GPE’s 2021 blog year was dominated by a range of issues with the majority of the posts being about education systems’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis, gender equality, education financing and teachers.
As we have been doing over the past few years, we have compiled the list of blogs that gathered the most views this year.
We send a huge THANK YOU to all our partners and blog contributors, who helped us produce a total of 180+ blogs this year!
We hope you will enjoy discovering or re-reading them.
1. Education financing in Nigeria and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
By Maryjacob Okwuosa and Mukhtar H. Modibbo
As the COVID-19 pandemic strains national economies and budgets, the need to protect domestic education budgets and ensure that education remains a priority for national governments has never been more urgent. GPE Youth Leaders from Nigeria raise awareness on the problems the education sector is facing and call on leaders to increase their ambitions for financing education and development.
2. The effects of the COVID pandemic on girls’ education
By Ashlegh Pfunye and Iyunoluwa Ademola-Popoola
Girls’ education has been specifically challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for girls from low-income households and girls in rural areas. GPE Youth leaders raise awareness on the barriers girls face to access education and call on world leaders to increase their ambitions for financing education and development.
3. Vaccinating teachers is crucial for returning to school
By Carlos Vargas-Tamez and Peter Wallet
As countries roll out plans to inoculate their populations against COVID-19, the urgent need to vaccinate teachers was an increasingly pressing concern. But were teachers prioritized in national plans? Here’s an overview of what some countries did for teachers, and recommendations on why teachers must be considered as a priority group.
4. Reopening the future: Advancing early learning for a better tomorrow
By Divya Lata, Jennifer Vu, Rokhaya Diawara and Melissa Diane Kelly
A solid body of evidence shows that the foundations for learning are largely built in the early years of life before a child ever enters primary school. Therefore, to create more sustainable, peaceful, and resilient societies in the long run, we need to prioritize investments in early childhood education now.
5. Education: A key to the success of the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA)
By Rita Bissoonauth
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents an important milestone in achieving an economically integrated Africa and governments should invest in basic education and skills development and strive for education reform that will facilitate the unimpeded participation of young people in the socioeconomic development of their countries.
6. COVID-19 and education in sub-Saharan Africa: 5 actions for the way forward
By Peter Anti Partey
The advent of COVID-19 has worsened the state of global education, but the hardest hit regions will be those with less robust education systems such as sub-Saharan Africa. It is time for governments in the region to reform their school systems to prepare students and ensure they can contribute to their countries’ economic development and be competitive globally.
7. Education: The best investment a government can make
By Senator Dr Getrude Musuruve Inimah and Hon Harriett Baldwin MP
The disruption aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis to already overstretched education systems combined with economic shocks and increased pressure on public finances create a potentially fatal cocktail for education funding. However, while education is clearly a victim of the pandemic, it can also be the solution to the longer-term recovery if funded properly.
8. What the first ever large-scale assessment in Southeast Asia tells us about learning in the region
By Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela and Francisco Benavides
The results from the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM)—a new regional large-scale student learning assessment program, designed by and for countries in Southeast Asia— were released in December 2020. SEA-PLM 2019 data show that learning for all children is still a far-off goal and that countries face aggravated challenges ahead owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
9. Sierra Leone: A dictionary in your hands with a mobile app
By David Moinina Sengeh
The government of Sierra Leone has deployed an innovative mobile-based application that places a dictionary in the hands of every Sierra Leonean. The solution seeks to support literacy improvements in learners and citizens across the country at no cost to the users.
10. World Teachers Day - Placing teachers at the heart of education recovery
By Carlos Vargas-Tamez
The celebration of World Teachers Day this year focuses on the effect the pandemic has had on teachers, and the steps that need to be taken to ensure that teaching personnel can play the role expected of them during the period of recovery.