Publications

Effective school leaders are indispensable for driving school and student learning improvements. Inspired by emerging literature highlighting a positive correlation between female school leaders and learning outcomes and the underrepresentation of women in school leadership, the Women in Learning Leadership project in Chad adopts a gender lens to examine school leadership in the country.

 

This research highlights the significant underrepresentation of women in the education sector in Chad. Only one out of five teachers (20 per cent) and 1 out of 20 school leaders – a mere 5 per cent – are women. The report (in French, with an English Executive Summary) presents the granular and sub-national distribution of women leaders and the multifaceted reasons for their underrepresentation in the Chadian education ecosystem. It also explores the differential education outcomes in schools led by female and male school leaders.

The findings demonstrate that Chad remains a profoundly unequal society, and several barriers at different levels of the education system prevent women from rising into leadership positions. Recommendations targeting the identified barriers are highlighted to enhance female representation at the leadership levels.

This is a translated executive summary of the first report on Women in Learning Leadership in Chad, originally produced in French. The full report in French is available here.

The climate crisis portends catastrophic disruption to lives and livelihoods. However, many of the measures needed to address the crisis present important opportunity for economic development and the creation of new kinds of ethical and decent livelihoods.

If young people are to participate in and benefit from these opportunities, they need the skills for the new jobs in a green economy. To prepare young people, urgent action is needed from government, development partners and the private sector.

Accelerating ‘Green’ School-to-Work Transitions emphasizes the importance of working fast to establish ‘green’ school-to-work transitions and examines some of the most promising approaches to supporting young people as they pursue green livelihoods. It also explores the key challenges to creating better ‘green’ school-to-work transitions. The report provides:
• A new framework for understanding ‘green’ school-to-work transitions
• A holistic overview of what policymakers can do to accelerate green livelihood opportunities for young people
• A step-by-step toolkit that describes ‘green’ school-to-work transitions
• Recommendations for policymakers and others in the field

Des directeurs et directrices d'école efficaces sont indispensables pour améliorer l'apprentissage des élèves et la qualité de l'enseignement. Inspiré par une littérature émergente soulignant une corrélation positive entre les femmes directrices d'école et les résultats d'apprentissage et la sous-représentation des femmes dans la direction des écoles, le projet "Women in Learning Leadership" au Tchad adopte une perspective de genre pour examiner la direction des écoles dans le pays. 

Cette recherche met en évidence la sous-représentation significative des femmes dans le secteur de l'éducation au Tchad. Seul un enseignant sur cinq (20 %) et un chef d'établissement sur vingt (à peine 5 %) sont des femmes. Le rapport (en français, avec un résumé en anglais) présente la distribution détaillée et sous-nationale des femmes leaders et les raisons multiples de leur sous-représentation dans l'écosystème éducatif tchadien. Il explore également les différences de résultats scolaires dans les écoles dirigées par des femmes et des hommes. 

Les résultats démontrent que le Tchad reste une société profondément inégalitaire et que plusieurs obstacles à différents niveaux du système éducatif empêchent les femmes d'accéder à des postes de direction. Des recommandations ciblant les barrières identifiées sont formulées afin d'améliorer la représentation des femmes aux niveaux de direction.

Effective school leaders are indispensable for driving school and student learning improvements. Inspired by emerging literature highlighting a positive correlation between female school leaders and learning outcomes and the underrepresentation of women in school leadership, the Women in Learning Leadership project in Chad adopts a gender lens to examine school leadership in the country.

This research highlights the significant underrepresentation of women in the education sector in Chad. Only one out of five teachers (20 per cent) and 1 out of 20 school leaders – a mere 5 per cent – are women. The report (in French, with an English Executive Summary) presents the granular and sub-national distribution of women leaders and the multifaceted reasons for their underrepresentation in the Chadian education ecosystem. It also explores the differential education outcomes in schools led by female and male school leaders.

The findings demonstrate that Chad remains a profoundly unequal society, and several barriers at different levels of the education system prevent women from rising into leadership positions. Recommendations targeting the identified barriers are highlighted to enhance female representation at the leadership levels.

Including Refugee Learners in National Education Systems identifies key factors that underpin effective inclusion of refugee learners in national education systems and outlines barriers to achieving this goal. 

Based on an in-depth review of global evidence and literature and interviews with key stakeholders in refugee education, the report highlights key findings, including the importance of:

• Government leadership and coordination efforts 
• Effective international cooperation 
• Awareness of policies and guidance with education systems
• Capacity to support refugee inclusion. 

The report presents in-depth country case studies from Ecuador and Rwanda, providing information on diverse regional and country frameworks relating to educational inclusion. 
The Rwanda case study suggests that refugee inclusion in education can be achieved with a broad orientation towards inclusion and non-discrimination, even in the absence of specific policies and strategies focused on refugees. 

The Ecuador case study emphasizes that positive policies do not always filter down to those with responsibility to implement them and highlights the importance of efforts to ensure that teachers, school administrators and district-level staff are aware of new policies and have the capacity to enact them.

Il contesto territoriale influisce sugli aspetti fondamentali della vita quotidiana di ogni bambino, bambina e adolescente. Vivere in un territorio ai margini compromette mette a rischio la possibilità di vedere soddisfatti i propri diritti di cittadinanza e rappresenta può rappresentare una seria minaccia per il benessere e lo sviluppo di chi in queste aree nasce e cresce. La mancanza di servizi e risorse locali è una forma di povertà che tocca tutti i bambini dell’area, indipendentemente della loro situazione familiare, e che condiziona la loro vita presente e futura.

Per questa ragione, UNICEF Innocenti ha avviato un nuovo programma di ricerca intitolato MAPS (Monitoring and Analysing child Poverty across Space). Come studio pilota per questo programma, è stata scelta una delle “aree interne” in Italia, ossia aree isolate caratterizzate da bassa densità di popolazione, spopolamento e indicatori di anzianità elevati.

Il rapporto “Crescere nelle aree interne: Le esperienze di vita di bambini, bambine e adolescenti nel contesto del Cilento Interno” presenta i risultati di questo studio. La ricerca ha coinvolto bambini e adolescenti dai 6 ai 21 anni attraverso una serie di metodi qualitativi e quantitativi, insieme a genitori di bambini dagli 0 ai 5 anni, adulti nella comunità e informatori chiave.

I risultati dell'indagine hanno rivelato un quadro complesso. Mentre alcune caratteristiche del territorio influiscono positivamente sulla crescita dei bambini, altre rischiano di privare i ragazzi e le ragazze di alcune opportunità che sono fondamentali nel periodo della crescita. Le raccomandazioni sottolineano la necessità di una presa di coscienza collettiva sull'urgenza di promuovere lo sviluppo dei territori a partire dalla rinascita delle comunità. È essenziale che gli investimenti siano diretti verso servizi per bambini ed adolescenti al fine di garantire il benessere della comunità e costruire un futuro più promettente.
 

The characteristics of the local area in which children live have a fundamental influence on their daily lives. Growing up in an area that is ‘on the margins’ threatens children’s rights, well-being and development. A lack of local services and resources is a form of poverty that all children and young people in the area experience, irrespective of their family circumstances, and this poverty shapes their lives in the present and in the future.

For this reason, UNICEF Innocenti has initiated a new programme of research – MAPS (Monitoring and Analysing child Poverty across Space). As a pilot for this programme, it selected one of the internal areas of Italy – that is isolated areas characterized by low population density, depopulation and an ageing demographic. 

The report “Growing up in an inner area: The lives of children and adolescents living in inner Cilento” presents the results of this study. The research involved children and adolescents from 6 to 21 years old through a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as parents of children aged 0-5, adults in the community and key informants. 

The results of the research reveal a complex picture. While some characteristics of the area positively influence children’s lives, others risk depriving them of the opportunities that they need when growing up. The recommendations emphasize the need for a collective awareness of the urgent need to promote the development of the area starting with the revival of communities. It is essential that there is greater investment in services for children and young people in order to guarantee community well-being and build a more promising future.

Une distribution équitable des enseignants est un critère primordial pour que chaque enfant puisse développer au mieux son potentiel d’apprentissage, quels que soient son école ou lieu de résidence. 

En Côte d’Ivoire, des progrès significatifs ont été réalisés en termes de recrutement des enseignants en vue d’améliorer l’encadrement pédagogique des élèves. Cependant, leur répartition demeure perfectible puisque les ratios élèves-enseignants varient grandement entre les écoles et au sein de celles-ci. C’est pourquoi, le Ministère de l’éducation nationale et de l’alphabétisation (MENA) a récemment initié la mise en œuvre d’un train de réformes afin d’améliorer la transparence et la réactivité du processus d’allocation des enseignants. 

Ce rapport décrit le paysage enseignant en Côte d’Ivoire, ainsi que les réformes engagées par le MENA, et propose des pistes de réflexion pour améliorer le maillage enseignant dans le pays, afin de favoriser l’accès de tous les enfants à une éducation de qualité. 

 
An equitable distribution of teachers is an essential criterion for ensuring that every child can develop his or her full learning potential, regardless of school or place of residence. 

In Ivory Coast, significant progress has been made in terms of teacher recruitment to maintain manageable class sizes. However, teacher repartition has to be improved, as pupils-teacher ratios vary widely between and within schools. For this reason, the Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA) recently initiated a reform package to improve the transparency and responsiveness of the teacher allocation process. 

This report describes the teaching landscape in Ivory Coast, as well as the reforms undertaken by the MENA, and suggests ways to improve the mapping of teachers according to school needs in order to promote access to quality education for all children. 

The digital environment is largely unregulated and might expose children to age-inappropriate or potentially harmful content. There has been particular concern about children’s exposure to hate messages and violent images online and how this affects their well-being and rights. Efforts to mitigate exposure to such content are gaining momentum but more evidence is needed to guide policy, regulation and industry practice. This brief provides a cross-national comparison of children’s exposure to hate messages and violent images online across 36 countries, and analyses it in relation to internet access at the country level. The purpose is to understand what children in different countries are experiencing and if exposure to this content is driven by the level of internet access in the population. The results act as a starting point for exploring which countermeasures may be more effective in terms of policy and legislation, and to encourage industry to develop proactive solutions to protect children in online spaces.

Le système éducatif malien vise à garantir unaccès universel et équitable à une éducationde qualité à tous les enfants maliens en âged’être scolarisés. Malgré les progrès réalisés dans la mise en œuvre d’une éducation de qualité au Mali, il reste certains défis.

Quelles ressources et quels facteurs contextuels sont associés à de bonnes performances scolaires en Mali? En fusionnant et en analysant les bases de données administratives existantes en Mali, ce rapport permet d'identifier les écoles modèles positives - celles qui obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les autres écoles bien qu'elles partagent des contextes et des ressources similaires.

La recherche DMS sur les modèles positive est cocréée et mise en œuvre conjointement avec les ministères de l'Éducation et des partenaires clés. La recherche DMS s'appuie sur des méthodes mixtes et des approches innovantes (c'est-à-dire l'approche modèle positive, les sciences du comportement, la recherche sur la mise en œuvre et la science de la mise à l'échelle) pour générer des connaissances et des enseignements pratiques sur " ce qui fonctionne ", " pourquoi " et " comment " mettre à l'échelle des solutions locales pour les décideurs politiques nationaux et la communauté internationale travaillant dans le secteur de l'éducation.

La recherche DMS est actuellement mise en œuvre dans 14 pays : Brésil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Éthiopie, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Népal, Niger, République démocratique populaire lao, République-Unie de Tanzanie, Tchad, Togo et Zambie.

In the Latin America and Caribbean region, more than 19 million children have a disability. In Jamaica, disability is a major factor of exclusion from the education system. The Accessible Digital Textbooks for All (ADT) initiative, implements accessible digital tools and content to make learning accessible to all students – with and without disabilities – in the same classroom.

This report presents the research results of the ADT prototypes testing for children with and without disabilities in Jamaica. The report provides results across three areas:
• It analyses teachers’ and students’ familiarity with technology, including their experience utilizing technology to support education and learning.
• It investigates the pedagogical practices used for inclusive education and to integrate the ADT prototypes as tools to support inclusion and learning. 
• It recommends ways to improve the prototypes and outlines elements needed for their further development, implementation and scale-up in the education system.

This study is part of longer-term research that examines the implementation of accessible digital textbooks in multiple countries. Future research aims to explore the impact of the use of ADTs on both student learning and inclusion on a larger scale.

The ‘What Works in Pre-Primary Education Provision’ report is based on an evidence review of 56 studies from 29 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It synthesizes the available evidence on pre-primary education interventions or programmes that aimed to improve access, in addition to learning and development outcomes for children aged three up to the start of primary school in LMICs. Moderating factors affecting the successful implementation of these programmes are also identified. Key recommendations to improve programme design and implementation at scale are provided across five areas: planning and budgeting, curriculum, workforce development, family and community engagement, and quality assurance. By addressing these recommendations, education stakeholders can strengthen pre-primary education provision and maximize its benefits for all children. 

Tra il 2014 e il 2020 più di 700.000 richiedenti asilo e migranti sono arrivati in Italia. Fornire competenze di lingua italiana a bambini con un background migratorio, come i bambini rifugiati e migranti, è riconosciuta come una priorità nazionale, in quanto è essenziale per garantire a questi bambini il diritto all’istruzione e per facilitare la loro inclusione e partecipazione nella società italiana.

Per rispondere a questa esigenza, la piattaforma per l’apprendimento digitale Akelius è stata introdotta a Bologna e Roma per l'apprendimento dell'italiano e dell'inglese nell'anno scolastico 2021/22. Questo rapporto presenta i risultati del primo anno di implementazione della piattaforma digitale Akelius in Italia. I risultati mostrano che l'uso della piattaforma digitale ha accelerato l'apprendimento autonomo, ha aumentato la motivazione degli studenti ed è stata particolarmente vantaggiosa per i bambini appena arrivati e per i bambini con disabilità. 

L’obiettivo del rapporto è costruire evidenze sull’efficacia della piattaforma digitale, oltre alle relative sfide e buone pratiche, in diversi contesti scolastici, in modo da informare i piani di scalabilità per l’apprendimento digitale in Italia e non solo.

In 2019, the President of the European Commission announced the creation of the European Child Guarantee, an initiative that aimed to combat child poverty by making sure that every child who lives in poverty has access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition. 

With Delivering the EU Child Guarantee: Practical lessons for effective interventions, UNICEF Innocenti provides a synthesis of findings of operational research on 15 pilot models of intervention for children and families in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy. The goal of the report is to learn from the experiences in these four countries to inform the rollout of the Child Guarantee programme throughout Europe. The study provides lessons learned in three themes: laying the foundations for the Child Guarantee work at the national level; developing interventions at the local level; supporting the Child Guarantee at the EU level.