RewirEd Summit 2021: an opportunity to curb global education crisis - UNICEF

WHAT:              UNICEF will take part in this year’s global education summit RewirEd. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened a pre-existing learning crisis, further holding back millions of children – and their societies and economies – from progress. RewirEd presents an opportunity to curb the crisis and reimagine what education looks like for the world’s children.
 

WHO:                 UNICEF global and regional spokespeople will be available for interview at the Summit and via phone and video including:

                               UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Ted Chaiban

UNICEF Global Chief of Education Robert Jenkins

Generation Unlimited Chief Executive Officer Kevin Frey

Giga Co-Lead Chris Fabian

UNICEF Advocacy and Communication Manager Rafik ElOuerchefani

WHEN:              12-14 December 2021
 

WHERE:        RewirEd Summit, Dubai Exhibition Centre. The Summit will also be available here. To arrange an interview with UNICEF spokespeople please contact Lina Elkurd, [email protected], +971 50 213 9769; Fatima Zahra El Atrach, [email protected], +971 54 580 7438.   

WHY:                  Before COVID-19, the world was grappling with a learning crisis. Pre-pandemic data from the World Bank reported that half of ten-year-olds living in low- and middle-income countries were unable to read or understand a simple story. Today, this figure is estimated to have reached up to 70 per cent. School closures, poor access to remote learning and cuts to already stretched education systems have pushed even more children into ‘learning poverty’. 

Without access to school, children’s mental health, well-being, socialization,     labour market participation, and even expected lifetime earnings have all           suffered, with the most marginalised children bearing the heaviest price. In            the MENA region alone, an entire generation of students could lose up to        USD1 trillion collectively throughout the course of their lives due to COVID- 19.

To help curb the crisis, reopening schools and keeping them open must               remain high priority. Countries must assess students’ learning levels and        adopt learning recovery programs, and schools must go beyond places of learning and provide children with the services needed to thrive including     healthcare, psychosocial support, nutrition, water and sanitation, and  protection.   

 Inadequate investment in evidence-based solutions and strategies to improve learning outcomes is resulting in poor learning outcomes, especially for the most marginalized children. Political buy-in at the international level and among national governments is essential to prioritizing investments in education, including investment in digital learning.