The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the hardest places on Earth to go to school. Though rich in natural resources, it struggles with political instability, extreme poverty, limited infrastructure, and armed conflict.

While primary education was officially made free for most of the country in 2010, according to UNICEF, this is not applied in practice with parents still shouldering the majority of schooling costs. UNESCO estimates that 4 million primary-school age children are still out of school.

There is a severe shortage of qualified teachers (particularly of qualified secondary school leaders) in the Congolese education system, resulting in large class sizes which can reach 100 pupils per class in the most marginalised areas. This is in part due to the evaporation of the state budget in the 1980s, with funding for education being cut from 25 per cent to seven per cent of state expenditure, reducing teachers’ salaries to a fraction of what they were before. Even when education is available, many parents fear sending their children to school as armed groups infamously use child soldiers – many of whom are abducted from schools – and frequently target schools for looting and burning.

Schools forced to close

Educators in the DRC have also been facing infectious disease. The country has wrestled with an Ebola epidemic in Kivu since 2018 and is still fighting the world’s largest outbreak of measles. When COVID-19 appeared in the DRC in March, the country was battling what a Red Cross leader described as a “perfect storm” of epidemics.

Upon the arrival of Covid-19, schools were forced to close (along with almost all other public spaces) and teachers were sent home in a months-long lockdown decreed by President Félix Tshisekedi. 

Door to door visits

While most schools in the Global North switched to online education during school closures, this was not possible across the DRC, where internet penetration hovers at around 19 per cent with regular blackouts.

Save the Children UK have shared with us the stories of teachers who did everything possible to help children retain what they had learned throughout the lockdown. 

During the closures, the charity mobilised to support stranded pupils and teachers, such as by helping to establish distance learning programmes on radio and television. The organisation empowered teachers to encourage pupils to read over notes and work on mathematics with their parents. 

For instance, Uwezo Mateso, a teacher at UHAKI primary school in Mushimbakye in Fizi, South Kivu, encouraged children to continue with their learning by listening to lessons broadcast via community radio with their parents, and doing work assigned remotely. On door to door visits to his pupils, Claude Buivuge Kasherangwa, a fifth-grade teacher at Musenyi Primary School in Sangre, South Kivu also assigned additional school exercises to keep children learning.

I myself have assigned a number of numeracy exercises to some children and show parents what they have to do with children, in order to keep them at home and limit their wandering, which is a risk of being contaminated,” he said. “The big challenge is that many parents are illiterate and they do not supervise children’s learning at home.”

Teachers lead the community against the virus

Many teachers also took on new responsibilities, such as communicating public health advice to their communities.

Kasherangwa, found himself locked down in his village and frightened of being infected by the virus. However, he reached out to advise measures for reducing viral transmission, after attending a health training programme organised by Save the Children.

Schools were closed but my community did not know much about this global pandemic, the cause of closing schools,” he told Save the Children UK. “Despite my anguish, and after attending [training] about the impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning, I have taken steps to sensitise my community on barrier measures to protect themselves against the coronavirus." 

Kasherangwa encouraged regular hand washing, social distancing measures such as greeting others without contact, staying home, and wearing face masks. In August, schools were reopened, reuniting teachers and pupils after months of separation.

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Thanks to Save the Children UK for collecting these teacher testimonies from DRC. This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations. 

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Cover photo credit: Joan Marie del Mundo / Save the Children. The photos used in the body of the article have been provided by the teachers themselves.

School improvement rarely occurs without effective leadership, and school leadership is only second to classroom teaching in its influence on student achievement. A new evidence review report from Global School Leaders paints a complex and ever-changing picture of school leaders, with their roles, responsibilities, and impact varying around the world.

In the lead up to World Teacher’s Day (5 October), we’ve outlined three ways that school leaders are vital for teacher success and student outcomes:

1. School leaders establish great teaching practices

School leaders can support educators and their pupils by establishing effective teaching practices. They can harness the talents and motivations of teachers, students, and parents; develop inclusive and inspiring learning cultures for the whole school; and provide intensive, individualised, and sustainable teacher training.

The impact of strong school leadership on education is clear; a recent study spanning 65 countries found that students led by the top 25 per cent of school leaders receive the equivalent of three extra months of learning every year compared to those led by the bottom 25 per cent. There is considerable interest in targeting school leaders amid efforts to improve outcomes for students in a cost-effective manner, with one study finding that a one-point increase in scoring on school management practices is associated with a 10 per cent increase in student performance.

In order for leaders to develop the best teaching practices for their schools, it is essential that they are not burdened by unnecessary administrative responsibilities (they commonly spend less than 25 per cent of their time managing student learning activities), and that they receive appropriate training. 

Where training for school leaders is limited, there are a number of free resources available online.  For example, the UNESCO Institute for International Capacity Building in Africa’s training manuals for school leaders – which were deployed in Guinea, Lesotho, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone – can help plug these gaps in training. We have also published this Toolkit to help school leaders support and protect teachers and education support staff in the return to school following COVID-19.

2. A good school leader understands the needs of their school

Since the 1980s, decentralisation efforts have shifted decision-making powers to the lower levels of education systems in many countries. This transition is based on the premise that school leaders are familiar with the specific needs of their school, and are therefore better placed to make and execute decisions about how they are run.

Autonomous school leaders may make their own decisions about budgets, curricula, and personnel, rather than being overly restricted to implement government policies. This freedom can allow schools to adjust quickly to changing educational expectations and the particular needs and interests of their students. A study of schools in South Korea found that school leader autonomy over curricula and assessment had a positive association with achievement in mathematics, particularly for lower-performing pupils.

At present, however, some school leaders are appointed based on seniority or political considerations rather than on skills and experience. In order to ensure that decentralisation benefits teaching and learning, increasingly-autonomous school leaders should also be held accountable and armed with necessary skills and resources. According to the Global School Leaders report, this should include training on interpreting and utilising learning data.

3. School leaders show the way through troubling times

When schools are facing adverse circumstances, strong leadership is critical for resilience, adaptation, and recovery. Natural disasters, conflicts, and health crises like the coronavirus pandemic severely disrupt education and force educators to adapt to challenging circumstances.

The best educators may seize opportunities in the midst of a crisis. Dr Sara Ruto, chair of the Kenyan Ministry of Education’s Covid-19 response, has said that the current COVID-19 crisis “is giving energy to some of the pillars of the curriculum that had not found a voice before - for example, parental engagement, empowerment, and values-based education.” He advised school leaders to use this opportunity to engage parents to help them enrich the student experience.

Evidence points to strong leadership as a critical factor in seeing school communities through crises. For instance, preliminary evidence from Puerto Rico appears to suggest that strong school leaders were better placed to utilise remote learning tools and retain student engagement throughout Covid-19 school closures. And an analysis of school closures during Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in 2016 showed that despite devastating infrastructure damage, schools with strong management still improved the reading grades of early year students.

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This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

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Cover photo credit: GPE/Ludovica Pellicioli

Mental health professionals give advice for back-to-school anxiety

As those with the responsibility for educating the next generation, teachers have always worked under great pressure.

Teachers in many countries have been increasingly struggling with high-stakes testing, large class sizes, limited resources, excessive workload, and lack of recognition. This year, Covid-19 has uprooted their lives, burdened them with new responsibilities, and dented their morale. Education Support, a UK charity dedicated to teacher wellbeing, warned that teachers are reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety during the pandemic: “Covid-19 has turned the education sector upside down”.

Studies and surveys show that - even pre-pandemic - teachers appeared more stressed than ever before: Education Support’s Teacher Wellbeing Index found 72 per cent of UK education professionals say they are stressed; the American Federation of Teachers found 78 per cent of US teachers are emotionally and physically exhausted at the end of school days; and a UCL Institute of Education study found five per cent of teachers in England are suffering from long-term mental health complications (up from one per cent in the 1990s).

Stress often leads to burn out and mental illness; many teachers conclude that they must leave the classroom for the sake of their health and happiness. Research from the UK’s Department for Education showed that anxiety, sleeping difficulties, and panic attacks are frequently cited as reasons for giving up teaching.

Through the coronavirus pandemic, discussions about well-being at work have been bubbling into the mainstream, with some organisations addressing the subject of employee mental health for the first time. Teachers’ organisations - both national and international - have published guidance on how to protect teaching wellbeing through this unprecedented challenge, from advising school leaders on safe and supportive reopening to suggesting self-care practices for educators.

UNESCO, the Teacher Task Force, and the International Labour Organisation have jointly published a toolkit to help school leaders reopen schools while protecting teachers. Providing practical advice such as on preparing teachers for a changed school environment, it also suggests how to mitigate mental health impacts. This can include regular psychological and socio-emotional assessment, building peer support networks, and providing training in stress management skills. In one school in Pakistan, teachers unable to teach online were trained in counselling to support other teachers, while members of the school community were offered mindfulness and yoga classes.

The UK teachers’ union NASUWT, meanwhile, published guidance on maintaining well-being while teaching remotely. This included how to protect work-life balance (such as by keeping a routine and dedicated workplace), where to seek support (such as Employer Assistance Programmes and mental health first aiders), and how to practice general self-care. The AFT worked with the Anxiety and Depression Association of America to produce a guide of existing resources on well-being during Covid-19. Australia’s ReachOut Schools is also providing free wellbeing resources specific to teachers and teaching website Twinkl has partnered with mental health charity Mind to create activities to help teachers manage their mental health through Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Education Support is providing a dedicated 24-hour helpline for teachers and one-to-one telephone counselling for headteachers through a government partnership.

Regardless of its benefits, self-care cannot always resolve stress. Therefore, teachers are also advocating for changes in schools – and education systems more broadly – to tackle sources of stress and establish a more supportive working environment. The UK government has acknowledged the strain placed on teachers, and has promised to reduce workload and the burden of school inspections, among other measures. Many governments could make comparable changes to reduce engrained sources of stress for teachers, such as tackling large class sizes, de-emphasising exam results, and ensuring all teachers are appropriately paid and supported (e.g.: with access to health insurance and paid sick leave).

While the rights of teachers are already recognised in international standards, governments should consider adopting further policies aimed towards promoting teacher well-being. These could include regular stress risk assessments (advocated by the National Education Union (NEU)), or monitoring teacher mental health (suggested by UCL education experts). Some of these policies could also be proactively adopted by schools.

The NEU advises school leaders: “Acting to reduce levels of stress within your school will lead to less short- and long-term sick leave which will, in turn, reduce pressures on other colleagues as well as benefiting pupils”. In addition to introducing stress risk assessments, the NEU recommends openly addressing the stigma of mental ill health, making reasonable adjustments to support staff when necessary (such as by allowing absences during working hours to attend talking therapies), and appointing a school governor to lead on mental health strategy.

Teachers around the world face a variety of pressures, but every school benefits from them being motivated, engaged, and mentally healthy. When teachers have access to individual psychological support – from self-care guidance to talking therapies – and leaders take measures to tackle sources of stress in the school environment, their schools will be in a better position to thrive.

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This blog is part of a series of stories addressing the importance of the work of, and the challenges faced by teachers in the lead up to this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebrations.

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Cover photo credit: Engin Akyurt/Unsplash

When the Covid-19 crisis struck suddenly in early 2020, it set a massive test for teachers, administrators and parents and around the world: how to ensure that students carried on learning when classrooms were closed. As measures to contain the pandemic are gradually lifted, educators face another test: how to protect the health and safety of teachers and students as they return to school.

Teachers are at the centre of both challenges. How are countries helping their teachers meet these new demands? To find out, the Teacher Task Force organized meetings with its members from four regions: Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Sub-Saharan Africa. Each meeting brought together representatives from countries and from international organizations to discuss challenges, share practices, and identify possible solutions to mitigate the worst effects of school closures, the disruption to global education and the planned return to school.

Distance education: Common challenges and regional differences

To maintain learning and safeguard health, countries should not only provide teachers and students with the tools and support they need to carry on teaching and learning remotely. Governments also need to assist teachers directly by offering psychological and socio-emotional support, and by taking into account the perspectives of teachers, teacher educators and their representatives.

In terms of distance teaching, the greatest challenges noted in all regions were a lack of online access, ICT tools, remote learning systems and digital content, and training needed to use these effectively to maintain quality teaching.

To gain access to online learning, students need a computer and Internet access. But in sub-Saharan Africa, 89% of households do not have a computer, 82% have no Internet connection and two-thirds have no electricity at home. While smart phones can be used for mobile learning, about 11% of learners live in locations not served by mobile networks. While existing in all regions, representatives from the Asia-Pacific region drew sharp attention to the even wider problem of educational inequalities, which were significantly exacerbated by the pandemic in some countries such as India.

Across the board, teachers reported a lack of training in the use of distance learning materials and especially in the use of information and communication technology (ICT). In Uganda, for example, only 30% of teachers could use digital learning resources.

In terms of direct support for teachers’ well-being, representatives from LAC and Sub-Saharan Africa highlighted the stress on teachers and the resulting anxiety, and pointed to a lack of adequate psychological and socio-emotional support during the school closures and the shift to distance teaching. Teachers in both regions also felt left out of vital decision-making that affected them directly and emphasized the need for stronger dialogue and communication between teachers, their representatives and decision-makers.

Bridging the digital divide

The sudden switch to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on deep existing inequalities in access to technology. While much attention globally was focused on transforming educational materials into e-learning packages, in many parts of the world the choice of media was limited to radio and television.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, battery-powered radios enable students without electricity to listen to lessons. In Benin, for example, national and community radio ensured continuity of learning for 78% of primary students. In Djibouti, radios were distributed to the most vulnerable families to give access to distance education to as many students as possible.

Television came into its own in many countries, including Barbados, Chile and Morocco, where the education ministry disseminated 59 daily lessons on national television channels. Where students had little or no access to Internet or television, governments collaborated with publishing houses to print educational materials, for example in remote parts of Colombia and in parts of Morocco.

Where Internet or mobile phone connections do exist, the barriers to online learning are often a lack of devices or inability to pay for broadband connections. Many countries have collaborated with the private sector to bring down one or both barriers. Paraguay has provided students with free mobile broadband, while in the Maldives, Internet providers gave 5GB of data to students who had no access, and 10GB to teachers.

In the Arab States region, Saudi Arabia’s education ministry collaborated with the national telecommunications company to provide free Internet to access educational resources for students in underprivileged communities. AndLebanon’s education ministry joined forces with the ministry of national telecommunications to offer free Internet to access educational resources by all students.

Network connectivity is a problem in remote rural areas in many parts of the world. Both China and South Africa are working on this problem, in China’s case by strengthening partnerships with broadband service providers.

Training teachers for the new reality

Across the world, education authorities have scrambled to train teachers to deliver online teaching, supported by global partners. In some cases, as in Gambia, existing e-learning programmes can be used to guide teachers. Elsewhere, new platforms were developed to show teachers how to use the technology. In countries such as Morocco, such efforts were aided by the growth of professional learning communities – both formal and informal – to facilitate peer learning and collaboration.

In some countries, social media networks have emerged as a quick and user-friendly way not only to share teaching materials with students – as in Paraguay – but also to give teachers professional and personal guidance. For example, Cambodia is using the social messaging applications WhatsApp and Telegram to support teachers this way.

In China, teacher training for online learning has focused on selection, development and use of learning resources and identifying and addressing students’ learning gaps once schools reopen. Additionally, teachers are given guidance on building cooperation between home and school.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, training is focusing not only on online learning but also on helping teachers use other media. South Africa is building an electronic platform to disseminate webinars to train teachers on use of radio and television for learning, and on integrating these lessons into the school timetable. Uganda is also developing training in techniques for using radio and television for teaching.

Countries have been quick to take advantage of available online resources and train their teachers to use them. Both the Maldives and Senegal have adopted Google Classroom. The Maldives has developed a three-phase strategy to train and certify 7,000 teachers to use the platform.

Teachers are people too: Psychological, social and emotional support

Teachers are living the COVID-19 crisis and experiencing the same uncertainty as the rest of the population. A survey of teachers in the LAC region showed that 22% are experiencing high levels of anxiety and 36% recognised not having the tools to overcome the current situation. Across the world, teachers need psychological and socio-emotional support to help them cope with the distress of the pandemic.

Colombia has recognized that need by creating an advocacy campaign recognising that teachers, like the rest of the population, are also suffering from anxiety about the pandemic. The campaign sent a message supporting teachers with information on managing stress and anxiety.

Elsewhere in LAC, Paraguay created a collaborative platform where teachers can share their experiences. InBarbados, the government set up a phone line to support teachers during the lockdown.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda is discussing with teacher unions guidelines for providing psycho-social support to teachers and South Africa is developing a similar support service in coordination with the relevant ministries and departments.

Dialogue and collaboration – keeping the communication channels open

Establishing and maintaining dialogue between teachers, their representatives, education ministries and other interested groups has emerged as a vital part of athe education response to Covid-19.

In Gambia, the teacher union is an active part of the decision-making process and sits on the technical team that developed the education response to the pandemic. In Senegal, the union was involved in government decision-making about using Google Classroom to provide distance training. In Uganda, the teacher union is using its network to distribute planning materials to teachers.

Dialogue is also about helping teachers to help one another. In Chile, the government is promoting the importance of collaborative work and the need to create networks between teachers and colleagues. This is important not only as a way to share information and experiences but also to make sure no child is left behind.

As schools move to reopen, dialogue is essential to take into account the needs and concerns of everyone involved, and to ensure teachers and students are safe. In South Africa, for example, the education ministry has consulted extensively with teacher unions, parent associations, principal associations and student organizations on measures to reopen schools.

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By sharing and comparing their approaches to COVID-19, countries can learn more and better ways to empower their teachers, who are the key players in the education response to the pandemic. The four regional meetings organized by the Teacher Task Force and regional partners shed light on a wealth of ingenuity and innovation by governments and their partners. The task force hopes that these shared experiences will trigger further policy innovation and a greater awareness of the need to give teachers the support they need and deserve.

The individual reports from each region can be found at the following links: Arab States, Asia – Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.