COVID-19 Response

Blog
  • 07.09.2020

How countries are helping teachers pass the Covid-19 test

When the Covid-19 crisis struck suddenly in early 2020, it set a massive test for teachers, administrators and parents and around the world: how to ensure that students carried on learning when classrooms were closed. As measures to contain the pandemic are gradually lifted, educators face another test: how to protect the health and safety of teachers and students as they return to school.

Teachers are at the centre of both challenges. How are countries helping their teachers meet these new demands? To find out, the Teacher Task Force organized meetings with its members from four regions: Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Sub-Saharan Africa. Each meeting brought together representatives from countries and from international organizations to discuss challenges, share practices, and identify possible solutions to mitigate the worst effects of school closures, the disruption to global education and the planned return to school.

Distance education: Common challenges and regional differences

To maintain learning and safeguard health, countries should not only provide teachers and students with the tools and support they need to carry on teaching and learning remotely. Governments also need to assist teachers directly by offering psychological and socio-emotional support, and by taking into account the perspectives of teachers, teacher educators and their representatives.

In terms of distance teaching, the greatest challenges noted in all regions were a lack of online access, ICT tools, remote learning systems and digital content, and training needed to use these effectively to maintain quality teaching.

To gain access to online learning, students need a computer and Internet access. But in sub-Saharan Africa, 89% of households do not have a computer, 82% have no Internet connection and two-thirds have no electricity at home. While smart phones can be used for mobile learning, about 11% of learners live in locations not served by mobile networks. While existing in all regions, representatives from the Asia-Pacific region drew sharp attention to the even wider problem of educational inequalities, which were significantly exacerbated by the pandemic in some countries such as India.

Across the board, teachers reported a lack of training in the use of distance learning materials and especially in the use of information and communication technology (ICT). In Uganda, for example, only 30% of teachers could use digital learning resources.

In terms of direct support for teachers’ well-being, representatives from LAC and Sub-Saharan Africa highlighted the stress on teachers and the resulting anxiety, and pointed to a lack of adequate psychological and socio-emotional support during the school closures and the shift to distance teaching. Teachers in both regions also felt left out of vital decision-making that affected them directly and emphasized the need for stronger dialogue and communication between teachers, their representatives and decision-makers.

Bridging the digital divide

The sudden switch to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on deep existing inequalities in access to technology. While much attention globally was focused on transforming educational materials into e-learning packages, in many parts of the world the choice of media was limited to radio and television.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, battery-powered radios enable students without electricity to listen to lessons. In Benin, for example, national and community radio ensured continuity of learning for 78% of primary students. In Djibouti, radios were distributed to the most vulnerable families to give access to distance education to as many students as possible.

Television came into its own in many countries, including Barbados, Chile and Morocco, where the education ministry disseminated 59 daily lessons on national television channels. Where students had little or no access to Internet or television, governments collaborated with publishing houses to print educational materials, for example in remote parts of Colombia and in parts of Morocco.

Where Internet or mobile phone connections do exist, the barriers to online learning are often a lack of devices or inability to pay for broadband connections. Many countries have collaborated with the private sector to bring down one or both barriers. Paraguay has provided students with free mobile broadband, while in the Maldives, Internet providers gave 5GB of data to students who had no access, and 10GB to teachers.

In the Arab States region, Saudi Arabia’s education ministry collaborated with the national telecommunications company to provide free Internet to access educational resources for students in underprivileged communities. AndLebanon’s education ministry joined forces with the ministry of national telecommunications to offer free Internet to access educational resources by all students.

Network connectivity is a problem in remote rural areas in many parts of the world. Both China and South Africa are working on this problem, in China’s case by strengthening partnerships with broadband service providers.

Training teachers for the new reality

Across the world, education authorities have scrambled to train teachers to deliver online teaching, supported by global partners. In some cases, as in Gambia, existing e-learning programmes can be used to guide teachers. Elsewhere, new platforms were developed to show teachers how to use the technology. In countries such as Morocco, such efforts were aided by the growth of professional learning communities – both formal and informal – to facilitate peer learning and collaboration.

In some countries, social media networks have emerged as a quick and user-friendly way not only to share teaching materials with students – as in Paraguay – but also to give teachers professional and personal guidance. For example, Cambodia is using the social messaging applications WhatsApp and Telegram to support teachers this way.

In China, teacher training for online learning has focused on selection, development and use of learning resources and identifying and addressing students’ learning gaps once schools reopen. Additionally, teachers are given guidance on building cooperation between home and school.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, training is focusing not only on online learning but also on helping teachers use other media. South Africa is building an electronic platform to disseminate webinars to train teachers on use of radio and television for learning, and on integrating these lessons into the school timetable. Uganda is also developing training in techniques for using radio and television for teaching.

Countries have been quick to take advantage of available online resources and train their teachers to use them. Both the Maldives and Senegal have adopted Google Classroom. The Maldives has developed a three-phase strategy to train and certify 7,000 teachers to use the platform.

Teachers are people too: Psychological, social and emotional support

Teachers are living the COVID-19 crisis and experiencing the same uncertainty as the rest of the population. A survey of teachers in the LAC region showed that 22% are experiencing high levels of anxiety and 36% recognised not having the tools to overcome the current situation. Across the world, teachers need psychological and socio-emotional support to help them cope with the distress of the pandemic.

Colombia has recognized that need by creating an advocacy campaign recognising that teachers, like the rest of the population, are also suffering from anxiety about the pandemic. The campaign sent a message supporting teachers with information on managing stress and anxiety.

Elsewhere in LAC, Paraguay created a collaborative platform where teachers can share their experiences. InBarbados, the government set up a phone line to support teachers during the lockdown.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda is discussing with teacher unions guidelines for providing psycho-social support to teachers and South Africa is developing a similar support service in coordination with the relevant ministries and departments.

Dialogue and collaboration – keeping the communication channels open

Establishing and maintaining dialogue between teachers, their representatives, education ministries and other interested groups has emerged as a vital part of athe education response to Covid-19.

In Gambia, the teacher union is an active part of the decision-making process and sits on the technical team that developed the education response to the pandemic. In Senegal, the union was involved in government decision-making about using Google Classroom to provide distance training. In Uganda, the teacher union is using its network to distribute planning materials to teachers.

Dialogue is also about helping teachers to help one another. In Chile, the government is promoting the importance of collaborative work and the need to create networks between teachers and colleagues. This is important not only as a way to share information and experiences but also to make sure no child is left behind.

As schools move to reopen, dialogue is essential to take into account the needs and concerns of everyone involved, and to ensure teachers and students are safe. In South Africa, for example, the education ministry has consulted extensively with teacher unions, parent associations, principal associations and student organizations on measures to reopen schools.

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By sharing and comparing their approaches to COVID-19, countries can learn more and better ways to empower their teachers, who are the key players in the education response to the pandemic. The four regional meetings organized by the Teacher Task Force and regional partners shed light on a wealth of ingenuity and innovation by governments and their partners. The task force hopes that these shared experiences will trigger further policy innovation and a greater awareness of the need to give teachers the support they need and deserve.

The individual reports from each region can be found at the following links: Arab States, Asia – Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.

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News
  • 27.03.2020

Teacher Task Force calls to support 63 million teachers touched by the COVID-19 crisis

Around 63 million primary and secondary teachers around the world are affected by school closures in 165 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They are on the frontlines of the response to ensure that learning continues for nearly 1.5 billion students, a number that is predicted to rise

Everywhere, together with school leaders, they have been rapidly mobilising and innovating to facilitate quality distance learning for students in confinement, with or without the use of digital technologies. They are playing a key role also in communicating measures that prevent the spread of the virus, ensuring that children are safe and supported.

This unprecedented situation is putting teachers, students and families under stress.

In some cases, teachers who may already be exposed to the virus themselves are trying to manage the anxiety of being told to work in situations where the COVID-19 risk is spreading. Others are dealing with the stress of of delivering quality learning with tools for which they have received little or no training or support. In many countries, contract teachers, substitute teachers and education support personnel risk seeing their contracts broken and their livelihoods disappear.

The Teacher Task Force, an international alliance working for teachers and teaching, has issued a Call for Action on Teachers to ensure that teachers are protected, supported and recognised during the crisis. Leadership and financial and material resources for teachers are necessary to make sure that quality teaching and learning can continue at a distance during the crisis, and that recovery is rapid.

The Task Force is calling on governments, education providers and funders – public and private – and all relevant partners to:

  • Preserve employment and wages: This crisis cannot be a pretext to lower standards and norms, or push aside labour rights. The salaries and benefits of the entire teaching and education support staff must be preserved.
  • Prioritise teachers’ and learners’ health, safety and well-being: Teachers need socio-emotional support to face the extra pressure being put on them to deliver learning in a time of crisis as well as provide support to their students in these anxious circumstances.
  • Include teachers in developing COVID-19 education responses : Teachers will have a crucial role in the recovery phase when schools reopen. They must be included at all steps of education policy-making and planning.
  • Provide adequate professional support and training: Little attention has been given to providing teachers with adequate training on how to ensure that learning continues. We must move swiftly to ensure that teachers receive the necessary professional support.
  • Put equity at the heart of education responses: Greater support and flexibility will be needed for teachers who work in remote areas or with low-income or minority communities, to ensure that disadvantaged children are not left behind.
  • Include teachers in aid responses: The Teacher Task Force urges financing institutions to help governments support education systems, particularly the teaching workforce’s professional development. Such support is particularly urgent in some of the world’s poorest countries, which are already struggling to meet education needs because of critical shortages of trained teachers.

For more information, download the call in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

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News
  • 24.04.2020

COVID-19 highlights the digital divide in distance learning

As the world has raced to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, 191 countries have closed schools, from pre-primary to tertiary level, affecting at least 1.5 billion - or more than 9 out of 10 - students worldwide.

To minimize the disruption, many governments and institutions have turned to distance education to maintain teaching and learning. Online learning allows teachers to maintain a classroom-like environment for students, to send assignments and receive completed work to be assessed. It also permits teachers to maintain daily communication with students, checking not only their educational progress but also their well-being.

Yet, according to recent figures compiled by the Teacher Task Force, based on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the International Telecommunication Union, almost half of the world’s students face significant barriers to online learning. Globally, some 826 million – 50 per cent – do not have access to a household computer, while 43 per cent – about 706 million – do not have access to internet at home. In low-income countries, rates of access are even lower. In sub-Saharan Africa, 89 per cent of learners do not have access to household computers and 82 per cent lack Internet access.

Mobile phones have demonstrated great potential for connecting learners with information and one another, but about 56 million learners worldwide live in remote locations not served by mobile networks, with almost half of them living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some countries have turned to more traditional media to ensure access to those affected by this digital divide. In Peru, the Ministry of Education uses an online education platform, “Aprendo en casa”, to develop programmes accessible via television and radio for students with no internet and computer/mobile phone access. Countries were able to share their experience in distance education learning strategies during UNESCO’s fifth COVID-19 Education Response Webinar.

Moreover, an estimated 63 million primary and secondary teachers worldwide have been affected by the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for teachers in countries with reliable information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and household connectivity, the rapid transition to online learning has been challenging. For teachers in regions where ICT and other distance methodologies are not available, such as Cameroon, where only 20-25% of teachers have access to a computer, the transition has been difficult or impossible.

Teacher education is a particular challenge in low-income countries. Across sub-Saharan Africa, just 64 per cent of primary and 50 per cent of secondary teachers, have met the national minimum training requirements to teach. In many countries, training seldom covers ICT skills adequately.

In addition, there are not enough teachers in low-income countries, resulting in large classes in which teachers struggle to give personalized instruction to each child. Compared to the international benchmark of 1 teacher per 28 pupils in primary education, there is only 1 trained teacher per 56 pupils in low-income countries, and 1 per 60 in sub-Saharan Africa.

To ensure teachers receive appropriate support during this crisis, the Teacher Task Force joined UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, and recently released a Call for Action to support teachers affected by the pandemic.

Infographic: COVID-19: a global crisis for teaching and learning

COVID-19 Education Response webinars:

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News
  • 18.05.2020

Back-to-school efforts must include teachers

The Teacher Task Force, UNESCO and the International Labour Organization have developed guidelines to support national authorities in their back-to-school efforts, in particular looking at how best to support teachers and education support staff in return to school planning and processes.

From the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, teachers have been vital to ensure learning continues through distance learning, where feasible, and that learners’ well-being is considered. With the return to school, teachers, school leaders and education support staff will continue to play key roles in creating safe learning spaces, adjusting curricula and assessment, and supporting marginalized learners.

Following on from the Call to Action on Teachers launched by the Teacher Task Force, the joint UNESCO/Teacher Task Force/ILO guidelines present a series of recommendations to policy-makers, while recognising the necessity for countries to identify their own priorities based on national and local contexts. These guidelines highlight how to guarantee that teachers and education support staff receive adequate support in back-to-school efforts. This includes:  

  • Including teachers and their organisations in return to school planning

Countries should ensure that all perspectives are heard when planning for school safety and developing teaching practices to mitigate post-pandemic learning loss. Teachers, education support staff and their representatives need to be consulted in decision-making and planning, including the timing and processes for the safe reopening of schools.

 

  • Guaranteeing the safety of learners and all education staff in school environments

Measures to ensure safety and health in schools for learners and staff should be adapted to local contexts, with national authorities providing information to teachers on risks in the school environment.

Teachers and their representative organisations should be involved in discussions about how to apply international standards in their classrooms and school-wide, on developing evaluation criteria and on regulations for reorganizing classroom learning. They should also take part in the development of measures to facilitate physical distancing.

 

  • Recognising the importance of psychological and social-emotional well-being of teachers and education support staff

Reopening schools sees teachers having to deal with both health risks and an increased workload to teach in new and challenging ways—often with inadequate training. National authorities need to ensure teachers and education support staff receive ongoing psychosocial support to meet their social-emotional well-being. This will be especially critical for teachers who are tasked with providing the same support to students and families.

 

  • Helping teachers adapt to the new teaching conditions

Including teachers and their representative organisations in discussions about the return to school is also key to ensure teachers and education support staff are given adequate training and resources to resume classroom instruction, while adhering to regulations on physical distancing.

They need to be involved during national consultations to identify key education goals, reorganise curricula, and align assessment based on the revised school calendar. They should be consulted on questions pertaining to classroom reorganisation.

 

  • Ensuring that teachers’ working conditions don’t suffer

The return to school efforts could reveal gaps in human resources and create difficult working schedules and routines. Teachers and their representative organisations should be included in dialogue on the development of rapid recruitment strategies respecting the minimum professional qualifications and protecting teachers’ rights and working conditions.

 

  • Maintaining or increasing financial resources

To ensure learning continuity, education authorities will need to invest in teachers and education support staff, not only to maintain salaries, but also to provide essential training and psycho-social support. It is important that governments resist practices which could harm the teaching profession and education quality, such as increasing teaching hours or recruiting untrained teachers. Governments should also encourage private providers to maintain regular salary payments to teachers and other support staff.

 

  • Giving teachers a say in the monitoring of the return to school situation

Close monitoring and evaluating of the return to school will be critical to adapt strategy and inform decision-making. Teachers and school leaders should be consulted to inform the development of frameworks to measure and benchmark the progress of back-to-school efforts

 

You can download the Guidelines in English and French (Spanish will be on-line soon).

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Blog
  • 04.09.2020

What can COVID-19 teach us about strengthening education systems?

Four ways the COVID-19 crisis could change the teaching experience for the better

 

COVID-19 has brought countless new challenges to teachers and education systems across the world. Teachers have had to adapt and evolve rapidly in response to school closures. 

As schools reopen in a world where lockdowns may be more common-place, teachers have been forced to create and employ new ways for educating children. In this new teaching reality, it is essential to review roles and responsibilities as well as the rights, protections and wellbeing of educators.

Experts are beginning to point to ways that COVID-19 will be the catalyst to create more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies, and education is a bedrock of those. 

Here are four ways the crisis could change the teaching profession for the better:

 

New digital skills will equip teachers for the future

As the virus spread and schools closed, teachers had to adapt quickly to an online model of teaching which was new to many. Inequities in connectivity and access to technology, resources and digital support has made the experience different according to school, country and even subject. Often teachers were given insufficient training, support or resources.

Teachers have reported the challenge of their own as well as students’ digital literacy and access to online learning. For many, it was a sudden swerve into an unknown world with a lack of clarity over how different online tools could interact with learning. The skills they have acquired in the past three months have prepared them for an increasingly digital future. 

It was not an easy initiative to take", says Shaila Sharmin, a fellow at Teach For Bangladesh. “We didn't have any resources as we were not prepared for this long lockdown. We had no skill regarding video editing. In spite of the challenges, we made it happen.”

 

Teachers have a new resilience

One way of strengthening the support for new ways of education delivery is leadership as well as dialogue with the school and peer support networks. Teachers report gaining more confidence through communication with their colleagues, as well as with parents. 

 I help parents and family with tips and suggestions on how to organize the home study routine. I also offer guidance on how to help students understand whether they have managed to reach all the learning objectives", says Débora Garofalo, a technology teacher in the public education network at the São Paulo State Education Secretariat.

It is vital, then, that teachers are listened to and their concerns heard as new forms of education are developed.

Developing support systems with colleagues and sharing technical knowledge and expertise has improved online teaching skills as well as building community at a time of stress and isolation.

Teachers report that peer learning has been a key element of developing online methods. Sharing solutions and what has worked for different teachers will help educators build networks and a more resilient way of teaching.

What makes it manageable is the fact that we are in it together", says Anne-Fleur Lurvink, a secondary school teacher, from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

 

Resources gaps have been exposed

Resources are central to strengthening the future of education and preventing a generational crisis in response to COVID-19. Governments will now be under more pressure to protect education funding and rethink how teachers are motivated. 

Teachers have proved that they are the front line workers “who hold the system together” and so they need support and resources to help them do their jobs. Protection of physical health and safety as schools reopen must be a fundamental right. Teachers may be facing challenges at home as well as professional upheaval. Therefore offering support and resources for psychological well-being and mental health as well as professional help will be important as the crisis continues. 

 

Respect for the profession has grown 

Calls to seize the chance to address the education crisis that many countries were already experiencing before the pandemic are rising. Parents having to homeschool their children has given many a new perspective on what it takes to educate.

Suggestions of how to improve teaching includes greater support for the teaching profession, protecting teachers from burnout which can lead to absenteeism and leaving the profession, enhanced communication and connectivity and making digital platforms open source and free rather than run by private companies. Schools and education systems which engaged the most with parents, teachers and students are showing signs of increased resilience. 

Another area is evolving curricula to represent what is relevant to the world today and its inhabitants, during a climate and biodiversity crisis and at a time of science denial and misinformation. 

As COVID-19 has shown, the wellbeing of the planet and the health of humanity are inextricably linked. Teachers and the education they provide are integral to a more sustainable future.

Cover photo credit: Dan Gaken/Flickr

This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

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Event
  • 03.09.2020

Webinar - Supporting teachers in back-to-school efforts; A Toolkit for school leaders

The International Task Force on Teaches for Education 2030 (TTF), UNESCO and the International Labour Organisations (ILO) have developed a Toolkit for school leaders to support and protect teachers and education support staff in the return to school following COVID-19 related closures. The Toolkit was designed to meet the needs of schools ranging from early childhood to secondary education, yet it can also be applied in other contexts, including technical and vocational education and training institutions, and non-formal education settings.

It contains relevant background information, guiding questions, practical tips and suggestions about practical, experiences from school leaders, operational and pedagogical questions about school reopening, as well as links to protocols and other online resources.

*The webinar will be in Spanish

Please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pFI9qvuuTXCrJwbP4WfVnA

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