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Imagine being ripped from the home you have known your whole life. The places you knew, the children who were your friends, the toys you played with – all gone for ever. Your parents have lost their livelihood, you have lost your school. This is what Balkissa*, 13, from Niger has been through. “We were at peace before the arrival of the insurgents,” says Balkissa. “[They] killed people in and outside the village. We were shocked.” Now imagine the strength it takes, after you’ve lost everything, to rebuild your life. This is the strength Balkissa has shown. She is now at a Save the Children-supported school and, after struggling to adjust, she is now finding her feet, meeting new friends and performing well in class. Balkissa is one of a million people uprooted from their homes by an escalation of violence between non-state armed groups in Africa’s Sahel region. Around 5 million children across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger now face a growing humanitarian crisis. In response, Save the Children and the EU have launched a landmark programme to tackle the education, protection and mental health needs of children caught up in the Sahel Crisis. Strong quotes “We were at peace before the arrival of the insurgents. [They] killed people in and outside the village. We were shocked.” Apsatou Bagaya / Save the Children

8 Sep 2021 Global

Blog by Birgitte Lange

CEO Save The Children Norway

Building back what never was

I’m known to be an optimist and I talk about progress and positive developments as often as I can, but if there was ever a time for the bold letters and urgent calls for action, it is now when we look at how children are deprived of their right to education.

WE STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH CHILDREN IN THE WORLD'S 
TOUGHEST PLACES.

  There is a global consensus that quality education is not just a fundamental human right, but it’s crucial for a child’s development and future, as well as for societies as a whole. Still, even before the pandemic, the world was off track on the route to achieving quality education for all children by 2030, sustainable development goal 4. The UN Secretary General has called the impact of the pandemic on schooling a generational catastrophe 

But the good news is - We know what must be done. What we need is sustained commitment, both political and financially. As a global community we must act now to learn and recover from the COVID-19 education emergency and respond more effectively to future crises. 

Our Partners

Ayşe Nur Gençalp / Save the Children Türkiye

Birgitte Lange, CEO Save the Children Norway 

When I talk to children and parents in emergencies or dire life situations about what they want and need, education tends to be their number one priority. In the face of huge challenges, children have demonstrated remarkable resilience especially in the past year during the pandemic. But as our new report shows, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on their learning and wellbeing. 

In low-income, fragile, and conflict-affected countries, the pandemic has made the situation worse for existing challenges, inequalities, and discrimination in already weakened education systems. The most vulnerable children; girls, children with disabilities, refugee children and others affected by conflict and disaster are left behind even more so than before. An estimated 258 million children and youth were out of school, a number that is increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic 

In addition, hundreds of millions of children attend school without learning basic foundational reading and numeracy skills. The World Bank estimates that of the 720 million primary school-aged children, 382 million – more than half – are ‘learning poor’, either out of school or below the minimum proficiency level in reading. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means that, rather than coming down, the number of children whose learning has been impoverished could actually increase by an additional 72 million children.   

Our analysis shows that when children experienced long periods of school closure, their mental health tended to suffer. Among those whose schools were closed for one to four weeks, 62% of children reported an increase in negative feelings, and for those whose schools were closed for 17 to 19 weeks, it was 96% of children.   

Education is not only crucial for individual children and communities, but for societies and countries as a whole. Estimates show that COVID-19 school closures are likely to lead to a reduction in global economic growth. 

One of the key reasons we were not achieving the fundamentals of access and learning in basic education, even before the pandemic hit, was the global shortfall in funding.  A pre-Covid estimate of the financing gap to reach Sustainable Development Goal 4 in low- and lower-middle-income countries was $148 billion annually.

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Masuma and her sister Taslima live in a rural village in Bangladesh. Masuma is involved in the Suchana programme, funded by UK Aid. She has received chickens and seeds from the programme so that her family can eat nutritious food. She breeds the hens and sells the eggs. With the money, she pays for essential things such as food, medicine, and her sister’s education. She also attends a Suchana group for adolescent girls in the village, where she learns about nutrition and other key themes, and where she and other teenage girls are developing their confidence and independence. In the past, girls haven’t had much freedom or independence in the village but Masuma says people’s opinions of what girls can and should do are changing, and she hopes this continues to improve. She says: “If you’re independent you can do whatever you want…It’s obvious – if you’re independent and educated, your confidence will grow and people will treat you with more respect. I am confident. I always speak up! There’s no point keeping stuff inside – it’s better to vent and get it out!...If you are confident and independent, men will think twice before they behave badly towards you.” Full case study available Tom Merilion/Save The Children

Taslima,10, raises her hand at community school in Sylhet, Bangladesh. 

This week, we’re launching a new report on the global education situation and the impact of the pandemic. We have identified 8 countries – Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Mali, and Libya – at ‘extreme risk’ of ongoing and future crises disrupting education. Children in these countries and others deserve that we act now.   

It is not coincidental which children are excluded or marginalized. The pandemic has highlighted and made existing inequalities worse in education provision worldwide. To move effectively towards long-term recovery and to achieve our promises in 2030, we must tackle the pre-existing challenges, including the hundreds of millions of children who were not in school before the pandemic, and those not learning while in school.  

The global pandemic showed us that education systems need to be better prepared for both ongoing as well as for new crises. Evidence confirms that the education systems that were best prepared, agile and adaptive were the most effective in responding to the crises caused by the pandemic. Every ministry of education needs to be better prepared to respond to crises – to ensure that learning can continue and children’s wellbeing and rights to education are fulfilled.   

We are running out of time. 2030 is just around the corner. We have only 9 years left to fulfill the commitment we as a global community have given boys and girls everywhere – that they will get a quality education. I believe this requires a holistic approach to education. We need to put children’s learning and well-being at the centre and strengthen the structures around. Governments and donors must work with communities, partners, teachers, other key stakeholders, and children themselves to make education a core part of Covid-19 recovery plans, strengthen education’s role in responding to future crises, and prepare pupils and students to contribute to inclusive societies and a healthy planet. 

The children of the world depend on us all to provide them with inclusive quality education. We need learners of all ages to find solutions for the challenges of today and the future. For this to happen, we must all step up.  I encourage everyone to read and share the report. 

Download the Build Forward Better report.

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