for social-emotional skills development and mental health that will last into the future.Finally, as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its eighteenth month, play is also an important way of protecting children from the negative impacts of prolonged exposure to stress. The Harvard Centre for the Developing Child considers exposure to prolonged adversity a source of toxic stress, which can have serious negative impacts on both physical and mental health across the lifespan. Supportive, stable relationships with adults can buffer children from stress and protect their development, even in adversity.As part of its current partnership, UNICEF and the LEGO Foundation have developed the Playful Parenting and Responding to the Crisis of Care and Learning programmes. These programmes support countries around the world to improve the capacity of frontline workers and provide timely support and information in order to promote the mental health and emotional well-being of parents so they can provide nurturing care and engage in playful interactions with their young children.As part of this initiative, a new training package for frontline workers called Caring for the Caregiver (CFC) has been created, in collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand and Harvard University. It is being validated in eight countries and will be ready for global roll-out in the second part of 2021.The CFC approach uses activity-based learning to promote emotional awareness and self-care, encourage partner and family support, develop strategies to deal with conflict, and learn problem-solving skills, particularly in contexts of high levels of adversity.“I was stressed, but thanks to the community health worker’s advice … I have mental stability … my child is becoming more and more open to interacting, which brings me joy.” – Mother, Koutiala Cercle Nutrition support, Pilot of Caring for the Caregivers, Mali 2018As illustrated below, play is a core element of the approach:Dealing with emotions and stressRisk of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and thoughts of self-harm may be elevated for caregivers during the pandemic, especially for those with pre-existing problems. Engaging in fun activities and play can trigger the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals!Family conflict strategiesFamilies that regularly interact with each other in positive, playful ways can build strong bonds that can help them deal with and diffuse conflict when it arises within the family. This is especially important during the pandemic, when violence against both caregivers and children has been on the rise globally.Strengthening interactions and relationshipsAs part of its “connect” component, CFC uses play to strengthen the quality of child-caregiver interactions and relationships, which in turn helps both to strengthen their resiliency and coping skills and foster optimal child development.RoutinesCFC helps families create a nurturing environment where children and family members engage in learning though play as part of regular everyday activities while also encouraging a balanced sharing of caregiving and domestic responsibilities among caregivers.When the pandemic began in early 2020, there was an immediate need for messages, activities, and strategies to support caregiver mental health. To meet this need, a new guide, entitledCaring for the Caregiver during the COVID-19 Crisis, provides evidence-based messages, practical guidance, case studies and resources that can be used to promote parents’ and caregivers’ mental health during the COVID-19 crisis and recovery period.The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly left a mark on every parent, and the Caring for the Caregiver program has come at the right moment. As the trusted professionals and friend of the family, we can learn about the mental health needs of the family and provide first line listening support and advice. - Home visiting nurse, Novi Sad, SerbiaThere is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for parents and children alike. UNICEF and the LEGO Foundation remain committed to continue to support parents and children during the crisis to ensure that this generation of young children not only survive but also thrive.
Parental Leave Limbo: Childcare Challenges and the Potential for Policy Progress
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Parental Leave Limbo: Childcare Challenges and the Potential for Policy Progress

Where childcare policies are failing parents and what countries can do to fix itAs I transition back to work after six months of maternity leave, I can’t believe my timing during the launch of a major new UNICEF report Where Do Rich Countries Stand on Childcare?Published by UNICEF’s Office of Research – Innocenti, where I work, the report ranks countries across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU) based on their national childcare and parental leave policies. Childcare and leave policies in these 41 countries have been compared and graded on the accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare for children between birth and school age. Using the most recent comparable data on policies for these countries, the report ranked Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Germany the highest on childcare provisions among high-income countries and ranked Slovakia, the United States, Cyprus, Switzerland, and Australia the lowest.As I return to work now, I find myself in the middle of an unfortunate gap between when my maternity leave ended and when accessible, affordable childcare options become available. In Italy, where I live and work, accessible childcare options (such as daycare) become available when babies are about 12 months old, leaving me in an awkward childcare limbo – a half year gap that, without the option of family members to help me out nearby, I can only fill with a relatively expensive private nanny.Like colleagues before me, in order to fill the gap between when my maternity leave ends and affordable childcare becomes available, I’m having to cobble together a mix of annual leave, help from grandmothers who live in other countries, as well as employing private nannies at up to four times the cost of even the most expensive daycares in Italy. But I know I am not alone in this challenge. Many working parents have accepted this as their reality as even in rich countries, no other options exist for them and no policies are in place to protect them.In UNICEF Innocenti’s report, while Italy ranks #1 for affordability among rich countries for childcare, it ranks #15 overall when you also consider childcare access and quality, as well as its parental leave policies. I feel the effects of how well these policies support parents and children every day as a mother.“This report helps to quantify and magnify just where and how childcare and parental leave policies can have a positive impact on both child wellbeing as well as gender equality and the economy, with more women able to return to the workforce when better policies are in play.In the report, the United States, where I’m originally from, unsurprisingly and tragically ranks second-to-last overall for its childcare policies, taking into account that despite being one of the wealthiest countries, it has no paid parental leave, and affordability and access are very low. As an American living and working abroad, I feel privileged to be employed by an organization that provides paid maternity leave for six months, living in a country where affordable, quality childcare is available from the age of one year – two extremely helpful benefits protected by effective policies, that would have been unavailable to me entirely if I were living in my home country. But, as I’ve discovered, no system is perfect, and this report helps to quantify and magnify just where and how childcare and parental leave policies can have a positive impact on both child wellbeing as well as gender equality and the economy, with more women able to return to the workforce when better policies are in play.As my family is also Swedish, I would have had the option, if we wanted to, to start a family in Sweden, where I could have benefited from more than a year and a half of maternity leave (not counting the generous paternity leave reserved only for fathers). This parental leave policy nicely aligns with when most daycare centers are available, free of charge. It’s not surprising to me that Sweden ranks third in the report given its generous package of parental leave combined with access to free formal childcare right when the basic leave entitlement ends.Despite my privileged access to these policies, I have chosen, like many others, to pursue a career elsewhere. Knowing how these three systems compare and contrast has indeed shaped decisions we’ve made about where and how we live and plan to raise our children.  I am fortunate to have the choice to pursue a career outside of my home country and that, as a family, we can afford to find and pay for other childcare scenarios to fill these gaps, but many, many families around the world – even in rich countries – do not have the same opportunities.It is time to close these gaps and find solutions that work for every parent regardless of their job, where they live, or their gender. Now is the time to urge policymakers in every country to do better for mothers, fathers and every child to provide better parental leave policies combined with mandates for better childcare access, quality and affordability.UNICEF Innocenti’s report makes nine policy recommendations to better support parents and children:Provide a suitable mix of paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave for mothers and fathers.Leave should be both gender-sensitive and gender-equitable to ensure neither parent is overburdened with home care.Leave should be inclusive and granted to those in non-standard forms of employment or training.Align the end of leave with availability of childcare to ensure there are no gaps in childcare support.Make accessible, flexible, and affordable quality childcare available to all parents.Publicly provided childcare can facilitate access for low-income families.Invest in the childcare workforce to encourage the highest possible standards.Encourage employers to support working parents through paid leave entitlements, flexible work arrangements, and childcare support systems.Provide leave policies and childcare services with family policies (e.g. child benefits) to reduce the risk of social inequalities being replicated in public childcare settings.Join me in daring to demand that parents and children deserve better. Contact your lawmakers to fight for change for every child.Read the full report.Explore the report microsite.Listen to a podcast with the report author, Anna Gromada.Kathleen Sullivan is a communication specialist at UNICEF Innocenti who is passionate about finding narratives that drive change. Follow Kathleen @ksulli on Twitter, and for more updates from UNICEF Innocenti, follow @UNICEFInnocenti.
Fatina Al Shami, 6 years old deaf girl, with her teacher at the Association for Orphan Care in Sidon
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New guidelines to improve inclusiveness and effectiveness in global education

New methodological guidelines accelerate progress, and enable education systems to become more inclusive, resilient and effective.Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of the world’s children could not read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. Now, school closures implemented worldwide have exacerbated inequalities even further. The world must accelerate progress towards achieving global education goals, and get learning for all on track. To do so, countries need to move towards more inclusive, resilient, and effective education systems, capable of putting forward sustainable solutions. While this is a major task, a new evidence-generating tool is now available to help governments better understand and analyze the political economy of education systems and transform them for the benefit of all children and youth. The latest Education Sector Analysis: Methodological Guidelines – co-published by the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, UNICEF, the Global Partnership for Education, and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office – is the third volume in a series first published in 2014. More than 70 countries have used these guidelines to prepare, implement, and monitor their education sector plans. This new volume can help governments tackle some of the major obstacles facing education systems today, from how to improve the effectiveness of the educational administration – from the central to local level – to how to galvanize all the relevant actors working in education around common solutions. They also cover how to advance inclusion, in particular for children with disabilities, and how to anticipate and address the hazards and risks that disrupt education the world over. Children with disabilities are very often not even visible and left outside schooling while children in conflict settings are 30% less likely to complete primary and 50% less likely to complete lower secondary.The guidelines are designed to strengthen national capacities to illuminate what is working – and not working – in education systems, and to create evidence-based policies to help each child and adolescent access their right to education and learning. Spanning four new chapters, the guidelines facilitate a system-wide diagnosis, adaptable to the unique context of each country, and advocates for pertinent data, strong analyses, and adequate levels of education financing. Here’s a closer look at the issues this new publication aims to address: Inclusive education for children with disabilitiesChildren with disabilities are one of the most excluded groups in education today. To turn this around, governments need robust information and rigorous analysis to strengthen decision-making and policy implementation. The guidelines can help decision-makers better understand the challenges of inequalities in access and learning, assess the delivery of educational services, enhance management efficiencies, and overcome demand and financing barriers. Risk analysis for resilient education systemsFrom conflict, massive migration, environmental degradation, natural hazards, to pandemics, education systems are under increasing pressure. Yet, education also holds immense power to contribute to safer environments, peacebuilding, social cohesion, and resilience. To help education fulfil this role, the guidelines provide tools for identifying prevalent risks, gauging their often inter-related links with education, and selecting ways to ensure learning continues. This is especially relevant given the widespread disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the guidelines provide concrete guidance for analzing the system with the goal to to adapt, mitigate learning loss, and build back better. Effective educational administrationsAn institutional analysis is an important first step to improving the educational administration’s performance – it helps identify both weaknesses and concrete answers to improve capacities, from the individual level through whole education systems. The guidelines propose new methods to conduct such an analysis and features insight on how to overcome technical and political challenges, such as how to ensure political acceptance, leadership, and the participation of the entire educational community. Everyone on boardThe Education 2030 Agenda outlines broad ambitions for education systems worldwide. The devastating impact of COVID-19 makes its goals for inclusive and equitable quality education all the more urgent. Yet, when different interests do not align, the delivery of educational services can suffer delays or become entirely jeopardized. To prevent this, the guidelines provide key concepts and tools to identify key problems and map stakeholders – from policy-makers to service providers and users – in education today – to identify their motivations, priorities, and roles and responsibilities in solving specific education issues. It goes beyond the usual process of diagnosing technical causes to examine in-depth how stakeholders interact to prevent policy blockages and advance on education goals. Transforming education systems and re-imagining education is at the crux of these guidelines. It goes further than helping education actors examine how their sector performs. It lays the foundation for working together, for lasting change and progress. Access Education sector analysis methodological guidelines volume1 and volume 2.Laura Savage is Deputy Team Leader, Education Research, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Matt Brossard is Chief of Education at UNICEF Innocenti. Nicolas Reuge is Senior Adviser Education in UNICEF's Programme Division. Paul Coustere is Director a.i of UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning. Raphaelle Martinez is the Education Policy and Learning Team Lead for the Global Partnership for Education.  
Reimagining Digital Learning: Lessons from the Learning Passport in Timor-Leste
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Reimagining Digital Learning: Lessons from the Learning Passport in Timor-Leste

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools worldwide governments rapidly worked to deploy remote learning to continue education. 9 in 10 countries around the world used online learning platforms to support children’s learning in 2020. However, understanding of how students, especially those from marginalized households in remote areas, can access, use, and learn from digital platforms is limited. As schools reopen, digital learning is here to stay, both as a tool to support teaching and learning in the classroom and outside of it. Thus, it is imperative that we continue to learn more about what makes digital platforms work to improve learning and how they can be delivered to effectively support children and teachers, especially in vulnerable situations.Throughout 2020, the Learning Passport programme expanded in 8 countries as a remote learning response to COVID-19 school closures. Timor-Leste was the first country to implement Learning Passport in their digital learning platform called ‘Eskola Ba Uma’ (or ‘School Goes Home’). Now, as schools reopen in Timor-Leste, the Ministry of Education aims to build on the digital learning expertise built during school closures to support teachers and students within classrooms. To achieve this, UNICEF is working with the Ministry to develop the use of Eskola Ba Uma for blended teaching and learning in classrooms. As a first step, user experience testing and focus group discussions were held with teachers and students from grades 2,3,7, and 9 in four schools to understand the needs, perceptions, and constraints they face using digital learning. This rapid exercise allowed the Ministry and UNICEF to learn directly from users, informing upcoming teacher training and the wider implementation of the Eskola Ba Uma programme in schools.Children from Caitehu School learning with the ”‘Eskola ba Uma” app. This blog outlines three key findings from these user experience tests:Teachers are very excited about digital learning and supporting students to learn digital skills. All teachers agreed that digital instruction is an important way to impart digital skills to students. They felt that using digital learning tools allows students to learn from anywhere, especially during emergencies. They found that it makes learning fun (for example using YouTube videos) and gives students more opportunities to practice with interactive content. Teachers also said that they are keen to expand their own technological and pedagogical skills. However, they expressed concerns regarding a lack of access to electricity and connectivity when using the app both at school and at home.Benefits listed by teachers for students:Training and continuous support are key to enable digital learning. While all teachers in the focus groups had access to and could use mobile phones, less than half are comfortable using other devices, such as computers or tablets. Most students use smartphones owned by family members but primarily for watching videos and playing games. They still use books and other printed materials for learning at home. Many students rely on older siblings for support while using digital devices, highlighting the importance of assistance to feel comfortable when faced with challenges. Almost all teachers perceived the app to be helpful for teaching but expressed the need for training on how to use it. A few teachers and students from rural areas also felt less comfortable using the platform because they “do not know much about it”. Given the lack of previous experience with digital learning, regular training and support can make teachers feel more comfortable and improve the use of devices and the learning platform for classroom teaching. Students learn to navigate the app quickly and are intrigued by its features. After using the app for the first time, students were happy and enjoyed the opportunity to engage and learn through digital content. Students found the short training and induction on the use and navigation of the app very helpful.“This app is easy and I can use it alone, but if there are some difficulties, then we don’t know. If you Mister didn’t walk us through it, then we wouldn’t know where to press. But now we know that already. If in the future we use tablets to access this app, we will still remember. We can teach the other kids about this app.”  - A 7th-grade girl from AileuAlmost all older students were able to navigate between different sections on the app and search for relevant content. Many students mentioned they like the potential of using the app at their own pace, using it by themselves, listening to audiobooks, and watching videos. More to come. In Timor-Leste, research with teachers and students will continue as teacher training is scaled and the implementation of the Learning Passport in classrooms begins. This is part of a global initiative to build rapid action research into the deployment of the Learning Passport to learn and improve the programme as it scales across contexts. This programme, research and blog was made possible with support from GPE. This is part of a global initiative to build rapid action research into the deployment of the Learning Passport to learn and improve the programme as it scales across contexts. 
Israel Idrisi, 9 years old, at school. Nepalgunj, Banke District, mid-western Nepal
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How to co-create research during a global pandemic

Even in the most difficult settings, some schools excel in learning, champion gender equality, and have low drop-out rates. These “positive deviant” schools provide valuable lessons on how to improve similar but less performing schools. Through the Data Must Speak (DMS) Positive Deviance research, UNICEF and partners identify effective behaviours and practices in positive deviant schools and investigate how these can be rolled out to other schools. The research is one of three components of the global DMS initiative, which aims to improve learning through better data access, analysis, and use. In this way, education systems are optimised using data and evidence, no matter the context. But to do so requires the involvement of all stakeholders—from the Education Minister through to school teachers and students. The solution? Co-creation! This process means that key partners share their knowledge and expertise, learn new research skills, ensure the research is aligned with their government’s priorities, and are more invested in implementing recommendations. Co-creation means collaborating at every stage—from research design, to analysis, to maximizing data use. By strengthening local capacities, national partners themselves can replicate the research in the future, ensuring schools are continuously improving. Nepal’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) believe that evidence on the drivers of quality education in its high-performing schools could help them achieve their education goals. To achieve the goals and objectives set out in our education sector plan, we need to understand what dominant drivers of quality education are in schools. The DMS positive deviance approach to learning analysis helps us understand what factors make certain schools with similar resources and context outperform other schools. - Dr. Tulashi Thapaliya, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology  A hands-on collaboration with national stakeholders in offices and schools was planned. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and priorities shifted towards pandemic response.  Nevertheless, MoEST, local academics, and UNICEF Nepal decided to go ahead with the research, albeit virtually. This presented a new challenge: how to build social bonds and understanding with partners that play a critical role when co-creating research?A screenshot of one of the virtual ‘Technical Co-Creation’ sessions.Perhaps unsurprisingly—by using Zoom! A series of eight virtual ‘Technical Co-Creation’ sessions between MoEST staff, local academics, and UNICEF researchers were held. These sessions covered the crucial steps for the quantitative analysis of administrative datasets, including research design, developing school indices, and interpreting findings, among others. By using a learning-by-doing approach and engaging in ample discussions, these sessions created space for mutual learning and policy-relevant data analysis. The EMIS in Nepal is a comprehensive data set that presents a large opportunity in terms of analysis and informing planning. The collaboration with the DMS research team is valuable as we are not just presented with the outcomes of the analysis but also know what elements can be embedded in the EMIS to strengthen it. - Mr. Shankar Bahadur Thapa, Under Secretary in the Centre for Education and Human Resource DevelopmentComprehensive datasets, like Nepal’s Educational Management Information Systems, present a big opportunity to inform analysis and planning. By collaborating throughout the DMS research journey, partners are not just presented with the outcomes of the analysis but also have enhanced knowledge to strengthen these datasets. In this way, schooling for Nepalese children can be continuously improved, helping to secure their futures.   Dr. Tulashi Thapaliya, Joint Secretary of the Nepal Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.Gunilla Olsson, Director, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti. Robert Jenkins, Global Director Education, UNICEFMark Waltham, Chief Education, UNICEF Nepal Country Office.
Barri pushes is daughter
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How a focus on parenting can reduce violence both for children and women

Violence against children and violence against women often occur under the same roof and share many risk factors. The economic insecurities and uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 raise the risk of violence within the family - already extraordinarily high even before the pandemic. Women and children were likely to experience increased levels of violence during national lockdowns with limited access to support services. Effective violence prevention and support are needed as part of COVID recovery plans. Encouragingly, evidence is emerging to suggest there are ample ways to prevent violence, such as cash transfers, programmes with boys and men, empowering girls and women, and parenting interventions. The best-performing strategies address the root causes of inequalities and work to transform harmful gender norms. The dual potential of parenting programmes  When parenting programmes recognize that different forms of violence are interconnected, they can prevent both the violent discipline of children and intimate partner violence (IPV). By promoting better parenting skills, positive forms of discipline, and gender equality, these programmes may benefit caretakers beyond parenting, including reducing violence in their adult-relationships and changes in social norms. While few programmes deliberately address the intersections of violence against children and women, emerging results show that simultaneously counteracting multiple forms of violence is possible. 4 ways to design better violence prevention programmes When designing parenting programmes to tackle intersecting forms of violence, UNICEF’s new guidance note on Designing Parenting Programmes for Violence Prevention recommends:Incorporating content and delivery methods that have proven effective in preventing violence.Promoting gender equality and positive gender norms, by engaging men and boys as well as women and girls. In Rwanda, Bandebereho (’role model’) encourages expectant and new fathers to reflect on their concerns about becoming a father, learn about the effects of harsh parenting, discuss violence in the family, and learn about conflict resolution. A study found that men who had participated in the programme were almost half as likely to use violence against their partner and spent just under one hour more per day doing housework chores than those who had not participated in the programme.Addressing the context-specific gender barriers faced by women and girls at each stage of programme design and development. UNICEF research into parenting adolescents in Eastern Europe showed that patriarchal gender norms heavily influenced parenting and the roles that adolescent boys and girls took in the home, and contributed towards violence against women and girls.Linking programmes to other services—such as health, nutrition, and education—to strengthen violence prevention. For example, schools are an entry point for reaching parents and provide a good setting to discuss violence prevention and gender equality. Health workers can play a vital role in identifying and reporting violence in their work with families. At the very least, establishing strong linkages to specialized response services for survivors is crucial. Violence in the home can leave long-lasting scars. Parenting programmes have enormous potential to prevent violence within families and tackle harmful gender norms. Increasing the number of families benefitting from these programmes requires resources. Now is an ideal time to invest in these programmes, integrate them into longer term recovery, and break the intergenerational cycles of violence for children now and in generations to come.  Janina Jochim is DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford and works in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at UNICEF.Lauren Rumble is Principal Advisor for UNICEF's Gender Section.Stephen Blight is Senior Advisor for Child Protection at UNICEF.
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