The National Coalition on the Education Emergency has been established to provide a forum for individuals and organizations to come together and build a larger awareness of the crisis arising from keeping schools closed, and build social pressure to carefully open schools and to ensure structured learning opportunities for all children, especially those from the marginalized groups. The Coalition will aim to collate and develop models of teaching that provide meaningful opportunities for student learning, both in schools and in community learning centers.
From Rakesh B, IT for Change
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Newsletter
on the
Education
Emergency
November
- December
2021
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The National Coalition on the Education Emergency
(NCEE) has
been
continuing its
efforts to 'resume'
and 'renew'
school
education,
advocating for
school
re-opening and
for empathetic
education on
resumption.
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Omicron: Schools should be last to close and
first to open
As
cases of omicron
increase, there are
apprehensions that
schools will be closed
again, the Delhi
government has
recently done so.
However, the call
that 'Schools
should be the last
to close and first
to re-open'
needs to be adhered
to, given the huge
costs of school
closure to the
well-being of children
and the relatively
lower (even
negligible) costs of
re-opening schools.
The new variant shows
no indication of
causing fatalities
amongst children. Like
with the economy, it
is essential to make a
clear consideration of
the relative costs of
keeping schools open
and closing them.
India has
unfortunately shown it
is easy to callously
disregard the huge
costs to the large
sections of Indian
children who are kept
completely out of
structured learning
during closure. These
costs are long-term,
even lifelong and we
cannot afford to
ignore them.
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Coalition prepares note on supporting early
years’ education
A
note
on supporting
children’s learning in
the foundational stage
in the context of the
current Education
Emergency, caused by a
long spell of school
closure has been
prepared by Prof.
Venita Kaul with
inputs from other
education experts. It
builds on the guidance
provided in the
publication A
Future at Stake
and focuses on
foundational learning
for children aged 3-8
years. This
publication fills an
important need of
teachers, in
addressing the
learning needs of
young children, who
have been most
affected by school
closure.
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Social Mobilization
Letter to Members of Parliament: An
appeal
was made to all the MPs
to raise the issue of
Education Emergency in
the parliament, discuss
in detail its various
aspects and urgently
address the emergency by
taking concrete policy
and budgetary actions
that include financial,
academic, nutritional
and social measures,
through a multi-year
program.
Consultation with Governments: Drawing
upon critical aspects
from A
Future at Stake
and inputs from the
committee formed by the
Karnataka DSERT, the
academic guidelines for
school opening has been
finalized and submitted
to be issued by the
education department.
Read in English
ಕನ್ನಡ.
Advocacy
Campaigns
Eggs in midday meal: The NCEE endorsed a statement released by the Right to Food campaign, Karnataka, asking the
government to
increase the
planned provision
of eggs from thrice a week to students in
North East
Karnataka, to
cover all children
in the state and
provide eggs daily
as a part of the
midday meals. Such
provision would make a
significant impact on
the nutrition status of
children and help in
improving the nutrition
levels of children in
the state. As part of
this campaign, eggs and
bananas were distributed
in a government aided
high school in Bengaluru
to urge the government
to take necessary steps.
Children’s
Day press release:
Emphasizing that the
need of the hour is for
children to return to a
caring, safe and
conducive learning
environment, where the
focus is on
strengthening their
learning-to-learn
abilities and
re-establishing
connections amongst
students and between
teachers and students.
NCEE
issued a statement
calling upon
governments to pay
heed to the needs of
the children and help
them get the education
they need and deserve.
Panel
discussion:
RTE Forum organized a
series of thematic
consultations with
educational experts,
professionals and
concerned stakeholders
with the purpose of
developing a position
paper on the safe
reopening of schools
that will provide a
comprehensive analysis
of the challenges
faced by children and
offer clear
recommendations for
the government.
Gurumurthy Kasinathan
and Dr. Sajitha Bashir
participated in the
2nd and 3rd
consultations
respectively, where
aspects related to the
limitations and
suggestions for
appropriate use of
technology in the
response to the
Education Emergency,
the chronic
under-funding in the
public education
system in India and
the financial
resources needed to
ensure a comprehensive
response to reduce
inequality were
highlighted. Links: 1st
consultation 2nd
consultation 3rd
consultation
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Education support to schools and communities
Steps
in the right
direction: The efforts of the Tamil Nadu Education
department to aid the educational recovery of students facing the repercussions
of the Education
Emergency. Apart from dedicated funding from the
government to address
the learning gap due
to school closure, two educational
programs
have been recently announced:
Illam
Thedi Kalvi (“education
coming home”):
The
Tamil Nadu government
in collaboration with
several NGOs,
education experts,
teachers and community
volunteers has initiated a community learning program to support student learning through after-school activities
and lessons in local community spaces. Efforts
are underway to
mobilize and sensitize
volunteers through kala jathas
and training programs.
Resource material to
be used by the
volunteers has been
developed by the
SCERT.
Ennum
Ezhuthum
(“Counting and
Writing”):
A
foundational numeracy
and literacy program
to achieve
foundational literacy
and numeracy for all
children <8 years
in the next 3 years.
The program aims to use a comprehensive approach that
moves away from the
traditional syllabus
completion methods to
using methods that are
appropriate to students
contexts.
Members of the NCEE have
been involved
in the planning and
implementation of
these programs. For
more information, write
to us.
The resource repository is being continually
updated, compiling
different ideas and
activities to help
teachers equip
themselves with a
flexible repertoire of
approaches and
resources to support
the
acquisition/re-acquisition
of skills of learning
– in terms of language
abilities,
mathematical abilities
as well as socio-emotional development aspects .
We have also been continuing the
documentation of the work and experiences of different
organizations as innovation models, in engaging with
children and creating
opportunities for
learning during the
pandemic.
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Research
Policy Tracker: In
addition to the school
opening status in
different states,
information regarding
education finances,
mid-day meals,
textbooks, etc are being
collated to be included
as part of the policy
tracker by
reaching out to
government officials and
other organizations. If
you or anyone you know
can help in this process
or have any suggestions,
please write
to us. The
education finance policy
tracker is planned to be
released early January
2022 and will provide
information on
state-wise budget
allocations on
education.
Family Survey:
Key findings from the
preliminary analysis of
the household survey
conducted in Karnataka
to capture the
educational experiences
of children indicates
that over 70% of parents
felt that their
children’s reading and
writing skills have
declined or stayed the
same during the
pandemic. The survey has
now been completed in
Telangana and is planned
to be undertaken in
Tamil Nadu as well. The
short survey instrument
can be translated into
different languages. Groups interested in administering the survey in
their states can contact the NCEE.
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Why Have They Done This to the Children?
“We have
victimized kids
and robbed them of
a childhood, with
no benefit
whatsoever to show
for it”. Bhaskaran
Raman discusses
indications that
much of the
world’s response
to Covid-19 is
indeed
disproportionate
fear rather than a
rational response,
in the context of
children. |
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Preventing a lost decade
This UNICEF report
lays out the work
in front of us by
taking stock of
the ongoing impact
of COVID-19 on
children and the
road to respond
and recover to
reimagine the
future for every
child. |
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Should
Govt Reopen Schools Amid
Omicron Scare?
Citing multiple examples
of how children are
already exposed to the
virus to substantiate
their claim, these parents
show their concurrence
with the decision of
reopening of schools amid
Omicron scare as children
are less susceptible to
the disease |
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No
Teacher, No Class: State
of the Education Report
for India, 2021
Focused on the theme of
teachers, teaching and
teacher education, this
UNESCO report attempts to
provide an understanding
of key aspects of the
teaching profession,
challenges of their
intricate teaching routine
and their professional
development and provides
recommendations to address
the challenges facing the
teaching profession in
India
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NCEE is now on Twitter and Facebook. Follow our handles for regular updates.
Media articles are updated regularly and
available on
the Education
Emergency site
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reproduction
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translation.
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