Schools on Indian reservations such as mine are asking a simple request and that is autonomy so that we can develop and we can tailor Indian education and design it as to the unique needs of our communities. – Ryan Chee, Principal of a school in an Indian reserve, USA.

Autonomy can unlock leaders’ potential. Top-performing education systems tend to grant greater autonomy to principals over decisions on human and financial resources. But in richer countries, less than half of principals are responsible for course content or teacher salary levels. And almost 40% of countries do not recognize higher education institutions’ autonomy by law.

What then for decision-making? This blog explores why  trusting school leaders is a  key recommendation from the 2024/5 GEM Report, Lead for Learning.

There is no leadership without opportunities to make decisions. Autonomy can lead to better education outcomes, but only when it is paired with adequate resources. A school principal’s ability to lead effectively depends on how much authority they wield: more autonomy sparks innovation and allows schools to adapt to their specific needs; less stifles it and can hinder progress.

The 2018 TALIS survey showed wide variation in autonomy worldwide. Principals had significant decision-making power over admissions (73%), discipline (70%), and staff hiring (69%).  But barely 4 in 10 could select learning materials (44%), determine course content (37%), or teacher salaries (28%).

Efforts to expand autonomy in low- and middle-income countries have seen mixed results. Bhutan’s 2014 Central School initiative boosted autonomy and exam scores within four years. In Kazakhstan, reforms such as capitation grants left principals still feeling constrained.

In high-income countries, the gains are clearer. For instance, Chicago’s 2016 Independent School Principal programme, freed successful leaders from network oversight, and raised mathematics and English pass rates by 4%, demonstrating the potential of targeted autonomy when combined with accountability.

Autonomy  however also requires support. Principals in high-autonomy systems, such as those in England under recent reforms, often face significant stress due to heavy accountability demands. These pressures can lead to burnout and limit their ability to focus on broader educational goals. A study of PISA data from 40 education systems revealed that higher accountability correlates with increased stress among principals, with a ripple effect on teachers. Therefore, for autonomy to drive improvements school leaders need the decision-making power and the support to manage their expanded responsibilities effectively.

Governments must set the stage for school principals to improve education. Increased decision-making power must be matched with resources, training, and support so principals can lead effectively and sustainably.

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By the end of 2023, 60 education systems (or 30%) had bans on smartphone use in schools in their laws or policies. By the end of 2024, an update that the GEM Report has prepared for the International Day of Education finds that 19 more education systems were banning the use of smartphones in school, bringing the total to 79 (or 40%). These regulations are described in the GEM Report’s Profiles Enhancing Education Reviews (PEER) website, which monitors the laws and policies on technology in education around the world. 

Percentage of education systems with laws and policies banning smartphone use in school, by SDG region, end of 2024 

Source: GEM Report PEER profiles, www.education-profiles.org 

In some cases, some bans have become more stringent in the last year. In China, the city of Zhengzhou further restricted the use of phones in primary and secondary schools, demanding that parents provide written consent that a phone was really needed for pedagogical reasons. In France, a ‘digital break‘ was suggested in lower secondary schools as an add-on to the already existing phone ban at other education levels. At the opposite end, Saudi Arabia reversed its ban due to the opposition by disability groups for medical purposes. 

This mapping did not include all sub-national jurisdictions in federal countries, although four were assessed in detail. For example, In Australia, two of the nine territories (New South Wales and South Australia) have introduced bans, while in Spain, all but 3 of the 17 autonomous communities (Basque Country, La Rioja, Navarre) have introduced bans. in the United States, 20 out of its 50 states have regulations now in place, from the Phone-Free School Act in California to the phone ban for K-12 classrooms in Florida, the ban on students using portable wireless device in Indiana and another ban in Ohio.   

In some of these new regulations in the United States, however, one approach is to issue guidelines, but leave it to schools to define the precise policies on usage in class. In Indiana, for example, school boards have to draft and publicly post specific policies for their schools saying whether students can access their phones during lunch and what consequences the students may face for using prohibited devices. In addition, sometimes there are exceptions, such as for learners who require learning accommodations in the Louisiana ban, and for anyone with a health condition that requires monitoring in Ohio.   

State education systems with laws and policies banning smartphone use in school in the United States, end of 2024 

Outside of full bans, some countries have also, or instead, banned the use of specific applications from education settings because of privacy concerns. Denmark and France have both banned Google Workspace, while some states in Germany have banned Microsoft products.  

Bans also vary by education level. Most countries focus on primary schools, and some, such as Israel, on kindergartens. Others, such as Turkmenistan, have extended the ban to secondary school.  

Brain rot?  

Among the new words added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2024 were ‘doomscrolling’ and ‘brain-rot’. Both are symbols of the omnipresence of unhealthy social media usage driven by artificial intelligence algorithms. The 2023 GEM Report showed that some technology can support some learning in some contexts, but not when it is overused or inappropriately used. Having a smartphone in class can disrupt learning. One study which looked at pre-primary through to higher education in 14 countries found that it distracted students from learning. Even just having a mobile phone nearby with notifications coming through is enough to result in students losing their attention from the task at hand.  Another study found that it can take students up to 20 minutes to refocus on what they were learning once distracted.  Removing smartphones from schools in Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom was found to improve learning outcomes, according to a study cited in the report, especially for students that were not performing as well as their peers. 

Risks to children’s privacy and well-being 

In addition to the impact on learning, there are also privacy concerns when specific applications collect user data unnecessary for these applications to work. As of 2023, only 16% of countries explicitly guaranteed data privacy in education by law, however. One analysis found that 89% of 163 education technology products recommended during the pandemic could survey children. Further, 39 of 42 governments providing online education during the pandemic fostered uses that risked or infringed on children’s rights.  

The 2024 Gender version of our report, Technology on her terms, also laid out the way that technology in practice often exacerbates negative gender norms or stereotypes. Social media use in particular impacts girls’ well-being and self-esteem. The ease with which cyberbullying can be magnified through the use of online devices in the school environment is a cause of concern, as is the biased design of artificial intelligence algorithms.  

The GEM Report calls for decisions about technology in education to prioritize the needs of the learner, making sure that any uses of technology are appropriate, equitable, scalable and sustainable. 

Students need to learn the risks and opportunities that come with technology and not be shielded from them entirely.  But countries need to give better guidance on what technology is allowed in school and what is not, and on its responsible use. Only technology that has a clear role in supporting learning should be allowed in school.  

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There is some progress but more causes for concern. The report shows that 110 million more children and youth have entered school since SDG 4 was set in 2015, with more children in school today than ever before. Completion rates are also rising: 40 million more children are completing uper secondary today than in 2015. However, during the same period, the out-of-school population has fallen by only 1% global and has risen by 12 million in Africa. Today, the VIEW website, jointly managed by the GEM Report and the UIS, shows that 251 million children and youth are not in school worldwide. Even when they enter, 650 million will still leave without a secondary school certificate.

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While digital technology offers new opportunities for teaching and learning, it also comes with risks related to privacy, safety and well-being.  The internet – including its use as part of education – exposes users to misuse of their personal data, invasion of privacy, abuse, theft of identity, offensive messages and images, cyberbullying, scams, fake news and misinformation.  

The 2024 GEM Gender Report shows that girls are particularly vulnerable to some of these risks which can lead to decreased self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, negatively impacting their well-being. And the latter is important for learning, with consistent evidence showing the causal relationship between higher levels of emotional, behavioural, social and school well-being and academic achievement. 

Digital media strains mental health and well-being 

A growing body of research underscores the impact of digital media on the mental health of girls. The 2021/22 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study by the World Health Organization reveals a concerning trend: girls are twice as likely as boys to feel frequently lonely, with 28% reporting this experience. 

Digital platforms, particularly social media, have become central to the lives of many. However, the impact on adolescents, especially girls, can be profound and distressing, exacerbating well-being issues. Platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, with their algorithm- and image-based content, often expose girls to harmful materials that promote unrealistic body images and unhealthy behaviours, negatively affecting their self-esteem and body image. For example, according to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, girls are twice as likely as boys to suffer an eating disorder in their lives. A review of young people aged 10 to 24 years in 17 countries has highlighted the association between the use of social media and body image concerns, eating disorders and poor mental health.  The Center for Countering Digital Hate reports that TikTok’s algorithm targets teenagers with body image and mental health content every 39 seconds, with content related to suicide every 2 minutes and 36 seconds, and with content related to eating disorders every 8 minutes, potentially exacerbating mental health issues among impressionable viewers.  Amnesty International highlights that one in two videos displayed after spending 5 to 6 hours on the platform are ‘mental health–related and potentially harmful’. 

Studies also indicate that social media can reinforce harmful gender norms as they do not only reflect but also amplify inequalities shaping user experiences in ways that often perpetuate negative stereotypes and behaviours. Moreover, the addictive nature of platforms like TikTok has been criticized for distracting students, making concentration more challenging.  

Technology and school-related gender-based violence: A significant global issue 

Because of the increasing presence of digital technology in schools, digital environments can become arenas for gender-based violence also in educational settings. The rise of digital technology has facilitated several forms of sexual violence such as online solicitation, coercive sexting, and cyberdating violence – often making it easier to perpetrate such abuses without immediate consequences. Notably, image-based sexual abuse, significantly impacts girls and LGBTQ youth, undermining their safety and educational rights. 

Cyberflashing where individuals receive unsolicited explicit images via digital devices, is also a prevalent form of harassment. Studies indicate that a disturbing number of school-aged girls are victims. In Canada, one-third of undergraduate females reported exposure to some sort of digital violence. Image-based sexual abuse and cyberflashing were prevalent, with significant psychological impacts on the victims. In the UK, 88% of girls in schools reported receiving unwanted explicit images. And in Belgium, more than half of the girls aged 15 to 25 in a survey reported being victims of cyberflashing. This form of abuse extends to AI-generated harassment, like the creation and distribution of deepfake pornographic images, which has seen a dramatic increase. Notable incidents in Brazil and Spain involved deepfake images of female students being circulated among peers.  

Cyberbullying is another significant concern disproportionately affecting girls. OECD data reveals that 12% of 15-year-old girls reported being cyberbullied compared to 8% of boys. In Saudi Arabia, nearly half of the female university students experienced digital harassment. Boys, while also victims, are more frequently the perpetrators of cyberbullying. Studies in India and China echo this gender disparity, with boys more likely to engage in cyberbullying.  

Strong and effective legal frameworks and education responses are needed  

The need to protect children and youth against online digital risks is gaining momentum worldwide. International conventions, such as the 2011 Istanbul Convention, provide foundational legal instruments for combating cyberbullying and online violence, emphasizing the need for comprehensive policies to protect women and girls online and criminalizing offensive actions and behaviour.  

In response to these growing concerns, countries are also developing legal frameworks and educational programs to protect students, particularly girls. Initiatives range from the comprehensive guidelines in Portugal on teaching about gender and internet safety to the Kids Online Safety Act in the United States, which demands safer online environments for children and adolescents. In Italy, a 2017 law stipulated preventive actions and a strategy of attention, protection and education for children considering both their situation as victims and perpetrators. Slovenia has run projects to raise awareness about online dating violence among youth for the successful prevention of and protection from online violence and harassment of girls and women. 

About 1 in 4 countries have banned mobile phones in school with laws or policies. Some countries ban phones for younger students (e.g. Finland and France) and others for their older peers (e.g. the Netherlands). Some have blocked the access to specific social media or software in schools. 

Education systems worldwide are evolving to integrate digital safety into their curricula and implementing comprehensive cybersecurity training. The aim is to create safer educational environments educating students and educators about the risks and responsibilities associated with digital technology. For example, Cambodia and Viet Nam have included lessons on preventing sexual abuse in their school programs.  

Parental guidance is also essential 

The World Health Organization and various educational policies advocate for reduced screen time and increased monitoring of digital engagement by young users. Parents and educators need to be equipped to guide children in understanding and managing their interactions with the digital space. This includes setting boundaries on screen time, discussing the content they encounter online, and fostering skills in critical thinking and digital literacy to help them discern and manage online risks and to combat misinformation and potential online harm.  

The call to action is clear 

Empowering young girls with the knowledge, tools, and support they need to thrive both online and offline is essential.  

As the 2024 GEM Gender Report  recommendation argues, it has become urgent to protect education from these negative influences of technology. Addressing the intersection of gender violence and digital technology in schools is crucial for ensuring safe educational environments for all students, especially girls. Educators, parents, policymakers, and students must work together to develop effective strategies to mitigate these risks. Strengthening legal protections, enhancing educational curricula and fostering supportive school communities are essential steps toward combating digital gender violence. Informed policies, engaged parenting, and responsive education systems can help to make digital environments in and outside schools safer and more inclusive. By understanding the impacts of digital technology on well-being and taking active steps to mitigate risks, we can help to build a better future for all students.  

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A year ago, the Transforming Education Summit (TES) was the highest-level education meeting in history, convening Heads of States on an unprecedented scale to talk about the education crisis. I was the Stakeholder Convenor for the finance track of the summit, helping to draft and edit the TES Discussion Paper on Financing, which was developed with input from 193 UN Member States. The paper led to the development of a Call to Action on Financing Education endorsed by the UN Secretary General, that was launched at the Summit on 19^th September 2022.

One year on, it is clear that delivering on this transformative finance agenda will be key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on Education by 2030. But to make the necessary breakthroughs, the education community, at national and international levels, must break out of its bubble and engage in much more strategic dialogue and action around tax justice, debt justice and ending the  default use of austerity measures.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is the most influential global actor on education, linking ministries of education from across lower-income countries in a partnership with bilateral and multilateral donors, civil society representatives, teacher unions, private sector partners and foundations. New research published today, shows the scale of transformation that could be achieved through action on the TES recommendations on tax, debt and austerity in 89 partner and eligible countries of GPE.

Taking action to increase tax revenues

On tax, the TES finance agenda called for action nationally to ‘increase the fiscal space for education’ and ‘to reach an adequate tax-to-GDP ratio.’ TES also called for international support to ‘prioritize global actions on taxes supporting international reforms.’

Our new research shows that GPE partner countries are losing over $47 billion every year in potential tax revenue, largely owing to tax avoidance by the wealthiest companies and individuals. It also reveals that 70% of GPE partner countries have a low tax-to-GDP ratio (under 20%), meaning that they struggle to raise enough revenue to provide universal education.

If these countries increased their tax-to-GDP ratios by five percentage points (as deemed realistic in a key IMF paper on financing sustainable development), they could raise an additional $455 billion. Moreover, if a fair share of this sum was earmarked for education, they could mobilize over $93 billion for education every year. This would be enough to transform the financing of public education, for example covering the costs of primary education for over 88 million children.

Reducing the debt burden to allocate more funds to education

On debt, the TES Finance Paper called for urgent action, observing: ‘It is clear that action on debt renegotiations and even debt write-offs for countries in debt crisis urgently needs to be accelerated. Any country that spends more on debt servicing than on education ought to be prioritized.’

The new research shows that 90% of the countries studied are at significant risk of debt distress (either they are in debt distress or at high or moderate risk of distress), seriously limiting the funds available for education. Indeed, shockingly, 25 countries are spending more on servicing their external debts than they are on education. Yet even in these countries, education is still not being factored into national negotiations on debt – and education still has little voice in global discussions on the debt crisis. GPE has started to acknowledge the importance of action on debt through its Debt2Ed modality but a much greater strategic engagement is needed in every country where the scale of debt servicing is limiting spending on education.

Cutting public spending reduces education budgets

On austerity, the TES Call to Action on Finance urged ‘the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions to remove existing obstacles, such as public sector wage constraints, that prevent increased spending on education; and champion policies that will allow significant new recruitment of professional teachers wherever there are shortages.’

But the latest data shows that 75% of countries are planning to cut overall public spending as a percentage of GDP over the coming three years. Moreover, in 36 countries where intensive studies have been conducted to look at the IMF policy steer on public sector wage bills, 67% of countries have been advised to cut wage bills and 28% have been advised to freeze them. This directly blocks recruitment of new teachers, even in countries where there are serious teacher shortages; and squeezes teacher salaries even where teachers are on low pay. Yet the IMF still does not engage in a systematic dialogue with education actors to discuss the impact of its advice on education.

Bold action is needed by all education stakeholders

All this must change! A year on from TES, our new research (published in the policy brief: Breaking Out of the Education Bubble) has exposed clearly that strategic action on tax, debt and public spending policies is essential for any government committed to achieving education goals. Governments should use all the tools at their disposal to act on progressive tax reforms, debt justice, and moving away from austerity policies.

But national action needs to be reinforced internationally. We urge all GPE partners, in line with GPE’s ambitious strategy, to leverage the power of its partnership for system transformation, to think out of the box and move in the bold directions proposed at TES. GPE, as the largest partnership for education, should support both national action and international reforms to deliver on this transformative agenda.

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Over the past 15 years that I have been in education, technology has transformed classrooms into digital landscapes, opening new avenues for learning and engagement. While it offers incredible opportunities, this influx of technology brings forth a host of challenges, leaving many teachers like me feeling burnt out and overwhelmed.

The drowning effect

Gone are the days when a chalkboard and textbooks were the primary tools in our arsenal. (When I started teaching, I was still using an overhead projector!). Today, teachers are expected to be tech-savvy, integrating various devices, platforms, and apps into their lessons. Keeping up with the innovations in artificial intelligence, the plagiarism checkers, the constant updates and mastering new software can feel like trying to swim against a relentless tide.

In its latest report, “Technology in Education: A tool on whose terms”? , the 2023 GEM Report highlights the dizzying speed of change, with EdTech products changing every 36 months on average, and teachers training under pressure. The need to stay relevant and deliver engaging content while juggling the demands of a fast-paced digital environment can be suffocating. As we struggle to keep up with technological innovations, we need to remember that, whilst technology can support education, it cannot supplant it. Nothing should ever replace the human face in the education we give our children. In the United States where I work, an analysis of over 2 million students found that learning gaps widened with remote instruction exclusively. Teachers, in other words, are critical no matter the technology you put in.

The battle for attention

The allure of smartphones and tablets has captured the attention of our students, making it challenging to maintain their focus during class. Today, despite the distraction they cause, less than a quarter of countries ban smartphone use in schools. With social media, games, and a plethora of distractions at their fingertips, our students’ attention spans have suffered. The GEM report found that even just the presence of a mobile device in the near vicinity was enough to distract children and impact their learning. It often feels like a never-ending battle, trying to compete with the enticing world of digital entertainment.

The digital divide

While technology promises to bridge gaps and enhance inclusivity, it also exposes a stark reality — the digital divide. This became particularly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. A rapid shift to online learning almost overnight left out at least half a billion students worldwide. Most of the students affected came from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those in rural areas, who lacked access to reliable internet connections or personal devices. As a result, teachers must navigate the delicate balance of incorporating technology into their classrooms while ensuring no student is left behind. Bridging this gap requires creative thinking and collaborative efforts, which can add further strain to an already overwhelmed teacher.

The erosion of human connection

Technology has undeniably transformed the way we communicate and interact. The rise of online education options has changed the way the teacher-student connection happens. And while online education has its benefits, it can also erode the vital human connection between teachers and students. The personal touch, the subtle nuances, and the empathy that can only be conveyed through face-to-face interaction often get lost in the virtual realm. Building relationships with students becomes a challenge when much of our communication is reduced to emails and virtual meetings.

Finding the silver lining

Amidst the chaos and burnout, it is crucial to remember that technology is a tool, not the ultimate goal of education. As teachers, we must adapt and find ways to harness its potential without compromising the core values that underpin our profession. Here are a few strategies to help navigate the challenges:

1. Embrace professional development: Seek out workshops, conferences, and online courses that focus on integrating technology effectively. Building your digital skills will not only boost your confidence but also make you better equipped to support your students. As the new GEM Report shows, governments need to ensure that the teaching community is offered appropriate training to use the tools being bought.
2. Collaborate with colleagues: Share your experiences, challenges, and triumphs with fellow teachers. Collaboration fosters a sense of camaraderie and helps discover innovative ways to tackle common obstacles. Teachers often feel unprepared and lack confidence teaching with technology, they need support yet only half of countries have ICT standards for developing their skills.
3. Set boundaries: Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life. It’s easy to get consumed by the demands of technology, but remember that self-care is essential to prevent burnout. Dedicate time to recharge and unplug from the digital world. One simple way to practice self-care and set a technology boundary is to take your work email off of your phone. We must also remember that screen time weighs heavily on children’s wellbeing including lower well-being, less curiosity, self-control, and emotional stability, higher anxiety or depression diagnosis.
4. Focus on pedagogy: Instead of getting caught up in the latest trends and gadgets, concentrate on the pedagogical aspects of teaching. Identify how technology can enhance learning outcomes and use it purposefully, rather than for the sake of novelty. This can be a difficult task as there is a lack of good quality evidence on which technology to use. As illustrated in the GEM report, a survey of teachers and administrators in 17 US states showed that only 11% requested peer-reviewed evidence prior to adoption.
5. Tailor instruction to student needs: Recognize the diversity of your students’ backgrounds and ensure that technology integration is inclusive. Provide alternative methods of learning for students without access, so no one is left behind. We need to remember that technology improves access for millions of students but excludes millions more.

Closing Thoughts:

The diary of a burned-out teacher may be filled with frustration and exhaustion, but it also holds glimpses of hope and resilience. By examining the risks and opportunities that technology presents in education and adopting proactive strategies, teachers can harness the benefits of technology, limit its downfall and overcome burnout to continue to inspire their students. Let us remember that technology should enhance education, not replace the human touch that makes teaching truly impactful.

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Together with Restless Development, the GEM Report is launching this short survey as the start of a global youth consultation we are running to hear youth voices on how technology should be used in education.

1. What should the priorities be?
2. What are the core challenges?
3. How should we protect learners when learning through technology?
4. What one message do you want to give policy makers on this issue that we can elevate together?

Your voices will be part of a global movement we are building with Restless Development to feed into a youth version of the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report to be published by UNESCO this July on technology and education.

The discussions have already begun, with a first gathering of youth activists in New York during the ECOSOC youth forum in May. We heard your voices about making sure that girls access digital devices, and that many devices cannot be accessible for children with a disability. You spoke out about the need for a more critical take over the way that children’s data is being used by technology firms. And we heard your call for more attention to be paid on making sure that digital skills are taught in even the most hard-to-reach areas and to the most marginalized students.

The SDG 4 Youth Network and Global Students Forum have also joined the movement, helping to spread the word on the opportunity this platform provides for youth voices. Starting soon, we will be holding several more youth-led regional consultations aiming to better understand the challenges and opportunities young people from around the world face when using technology in education and to hear their recommendations for policymakers.

A call for expressions of interest for youth organizations to organize these consultations and take part in associated advocacy activities will be launched in July.

Take the survey here and stay in touch to find out more!

Share our social media resources.

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Monday 20 February

1. Launch of the 2024/5 GEM Report concept note on leadership and education (4:45-6:15 pm EST): Manos Antoninis will describe the approach and objectives of the 2024/5 GEM Report. The concept note will kick-off a series of consultations on the topic and a call for expressions of interest to contribute background papers for the report. Karen Mundy of the University of Toronto and Jef Peeraer of VVOB will respond to the concept note.
2. Non-state actors in education in South Asia (2:45 to 4:15pm EST): The growing influence of non-state actors in the education sector across South Asia presents opportunities and challenges that need to be unpacked to help achieve SDG 4. Priya Joshi will join the GEM Report’s 2022 South Asia regional report partners to discuss the implications of non-state involvement on the sector, including on governance and finance and its influences on policymaking and provision.

Tuesday 21 February

1. Tools for analysing education systems (2:45 to 4:15pm EST): Discover the online tool that tells the story behind the data: SCOPE. Join Jo Kiyenje and the RISE Programme to discover a new tool for analysing education system: learning trajectories. Hear how the website shows the different proficiency levels achieved at each grade and what it teaches us about foundational learning.
2. SDG 4 Scorecard: How fast are countries transforming their education? (4:45-6:15 pm EST): Manos Antoninis and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics Director Silvia Montoya will talk you through the new 2023 SDG 4 Scorecard. The session will share expert insights into the development of new indicators in the SDG 4 monitoring framework linked to the Transforming Education Summit.

Wednesday 22 February

1. Shadow education in Asia: Complexities and dynamics in access and equity (8:00 to 9:30am EST): Priya Joshi will share insights into the 2021/2 GEM Report and 2022 South Asia Regional Report on non-state actors in a panel discussion focused on the natures and roles of the so-called shadow education provision of private supplementary tutoring.
2. Leaving no one behind: Ensuring equitable finance for all children to learn (9:45 to 11:15am EST): Manos Antoninis will chair a panel on equitable financing convened by the Global Partnership for Education. The session will emphasize the global commitment to leave no one behind.
3. Transforming education by delivering foundational learning in Africa (9:45-11:15 am EST): Join Jo Kiyenje and the Executive Director of ADEA, Albert Nsengiyumva, among others on Wednesday for a discussion with key contributors to the 2022 Spotlight report. The presentations will showcase country cases that illuminate key findings and highlight mechanisms for advancing knowledge exchange and evidence-based decision making.
4. Philanthropy and technology in education (1:30-3:30 pm EST): Manos Antoninis will join a panel on technology philanthropy convened by NORRAG. It will address points at the intersection between the 2021/2 GEM Report on non-state actors in education and the 2023 GEM Report on technology and education due to be launched this July. The panel will be chaired by Gita Steiner-Khamsi of Teachers’ College.
5. Building more inclusive education systems through public-private collaboration (3:15 to 4:45pm EST): The 2021/2 GEM Report called on governments to see all institutions, students and teachers as part of a single system, echoing the key message of the 2020 GEM Report on inclusion. Priya will be the discussant on a panel convened by the Global Schools Forum. The session will highlight examples of how state and non-state actors are working together to advance equity and inclusion in education in various contexts.

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This is considerably faster than one might expect based on past trends. If they managed to improve at the rate of the historically fastest-improving quarter of countries, they would reach only 83%.  Can countries reach their ambitious early childhood education targets? Our new report, launched to mark the International Day of Education, looked at that question.

Under the national SDG 4 benchmarking process, each country defines its own targets, taking its specific context, starting point and pace of progress into account. This is an important departure from assuming each country can achieve the same target, which was unrealistic and unfair for many countries. Our new report today evaluates the progress countries are making towards their own benchmarks.

Globally, we found that, among countries that have set benchmarks, barely one in three is on track to achieve them. High-income countries are more likely to have achieved fast progress towards their 2025 benchmark and/or to have achieved a rate of at least 95%. But there are also 14 low- and lower-middle-income countries that are on track to achieve their benchmarks: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Bhutan, Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, India, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

These findings give room for thought for countries as they set their agendas on this issue. Clearly, countries need to set the right balance between a target that is too ambitious and so unattainable, and one that is feasible, and provides motivation for governments to achieve it. Ambitious targets may be politically advantageous because they act as a demonstration of will, but they carry a larger reputational risk in the long run, and also weaken the extent to which the benchmarks can be used as a reliable accountability mechanism.

Countries’ progress rates towards their 2025 benchmarks on participation rates in organized learning one year before primary

How do three policies relate to higher levels and faster progress in early childhood participation?

Countries need to legislate for free and compulsory education. In 2020, 91 out of 188 countries guaranteed zero years of free and compulsory pre-primary education in their legislation. While only few have compulsory education laws at present, the number is increasing over time, and particularly since 2010.  There is huge variance between regions and income groups, of course. Almost 10% of upper middle countries, and 5% of high income countries’ laws call for 3 years of compulsory education. In low-income countries meanwhile, less than 5% call for 1 year to be compulsory.

Many countries, notably in Africa and Asia, lack compulsory laws but have benchmarks. Yet, where compulsory laws are in place, countries have higher levels of participation and set higher benchmarks. Amongst lower-middle income countries, for instance, where compulsory pre-primary education laws are in place, benchmarks average around 97%, in comparison to 84% for countries with no such laws.

Countries are increasingly calling for early childhood education to be compulsory

Given the large share in pre-primary education, governments must regulate private providers to ensure quality and equity. Yet, as the GEM Report PEER country profiles on non-state actors show, 97% of countries regulate approval, licensing and establishment of private pre-primary education providers, while only 26% support vulnerable populations’ tuition fee payments and just 15% prohibit non-state providers from operating for profit. In countries where tuition fees for specific population groups are subsidized, however, the percentage of children who participate in organized learning one year before entry to primary school is higher by 13 percentage points, whereas countries with fee-setting regulations have a 7 percentage-point higher participation.

Finally, increasing spending on public pre-primary education increases enrollment in public institutions. Among the 80 countries with data in 2018–20, 0.43% of GDP was spent on pre-primary education. Four countries spent above 1% of GDP: Belarus, Ecuador, the Republic of Moldova and Sweden. Doubling spending from 0.25 to 0.50 of GDP, however, triples participation rates from 20% to 60% on average, and is a clear win for improving progress on this issue.

The national SDG 4 benchmarking process was conceived as a tool to strengthen accountability. But it should not only be seen as that. Rather, they are meant to stimulate discussion about policies that can help countries fulfil their national education aspirations through peer dialogue. This report is the first in an annual series that will provide the latest information on national SDG 4 benchmark values and on progress towards them, using the latest data.

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We have come so far as a global human family. While we can and should celebrate the progress being made towards ensuring universal human rights and growing together as a human family, we are also falling behind on our global commitments to provide every child on the planet with access to quality education, as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

We are falling behind on our promises of a world without hunger and poverty. And we are falling behind in our collective efforts to address climate change, COVID-19, armed conflicts, forced displacement and other global crises that continue to mar and disrupt our efforts to create a more just, more equal, more peaceful world for all.

None of these commitments can be realized without ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, SDG 4.

Vision needs action

In June 2022, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, announced shocking new figures indicating that the number of crisis-impacted school-age children requiring urgent educational support has grown from an estimated 75 million in 2016 to 222 million today.

This is unacceptable. This means 222 million dreams dashed, 222 million opportunities arrested, 222 million potentials unfulfilled. 222 million children and youth in the most crisis-affected parts of the globe who will never be empowered to tell their story.

We must take urgent collective action as a human family before it gets even worse, and before we see entire generations lost in places like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.

Of the 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents in need of urgent educational support, the study indicates that as many as 78.2 million are completely out of school, and close to 120 million are in school, but not achieving minimum proficiency in mathematics or reading. In fact, just 1 in 10 crisis-impacted children attending primary or secondary education are actually achieving these proficiency standards. This must change.

Think about these numbers from a global perspective. 222 million is more than the total population of Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy combined. 222 million girls and boys who require educational support now simply because they are caught in war zones, displacement and other interconnected crises. None of their own making.

Think about what an education could mean for an individual girl in Afghanistan or a boy fleeing violence in the Lake Chad Region? Now think about the vast potential of investments in education. The World Bank indicates that every $1 spent on girls’ education generates approximately $2.80 in return. And ensuring that all girls complete their secondary education could boost developing countries’ GDP by an average of 10% over the next decade.

Transforming education

Transforming education also means transforming how we respond to investing in the next generation. Are we ready to leave behind the world’s 222 million most vulnerable children? Transformation requires crowding in global resources and advancing universal partnerships that propel evidenced-based and inclusive results. It requires building a true global movement that will activate action from the ground up and be responsive from the top-down in how and why we invest in education.

All eyes are turning now to the UN Secretary-General’s Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. The Summit seeks to mobilize political ambition, action, solutions and solidarity to transform education: to take stock of efforts to recover pandemic-related learning losses; to ensure that every child and adolescent receives a quality education of twelve years, to reimagine education systems for the world of today and tomorrow; and to revitalize national and global finances and resources to achieve SDG 4.

Since ECW was formed in 2016, I have been meeting with governments, donors, UN agencies, civil society organizations, children and youth and other key partners to transform our approach to delivering education in emergencies and protracted crises interventions. I’ve met with Leonardo Garnier, the UN’s Special Advisor to the Transforming Education Summit, at the UN Transforming Education Pre-Summit in Paris, hosted by UNESCO. I’ve met with a variety of private sector stakeholders such as the LEGO Foundation and CISCO at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We all have a shared vision.

Most importantly, I’ve met with hundreds of crisis-affected girls and boys in places like Afghanistan, Cameroon and Moldova, who dream to one day become teachers, lawyers, nurses, engineers, journalists, doctors and astronauts. They are our vision.

From these experiences, three key lessons arise that we must keep front and center as we align these global actions in advance of the Summit.

First of all, children and youth must come first. At Transforming Education pre-Summit, Kenisha Arora, Youth Representative of the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee, made a strong case for education: “When people are educated, society is transformed. Financial literacy becomes financial freedom and economic development. Digital literacy becomes digital transformation. Climate literacy becomes climate action.” We must enlist the power and hope of these strong youth voices in realizing #222MillionDreams. They will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Second, we must empower and support the global south to invest in education. This can happen through substantive financial support for multi-year programmes, bridging the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. As the President of Ethiopia and Chair of the UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education, Sahle-Work Zewde, stated at the pre-Summit: we must “strengthen public dialogue and more inclusive participation that brings in those who are often excluded.” The will is there, but often the resources are lacking.

Third, we cannot do it alone. One of the key opportunities coming from the Transforming Education Summit and Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Financing Conference in February 2023, is to inspire political and public support for education in emergencies and rally public, private sector, foundations and high-net-worth individual donor funding to catalyze collective action. UN Secretary-General António Guterres continues to provide inspiring leadership in connecting various partners as we build a global movement to leave no child behind.

In his public statement of support for ECW’s #222MillionDreams campaign and our upcoming February #HLFC2023, UN-SG Guterres stated: “Around the world, 222 million children are having their education cruelly interrupted. Their dreams for the future are snatched away by conflicts, displacement and climate disasters. We need governments, businesses, foundations and individuals to support the vital work of ECW. And we need their ideas and innovations as we look ahead to September’s Transforming Education Summit. Help us place education within reach of every child, everywhere. Help us keep 222 million dreams alive.” Let us empower these millions of children and youth through a vision come true.

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To young people today, the future may feel bleak. Faced with one crisis after another, from COVID 19 to climate change to climbing numbers of refugees, it is no surprise that pessimism pervades. Combined, these global crises have created another: a happiness crisis. Now, perhaps more than ever, schools should pitch positivity, which is why UNESCO has launched a scale-up of its Happy Schools Initiative.

Stress and socio-emotional distress are surging among the world’s youth. A school student today must navigate a digitally driven world of social media pressures and personas, high stakes testing, competitive job markets, divisive identity politics, stark income inequalities, and a near constant visual reporting of global trauma, warfare, and human suffering. On top of that, students have spent the past two years being told they will feel the social and academic effects of the pandemic for the rest of their lives. Learning is harder when you know you’ve lost so much of it, when it feels like you’re in a never-ending uphill battle.

Everyone at school—teachers, students, parents, school leaders, and staff—needs a little light, a sense of purpose and belonging. Schools should be sites to support social cohesion, creating communities across difference. Schools, too, should foster a lifelong love of learning through joy and engagement, rather than deter students from it by prioritizing academic performance over all else, to the detriment of personal well-being.

UNESCO has since decided a global scale-up of its Happy Schools Initiative. Begun in 2014 by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, the Happy Schools Initiative offers an alternative approach to improving learning experiences: prioritizing school happiness. By going global with the initiative, UNESCO is responding to the plea for support from students and schools around the world who are asking for a pause on the pressures for constant productivity to make space for play and positivity.

The initiative targets the happiness of the school rather than individual students because schools are sites of holistic, sustainable community development that includes teachers, staff, school leaders, and even parents. To Eszther Salamon, the Director of Parents International, fostering a love of learning is one of a school’s most important roles:

“Children who enjoy learning at school will happily dive into further learning after graduation. The 21^st century has required constant update of knowledge and aptitude to learning more. A happy learner will remain a learner, so this initiative is more than timely.”

The scale-up of the initiative begins by emphasizing the link between well-being and better learning. By prioritizing engaging, collaborative experiences at school, learning outcomes are likely to improve. Today, in troubling times of geopolitical turbulence tearing families apart, schools should spend their energy on what matters most: safety and support. Strengthening these foundations will combat the negativity that stunts both cognitive and non-cognitive lifelong learning.

Compassion, communication, and community-building should be cornerstones of the school building. We must make concerted efforts to ensure all schools are happy places. Only then can they be places of learning to know, to do, to be, and to live together.

It is with great pleasure that UNESCO announces the launch of its first global pilot project in Yemen. Interested countries or schools can request to join the global Happy School Framework pilot implementation by sending an email to HappySchools@unesco.org

To help build happy school environments around the world, please fill out this survey to share materials, stories, activities and experiences with our team. You can help us strengthen the global Happy Schools community.

Please join our Happy Schools LinkedIn community to see regular updates and connect with others interested in supporting the Happy Schools mission

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Jaime Saavedra, the World Bank’s Education Director, has called the current state of global learning “the most serious crisis in education in 100 years.”

The reason is clear. Even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of children in formal education were not learning. Prolonged school closures have made that even worse. The Bank’s own estimate is that up to 70% of 10-year-olds in low and middle income countries could be in “learning poverty”, defined as being unable to read and understand a simple text. Addressing the staggering learning losses from COVID-19 and improving dire education outcomes has become a global priority.

The Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel has published a list of cost effective approaches to improve global learning. It includes structured lesson plans with ongoing teacher monitoring and training among them.  But the Panel’s evidence is based on a handful of studies and some doubt whether structured teaching and learning are indeed effective.

So, the release of a major new study by a group of US academics led by Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Michael Kremer with his co-authors, Guthrie Gray-Lobe, Anthony Keats, Isaac Mbiti and Owen Ozier, could not have come at a more relevant time. It is an examination of the benefits to student outcomes of a structured and standardized approach to teaching and learning.

The study of schools in NewGlobe’s Bridge Kenya program was conducted over two school years and included more than 10,000 students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, identified using indicators such as access to electricity and whether their homes had dirt or mud floors.

The study examined a methodology that is data-rich, characterized by an integrated, end-to-end system, including a digital learning platform, adaptive instructional content, professional development, and 360-degree support.

A clear focus on school management is combined with the use of cellular networks to ensure each school leader has purpose-built applications for school management and instructional leadership, as well as to digitally publish teachers’ lesson guides and additional supporting materials. By digitizing materials and information systems, NewGlobe makes core activities within each supported school and classroom visible, and uses that data to support decisions made on everything from the deployment of field support staff to lesson design.

Students in the study were awarded a scholarship to Bridge Kenya through a randomized lottery draw. Its findings are startlingly clear. Primary students through Grade 8, in NewGlobe’s Kenya program gain almost an additional year of learning (0.89) under the NewGlobe integrated methodology, learning in two years what their peers learn in nearly three. For early childhood school students, the gains are even bigger. Those students supported by NewGlobe gained almost an additional year and half of learning, learning in two years what students in other schools learn in three and a half years.

The study explains that the test score effects “are among the largest observed in the international education literature, particularly for a program that was already operating at scale, exceeding the 99th percentile of treatment effects of large-scale education interventions reviewed by Evans and Yuan (2020).”

Equity has long been the target of education programming but with 2030 rapidly approaching, meeting SDG4 is increasingly regarded as unachievable.  Yet, Professor Kremer and his co-authors show that students in schools implementing NewGlobe’s integrated methodology benefit its most struggling students most: winning a scholarship had the largest impact on lower-achieving pupils.

The relevance of the study’s findings for political leaders and policy makers is clear. When students are better educated, the economy benefits significantly. Economic growth follows improved schooling, enhancing the opportunities for a nation’s youth, and for the economy’s workforce.

And, if replicated at scale across public systems, this integrated methodology could put students on the study track to match academic performance levels achieved by peers from upper-middle income countries, pushing their countries up education league tables to match countries with incomes three or four times greater per person. Education scholars estimate education reforms resulting in a 25-point gain on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (0.25 standard deviation) will increase the GDP growth rate by 0.5% annually in middle income countries.

When learning increases mirror the results found in the study, we can expect students to perform better on later assessments as well. The study shows that “attending schools delivering highly standardized education has the potential to produce dramatic learning gains at scale, suggesting that policymakers may wish to explore incorporation of standardization, including standardized lesson plans and teacher feedback and monitoring, in their own systems.”

Pioneered in Kenya, this integrated approach to teaching and learning has already been embraced by governments and brought to support government teachers and school leaders in countries including Nigeria, Rwanda, India and Liberia.

As the study shows, an effective holistic learning system can deliver transformational learning outcomes at scale and tackle the endemic learning poverty crisis. One million students – 95% of them in public schools – are currently being taught using the methodology in this groundbreaking study and the figure is increasing year on year.

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