Five things you need to know this week about global education

An inspirational primary school teacher who transformed the lives of village girls in India has been named as the winner of the聽Global Teacher Prize 2020.

Ranjitsinh Disale shocked the other nine finalists by announcing he will share half of his $1 million prize with them – meaning they will receive just over $55,000 each. He聽was selected from more than 12,000 nominations and applications from over 140 countries in the search to find a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution.聽

When he arrived at Zilla Parishad Primary School at Solapur in Maharashtra state in 2009, it was a dilapidated building between a cattle shed and a storeroom. Most of the girls were from tribal communities where school attendance was as low as 2% and teenage marriage was common.

Wow! Here国产视频檚 THE MOMENT Stephen Fry announced Ranjitsinh Disale as the Winner of The Global Teacher Prize 2020! Congratulations Ranjit! Watch here: https://t.co/9t5GXaIJ58 @ranjitdisale @stephenfry #GTP2020 #TeachersMatter #globalteacherprize #India @NHM_London @UNESCO pic.twitter.com/eQjSosGQwY

— Global Teacher Prize (@TeacherPrize) December 3, 2020

Disale moved to the village, learned the language and translated the class text books.聽He introduced digital learning tools and designed personalised programmes for each student. His system of QR Coded Textbooks is now used across India.

There are now no teenage marriages in the village and there is 100% attendance by girls. In recent annual exams, 85% of his students achieved A grades and a girl from the village has now graduated from university. Learn more about his work in the video below.

Disale said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed education and the communities it serves in a multitude of ways. But in this hard time, teachers are giving their best to make sure every student has access to their birthright of a good education.

“Teachers are the real changemakers who are changing the lives of their students with a mixture of chalk and challenges. They always believe in giving and sharing.”

The online ceremony broadcast from London also featured聽a special聽$45,000 Covid Hero Award. It went to British maths teacher Jamie Frost from Kingston-upon-Thames, whose free DrFrostMaths became a lifeline for students shut out of classrooms around the world.聽

Previous winners of the Global Teacher Prize include 2019’s Peter Tabachi – a Franciscan friar and teacher at a poorly-equipped school in rural Kenya, who gave away 80% of his monthly income to help the community – and聽Andria Zafirakou, who won in 2018聽for her work at an inner-city London school.

Ten million children in Iraq can start to return to school after classrooms reopened for the first time since lockdown began in late February.

The country’s public schools are set to open six days a week to ensure social distancing. Primary school students will attend classes one day a week and older students on two days, with the remainder of learning being done online.

Sweden’s high schools will switch to distance learning from Monday for the rest of the term – but Austria’s primaries will reopen on that day.聽The World Health Organization’s European office is planning a meeting next week with the health ministers of its 53 member states to look into how to protect schools – including alternating classes.

The United States’ largest school system will begin to reopen in-person classes on Monday. New York City will start with elementary schools for students whose parents agree to a weekly testing regimen.聽Mayor Bill de Blasio said:聽“It’s a new approach because we have so much proof now of how safe schools can be.”

Two-thirds聽of the world国产视频檚 preschool and school-age children have no internet connection in their homes. That affects聽1.3 billion children aged three to 17, according to a new report from UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union.

The picture is very similar for young people aged 15 to 24, with 63% of them not connected at home.聽

In low-income countries, fewer than one in 20 school-age children have internet connection at home, compared with nearly nine in 10 from high-income countries.聽Among school-age children from the richest households globally, 58% are connected, compared with only 16% from the poorest households.聽

国产视频淭hat so many children and young people have no internet at home is more than a digital gap 国产视频� it is a digital canyon,国产视频� said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. 国产视频淟ack of internet access is costing the next generation their futures.国产视频�

国产视频樄悠禉The vast majority of #deaf children who start primary school do so with very little language 国产视频� as a consequence learning to read and write becomes a huge challenge.国产视频櫣悠禉 #UnheardChildren pic.twitter.com/NhemUSwVib

— Deaf Child Worldwide (@DeafChildWW) December 1, 2020

The rights of deaf children in developing countries – including access to education – is examined in a major new report from Deaf Child Worldwide.

The majority of the world’s 34聽million deaf children live in developing聽countries. Unheard Children looks at why it is so important for them聽to acquire language and communication聽skills and crucial they聽have the right support at聽school to enable them to learn.

Deaf Child Worldwide said governments and agencies must invest in training teachers to equip them with the skills and聽knowledge needed to teach deaf children.

In a foreword to the report, Gordon Brown, the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, said: “40% of children with disabilities in developing countries are not even attending primary school – and this important report reminds us of the pervading link between poverty and deafness which continues to hold so many back.”

#EducationCannotWait approves $27.2M in multi-year education in emergency & protracted crisis responses for Venezuelan refugee, migrant & host community girls/boys in #Colombia #Ecuador & #Peru to ensure continued access to inclusive, equitable, quality education! @yasminesherif1 pic.twitter.com/NBgnB1dkk3

— Education Cannot Wait (@EduCannotWait) December 3, 2020

More than 350,000 children and youth will be reached by new investment grants of $27.2 million from Education Cannot Wait (ECW) to help in the Venezuelan refugee crisis.

They will fund multi-year programmes in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, where large numbers of children and their families have fled from violence and instability.

国产视频淭he dire situation in Venezuela has tragically forced approximately five million refugees and migrants outside their country of origin – and millions of girls and boys out of their schools – to seek safety in other countries in the region,” said ECW Director Yasmine Sherif.

The grants will catalyse other funding from partners, the private sector and philanthropic foundations. As well as Venezuelan refugees, the programmes will ensure children and youth from host communities also receive inclusive, quality education.