Download file - Schools for Asia

TRANSFORMINGLIVESTHROUGH

EDUCATION

Schools for Asia

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 9

Expression of thanks UNICEF would like to thank and acknowledge its private-sector partners listed on the final pages of this report for their 2019 contributions towards results for children in education in Asia. These resources have enabled the organization to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized children, achieving results that would not otherwise have been possible.

We wish also to thank the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and non-governmental organizations that over the years have continued to contribute generously to UNICEF and, in so doing, have made a remarkable difference in the education of a great many children worldwide. To all of you from everyone at UNICEF, we extend our sincere gratitude.

Cover: Two girls from Class 4A at the Sin Cheng ethnic lower secondary school in Hai Duong, Viet Nam, give a big smile to vistors from UNICEF.

© UNICEF/UNI328273/Viet Hung


EDUCATION

SCHOOLS FOR ASIA 2019

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Contents

Acronyms ............................... 7

Introduction ..................... 10

Regional overview .................................12

Early learning ................................................................................................................14

Quality education ...................................................................................................16

Adolescents for success ............................................................................18

Equity in education ..............................................................................................20

Education in emergencies ........................................................................22

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How partners have contributed ......48 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 53

Stories from the field ..................................54

How you can support Schools for Asia ...................................64

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Country results ............24

East Asia and the Pacific

China .........................................................................................................................................26

Lao PDR ..............................................................................................................................28

Mongolia .............................................................................................................................30

Papua New Guinea .............................................................................................32

Philippines ........................................................................................................................34

Timor-Leste ....................................................................................................................36

Viet Nam .............................................................................................................................38

South Asia

Bangladesh .....................................................................................................................40

Bhutan ....................................................................................................................................42

India ...........................................................................................................................................44

Nepal ........................................................................................................................................46


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Acronyms

CDC Community development centre

ECE Early childhood education

ECD Early childhood development

ECCD Early childhood care and development

ECCE Early childhood care and education

ELDS Early Learning Development Standards

EMIS Education Management Information System

GPE Global Partnership for Education

ICT Information and communication technology

IECD Inclusive early childhood development

MDG Millennium Development Goal

PE Physical education

SDG Sustainable Development Goal

SEL Social-emotional learning

SEN Special education needs

STI Sexually transmitted infection

WASH Water, sanitation, and hygiene

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Schools for Asia Countries

India

Nepal

Bangladesh

Lao PDR

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Viet Nam

Bhutan

China

Philippines

Timor-Leste

Papua New Guinea

Mongolia


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Introduction

In our rapidly changing world, education has never been so mportant to equip children and adolescents

with the knowledge and skills necessary to confront the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Many of the world’s problems addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice – cannot be resolved adequately by countries without educated citizens. And to succeed in a competitive, knowledge-based, technology-driven economy and society, children and young people need twenty-first century skills that are not yet commonly taught in many schools.

The 11 countries that participate in the Schools for Asia initiative – Bangladesh,

Bhutan, China, India, the Lao Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Mongolia, Nepal,

Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam – are incredibly diverse in terms

of wealth, ethnicity, language, culture, geography, and economic systems. They also vary greatly in

terms of provision of education. While some countries have achieved global development benchmarks,

such as the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All commitments, others have not. Significant, and sometimes

widening, disparities persist both between and within countries in terms of enrolment, retention, progression, and learning outcomes – often on the basis of

socio-economic status, geographical location, disability, ethnicity, language, and gender.

Demand for post-basic education and pre-primary education is also rapidly increasing, urging governments and other stakeholders to provide greater equitable access to all levels of education. The quality of teachers and teaching often results in variable learning outcomes, with gaps within and between countries. The disconnect between what is taught in school and what is needed for effective participation is an emerging issue.

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The Schools for Asia initiative strives to address many of these challenges. With its focus on early learning, quality learning, equity in education, adolescents for success, and education in emergencies, the initiative promotes holistic and innovative approaches to education for all children, especially the most disadvantaged. These are based on child-friendly education strategies and through specific initiatives on inclusive and quality pre-primary and primary education, mother tongue education, second-chance education for out-of-school adolescents, and the promotion of life skills and twenty-first century skills.

This annual report presents the significant achievements that have been made in children’s education in 2019 in the Schools for Asia countries. Partnerships have been key to these results. National governments and other education stakeholders have come together with UNICEF to give children and adolescents the best education opportunities possible.

For all the progress, however, more needs to be done to improve children’s core academic skills and prepare them for the future. This is especially true in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which resulted in large-scale learning loss in almost every country and which threatens to reverse many of the gains made to date. In the face of this pandemic, UNICEF is committed to working with the 11 Schools for Asia countries to do everything possible to preserve children’s rights to education and to advance the SDG agenda.

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Regional overview

The context

Seven of the Schools for Asia countries (China, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam) are located in the East Asia and Pacific region, which is home to over a quarter of the world’s children – around 580 million girls and boys. It is also home to some of the world’s fastest growing and most innovative economies, accounting for up to 50 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.

The dynamic growth and rapid change in the region mean almost all countries are expected to achieve middle income country status by 2020. In the meantime, such fast economic growth has widened social inequalities and made life difficult for many children and adolescents. Several countries are struggling to expand access to and improve the quality of essential social services, such as education, particularly for vulnerable children and adolescents, many of whom live in urban slums, rural and remote areas, or ethnic minority communities. Migrant children, refugee children, and children with disabilities are also among the most at risk of exclusion.

The East Asia and Pacific region is also one of the most disaster-affected areas of the world. The complex combination of disasters, climate change, and conflict and violence continues to challenge the region’s vast and diverse economies and populations by exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. In East Asia and the Pacific, where seven of the Schools for Asia countries are located, 7 million children at the primary level and 7.7 million children at the lower secondary level are out of school.*

In South Asia, where four of the Schools for Asia countries are located (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal), 11.3 million children at the primary level and 20.6 million children at the lower secondary level are out of school. Further, millions of children complete primary education without mastering the foundational skills of basic numeracy

and literacy.

Classrooms in South Asia are teacher-centred and rote-based, and children are subjected to corporal punishment and discrimination. Girls in particular face

incredible hurdles to pursue their education because of gender inequality.

Like the East Asia and Pacific region, South Asia is also prone to natural hazards, political instability, and civil strife, which often adversely affect children’s learning environments. Natural and man-made crises increase the difficulty in delivering quality education services to children, and low levels of public finance for education limits the delivery of inclusive and equitable education.

* Source: Learning against the odds https://www.unicef.org/eap/reports/learning-against-odds

Regional overview

https://www.unicef.org/eap/reports/learning-against-odds


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It is widely recognized across all countries that early learning is the bedrock of children’s future progress

in school and for success in life, which is why in all 11 Schools for Asia countries UNICEF is

taking innovative approaches to expand access to inclusive and integrated early childhood

development and preschool education.

One promising early learning practice is the community-based preschool programmes that support communities to co-finance and monitor the quality of early learning. In Lao PDR, more than 7,000 children in remote and hard-to-reach communities are benefitting from the Community-Based School Readiness programme. In Timor-Leste, UNICEF is working

with the Ministry of Education, village councils, and parents to set up community

preschools in rural areas where there are very few public services. In Mongolia,

ger kindergartens are set up to make more space for children from nomadic families to enrol

in early childhood education (ECE). In 2019, 180 more young children enrolled in ECE through

this approach.

Systems strengthening and capacity development to improve the provision of preschool/pre-primary education were also

priorities in 2019. In India, more than a half-million anganwadi workers were able to access a newly launched e-learning course on ECE and improve

their care and teaching of young children in rural childcare centres. UNICEF supports the care and development of 22 million young children in more than 1 million anganwadi centres in 14 states.

Early learning

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In Papua New Guinea, evidence-based advocacy by UNICEF led to the inclusion of ECE as a key focus area in the the new National Education Plan for 2020–2029. In Viet Nam, 4.6 million preschool children were reached by teachers trained on the social emotional learning curriculum, which UNICEF is helping to roll out across the country.

In Bangladesh, more than 214,400 children, including Rohingya refugees, were reached with early learning services. This was as a result of the standardization of pre-primary education and a government commitment to two-year pre-primary education, as well as the recruitment of more than 26,000 teachers and stronger ownership of 4,000 para-centres by Hill District Councils.

In the Philippines, UNICEF-supported training on the Early Childhood Development Checklist (a tool to monitor development milestones of young children) capacitated child development workers and kindergarten teachers in three focus provinces to address risks of developmental delays and to boost the growth and development of young children.

It is widely recognized across all countries that early learning is the bedrock of children’s future progress in school and for success in life, which is why in all 11 Schools for Asia countries UNICEF is taking innovative approaches to expand access to inclusive and integrated early childhood development and preschool education.

REGIONAL OVERVIEW

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Critically, being in school is not the same as learning. Though enrolment rates, especially in primary

education, are high overall in the 11 Schools for Asia countries, there is a learning crisis in many

countries as evidenced by low proficiency levels in reading and writing. UNICEF is addressing

this learning crisis on multiple levels, from supporting the reform of educational curricula and helping countries measure learning outcomes, to training teachers and making school environments more conducive to learning.

In 2019, UNICEF strengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Education in Lao PDR, the Philippines, and Viet Nam to measure learning outcomes through

the completion of the pilot phase of the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics.

This is the first learning assessment at the primary level for the Southeast Asia region,

created in collaboration with the education ministries in the region.

Bangladesh developed its first comprehensive curriculum framework covering pre-primary right

through secondary education – a major achievement as it will be a catalyst for critical reforms in other parts of the

education system. UNICEF, which supported all stages of the curriculum development, also partnered with the National Academy for

Primary Education to design the Diploma in Primary Education Programme.

In Viet Nam, comprehensive sexuality education was integrated into the newly approved national school curriculum, starting from preschool to secondary, following joint support by UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNFPA. This will empower children, adolescents, and young people to lead healthy, safe, and productive lives. This achievement was also an entry point for UNICEF and partners to advocate for inclusion of specific content on respect for diversity and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Quality education

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REGIONAL OVERVIEW

In China, the preliminary findings of the impact study on the child-friendly school programme demonstrated the effectiveness of the programme in improving the child-friendliness of the school environment and students’ learning and development. When compared to 2016, pilot schools in all four counties have shown a steady increase in child-friendly school indicators, especially on inclusiveness and equality, effective teaching and learning, and a safe and protective environment.

China has also been implementing social-emotional learning (SEL) in primary schools, which helps children develop self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. In 2019, nearly 112,000 students in 224 primary schools in rural and remote parts of the country benefitted from SEL.

In Timor-Leste, the UNICEF-supported child-friendly schools approach – called Eskola Foun (New School) – supports a range of interventions to improve the quality of education, including child-centred teaching; improved school management; a safe school environment; the active participation of parents and communities; and the importance of safe, gender-sensitive, and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities.

UNICEF is addressing this learning crisis on multiple levels, from supporting the reform of educational curricula and helping countries measure learning outcomes, to training teachers and making school environments more conducive to learning.

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Adolescents need more than basic literacy and numeracy skills to have meaningful and productive

lives. Essential to their success are twenty-first century skills and a globally recognized mix

of core competencies to equip them for a rewarding work experience and to help drive

forward the socio-economic development of their countries. To this end, UNICEF is working with the 11 Schools for Asia countries to strengthen adolescent skills development and strategies so as to prepare young people for success – both in and out of school.

In Bangladesh, a strategy to scale up the alternative learning programme for the most disadvantaged out-of-school

adolescents was drafted and will be implemented as part of Generation

Unlimited. A madrasa resource book on life skills was also produced for roll out in 2020.

China recognizes that adolescents need a range of skills and competencies to make it in today’s

world. In 2019, the UNICEF life-skills programme helped to train more than 7,300 in-school adolescents

and more than 11,300 out-of-school adolescents aged 10–19 in self-awareness, communication, interpersonal

relations, and problem solving.

Adolescents for success

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REGIONAL OVERVIEW

India launched a career portal in six states with UNICEF support, giving some 8 million adolescents the opportunity to match their aspirations and interests with information on colleges, scholarships, skill development, and social protection schemes.

A volunteer engagement initiative was started in Mongolia with the support of the Global Volunteer Office, and around 600 adolescent volunteers were mobilized in Bayanzurkh district and Bayankhongor province to support the implementation of an air pollution project.

Adolescents need more than basic literacy and numeracy skills to have meaningful and productive lives. Essential to their success are twenty-first century skills and a globally recognized mix of core competencies to equip them for a rewarding work experience and to help drive forward the socio-economic development of their countries.

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Millions of children are missing out on education in the 11 Schools for Asia countries – the vast majority held

back by barriers such as disability, poverty, gender, language, and remoteness of residence. It is

part of UNICEF’s core belief that regardless of personal or social circumstances every

child has the right to an education, which is why the organization and partners work tirelessly to achiever equitable and inclusive education in all countries and to ensure that no child is left behind.

In Bhutan, for example, including students with special needs in the schooling system has become a national priority. While committed to various international agendas around inclusive

education, Bhutan has also instigated its own unique strategies to provide

these students with equitable learning environments. In 2019, UNICEF helped

to identify two additional schools in remote districts that can adopt a special education needs

programme in 2019, bringing the total number of such schools to 21.

In Mongolia, UNICEF successfully facilitated replication of the inclusive education model in several geographical

areas. Notably, the UNICEF-supported child development centres that have been established in selected schools in three target provinces

have been identified by the government as a promising model to scale up to improve services for children. Also in Mongolia, mother-tongue education for minority children was supported by publishing a Tuvan-language curriculum.

Equity in education

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In Nepal, UNICEF launched inclusive education activities in 327 schools covering 16 municipalities and targeting 30,000 children, many of whom have disabilities. UNICEF also supported the successful scoping mission of the global Inclusive Education Initiative and started to draft with the government the Education Approach Paper to inform the next Education Sector Plan.

In Viet Nam, inclusion of ethnic minority children, children with disabilities, and other most vulnerable groups has been well integrated into the inclusive education sector analysis, which will be used to inform the Education Strategic Development for 2021–2030 and the newly revised Law on Education.

The development of a hardship index in the Philippines was used to allocate a special hardship allowance for teachers in order to incentivize them to continue teaching in remote communities and to provide quality education to disadvantage learners. To track children and refer them to basic social services, especially those who are disadvantaged and marginalized, UNICEF worked on enhancing a children and location database called Project ChILD.

Millions of children are missing out on education in the 11 Schools for Asia countries – the vast majority held back by barriers such as disability, poverty, gender, language, and remoteness of residence.

REGIONAL OVERVIEW

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Disasters and climate change have a major impact on children’s education. Educational inequities are made

worse when schools are damaged or destroyed during extreme weather events or conflict,

or when children miss school during droughts or floods as families migrate in search of food,

water, and employment. To protect children’s education during emergencies and to ensure that they keep learning in safe schools and spaces, UNICEF works with governments and other partners to build disaster- and climate-resilient education systems.

In Bangladesh, UNICEF supported schools to teach children about climate change, and efforts were made to ensure that education was not disrupted for some

54,000 children in disaster-affected schools. In Kashmir, India, 5,675 conflict-affected

children accessed learning opportunities in 305 community learning centres. UNICEF

also led the education component of the post-disaster needs assessment after Cyclone

Fani in Odisha.

In Nepal, the Comprehensive School Safety Minimum Package and Guidelines, which were rolled out in

131 municipalities, resulted in increased disaster resilience in 7,132 schools in areas most affected by the 2015 earthquakes.

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Education in emergencies

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In Papua New Guinea, more than 22,000 children affected by the 2018 earthquake were able to continue learning in 2019 through UNICEF support, and more than 16,000 of these children also received psychosocial aid by trained teachers.

In Viet Nam, in addition to the Safe School-Disaster Risk Reduction Framework that has been rolled out nationwide, UNICEF and the government are introducing green habits and climate-smart school standards, as well as developing sustainable environmental learning packages for school children. In Lao PDR, six provinces were affected by flooding in September 2019, after which UNICEF aided the rapid assessment and education in emergencies response, including the re-printing of textbooks for nearly 29,000 preschool, primary, and lower secondary students.

To protect children’s education during emergencies and to ensure that they keep learning in safe schools and spaces, UNICEF works with governments and other partners to build disaster- and climate-resilient education systems.

REGIONAL OVERVIEW

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Country results

Country results


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China

Country context

Access to basic education in China has continued to rise since the 1990s, reaching the average levels

of upper-middle income countries. In 2011, China achieved the Millennium Development

Goal (MDG) of universal access to primary education and met the goal of eliminating gender differences at all levels of education in advance of the 2015 MDG deadline. Free compulsory education for a period of nine years, launched in 2005, has been achieved in all rural and urban counties/districts in the country. With substantial improvements to access, the government is shifting its focus towards the quality of education. Further, over 90 per cent of children with visual, hearing, and intellectual disabilities are enrolled in

compulsory education. There are still some concerns, however, especially with regard

to the difficulty of ethnic minority, poor, rural, and migrant children in accessing education and

staying in school.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF works with the Government of China and technical partners to ensure that all children realize their right to a quality

and stimulating education. UNICEF focuses on upstream work to inform and shape policies, guidelines, and standards; and on downstream

work to build the skills of teachers and students, improve school and kindergarten environments, and demonstrate child-friendly teaching and learning practices.

Key results in 2019

UNICEF continued to work with partners to improve the equity and quality of early childhood care and education (ECCE) for children under the age of 6. In 2019, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education to develop the new ECCE law, to establish kindergarten inspection instruments, to develop and test teacher-training models and strategies for the nationwide ECE teacher-training programme, to provide kindergarten teacher competency assessment tools, and to pilot teacher support systems.

UNICEF continued to support pilot ECE projects to explore pathways of building a professional development system for teachers. This initiative helped to improve the environment of 231 kindergartens and to advance the teaching knowledge and practices of 3,308 teachers and principals, ultimately benefitting more than 43,000 girls and boys aged 3–6 in both rural and urban areas, and in areas with large ethnic minority populations in Guizhou and Shandong provinces. The implementation of demonstration models in kindergartens improved the learning

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environment and strengthened social emotional learning for 5,840 children in 22 kindergartens; and it advanced their development through play in the municipality of Shanghai and the autonomous regions of Guangxi and Xinjiang.

To strengthen the quality of education, UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, and partners continued to improve the concept and practice of child-friendly education based on findings from the child-friendly schools impact study and the testing of pilot models. The aim is to increase access to child-friendly, equitable, and quality basic education for children during the nine years of compulsory education.

UNICEF also continued to support implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) in primary schools, which helps schools become more responsive to the social and emotional needs of students, especially those from vulnerable groups such as migrants and ethnic minorities. Six thousand teachers were trained through a cascade teacher-training approach, and close to 112,000 students across 224 primary schools in five rural and remote counties of four provinces benefitted from this intervention. As recommended by the Ministry of Education, the SEL model was also implemented in Wei county, Hebei province, with the training of all 110 primary and secondary school principals and 40 local education administrators in the county.

UNICEF also continued to strengthen teacher competencies. More than 10,000 subject teachers in 274 schools in five pilot counties were trained and coached at the county and school level, thus improving their understanding and application of innovative pedagogies and teaching practices. As a result, nearly 161,000 children benefited from better quality teaching and an improved learning experience.

China takes sports education seriously, with PE part of the compulsory national curriculum from the first year of primary school up to the second year of college. This ties in with the UNICEF belief that play and sports are the right of every child; and in 2019 the organization continued to support six rural counties to establish professional training systems for PE teachers and thus improve PE teaching in rural schools. Some 2,000 PE teachers were trained in 2019, improving the quality of PE for 336,000 rural primary and junior secondary school students in 500 schools.

“Pysical education comes from play, which should be loved by children. But students in my school lost interest quickly or even hated PE classes. I thought to myself, how can I increase their interest in PE while fostering their athletic ability?”– Wu Feifei is a physical education (PE) teacher in Pan City, Guizhou province. In 2019, inspired by a demonstration during the training of trainers supported by the UNICEF/Ministry of Education’s Sports for Development programme, she turned her PE class into an exciting game using equipment she made together with fellow teachers. Her innovative PE class, called Magic Cube, won first prize at a county-level PE teaching contest.

COUNTRY RESULTS – EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

In China, the UNICEF life-skills programme targets students aged 13–18 in technical and vocational education and training in secondary schools, general secondary schools,1 and youth centres, with the aim of developing their twenty-first century skills and providing them with opportunities to participate meaningfully in their communities. In 2019, 7,374 in-school adolescents and 11,319 out-of-school adolescents aged 10–19 were trained in self-awareness, communication, interpersonal relations, and problem-solving; and 30,255 adolescents took part in a campaign to encourage adolescent participation around the SDGs.

1 General secondary schools include a three-year junior secondary school and a three-year senior secondary school. Some systems have a four-year junior/three-year senior plan; a few others have a two-year senior school structure. Secondary schools in China are divided into "key" and "ordinary" schools.

Source: UNICEF, China Education Country-Specific Thematic Report, January–December 2019, March 2020; UNICEF data: https://data.unicef.org/country/chn/.

80% of childrenare enrolled in pre-primary education (gross rate).

73% of adolescents attend lower secondary education.

92% of childrenof primary school age complete primary education.

95% of childrenof primary school age attend primary school.

60% of adolescents attend upper secondary education.

Highlights

https://data.unicef.org/country/chn/


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The Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Country context

Lao PDR has achieved universal primary school enrolment, with as many girls as boys enrolled,

and access to secondary education is improving. However, children at all levels of the education

system are struggling to complete their schooling, and much more is needed to improve the quality and outcomes of education. Access to ECE increased significantly, but is still limited to a third of children between the ages of 3 and 5. Children from poor families, in remote rural areas, from non-Lao speaking households, and those with disabilities are left behind. For example, for children aged 11–14 from non-Lao-Tai speaking households, the primary completion rate is about 70 per cent compared to 85 per cent for children from

Lao-Tai speaking households.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF is supporting the Government of Lao PDR to provide quality ECE and basic education

for all Lao children, with a special focus on excluded children. To help achieve national and international goals,

including SDG 4 on education, UNICEF also works to address inequities in access, participation, and learning in education.

Key results in 2019

UNICEF continued to play a leading role in supporting the Ministry of Education and Sports to strengthen ECE subsector development. A draft ECE policy is ready for approval and will play a major role in helping to expand ECE in the country. The pre-primary curriculum and supporting materials were also revised and tested, and are ready for roll out in 2020. Quality standards for ECE were drafted for testing in early 2020.

More children in hard-to-reach communities are enjoying ECE opportunities through the Community-Based School Readiness programme. The programme has been evaluated and the findings will be used to adjust it going forward, with a focus on sustainability. The programme currently covers 7,017 children in 98 communities, with UNICEF on track to meet its target of setting up 120 centres by 2021.

UNICEF also supported the Ministry to provide refresher trainings for pre-primary teachers in UNICEF priority districts. A parenting education package, developed under the leadership of the Lao Women’s Union with strong engagement from the Ministry of Education, was validated and will be introduced in two provinces in early 2020, including in preschools. This will improve the knowledge of parents and caregivers to provide nurturing care for young children.

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To improve the quality of basic education, covering both primary and lower secondary, UNICEF worked with the Ministry to strengthen its capacity, coordination, and education monitoring and evaluation system. For example, the organization is helping to institutionalize continuous professional development for primary teachers and school principals; and a training package for pedagogical advisers was finalized and rolled out across the country.

UNICEF also supported the Ministry to undertake a national assessment of learning outcomes in Grade 9 and started groundwork for a Grade 5 assessment. Lao PDR participated in the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics initiative, a regionally comparable assessment of how Grade 5 students perform in reading, writing, math, and global citizenship. All these efforts are designed to strengthen national capacity in measuring whether children in school are learning, and using the evidence to further improve the quality of education.

As a Global Partnership for Education (GPE) coordinating agency along with the Australian Government, UNICEF continued to play a crucial role in shaping priorities for the next round of GPE grants. In all these efforts, UNICEF emphasized the need to prioritize interventions that address inequities in education and to ensure that education is responsive to the needs of the twenty-first century.

Six provinces were affected by flooding during the year, and as the Education Cluster co-lead, UNICEF supported the rapid assessment and education in emergencies response. With support from the Government of Australia, textbooks were re-printed for nearly 29,000 preschool, primary, and lower secondary students. Further, to strengthen education sector preparedness and resilience, work was started on an emergency contingency plan that will be finalized in 2020.

“The main challenge for my preschool students is the language barrier. I’m trying my best to use visual materials for them. I’ve been learning a lot about how to effectively use teaching materials in the classroom from this training.”– Ms. Souliya, a preschool teacher from Viengxay village in Xiengkhouang province, participated in her first in-service training, supported by UNICEF and other partners, after six years of teaching. Most children in her school belong to a non-Lao speaking ethnic group, and teaching them has been difficult due to the language barrier.

Source: UNICEF data: https://data.unicef.org/country/lao/.

74% of childrenattend pre-primary education (one year before official primary entry age).

61% of adolescents attend lower secondary school.

83% of childrencomplete primary education.


60% of youths attend upper secondary education.

Highlights


https://data.unicef.org/country/lao/


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Mongolia

Country context

Almost all Mongolian children have access to primary education, with the net primary enrolment rate

above 95 per cent and with no gender disparity. However, children in remote rural areas, children

with disabilities, and children from minority groups are more disadvantaged when it comes to their schooling. Mongolian children face unique challenges in access to services. The country is vast – the world’s second largest land-locked country, with a dispersed population and extreme weather conditions – and a third of its 3 million residents lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, constantly on the move in search of better pastureland for their herds.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF partners with the Government of Mongolia to ensure that the most

disadvantaged children can go to school and learn in healthful, inclusive, and quality

environments. Focus is on enroling children with disabilities in regular schools and kindergartens,

providing second-chance education for out-of-school children, improving learning outcomes for ethnic and

linguistic minority children, improving ECE access for young children, and strengthening health education and life skills

for adolescents.

Key results in 2019

As part of implementation of Mongolia’s integrated early childhood development (ECD) policy, integrated ECD strategic plans for UNICEF’s geographic focus areas were developed. This plan elaborates on how to achieve better results in planning, delivering, and evaluating ECD services for children through a wider and closer collaboration among the areas of health, nutrition, education, child protection, and community development.

In 2019, new places in ECE programmes were made available for children from disadvantaged and herder families in rural areas, resulting in an additional 180 girls and boys enrolled in ECE in four ger kindergartens during the year. The trend of enrolment in Bayanzurkh district increased from 75 per cent in 2018 to 76 per cent in 2019. Further, a total of 530 girls and boys benefited from improved physical environments in ECE centres, such as reconstruction of the main building of Kindergarten #3 in Bayanzurkh district, which provided 100 children with a child-friendly learning environment and better indoor air quality thanks to a mechanical ventilation system. Kindergarten #5 in Bayankhongor province, which serves 180 children, saw its environment improved through an integrated approach to energy efficiency, WASH, and nutrition in the ECE setting.

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Teacher training was an important part of promoting inclusive education in 2019. In ECE, 220 teachers who work with children with disabilities were trained in four focus areas; and UNICEF partnered with the Mongolian Association of Sign Language Interpreters to develop a new ECE sign language tutorial DVD. Nineteen teachers and 58 parents were trained using the DVD, helping them to identify children’s hearing ability before the age of 3, and educating them on how to support children with mild hearing difficulties. In the area of basic education, a national workshop organized by UNICEF enabled 450 non-formal education teachers to strengthen their capacity in multigrade teaching and teaching methodologies for children with disabilities.

To improve educational access for children with disabilities, child development centres (CDCs) were established in six additional schools, benefiting 117 children. Training on inclusive education was carried out for school staff, and consultations with local authorities in Gobi-Altai province resulted in the allocation of funding to hire a full-time teacher to run two CDCs at the provincial centre. CDCs supported by UNICEF were also seen as a model and are being replicated in other provinces in partnership with the World Bank.

UNICEF aided education for children from ethnic minorities by publishing a Tuvan-language curriculum. A study tour and training were organized for education authorities on the Content and Language Integrated Learning method in Kyrgyzstan, and as a result the method will be piloted in selected schools in Bayan-Ulgii province before being scaled up nationally.

To prepare adolescents for success in life, UNICEF assisted the Mongolian Education Ministry to develop national guidelines for school extracurricular activities and practical tools for implementation. A new module for peer education on climate change was also developed. The life-skills programmes ‘My Family’ and ‘My World’ were rolled out in Umnugobi and Gobi-Altai, reaching almost all children in these provinces – 25,360 adolescents in total. Peer education to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was continued in 2019 in Byankhongor and Zavkhan provinces. School health clubs in 14 schools were established, reaching 1,500 adolescents and youth with messages on STIs through health promotion events.

“I’m very happy that my youngest son can finally attend kindergarten. I have three children, but I couldn’t work because I had to stay at home and take care of him. Now I work as a cook.”– Enkhtuya, mother of two-year-old Erdenebat, in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Her son was able to go to kindergarten when a ger classroom was set up for the youngest children with UNICEF support.

A guideline on parental education, developed by the Ulaanbaatar Department for Child, Family, and Youth with UNICEF support, was used to conduct a training of trainers for 120 class teachers from 60 schools in two districts of Ulaanbaatar. This resulted in improved capacity of the trained teachers to communicate with parents of adolescents to improve their parenting skills.

The enabling environment for education was strengthened in 2019, as UNICEF continued to support the development of the Education Sector Master Plan for 2021–2030 by providing evidence through several studies and surveys. In partnership with the Ministry of Finance, UNICEF developed a new budget in 18 target soums (districts) of three provinces to serve the needs of children in preschools and primary schools as well as to provide basic health care. Also, as part of emergency preparedness, a contingency plan for the education sector was revised and finalized by the Education Cluster, co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

Source: UNICEF data: https://data.unicef.org/country/mng/; Mongolia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2018.

74% of childrenaged 2–5 attend early childhood education.





Highlights


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Papua New Guinea

Country context

More children than ever before are now enrolled in elementary, primary, and secondary schools

in Papua New Guinea due to the Government Tuition Fee Subsidy. However, a learning crisis

looms, with over half of Grade 5 students not performing at their grade level according to the 2018 Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment. Classroom are overcrowded, and up to 80 per cent of pupils in all primary grades are overage. About a quarter of the children aged 6–18 are still out of school, with girls more likely than boys to miss out on their education. Only 56 per cent of primary school students are admitted to lower secondary school, with girls disproportionately affected (50 per cent).

Early learning opportunities for young children are limited, and only 42 per cent

attend pre-primary school.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF helps the Government of Papua New Guinea to enrol all children in inclusive early childhood development

(IECD) centres and primary schools, and to ensure children complete the basic education cycle. Emphasis is put on creating

child-friendly schools, finding alternative educational solutions for out-of-school children, tackling violence against children in schools, and

establishing safe schools to protect children’s education during disasters and the adverse effects of climate change.

Key results in 2019

In 2019, 2,380 young girls and boys were enrolled in the 70 new IECD centres in Madang and Morobe provinces, bringing the total number to 8,065 young children learning in 230 IECD centres across Central, Madang, Milne Bay, Morobe, and Simbu provinces as well as the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the National Capital District. These 230 IECD centres, established with church partners and NGOs, also cater for 91 children with disabilities.

To date, a cadre of 57 master trainers has been trained to build the capacity of IECD teachers. In 2019, 192 IECD teachers were trained, bringing the total number to 498. These teachers are now aware of ECE minimum operating standards and capable of setting up IECD centres with the help of local communities. They are also able to teach the ECCE curriculum – applying inclusive pedagogies and taking life-saving action in case of emergencies.

On the policy front, UNICEF evidence-based advocacy for ECE has paid off, and the new National Education Plan for 2020–2029 now includes ECE as a key focus area. An ECE policy has also been drafted. In addition, the revision

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of the Education Act to include ECE for four- and five-year-old children was started in 2019 and will be completed in 2020. In addition, an ECE diploma course was established in partnership with the Papua New Guinea Education Institute

Just over 51 per cent of Grade 5 students meet the expected proficiency level for literacy and 83 per cent for numeracy according to the 2018 Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment. As such, much remains to strengthen the quality of teaching and learning in schools. UNICEF has commissioned an evaluation to determine the quality and effectiveness of pre-primary and primary school interventions supported by the organization, and to inform future planning.

UNICEF partnered with faith-based and civil society organizations in Alotau, Madang, Morobe, and Simbu provinces to develop and implement school learning improvement plans by strengthening the capacity of school management boards. As a result, 18,270 children benefitted from child-centred teaching, safe playgrounds, clean drinking water, school toilets, handwashing locations, and menstrual hygiene facilities.

To prepare adolescents to contribute to their communities, UNICEF is exploring how adolescent entrepreneurship skills can be developed. As such, a funding proposal was finalized in 2019 and will be used to raise funds next year.

UNICEF has made a significant contribution to education in emergencies in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces. End-user monitoring revealed that 22,052 children affected by the earthquake in 2018 were able to continue learning in 2019, bringing the total number of affected children supported by UNICEF to 30,726.

The feedback received from children and their teachers regarding the emergency supplies provided by UNICEF helped the organization to refine the contents of student backpacks and teacher kits. Temporary WASH facilities were installed in more than half the 62 safe temporary learning spaces established in 2018, reaching 11,615 children with clean water and gender-specific toilets. Additionally, as an incentive to encourage students to go back to school, 10,000 student backpacks with basic

“As a teacher, it is my responsibility to make sure Michael gets an education because he has every right to learn. . . . He is the first child with a disability to be enrolled here and he has taught me to be patient.”– Gabriella Wawaulo, a teacher at Salima Elementary School in the Sagarai area of Alotau, Milne Bay province. She was trained in inclusive early childhood education and is teaching 10-year-old Michael, who has hearing and speech impairments, using action language.

supplies were distributed in 2019, along with 5,000 teacher kits, for schools in need. To reach the most disadvantaged schools located in very remote areas, school-in-a box kits and student and teacher bags were distributed through air transport.

More than 16,000 children affected by the earthquake have access to psychosocial first aid through teachers trained to detect signs of trauma and to refer them to more specialized services. Since 2018, 442 teachers have been trained to support traumatized school children.

Source: EMIS 2018; primary completion data from https://data.worldbank.org.


8% of adolescents and youth attend secondary school.



Highlights


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Philippines

Country context

The Philippines is a middle income country with enough wealth to support children’s education. However, the

number of children accessing education, the quality of education they receive, and the condition of their

learning environment are worrying. Net enrolment rates for elementary schools are falling, with more girls than boys affected. In secondary education, on the other hand, enrolment rates are rising. Nonetheless, there are gaps in the education system amid poor performance of students in reading comprehension, science, and math. In the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, the Philippines finished the lowest out of 79 participating countries. This situation is worse for vulnerable children, including indigenous children and children living with

disabilities. There are 2.8 million children who are out of school in the country; and the

2019 Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Situation Analysis highlighted that

more than half of all children aged 3–4 are not benefiting from early learning programmes.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF works with the Government of the Philippines and partners to increase access to formal and non-formal education for

children and adolescents by improving the quality and relevance of teaching as well as of the learning environment. UNICEF advocates for greater investment in the country’s cognitive capital. With skilled teachers, engaging educational materials, basic toilets, clean water, and hygiene facilities, children can acquire the knowledge and socio-emotional skills they need to thrive.

Key results in 2019

In 2019, UNICEF continued to support the capacity of local governments to plan and implement ECE services, especially for disadvantaged children. At policy and planning levels, UNICEF worked with the ECCD Council to develop and adopt the costed National ECCD Strategic Plan 2019–2030. A comprehensive ECCD Situation Analysis, developed during the year, provided evidence to inform the plan. In addition, a system for prevention, early identification, referral, and interventions for developmental delays and disabilities in early childhood was presented to the ECCD Council for approval. The competencies of child development workers were also assessed as a basis for establishing and strengthening a system for their continuous professional development.

To strengthen parental education, family development modules on WASH in ECCD were field tested. The implementation took advantage of the Pantawid Pamilya Programme – the national conditional cash transfer

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programme for the very poor – to help parents reinforce hygiene habits in younger children.

UNICEF supported the development of an improved system for quality assurance of kindergartens to Grade 3, which will be the basis for the monitoring, supervision, and provision of basic resources and technical assistance in the foundational years of education.

Children’s access to education services in the eight priority municipalities in provinces of the Bangsamoro Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and North Cotabato showed little change in 2019. Access to early learning sessions did increase from 40 to 49 per cent because of the UNICEF-supported programme to introduce early learning classes in Madrassah schools across the region, but access to elementary school stagnated. An estimated 260,000 children are still not enrolled in elementary school in BARMM. The Basic Education Reform and Development Sector Plan 2020–2035 for BARMM is being prepared with UNICEF technical and financial assistance. Once implementation starts, the plan will begin to strengthen the education system and address some of the challenges.

The review of the Multigrade Education Programme in Philippines Education was completed in 2019, and the results informed the guidelines for the omnibus policy for multigrade education covering curriculum refinements, pedagogy innovations, quality assurance monitoring, and appropriate learning environments and materials.

Innovative modelling of multigrade education benefited 100 schools in Region VIII, where 363 teachers were retooled on differentiated instruction and 49 school heads on supervision. A total of 2,533 learners benefited from school-in-a-bag technology, which enhanced active learning using tablets with pre-loaded apps in the local language.

A total of 100 Department of Education staff were trained to administer the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics survey for 4,000 Grade 5 pupils nationwide. With technical support from the UNICEF Regional Office, in 2019 the Education Department completed the survey administration, data coding, and data entry/validations.

“It is difficult. I arrive at school already tired from walking – and hungry, too. I sometimes sleep in class. I cannot help it.”– Lizabel, 11, belongs to the indigenous Teduray, a tribe of upland farmers in South Upi, Maguindanao, in southern Philippines. Her family lives on the outskirts of the village, three hours from the town centre. In the absence of public transport, walking is the only way for Lizabel and her friends to get to school.

Source: UNICEF data accessed on: https://data.unicef.org/country/phl/.


74% of adolescentsattend lower secondary school.


Highlights


41% of youthsattend upper secondary education.

UNICEF responded to conflict and earthquake emergencies through temporary learning spaces and early learning centres. The major response was to the Mindanao Tulunan earthquake in November, where UNICEF support benefitted 6,854 children in three municipalities and one city. Six schools affected by armed conflict in the municipality of General Salipada K. Pendatun, Maguindanao, were also provided with tents to help 1,738 school children continue learning.

A significant accomplishment was the launch of the National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as Zones of Peace, which had been prepared with UNICEF support. This was complemented with the documentation of good practices in schools on mitigating risks of armed conflict for children. The video advocacy materials produced as part of the documentation will be disseminated to provide inspiration to other schools and community stakeholders.


https://data.unicef.org/country/phl/


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Timor-Leste

Country context

In the short period since the restoration of independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has rebuilt its entire education

system and welcomed a growing number of children into school. Quality education for

all is a key government priority, but ageing facilities, repetition/dropout, language diversity, weakened child-friendly teaching methods, violence against children in schools, and limited facilities in rural areas hinder progress. Nearly 42 per cent of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the poverty line, and children miss out on vital opportunities for learning and empowerment. Children in rural areas are disproportionately affected, and very few preschool children have access to ECD programmes.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF works with the Government of Timor-Leste to develop key learning and teaching

policies, standards, and monitoring systems, and to strengthen the planning and delivery of quality early

learning and basic education services in an equitable manner. This is done through implementation of child-friendly

school approaches, community preschool education, and parental education, as well as by increasing educational access by

building or rehabilitating classrooms and schools.

Key results in 2019

To improve equity in ECD and reach young children in remote areas, UNICEF supports the government to provide community preschool education as an alternative delivery mode for early learning programmes. In 2019, 3,581 girls and boys were enrolled in community preschools in Ermera and Viqueque municipalities. UNICEF-supported community preschools cater to nearly half of preschool-going children in the two target municipalities, representing about 3 per cent of all preschool children in Timor-Leste. A total of 232 preschool facilitators and 10 field officers were also trained on classroom management and the use of locally available materials for play-based learning.

UNICEF also works with the government to strengthen basic education. A school readiness programme was carried out in 26 schools and preschools in Ermera and Liquica municipalities, aiming to reduce the very high repetition rate in Grade 1. In total, 1,415 students from preschools and Grades 1, 5, and 6; 265 parents, teachers, and school coordinators; and 375 community members participated in information sessions and training. Child-to-child peer mentoring by Grade 5 and 6 students – to help Grade 1 children better transition to and succeed in basic education – also took place.

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To improve access to education, UNICEF assisted local education authorities and the community to build a new basic education school building in EBF Caitehu school, including two additional classrooms, furniture, a library room, a kitchen, a multipurpose room, and two group handwashing facilities designed for smaller children. The school is a model of a more student-friendly environment and of community engagement.

UNICEF continued to support student council activities in 46 schools to increase student leadership and engagement. Close to 1,000 students in the 46 schools participated in various sports activities, and 105 students participated in WASH-related activities such as menstrual hygiene management, hygiene promotion, and WASH maintenance to ensure a safe and child-friendly environment.

In the area of inclusive education, UNICEF worked with other United Nations agencies to map education services provided to children with disabilities, which going forward will be used to develop an action plan to implement the National Inclusive Education Policy. Sixty trainers were trained to test functional screening and early detection tools to identify school children with learning difficulties in five municipalities in 2020.

In collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme, an innovative pilot programme on the use of technology in education was launched in 15 schools in Oecusse, targeting 5,350 pre-secondary and secondary students. As a result of the collaboration, in 2019 the procurement of computer and other information and communication technology (ICT) equipment was completed, and ICT handbooks for teachers, secondary school students, and pre-secondary school children were developed. Two interactive educational games in Tetum and Portuguese were also developed to help students acquire financial skills and environmental awareness.

In terms of WASH services, the strategy and costed action plan on WASH in schools was included as a priority in the Education Sector Plan, 294 children benefitted from newly installed water supply systems in two schools, and 140 girls were trained in menstrual hygiene management.

“It’s exciting to know I’m going to be teaching the younger kids. It is good to teach children, because it will make them better in school and help them to read and write, and to keep studying longer.”– Nilton, 12, is a sixth grader and a newly trained young facilitator under the School Readiness Project, which was piloted in the remote village of Urahou 2 in Ermera municipality in 2019. The initiative trains older school children and family members to support preschool-aged children as they transition to Grade 1.

The Expand Safe School model, which uses the comprehensive school safety framework, was launched in three municipalities, covering 10 schools at risk of natural disasters. A total of 286 girls and boys participated in training and orientation on education during emergencies.

2 Data on access to ECE is based on UNICEF internal estimations as official data for preschools are not yet available.

Source: UNICEF data accessed on: https://data.unicef.org/country/tls/.

21% of childrenaged 3–5 attend early childhood education.2



Highlights




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Country context

Education is a national priority in Viet Nam, and since 2008 the government has been spending 20 per cent

of its budget on education. This strong commitment and long-standing cultural and

social support for education have led to significant achievements for children. Today, the country has high primary and lower secondary school enrolment, with strong gender parity. Almost all children complete primary education, and very few children are out of school. Learning outcomes are also high.

Despite these achievements, however, obstacles to quality, inclusive, and sustainable education remain for disadvantaged adolescents. The vast

majority of adolescents and young people have not had any technical training or tertiary

education; and children with disabilities, of whom there are an estimated half-million in the

country, face multiple forms of discrimination, which leads to exclusion from society and school.

Access to ECD services is also lagging behind primary education.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF supports the Government of Viet Nam to offer all children, especially the most disadvantaged, access to IECD and quality and inclusive preschool and primary education. To achieve equity, quality, and inclusiveness for disadvantaged adolescents in education, UNICEF is working with the government to equip disadvantaged adolescents with vocational training, career guidance, and twenty-first century skills to help them adapt to a dynamic and fast-changing employment market.

Key results in 2019

During the year, 9,398 preschool children benefited from social-emotional learning, and 6,021 preschool and primary school-aged children were reached by the community-based, child-friendly library initiative. In addition, 12,440 parents and caregivers gained knowledge on early child nurturing and care, and 38,000 targeted parents and caregivers were reached with IECD knowledge and skills.

The UNICEF programme strengthened local government systems to provide comprehensive ECD services – including health, nutrition, water, sanitation, education, and child protection – to targeted parents/caregivers and children every month through four key platforms: preschools, commune health clinics, community-based ECD clubs, and households.

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As of September 2019, 4.6 million preschool children were benefitting from teachers able to facilitate learning through play, the result of a gender-responsive social-emotional learning curriculum. UNICEF helped the Ministry of Education and Training to roll out the curriculum, which was designed to promote gender socialization, to teach children how to relate more harmoniously with others, and to augment their ability to make responsible decisions.

Comprehensive sexuality education has been incorporated into the newly approved national school curriculum, starting from preschool to secondary, after collaborative support by UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNFPA. Guidelines that include substantial content on gender, power dynamics, and human rights – and that will empower children, adolescents, and young people to lead healthy, safe, and productive lives – were developed based on international standards. The curriculum is a starting point for UNICEF and partners to continue advocating for the inclusion of specific content on respect for diversity and LGBTQIA+ rights.

To promote adolescent development, UNICEF support enabled 29,000 adolescents to engage offline and online through the U-Report and other platforms at the community, school, and policy level on key concerns such as climate change, air pollution, safe living environments, and prevention of violence against children. At the policy level, the organization supported Viet Nam’s participation in the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics survey. This ground-breaking assessment covers the reading, writing, math, and global citizenship of Grade 5 students in the ASEAN region.

Joint efforts by UNICEF, UNESCO, and civil society organizations led the Global Partnership for Education to approve a grant to the Government of Viet Nam to develop the Education Sector Analysis and the 10-year Education Development Strategic Plan. The grant will be used to ensure a rights-based, child-centred 10-year education strategy, aligned with the SDGs.

In June 2019, the National Assembly passed the revised Law on Education that was drafted with UNICEF input. Twenty-one of UNICEF’s 26 sets of recommendations were adopted and integrated into the law, including explicit

“I was uncomfortable teaching children with disabilities as I did not know how to react. However, I quickly learned that the children love sports. Now, we are like one team, one family.”– Doan Van Thanh, a sports teacher at the Tuong Lai Specialized School and the Inclusive Education Resource Centre in Da Nang.

mention of the right of children with disabilities to education. The Law on Education aims to ensure that all children are in school, are learning, and are safe. It raises compulsory schooling to a total of nine years, from age 5, which will ensure greater participation in education, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.

Starting with the 2019 school year, Vietnamese students at all education levels are benefitting from a new curriculum, with increased disaster risk reduction awareness and resilience. The curriculum, developed by UNICEF and Save the Children, is part of the child-centred Safe School Programme, which was rolled out by the Education Ministry with UNICEF support. Building on this, UNICEF and the Ministry are introducing green habits and climate-smart school standards as well as developing sustainable environmental learning packages to limit the negative impact of climate change and air pollution on education and learning.

Source: UNICEF data accessed on: https://data.unicef.org/country/vnm/.




Highlights




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Bangladesh

Country context

Bangladesh has made remarkable gains over the past two decades by ensuring access to basic education,

especially at the primary level and for girls. The primary school net attendance rate rose

from 73.2 per cent in 2012/13 to 85.9 per cent in 2019. However, secondary education lags behind, and fewer than 6 in 10 adolescents attend lower secondary education. A learning crisis looms as only 32 per cent of Grade 5 children perform at grade level in mathematics and 42 per cent in Bangla (National Student Assessment, 2017). In addition, an estimated 4.6 million children are out of school. Access to education for the most vulnerable children is a major concern, affecting those living in urban slums, tea gardens, and Chittagong

Hill Tracts, as well as children with disabilities and those affected by disasters.

The most severely underserved include the Rohingya refugees, 58 per cent of whom are

children, adolescents, and youths. Access to early learning is improving but is still poor,

with fewer than 1 child in 5 aged 3–5 attending early childhood education in 2019.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF works with the Government of Bangladesh to scale up opportunities for early learning, improve the quality of education, and ensure that children progress to secondary education. To make sure that no child is left behind, inclusive education, non-formal education, second-chance education, vocational training, and life-skills education are also key priorities. In addition, attention is given to children with disabilities and those from ethnic minorities so that they too benefit from quality schooling. In humanitarian situations, gender-responsive and disaster-resilient service delivery models are promoted to ensure continuity of primary education.

Key results in 2019

More than 214,400 children, including Rohingya refugees, were reached with early learning services during the year – a result of the standardization of pre-primary education and a government commitment to two-year pre-primary education, as well as the recruitment of more than 26,000 teachers and the stronger ownership of 4,000 para-centres by Hill District Councils. In addition, UNICEF launched an integrated early childhood development programme in collaboration with the government in Chittagong Hill Tracts, reaching more than 45,400 girls and boys with early learning and pre-primary education through para-centres.

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A major strategy to improve the quality of education and learning involves decentralized school planning and budgeting. Guidelines for school-level improvement plans were revised to emphasize safety and risk reduction, and the government used school-level improvement plans to pay grants to 64,300 schools serving more than 15 million children.

A major milestone in curriculum reform was achieved in 2019 when Bangladesh developed its first comprehensive curriculum framework spanning pre-primary to secondary education, whereas previously each level had its own framework. This is a major achievement for the education system, and going forward will be the basis for some of the critical reforms the system requires. UNICEF is involved in all stages of the process and will be a major partner to support implementation.

This curriculum support is also closely associated with teacher-training reforms. UNICEF and the National Academy for Primary Education are partnering to revise the Diploma in Primary Education Programme, the main primary teacher-training programme.

Efforts to improve service delivery models, including in humanitarian settings, continued in 2019, with UNICEF providing direct support for education services to more than 530,000 girls and boys. This included 250,000 children attending 1,210 schools implementing the learning-focused school effectiveness model. The organization also worked with NGOs to provide education to 16,260 out-of-school children using the ability-based accelerated learning model, and helped the government to plan the enrolment of 1 million out-of-school children. Elsewhere in Bangladesh, schools were supported to teach about climate change and to continue education for 54,000 children in disaster-affected schools.

A strategy to scale up the alternative learning programme for the most disadvantaged out-of-school adolescents was drafted and will be implemented as part of Generation Unlimited (which launched in Bangladesh in February 2019). A madrasa resource book on life skills for adolescents was produced for roll out in 2020. Another critical focus has been the inclusion of sexual and reproductive health education at

“I used to live at my aunt’s house to attend a school there. I missed my mother and got to see her only once every few months. That is why I was really happy when I heard that there would be a school in our village and I will be able to go home.”– Sumaiya, 7, now attends a new school built with UNICEF support in flood-prone Islampur Upazila, Jamalpur, a 15-minute walk from his home.

Source: Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2019.

20% of childrenaged 3–5 years attend early childhood education.

58% of adolescentattend lower secondary education.


Highlights

the secondary level; while successful advocacy led to the development of a multisectoral national strategy on menstrual hygiene management, also for roll out in 2020.

Providing education in humanitarian situations remains a major priority for UNICEF in Bangladesh. Currently, more than 216,000 Rohingya girls and boys are accessing education in 2,478 learning centres in the refugee camps. In 2019, education services for Rohingya children focused on improving quality (teacher training and learning materials) and on integrating education and child protection services. However, Rohingya education remains a very challenging and politically sensitive issue.

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Bhutan

Country context

In recent years Bhutan has seen significant progress in expanding access to education. Today, most

primary school age children are enrolled in primary education, with slightly more girls enrolled

than boys. The vast majority complete basic education, though many leave school without having fully developed foundational skills in literacy and numeracy. In 2019, more than 8,000 children aged 6–19 were estimated to have never set foot in a classroom, many of them with disabilities. Another challenge is that secondary education does not fare as well as primary, with a substantially smaller percentage accessing secondary schools. Enrolment in early childhood care and development (ECCD), on the other hand, is steadily growing, with a quarter of

all children accessing these services.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF supports the Government of Bhutan to strengthen the national education policy,

legislation, and programme implementation, as well as the capacity of the education workforce to provide

gender-responsive and quality early learning, primary, and secondary education for all children, including those who are

most at risk of being excluded from school.

Key results in 2019

The scope of ECCD is being expanded in Bhutan. In 2019, initial steps were taken to develop the country’s first Multisectoral ECCD Strategic Action Plan, with agreement reached to form multisectoral steering and technical committees to oversee the development process.

Further downstream, UNICEF continued to work with the education sector to provide ECCD services to children in marginalized communities. Construction work began on another 30 ECCD centres in rural and remote areas in 14 districts, which will benefit 500 children. UNICEF also supported the establishment of six additional mobile ECCD facilitator programmes, helping to increase access to early learning to approximately 90 children in five districts. Seventy children in four ECCD centres got access to clean water and sanitation through the installation of latrines and water supply sources.

Capacity development of ECCD facilitators and parents remained a key intervention to improve the quality of early learning and care. As part of this effort, 31 ECCD facilitators were enrolled in the ECCD diploma programme at Paro College of Education. This course was developed and instituted with UNICEF support with the goal to professionalize ECCD teaching. The Parent Education Programme Guidebook, which was translated into Dzongkha (the official

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language of Bhutan), was rolled out to all 20 districts in 2019. In addition, 582 ECCD facilitators were trained to conduct parenting education sessions in their respective centres.

To address the quality of education, UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education to develop and launch Bhutan’s first professional standards for teachers. These standards are expected to incentivize experienced teachers to remain in their jobs, and also to attract young, top-performing graduates into the teaching profession, ultimately leading to better learning outcomes for children.

Inclusive education and special education needs (SEN) interventions are making steady progress in the country. To progressively transform mainstream schools into inclusive schools, UNICEF helped to identify two additional schools in remote districts that can adopt a SEN programme in 2019, bringing the total number of such schools to 21.

Sixty teachers in schools with a SEN programme were trained to support children with disabilities and to promote inclusive education. Another 40 teachers from various schools exchanged their knowledge and experiences with other teachers by visiting schools with a SEN programme, thereby adding to the community of practitioners. Ten education personnel also participated in a training course on inclusive education in Bangkok, Thailand, to enrich their knowledge and skills on international best practices. These individuals will cascade their learning to more teachers in their respective schools through in-service training initiatives.

The government launched the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities in December 2019, showing that it is committed to leaving no one behind. UNICEF, as a trusted partner, is contributing actively towards this vision by supporting the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream schools. A key step towards this was the development of a Communication for Development Strategy to advocate for the right of children with disabilities to receive an education, and to tackle the negative social norms that keep them from attending school.

In 2019, UNICEF also helped the Ministry to strengthen evidence generation. At the education sector level, the organization built the capacity of service providers to provide reliable data on disabilities through the Education Management

INNOVATION: Bhutanese sign language

Children with profound deafness in Bhutan now have a chance to participate more equally in society. Through UNICEF technical support to the Wangsel Institute for the Deaf, the country’s first-ever national sign language system has been developed, enabling more than 100 deaf girls and boys to access education across all grades using more standardized sign language. The Bhutan Sign Language Dictionary is in development, while a separate curriculum for the Wangsel Institute will be ready in 2020.

“My teacher has told me not to use dirty and unkind words.”– Jigme Namdel Zangpo, 3, the youngest child at the Zungnye early childhood care and development centre in Zungnye village, Chumay, Bumthang. The centre is part of UNICEF efforts to give young children in rural, remote, and disadvantaged communities the best start in life.

Source: UNICF Bhutan Country Office Annual Report, 2019; UNICEF data accessed on: https://data.unicef.org/country/btn/.

25% of childrenhave access to early childhood education.





Highlights

Information System (EMIS). For the first time, the data reported by schools in EMIS will provide standardized information. The study on repetition, drop-outs, and children who have never attended school in Bhutan was completed and published in 2019, and recommendations from this study are being used for programming with an equity lens.


https://data.unicef.org/country/btn/


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India

Country context

India has made great strides in education, where more than 70 million children now attend pre-primary

school, and near universal primary enrolment has been reached. Children’s participation in upper

primary (lower secondary) education is also consistently growing. Equally impressive is the dramatic reduction of the number of out-of-school children aged 6–14, from 13.46 million in 2006 to 6 million in 2014.3 However, the majority of out-of-school children are from marginalized communities, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and religious minority groups. Most out-of-school children are also concentrated in six states: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,

and West Bengal.

Challenges remain in terms of poor quality teaching and learning, with fewer than half of

all primary school children achieving minimum proficiency levels in language and mathematics.

Further, learning levels decrease as children progress to higher grades. Around 20 million children between

the ages of 3 and 6 are not attending preschool, primarily because of the lack of basic infrastructure, qualified early

childhood educators, and appropriate learning materials.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF is supporting the Government of India to ensure all girls and boys, particularly the most disadvantaged, participate in quality early learning and elementary education in the country’s 17 states. Specifically, this is done through system strengthening in the education sector, and the effective coordination, implementation, and monitoring of education interventions.

Key results in 2019

With UNICEF assistance, 22 million girls and boys were reached in more than 1 million anganwadi centres (rural childcare centres) across 14 states with improved quality ECE. In addition, the development of an e-learning course on ECE was completed and is now available, benefitting more than 500,000 anganwadi workers to date. In partnership with the Language and Learning Foundation, an early learning package was developed to guide preschool and early grade teachers on key principles of ECE, as well as on pedagogy and teacher professional development. The package

3 Source: National Sample Survey of Estimation of Out-of-School Children in the Age 6-13 in India, SRI-IMRB, 2014.

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will be used to influence and inform the development of a new curriculum framework for India in 2020.

UNICEF continued to promote the quality of education by strengthening institutional capacity on child-centred pedagogy and the conduct of large-scale and formative assessments. In this respect, the learning outcomes of 44 million children were improved through the establishment of learning assessment cells in nine states. UNICEF provided technical support to the states to help them design and implement large-scale and school-based learning assessments, which allows students to demonstrate their abilities and knowledge and then reflects how close they are to meeting educational goals and standards.

To address equity in education in India, the organization has been helping to identify out-of-school girls and boys and to bring them back to school. In 2019, 616,000 out-of-school children were mainstreamed in schools and special training programmes in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal – a significant increase from 165,000 children in 2018.

India became one of the first countries in the world to launch a national initiative – called YuWaah! – linked to the global Generation Unlimited movement. YuWaah! focuses on education, skills enhancement, and employment for India’s more than 300 million young people between the ages of 10 and 24. Within this agenda, UNICEF’s education programme is contributing by promoting life skills, supporting career guidance, and identifying and strengthening flexible learning programmes.

In 2019, UNICEF reached more than 200,000 adolescents, of whom half were girls, with life-skills and empowerment programmes in 13 states. Six state governments (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan) also launched state-based career portals with UNICEF support, giving some 8 million adolescents the opportunity to match their aspirations and interests with information on colleges, scholarships, skill development, and social protection schemes.

Reliable data is vital to manage the education system effectively. In India, UNICEF strengthened EMIS to improve

“I only saw women as teachers and doctors, and that’s all I thought I could become. But through the portal I now see that there are many things I can be – I can be a banker, a designer, or a photographer.”– Arpita, a Class 12 student in Jaipur, Rajasthan, who has been accessing an innovative portal at her school that gives her comprehensive information on possible careers, colleges, vocational institutions, entrance examinations, and scholarships.

the quality, coverage, and use of data and evidence in education planning in eight states. Further, the organization’s technical support to the Performance Grading Index 6 improved the harmonization of definitions and measurement procedures towards the calculation of critical education indicators in line with global guidance on measurement of progress against the SDGs.

In the area of education in emergencies, UNICEF responded to the needs of more than 136,000 young people in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu, and Kashmir. Specifically, the organization helped 5,675 conflict-affected children to access 305 community learning centres in Kashmir, and it led the education component of the post-disaster needs assessment in the wake of Cyclone Fani in Odisha.

Source: UNICEF data: https://data.unicef.org/country/ind/.


80% of adolescents attend lower secondary education.

92% of childrenof primary school age complete primary education.


60% of adolescents attend upper secondary education.

Highlights


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Nepal

Country context

Over the last 20 years Nepal has made significant progress in education, with growing numbers

of children enrolling in primary school, but the country still has many challenges to tackle.

Issues that persist include the poor quality of eduction; inequity of access; geographical remoteness of schools; and gender, income, and ethnic disparities. Poverty, limited mother-tongue education, disability, migration, and child labour are all major barriers to children’s ability to go to school. Around 770,000 children aged 5–12 are still out of school, and only half of all students in Grades 3, 5, and 8 meet the academic achievement criteria for Nepali and mathematics. Very few schools meet child-friendly school standards;

and with Nepal located in one of the most seismically active regions of the world,

it is concerning that only around 1 school in 10 is earthquake-resistant.

UNICEF in action

UNICEF supports the Government of Nepal to increase access to community-based early learning in underserved

areas, and to improve quality basic education by strengthening classroom teaching and learning and by promoting early grade

literacy and numeracy. Innovation and research on teaching in multlingual classrooms are priorities in a country with more than 125 languages, as well as inclusive education for children with disabilities. Adolescents entering school late or for the first time are supported through non-formal education and life-skills development. Disaster risk reduction, climate change action, and education in emergencies help to sustain education during humanitarian disasters.

Key results in 2019

UNICEF continued to strengthen Nepal’s education system in 2019, notably with support to the National Planning Commission to develop a draft national ECD strategy for 2019–2030. This strategy will help to improve the collaborative effort among relevant ministries and stakeholders to ensure holistic early childhood development. Sixty-one rural municipalities developed their own local integrated ECD plans to provide services for young children, addressing issues of early childhood care, learning, health, nutrition, WASH, and protection.

UNICEF is also promoting the use of Early Learning Development Standards (ELDS) through summative and formative assessments. A national assessment, based on ELDS, is ongoing, with a sample of schools in 40 districts assessed to date. Educators use assessments to evaluate, measure, and document academic readiness, learning

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progress, skills acquisition, and the educational needs of students.

UNICEF assisted the government to achieve enrolment, retention, and learning targets set by the School Sector Development Plan. A major achievement was the enrolment of 373,567 out-of-school girls and boys, which resulted in a decline in the number of out-of-school children from 328,593 in 2017/18 to 309,737 in 2018/19.

To improve access to education for children with disabilities, UNICEF launched inclusive education activities in 327 schools covering 16 municipalities and targeting 30,000 children. The organization also supported the successful scoping mission of the global Inclusive Education Initiative, and started to draft the Education Approach Paper with the government to inform the next Education Sector Plan.

Many adolescents in Nepal, especially girls, have had their education disrupted, but second-chance education gives them the opportunity to gain basic competencies and improve their future prospects. In this light, UNICEF is working with the government and UNESCO to develop an equivalency framework to recognize and certify learning outcomes of non-formal education. In partnership with local governments, the organization supported 632 non-formal education classes through the Girls’ Access to Education programme in eight districts, reaching 15,085 out-of-school adolescent girls, of whom 7,013 completed the full cycle of non-formal education and 6,593 were mainstreamed into formal education.

To address education in emergencies, UNICEF worked with the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to produce the Comprehensive School Safety Minimum Package and Guidelines. These were rolled out in 131 municipalities, resulting in increased disaster resilience in 7,132 schools in areas most affected by the 2015 earthquakes. UNICEF and its partners also supported 168 municipalities to integrate disaster risk management plans into 363 school improvement plans.

“It’s different from what I remember of school. Here, we sing and dance and play games – it’s a lot more fun.”– Sahanajo, a girl who dropped out of school in Grade 2 in Dhanusha district and is now enrolled in the Girls’ Access to Education (GATE) programme. GATE is a UNICEF-supported non-formal education programme providing basic numeracy, literacy, and life skills to out-of-school adolescent girls aged 10–14.


Source: UNICEF data accessed on: https://data.unicef.org/country/npl/.






Highlights

https://data.unicef.org/country/npl/

How partners

have contributed


50

Revenue received by office, 2019Amount in US$

$1,431,993India

$2,510,764Nepal

$981,933Mongolia

$10,672,873Total revenue 2019

$497,852EAP Regional Office

$493,811Timor-Leste

$493,811Bhutan

$463,053Lao People’s Democratic Republic

$274,825Philippines

$307,894China

$1,007,629Viet Nam

$2,230,406Bangladesh

51

HOW PARTNERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED

$493,811Timor-Leste $235,320

Papua New Guinea

$463,053Lao People’s Democratic Republic

$274,825Philippines

REVENUE BY CONTRIBUTING PARTNER 2019 (USD)

Various 5,452,456

SAP America, Inc 997,600

Findel 880,000

Henderson Warmth Foundation 484,323

ChildFund Korea 311,320

SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. 282,011

Asiana Airlines 268,614

Garnier 262,020

Cathay Pacific 199,081

Hempel Foundation 197,650

Tides Foundation 196,000

Moncler 185,154

Roche Holding AG 152,000

BGF Retail Co Ltd 150,000

Unlimited 137,643

Gemo 133,683

Itoham Foods Inc. 118,073

Louis Vuitton 108,812

Tanlaw Foundation 99,754

Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha 30,594

Annelise Saugmann 14,937

Multiple companies 11,148

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Revenue by National Committee and UNICEF Office, 2019Amount in US$

12Danish Committee for UNICEF

$309,371

13Italian Committee for UNICEF

$284,975

14United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF

$265,105

15Finnish Committee for UNICEF

$153,814

16Japan Committee for UNICEF

$148,667

17Canadian Committee for UNICEF

$137,643

18UNICEF China

$108,812

19Andorra Committee for UNICEF

$82,508

20Luxembourg Committee for UNICEF

$50,715

21Spanish Committee for UNICEF

$11,148

22Belgium Committee for UNICEF

$10,121

4Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF

$683,405

7UNICEF India

$467,977

1German Committee for UNICEF

$2,974,350

8United States Fund for UNICEF

$461,400

3Switzerland Committee for UNICEF

$950,240

2South Korea Committee for UNICEF

$1,248,687

5Australia Committee for UNICEF

$642,806

9French Committee for UNICEF

$441,266

10New Zealand Committee for UNICEF

$423,389

11UNICEF Mongolia

$311,320

6Swedish Committee for UNICEF

$505,153

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Total* $10,672,873

*Totals may not match due to rounding off.

UNICEF would like to acknowledge the many private-sector partners for their contributions to the Schools for Asia in 2019. It is also important to note that many donations come from individuals from all walks of life. For all these expressions of support, UNICEF is extremely grateful.

UNICEF also wishes to thank the individuals, corporations, foundations, and non-governmental organizations that over the years have contributed generously to this initiative, making a remarkable difference in the learning outcomes of a great many children in Asia.

In particular, UNICEF would like to thank Annelise Saugmann, Asiana Airlines, BGF Retail Co Ltd, Cathay Pacific, ChildFund Korea, Findel, Garnier, Gemo, Hempel Foundation, Henderson Warmth Foundation, Itoham Foods Inc., Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Roche Holding AG, SAP America, Inc., SM Entertainment Co., Ltd., Tanlaw Foundation, Tides Foundation, and Unlimited.

To all of you from everyone at UNICEF, we extend our sincere gratitude.

Acknowledgements


54

Housed in an old, single-storey building in the village of Zungnye is the local ECCD centre, made special by the presence of 24 little children. Among the children, all busy playing games and with toys, is Jigme, who has just turned 3. Although the youngest at the centre, he is self-assured and carries himself with a knowing smile. Each day Jigme walks about 25 minutes from his village to the centre and then back home again, accompanied by his father, mother, or grandmother. Most often it is his grandmother who drops him off and picks him up. She leaves him with a lunch pack containing some rice, two or three items of curry, and plenty of fruit.

At the centre, Jigme particularly enjoys block games and role playing with his friends. Children spend about eight months in the centre befor moving on to primary school. Tashi Wangmo, 27, who manages the centre along with her colleague Kezang Wangmo, 28, says Jigme is talkative, uncomplaining, and endearing. Tashi also conducts two-hour classes for parents twice a month.

Established in March 2011, the Zungnye ECCD centre caters to the children of seven villages and hosts between 25 and 35 children each year. The centre has two classrooms colourfully decorated with collages of drawings, charts, pictures, and texts. One room is kept as a nap room for sleepy children. The backyard is crowded with slides, swings, and old tires planted into the ground for children to ride on.

UNICEF has supplied the centre with basic teaching-learning resources and the training of facilitators, including training to provide education classes to parents. The centre contains toys, rag dolls, charts, and a number of books, including titles like The Adventures of Wangay, What’s in the Bag, and Writing Practice ABCD.

Zungnye is part of UNICEF’s nationwide effort to establishing ECCD centres, usually in rural, remote, and disadvantaged communities. On average, the organization helps to establish about 30 centres a year across the country. The process includes building new centres and renovating centres where the government or community

Stories from the field

Bhutan

Jigme’s first month in his second home

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provides a building; two weeks of intensive training for new facilitator recruits;

community orientation (including hands-on workshops for parents to develop play

materials and an outdoor play area using locally available resources); and the provision of basic

teaching-learning materials.

UNICEF also supports the development, printing, and publication of key documents, such as the Early Learning Development Standards for Bhutan, parent education manuals, guidelines and procedures to establish ECCD centres, reading materials for children, and communication and advocacy materials in the form of print and audiovisuals.

Jigme’s mother, Yeshi Lhamo, says the ECCD centre is a boon to her child and that Jigme is a different child just a few days after going to the centre. His table manners have improved and he has become the standard bearer in terms of the words the family members use. “My Miss has told me not to use dirty and unkind words,” he often reminds his parents and grandmother. Besides, Yeshi says the ECCD centre is convenient for farming parents such as herself, as now they can go to work without worrying about their children.

“Jigme’s mother, Yeshi Lhamo, says the ECCD centre is a boon to her child and that Jigme is a different child just a few days after going to the centre.”

Over their eight months at the ECCD centre, Jigme and the other children will learn not only about themselves but also about their friends, health, vegetables, fruits, seasons, parents, colours, sports, animals, birds, dresses, and being thankful, among other topics.


56

The Ministry of Education and Sports, the European Union, and UNICEF are working together under the framework of the Partnership to Strengthen the Education System (PSES) so as to ensure that every child in Lao PDR has access to a quality education. By improving governance of the education system, promoting equitable access to and completion of basic education, and improving education quality, the objective of PSES is to ensure that every child learns and develops to his or her full potential, thus contributing to the development of the country.

Chanthaphone has been teaching Grade 5 at Tahouak Primary School in Saravane province for two years, wher he is also the school principal. He now has a new outlook on teaching thanks to the support of a pedagogical advisor trained under PSES. “The most important thing I took from the support was to prepare myself. Whether it is math, history, or any other subject, I had to learn to make a teaching plan.” Chanthaphone began to develop classes that would be more interesting and engaging for his students and, just as importantly, classes that he himself found interesting. Thanks to the training, pedagogical advisors are now able to address poor teaching and learning practices in the classroom and the negative consequences these have for student participation and learning.

Somkit Matthavong is the pedagogical advisor responsible for working with the Tahouak school and its cluster, where Chanthaphone is also the cluster lead. School clusters are designed to serve as on-the-job professional peer-to-peer support networks for teachers and principals of nearby schools. As a cluster, they brainstorm to improve teaching skills and work together to come up with solutions to problems.

Somkit visits all his target schools at least twice each month, during which time he helps teachers to prepare lesson plans, develope teaching and learning materials, and improve their methods to engage students in learning actively. After working with Somkit, Chanthaphone has seen a real change in how students engage in the class. “Before, students were missing school. Now we see higher attendance rates,” he confirms. With the assistance

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of the pedagogical advisors, Chanthaphone and other teachers can now identify

students with low learning performance.

Chanthaphone is determined to share his success story with other schools across the province. Two

other local primary schools are already sending school committee members to meet with him and observe classes. “They are really interested in what they are seeing, and I’m sure they will change their approach as well,” he declares firmly. “This is a future vision, it’s not something that can just be stopped.”

“The most important thing I took from the support was to prepare myself. Whether it is math, history, or any other subject, I had to learn to make a teaching plan.”

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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In the cold winter of Jaipur, the capital city of the state of Rajasthan, a group of young girls sat shivering – their teeth chattering – in the computer lab at a senior secondary government school. With just two computers, the girls encouraged each other to surf various pages of a website, each eager to read up and explore different links of the site. Arpita, a Class 12 student, clearly seemed to be the most skilled at manoeuvring the links, guiding her peers and leading them to exciting content on a portal called rajcareerportal.com.

Arpita is from a poor family of four, with her father the sole breadwinner, but she aspires to contribute to the household income. More importantly, she would like to have her own identity and be a productive member of society. One thing she has always been confident of is that education is the key to achieving her dreams, but at first she did not know how to gain the knowledge and skills she needed for self-development and to transition smoothly from school to work. Nor did her teachers have the requisite knowledge or information about current opportunities, schemes, and scholarships to guide her.

Then suddenly last year her teacher started to talk about an exciting new portal launched by the Rajasthan state government in partnership with UNICEF for senior secondary students, and one that they all should explore. Eagerly, Arpita learned that this new portal was opening up a whole world of possibilities to girls. Here was a ‘magical’ portal that could support her to choose a career path that matched her aspirations, interests, and aptitude, and through which she could also avail herself to scholarships, internships, and skill development programmes.

Arpita was one of the first students to access the portal, which provided her with comprehensive information on possible careers, colleges, vocational institutions, entrance examinations, and scholarships – all in Hindi, her own language. It was dynamic, too, as every time she logged-in it gave her new, updated information. Her world was changing!

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“I only saw women as teachers and doctors and that’s all I thought I could

become. But through the portal I now see that there are many things I can be – I can be a

banker, a designer, or a photographer.”

The portal provided clear pathways, with links to growth trajectories, required qualifications, available colleges, entrance examination dates, and much more. Arpita soon zeroed in on achieving her dream of becoming a wildlife photographer for the National Geographic channel, which her geography teacher had once shown her during a lesson on wildlife. The problem, however, was that such study costs a lot of money, which her family could not afford. But just as she was about to give up, her teacher showed her another link to scholarships, keeping her dream alive. More determined than ever, her next step was to convince her father to let her pursue this unusal profession.

That was not an easy task. Being a girl, to go out alone and join a faraway college to pursue a career meant only for boys was simply unthinkable. It took her a few weeks of incessant pleading, getting her mother’s support, as well as getting her teacher to speak directly with her father, but he finally relented. Nonetheless, he had a valid question about the funds to support this wonderful dream.

“I only saw women as teachers and doctors and that’s all I thought I could become. But through the portal I now see that there are many things I can be – I can be a banker, a designer, or a photographer.”


Fully loaded with all the necessary information, Arpita explained the entire pathway to her chosen profession, showing him the availability of scholarships through which she could support her stay and education. In response, her father declared that he was proud of his daughter’s proactiveness and hard work in putting together this wealth of information.

With the motto, “If I can do it, so can my friends,” Arpita now supports her peers in surfing the portal, directing them to various career options and pathways, and linking them with scholarship options. She also shares the information with her younger sibling and neighbours. And in just a few months Arpita will be all set to join a photography college in Delhi.


60

The sound of singing children carries on the warm midday breeze. The students are belting out a Tetun-language rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” as they wrap up their first training session on their way to becoming young facilitators of the new School Readiness Project.

The project is being piloted here at EBF No. 680 Hatulailete school, in the remote village of Urahou 2, Ermera municipality. The road to get here is oftentimes narrow, and always bumpy and winding. But to reach this aldeia (hamlet) is to reach a place full of blooming bougainvillea, dotted with carefully constructed houses and home to dozens of children, many of whom are students at EBF No.680 Hatulailete.

Beautiful photographs of smiling students adorn some walls of the school, while brightly coloured artworks hang on others. There are outdoor handwashing basins big enough to accommodate 20 or more students at a time, tiled bathrooms with facilities for the disabled, and a huge rolling green field where the children can run around freely.

Today, however, is dedicated to training the 20 young facilitators and 25 family members who will support the school’s preschool-aged children as they transition to Grade 1, as well as current Grade 1 students. The young facilitators range in age from 11 to 13 and are in Grades 5 and 6. They are being trained in how to teach children aged 3–6 on basic numeracy, literacy, colours, shapes, and actions through play.

Supported by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport, the School Readiness Project aims to prepare students who are entering Grade 1, especially those who may not have had the opportunity to attend preschool and those who are repeating the grade.

Nilton, 12, is in Grade 6 and is a newly trained young facilitator. “It’s exciting to know I’m going to be teaching the younger kids,” he says. “It’s good to teach children, because it will make them better in school and help them to read and write, and to keep studying longer.”

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“Our trainer was good, and the teachers helped us, too,” adds Izaun, a Grade 5 student and also a young facilitator. “I liked playing bingo, doing the puzzles, and dancing. I think the younger kids will love these things, too.”

These are simple activities that facilitate learning, but they are not

common in rural Timor-Leste. Both Nilton and Izaun say they would like to

be teachers when they grow up.

Sonia De Carvalho, a Grade 1 teacher, has been working at the school since

2006 and took part in the teacher-training session. “I now have the skills to teach children

through play, which is different from what I have done before,” she explains. “I think these teaching methods will help us to create child-friendly learning environments, especially for those new to school. I also think these materials will help the children to learn things more quickly.”

Sonia is referring to the 12 learning aids that have been introduced during training, which include basic games such as puzzles, as well as flash cards, building blocks, and storybooks.

“The biggest obstacle in school is children finding Grade 1 difficult,” says Jorge Manuel Mouzinho, the UNICEF consultant responsible for designing the training. “These children have never had any experience in reading or writing. For some children, their parents have only ever taken them to the coffee plantation or the field. They are not familiar with being around teachers, or with colours or numbers, so the young facilitators are a great help to them.”

The School Readiness initiative targets not only young facilitators and teachers to support children transitioning into formal schooling – their parents and other family members have important roles to play as well.


“I want to do at home the things I learned in the training,” says Eusita da Cunha, who participated in the training session for caregivers. “My children are all grown up, but I have two grandchildren in preschool. They live nearby so when they come to visit me we can play together and I can apply my learning to them. It is important for them to start learning at home, because if they don’t, it will be difficult for them when they go to primary school.”

Nicolau Goveia Leite is School Coordinator at EBF No.680 Hatulailete, a position he has held for the past 13 years. During his tenure, he and his staff, with the support of UNICEF and the Ministry, have elevated the school to become one of the best of its kind in the country. “This school is an example to which other schools can look for inspiration,” says Cidalio Leite, Director-General of Preschool, Basic Education, and Recurrent Education. “This is due to its infrastructure, because it is well-managed, and, although it is in a rural area, it looks modern.

As confirmed by national data, the importance of preschool education cannot be underestimated. According to the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport, just 22 per cent of children in Timor-Leste are enrolled in preschool, while almost 24 per cent of students repeat the first grade. Statistics also show that 1 child in 40 drops out of primary school altogether, but the likelihood of this occurring is dramatically reduced when a child has attended preschool. With this initiative, it is hoped the numbers will soon start painting a different picture, one in which Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all – is achieved.


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It was an early morning, the time when children gathered at the playground of Dien Hong Primary School. Laughter, shouts, and yells – nothing very different compared with any other crowded playground. Same energy, same excitement. Only when you talked to them did you realize that some are children with disabilities living in Da Nang.

It was ‘exchange day’ for 400 children with and without disabilities from various mainstream primary schools in the city, as well as from the Tuong Lai Specialized School and the Inclusive Education Resource Centre (IERC) of Da Nang. They gathered on the theme of ‘connecting love’ with the shared goal of creating a safe, inclusive, and respectful space for children with and without disabilities to connect with each other and to develop the soft skills needed in any interpersonal relationship. The event was also designed to demonstrate to all the schools that currently do not enrol children with disabilities how inclusive schools have effectively integrated this particular group of children.

The activities of the day were fruitful and diverse – ranging from painting, to building blocks, to handcrafting, to teambuilding games – all designed to connect children from diverse backgrounds to play together. Through the act of playing, children were provided with the space to communicate, work in teams, and learn how to relate harmoniously with each other.

“At first, it was intimidating to talk to each other as I did not know how to begin, but once we started the game, we slowly played side-to-side,” said Nguyen, a Grade 5 student.

While all activities were greatly enjoyed by the students, dancing with music was definitely the highlight of the day. When the energetic Vietnamese music started playing, children stormed the stage and moved their bodies with joy. “I love music and dance,” declared Trong Hai, a 7-year-old with Down syndrome. From his smile, it seems that music is a naturally engaging language that can break down any barriers.

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Connecting without barriers: Inclusive schools for children with disabilities ©

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Tran Thanh Thu, a professional working at the IERC of Da Nang, declared how pleased

she was that students with disabilities were getting along so well with their peers. She

recalled a time when some parents would object to having their child associate with a student with a

disability, but happily times have changed, and today there is far greater acceptance of diversity.

Doan Van Thanh, a sports teacher, was watching students playing football while he told us his story. “I admit that at first I was uncomfortable teaching children with disabilities, as I did not know how to react,” he said. “However, I quickly learned that they equally love sports. Now, we are like one team, one family,” he added with a chuckle.

UNICEF recognizes that children with disabilities are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups in society. With support from SM Entertainment and the Korean Committee for UNICEF, UNICEF has collaborated with the Da Nang Department of Education and Training to strengthen equity and inclusiveness in quality education for all by supporting the IERC for children with disabilities. As such, IERC specialists were able to visit mainstream schools that accommodated students with disabilities, and to coach teachers on how to tailor their support to the needs of those students. Further, thanks to the

“At first, it was intimidating to talk to each other as I did not know how to begin, but once we started the game, we slowly played side-to-side.”


generosity of SM Entertainment, the Music Therapy Room in the IERC in Da Nang is now equipped to provide quality musical therapy for children with disabilities.

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Opportunities for engagement

UNICEF’s work in the field of education is motivated by two incontestable truths.

First, it is every child’s fundamental right to attend school and to learn. UNICEF is

dedicated to ensuring all children can exercise this right to a quality education and to have the opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies to survive and thrive.

Second, education is one of the best means of bringing about long-term positive change, both socially and economically. UNICEF supports children’s education around the world because of its potential to reduce poverty and to build

healthy, resilient, and peaceful societies.

You can support Schools for Asia in several ways:

• By investing thematically at a regional or country level in quality education, and asking UNICEF to

allocate your contribution where the need is greatest and the return on investment is highest. Over the long term, this

enables a region to ‘move the needle’ on results for children in the most effective and efficient way.

• By working with UNICEF to develop a partnership within Schools for Asia countries. This can include both financial and non-financial resources, advocacy efforts, technical expertise, and more.

Reporting

Each year, a consolidated Schools for Asia Annual Report is prepared, covering results achieved by programmatic area, region, and country, including a summary of fundraising initiative and contributions from partners. A packet of human-interest stories from recipient countries (where available) is annexed to the consolidated Annual Report.

How you can support Schools for Asia

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Contact information

General information and guidance for UNICEF colleagues and potential partners: [email protected]

Specific guidance for National Committees:

Jacqueline Aligula Programme Specialist, Programme Coordination Unit, Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division, at [email protected]

Funds remittance queries from National Committees:

Adam Dobrogowski Finance Manager, Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division, at [email protected] with copy to programme assistants Valerie Ane at [email protected]

and

Melodie Fadriquela at [email protected]

Specific guidance for country offices: Please contact the UNICEF private sector managers in the Regional Offices:

• In the East Asia and Pacific Region, Edit Olah, Programme Manager, Private Sector, at [email protected]

• In the East Asia and Pacific Region, Francisco Benavides, Regional Education Adviser, at [email protected]

• In the South Asia Region, Jim Ackers, Regional Education Adviser at [email protected]

mailto:jackers%40unicef.org?subject=

Thank You!Schools for Asia: A Shared Vision

Collaborators This document was prepared by UNICEF’s Division of Private Fundraising and Partnerships in collaboration with the UNICEF Regional Offices for East Asia and Pacific and for South Asia. The authors of this report thank the many colleagues from country and regional offices who provided advice and contributions throughout the production process.

Credits Writer: Tamara Sutila Editor: John Tessitore Designer: Bruno Rocha

http://www.unicef.org/schoolsforasia

Published by UNICEF Palais des Nations 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland

© United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) September 2020

www.unicef.org/schoolsforasia


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