Girls’ Education ‘Worth Fighting For’, Malala Tells Education Summit

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“The world is facing a girls’ education crisis,” with more than 130 million girls missing out on school around the world, Malala Yousafzai has warned. “Their futures are worth fighting for,” the education campaigner told a global education summit in London. She said the recovery from the pandemic had to mean fair access to education. The Global Partnership for Education summit wants to raise $5bn (£3.6bn) to support education in some of the world’s poorest countries. Hosted by the UK and Kenya, it will raise funds for the next five years, creating an extra 88 million school places and supporting the learning of 175 million children. The pandemic has exacerbated the problems already facing schools in poorer countries – with warnings that children who were forced out of school because of coronavirus might never return. The UK has promised £430m and other donor countries will be making pledges—with about $4bn (£2.9bn) of the total expected to be promised by Thursday, in what is claimed as the biggest ever education fundraising event. Malala, a Nobel prize winner from Pakistan who has campaigned for female education, told the summit of the importance of investing in education, particularly for girls who don’t have opportunities “just because of their gender.” Complete Article HERE

VOA UNESCO, UNICEF-Urge School Reopenings

UNICEF, UNESCO Urge World Leaders to Reopen Schools

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World leaders should prioritize reopening schools for in-person learning immediately in order to avoid a “generational catastrophe,” UNICEF and UNESCO said in a joint statement Monday. The organizations said that keeping schools closed to 156 million students in 19 countries, due to COVID-19, is causing potentially irreparable damage to child development. They also pointed out discrepancies in reopening strategies, which have often opened bars and restaurants while keeping schools shut. “Closing schools mortgages our future for unclear benefits to our present,” the statement read. “We must prioritize better. We can reopen schools safely, and we must.” The statement comes before the convening of the 2021 Global Education Meeting, an annual event organized by UNESCO that brings together prominent education leaders to address global efforts to improve education. Last year, leaders at the 2020 GEM agreed to a 15-month education plan focused on recovering from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic and staying on track with other educational goals. UNICEF’s and UNESCO’s primary argument for reopening schools now centers around mitigating the negative impacts of 18 months of school closures…. Complete Article HERE