Brazil: A New Epicenter for COVID-19
Read here to learn about how COVID-19 is impacting Brazil and its education sector.
Read here to learn about how COVID-19 is impacting Brazil and its education sector.
An estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 are out-of-school in Pakistan. At present, Pakistan has the world's second-highest number of out-of-school children (OOSC), representing 44 percent of the total population in this age group. Punjab has the dubious distinction of having the highest average literacy rate in Pakistan of 61%, as it remains lop-sided with deep pockets of illiteracy. A closer examination shows that the provincial average does not tell the complete story and masks the poor situation in the southern districts of the province. In Rahim Yar Khan District, only one in three people is literate.
Important update from all of us at GCE-US: Education for all, collaborative advocacy & partnership are more important now than ever. Join in doubling our actions in challenging times!
Expanding Student Learning Without Leaving the Classroom: The Promise of Online Learning & Virtual Exchange
The internet proposed a great promise: anyone from anywhere could connect to exchange information and ideas. As the number of devices that connect to the internet across the world and access to the internet grows, the number of possible connections also grows exponentially. At the forefront of utilizing this new technology are current K-12 students, who find it increasingly natural to learn and connect using computers, tablets, or any other internet-connected device. With the number of connections now available at their fingertips, it is a logical next step to use internet-connected devices in the classroom to increase students’ quality of education and ability to connect with the rest of the world.
Today’s youth need skills in innovation, cross-cultural collaboration, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). The World Smarts STEM Challenge pairs high school teachers and students from different countries on gender-balanced, collaborative teams.
A webinar hosted by USAID and The Global Reading Network on June 7, 2017 explained important work being done on inclusive education for children with disabilities in developing countries. It discussed USAID's disability and non-discrimination policies and the "All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development" program, which funds projects that use technology and science to improve literacy skills in early grade learners in developing countries .
Learning the sciences enhances a student’s success and has a powerful impact in particular on girls. Africa Schoolhouse recently raised funds to assist communities in Tanzania to add three new science laboratories and sanitary composting latrines in secondary schools.
My father-in-law squinted. “Why on earth would you want to do that?” he said when I told him I was going to a remote part of Zambia to produce a virtual reality experience for Impact Network, the NGO I work for in New York.
Impact Network runs education programs in rural, off-the-grid communities in Africa. I explained that virtual reality, or VR, would allow us to tell our story in the most immersive way possible. Short of bringing people to Zambia, the experience would transport them to a rural village where they could explore the sights and sounds of a new environment. This would help people to better understand the context and purpose of Impact Network’s work and maybe even want to visit themselves.
A familiar sight: a teacher stands at the head of the classroom with a book or a sheet of paper in hand. Her eyes travel down the page as she reads out loud, pausing every so often to allow the dozens of furiously writing students to catch up. The students will take their notes home for the night. They will study, review, and rehearse until they have memorized word for word the information. And the next morning, one by one, they will stand in front of the teacher and give an oral recitation. The teacher will ask questions. She will write down a final grade. And then she will move on to the next lesson.
It's been nine months since the United Nations committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals "to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all." It's a 15 year window of opportunity to achieve these goals, but how do governments, corporations, nonprofits, and individuals like you and me accelerate impact in each of these areas?