联合国秘书长发布《教育与COVID-19政策简报》
来源：联合国教科文组织
联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯今天发布了《教育与COVID-19政策简报》，简报指出这一流行病对世界教育系统造成了历史上最严重的破坏。简报呼吁国家当局和国际社会共同努力，将教育作为疫情后恢复工作的优先选项。为此，教科文组织将在年底前召开一次全球教育会议特别会议。
发布这一政策简报的同时，教育合作伙伴们以及联合国各机构一道发起一项新的运动，名为“拯救我们的未来”。
教育是个人发展和社会未来的关键。
教育会创造新的机会，缩小不平等。
教育是知情、宽容社会的基石，也是可持续发展的主要驱动力。
COVID-19大流行导致了有史以来最大规模的教育中断。
7月中旬，160多个国家的学校关闭，影响到10亿多名学生。
全世界至少有4000万儿童错过了关键的学龄前一年的教育机会。
父母，特别是母亲，被迫在家中承担沉重的照料负担。
尽管通过广播、电视和在线授课，老师和家长也尽了最大努力，但许多学生仍无法连通纳入进来。
残疾学生、少数群体或弱势社区的学生、流离失所和难民学生以及偏远地区的学生被落下的风险最高。
即使对那些能够接受远程教育的学生来说，成功也取决于他们的生活条件，包括家务的公平分配。
在这场大流行病之前，我们就已面临着学习危机。
已有超过2.5亿学龄儿童失学。
发展中国家的中学生只有四分之一能够毕业，并掌握基本技能。
现在我们面临的是一场一代人的灾难，这场灾难可能会浪费人类无数的潜力，抵消数十年来取得的进步，并加剧根深蒂固的不平等。
对儿童营养、童婚现象和性别平等等方面的连锁效应令人深感担忧。
正是在这样的背景下，今天我在此发布这一政策简报，同时与教育合作伙伴们以及联合国各机构一道发起一项新的运动，名为“拯救我们的未来”。
我们正处于对世界儿童和青年具有决定性的时刻。
各国政府和合作伙伴现在作出的决定将对数以亿计的青年和各国未来几十年的发展前景产生持久影响。
本政策简报呼吁在四个关键领域采取行动：
第一，重新开学。
COVID-19在当地的传播一得到控制，让学生尽可能安全地回到学校和学习机构就必须成为当务之急。
我们已发布指导意见，帮助各国政府进行这项复杂的工作。
必须在健康风险与儿童教育和保护风险之间取得平衡，并考虑到对妇女劳动力参与率的影响。
根本的一点是，要与家长、照料者、老师和青年进行咨商。
第二，在资金决策中优先考虑教育。
在这场危机来袭之前，低收入和中等收入国家就已经面临每年1.5万亿美元的教育资金缺口。
这一缺口现在已进一步扩大。
需要保护并增加教育预算。
至关重要的一点是，教育是维护加强国际团结一体工作的核心，从债务管理和刺激方案到全球人道主义呼吁以及官方发展援助，皆是如此。
第三，瞄准最难连通惠及的人群。
教育举措必须设法联通惠及那些最有可能被落下的人——处于紧急情况和危机中的人；各类少数群体；流离失所的人和残疾人。
教育举措应对女童、男童、妇女和男子面临的具体挑战保持敏感，并应刻不容缓地设法弥合数字鸿沟。
第四，教育的未来正在此处。
摆在我们面前的是一代人难得的机遇，可借以对教育进行重新设计。
我们可朝着建立向提供优质全民教育的具有前瞻性的系统迈出一大步，以此作为实现可持续发展目标的一个跳板。
为实现这一目标，我们需要投资于数字扫盲和相关基础设施，向学习如何学习的方向转变，重振终身学习，并加强正规教育和非正规教育之间的联系。
我们需要利用灵活的教授方法、数字技术和现代化课程，同时确保对教师和社区的持续支持。
世界面临着不可持续的不平等程度，因此，我们比以往任何时候都更需要教育这一促进平等的重要工具。
我们现在必须采取大胆的步骤，创建适合未来的具有包容性、韧性和高质量的教育体系。
UN Secretary-General warns of education catastrophe, pointing to UNESCO estimate of 24 million learners at risk of dropping out
UN Secretary-General António Guterres today launched the Education in the time of COVID-19 and beyond Policy Brief warning that the pandemic has created the most severe disruption in the world’s education systems in history and is threatening a loss of learning that may stretch beyond one generation of students. School closures are also likely to erase decades of progress, according to the Policy Brief, which builds on UNESCO’s data and features recommendations on ways to avert the looming catastrophe.
UNESCO led the drafting of the Secretary-General’s Policy Brief which contains inputs from 15 sister organizations.
“We already faced a learning crisis before the pandemic,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video statement to launch the Policy Brief. “Now we face a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential, undermine decades of progress, and exacerbate entrenched inequalities.”
The Brief calls for national authorities and the international community to come together to place education at the forefront of recovery agendas and protect investment in education. With this objective, UNESCO will convene a special session of the Global Education Meeting before the end of the year.
UNESCO data shows that nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries, 94% of the world’s student population, were affected by the closure of educational institutions at the peak of the crisis, a figure that stands at 1 billion today. As many as 100 countries have yet to announce a date for schools to reopen.
The Policy Brief points to UNESCO’s projections whereby 24 million learners from pre-primary to tertiary education risk not finding their way back to their studies in 2020 following the COVID-19-induced closures. The largest share of learners at risk, 5.9 million, live in South and West Asia. Another 5.3 million students at risk are in sub-Saharan Africa. Both regions faced severe educational challenges even before the pandemic, which is likely to worsen their situation considerably.
According to UNESCO, tertiary education is likely to experience the highest dropout rate and a projected 3.5% decline in enrolment, resulting in 7.9 million fewer students. Pre-primary education is the second worst affected level with a projected 2.8% decline in enrolment, i.e. 5 million fewer children attending. According to these projections, 0.27% of primary and 1.48% of secondary education students, corresponding to 5.2 million girls and 5.7 million boys at both levels, risk dropping out of school.
“These findings emphasize the urgent need to ensure the continuity of learning for all in the face of this unprecedented crisis, in particular the most vulnerable,” says UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. “The Brief calls to protect investment in education at all levels, and warns that according to UNESCO estimates, the pandemic will increase the gap in funding needed to reach the internationally agreed 2030 Sustainable Development Goal on Education (SDG4) in low and lower-middle income countries by one third, from the already staggering shortfall of USD 148 billion.”
School closures do not only undermine education. They also hamper the provision of essential services to children and communities, including access to a balanced diet and parents’ ability to go to work. They also increase risks of violence against women and girls.
Preventing the learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe must become a top priority for world leaders and for stakeholders across the education community, says the brief, emphasizing education’s role in driving economic progress, sustainable development and lasting peace.
The Brief makes recommendations in four areas to mitigate the effects of the pandemic:
Suppress transmission of the virus and plan thoroughly for school reopening: this covers health and safety measures, attention to the needs of marginalized children and joint planning and consultation with teachers, parents and communities The UN has issued guidance to help governments in this complex endeavour.
Protect education financing and coordinate for impact: despite public spending constraints, national authorities must protect education budgets and include education in COVID stimulus packages. The international community must protect official development assistance for education. Relieving, postponing and restructuring debt for low and lower-middle income countries is part of the solution to help countries invest in education.
Strengthen the resilience of education systems for equitable and sustainable development: Building back resilience requires a priority focus on equity and inclusion, with measures to address the needs of the most marginalized and vulnerable learners and to ensure that economic strains and gender norms do not prevent girls from returning to school. Risk management capacities need to be reinforced at all levels.
Reimagine education and accelerate positive change in teaching and learning: The scale of innovations made in a short time to ensure learning continuity proves that change can happen quickly. They have set the ground to reimagine education and build systems that are more forward-looking, inclusive, flexible and resilient. Solutions must address learning losses, preventing dropouts, particularly of the most marginalized, and ensuring the social and emotional welfare of students, teachers and staff. Other priorities include better support to the teaching profession, removing barriers to connectivity, investing in digital technologies and flexible learning pathways.
The UN Policy Brief is being launched alongside #SaveOurFuture, a multi-partner campaign led by ten entities, including UNESCO, to raise awareness of the global education emergency and urge increased investment to build better, more inclusive and resilient education systems for the future.
Link to SG Policy brief
https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/future-education-here
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf
Link to paper on projections here
UNESCO COVID-19 Advocacy Paper: “How many students are at risk of not returning to school? https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373992
The press briefing on this policy brief by Ms. Stefania Giannini, the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education and by Ms. Suzanne Grant Lewis, director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), can be viewed here:
https://un-mam.cimediacloud.com/r/oO7LuODlfL7k
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