Publications

The widespread school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the learning crisis for children living in Eastern and Southern Africa. The crisis has also shown the great need to develop resilient education systems that can provide learning when schools are forced to close. Understanding how to provide remote learning equitably utilizing multiple modalities and emphasizing low-tech solutions in Eastern and Southern Africa is critical given the great challenges facing the region in terms of electricity and connectivity access. This report provides a summary of lessons learned in the East and Southern Africa region from remote learning during COVID-19 and provides concrete recommendations on how to increase the resilience of education systems.

There is need for a holistic, comprehensive ECD monitoring system that covers the multiple facets (i.e. education, health, social protection and the social and economical context in which the child is born) of public and private ECD interventions in a country. Such a system is essential for ensuring that all children can reap the benefits of ECD. It serves as a means of support and oversight for monitoring the performance and planning of ECD policies and programmes in developing countries. The paper highlights the importance of comprehensive ECD monitoring for making evidence-based decisions, and discusses practical issues to take into consideration when developing such a system. One of the first steps is deciding what to monitor through the selection of a limited number of valid and measurable indicators that are aligned to policy and programme goals. In this respect the capacity of the government system should be thoroughly assessed, including 1) the identification and evaluation of existing administrative and other data sources; 2) a training needs analysis of the administrators who will operate the monitoring system to allow for strengthening their skills and prepare them for their future duties; and 3) consideration of the long-term costs of operating a monitoring system in relation to the (projected) available funds, in order to ensure the sustainability of the system.

In recent years research, as well as the results of practical programmes, has lead to a clearer understanding of the relationship between child work and education. It is increasingly evident that child work is not entirely the result of economic need or exploitation. Frequently it is the failure of the educational system to offer adequate, stimulating and affordable schooling that encourages children to drop out in favour of work that appears to offer advantages more relevant to their everyday lives. Parents too may undervalue the role and purpose of schooling and see a job, including home-based work, as more valuable and certainly a more positive alternative to crime, delinquency or begging. Consequently, while a distinction needs to be made between 'formative child work' and 'harmful child work', in certain situations and cultures the phenomenon is not always seen as negative. These five case studies from Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru) all reveal the effects of inappropriate school curricula.

The fifth Regional Monitoring Report continues the Centre's pioneering work of emphasizing the social side of the transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, in particular the needs and rights of children. The Report presents detailed information on changes to educational systems and analysis of key issues relating to equity and rights in schooling. Trends are shown in enrolment, in the costs of schooling faced by families, and in the social support given by schools. Other topics covered include education for the disabled child, decentralization of education and its implications for equity in access, and the future of programmes for early childhood development. The Report includes an update of welfare trends in the region, an introduction to the theme of education and an overview of the main findings. The purpose of the Report is to provide factual information and fresh ideas for policy-makers and their advisors both inside and outside the region, and for all those involved in educational policy, including UNICEF, other international organizations, NGOs and the media. It also provides an invaluable source of information for economists, statisticians, social policy experts and other researchers.

This paper examines the barriers to educational achievement presented by child labour and the formal education systems of Latin America. Parents put pressure on children to work rather than study, and historically the formal education systems have had no safeguards to remedy the resulting knowledge gaps. Knowledge gaps lead to repeated failure in academic courses, which in turn prompts parents to view education as irrelevant. The paper examines the various economic-incentive programmes that have tried to break this vicious circle and identifies four strategies for educational improvement in the region: involving communities, increasing time available for learning, providing bilingual education to serve minorities and indigenous groups, and introducing computers.