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Education Interrupted
Anna Darling leads Plan UK’s policy and advocacy work around global education. Anna’s role is to make sure the UK Government and other leaders prioritise access to good quality education for young people across the world, especially adolescent girls living in crisis such as in war zones and refugee settings.
The right to a quality education is the cornerstone of sustainable development. A quality education is critical to children’s safety and provides opportunities for them to reach their potential. However, education around the world, and the hope that it brings, is facing a generation-defining emergency: COVID-19. The pandemic has obstructed this right on an unprecedented scale. To stem the pandemic, in 2020, schools closed their doors to an estimated 1.6 billion learners globally.
But while unique to this century, COVID-19 is not a one - off crisis. The climate crisis, natural disasters and resource depletion mean children are increasingly on the move and therefore out of education. It is clear that education systems are not as resilient as they should be, often unprepared to deal with large - scale disruption. If COVID-19 was a test paper for the future, climate change will be the final exam.
And it is the world’s most marginalised children that will suffer the most. COVID-19 has laid bare social and economic inequalities worldwide, especially in the poorest countries.
For girls, many may never return to school, further entrenching gender gaps in education, increasing the likelihood of child marriage and exploitation, and undermining girls’ longer term opportunities. The risks are also severe for children with disabilities. Before COVID-19, over half of children with disabilities were out-of-school at the lower secondary level in low and lower-middle income countries.
COVID-19 is unlike any crisis the world has experienced in the last century. But it has also presented an opportunity for a more sustainable approach to quality education. Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to strengthen critical elements of education systems across the world. We have the opportunity to reassess the resilience and stability of our education systems and build back better.
The pandemic has highlighted the critical role that schools play in children’s lives beyond learning. From nutrition to health to child protection, school closures had a significant impact on children, beyond a loss to learning.
Education also has a critical role to play in building children’s resilience and adaptive capacities in the face of non - conflict crises. We need to look no further than the current crisis to see the unpredictability and complexity in the world around us. Education empowers children and young people to create a more sustainable future. Quality, safe and inclusive education provides children and young people with the critical life skills and knowledge to navigate this.
The sustainable goal on education includes a target promising that by 2030 all learners will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Education can contribute to a more sustainable world because it can develop the skills and mindsets needed for building and contributing to a green economy and the promotion of sustainable communities.
Education improves the capacity of children and young people to be active citizens and agents of change who are better able to take action on crises that are interrupting their education. Young people can hold governments and other powerful decision makers to account.
The world must now take a systems-based approach to education if we are to ensure their sustainability for the future. As the Government prepares to host the Climate Summit next year, we must learn from the impact of crises – including COVID-19 and the climate crisis – on education across the world. And we must recognise the critical role that education can play in preparing young people for the world around them and creating a more sustainable future for all.
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Anna Darling • March 12, 2021
As 2024 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on some of our achievements and some of the challenges, thankfully there have been more achievements to celebrate. We celebrated 15 years of the Foundations work and it has been heartening to reflect on how far we have come in terms of expanding our reach and supporting more partners on the ground to achieve incredible work. You can catch up on our latest news here Engage 29. We are enthused by the energy and commitment of all our partners on the ground who delivered inspirational projects in 2024, in Cuba, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Educators who are ensuring that colleagues are benefiting from quality CPD and are equipped to prevent gender-based violence in the classrooms and their communities and ensuring Education for All is a top priority. I am grateful for the amazing team of staff, partners, ambassadors, volunteers and our trustees who keep us going in the right direction. A special thank you to Mary Sinnott who is my mentor and keeps me grounded through the challenges. I am also extremely grateful for all of our donors and fundraisers who make our work possible, as without the funds it would be impossible. It was amazing to see how many of you bought a charity gift over the festive season for a friend or loved one and I hope you will continue to consider giving the gift of education in 2025, it can be a great gift at any time of the year. Just before Christmas I came down with a horrible bug and it was during the week of our Education for All Exhibition and Pop Up and I want to thank everyone who kept it going, whilst I rested and recovered, it made me remember how lucky I am to have such a great team supporting the Foundation. I would like to thank you all personally for being part of our community and supporting access to education for all children everywhere. You can also watch our highlights of 2024 in a short video here. I wish you and your families a peaceful, healthy and hopeful 2025. Best wishes Ann
On Friday (1st November), of conference it was dedicated to Education – the first “E” of the theme Education, Empowerment, Enable. Ann Beatty is the Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) and was one of the key speakers at the conference. The focus is on education as a human right for all. I’m proud to write this blog on Ann Beatty’s talk at the SIGBI Conference because Ann is a member of my Club – Soroptimist International St Albans & District . Ann spoke from the heart with warmth and passion for the work of SSF, as she always does – earning the support and engagement of this large audience of Soroptimists. Ann started by thanking Soroptimists who have already supported her and the Steve Sinnott Foundation. The reason for the link with Soroptimists is clear – United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UN SDG 4) “to ensure that everyone has access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” is so important because it is the enabler for all the other SDG’s. She asked us some questions using “Slido” the interactive audience engagement tool: “How many adults lack basic literacy skills?” – answer 765 million “How many children don’t go to school?” – – answer 360 million These statistics are shocking, the impact on girls means they have no prospects and are often married off very young. UNESCO says the world needs 44 million more teachers to achieve the SDG 4 goal of universal primary and secondary education by 2030. The SSF works with educators and to prove her point Ann got us all to share positive memories of learning with the person sitting next to us – many indicated a teacher who had influenced them. The memories were written on the silhouette of the figure of a girl. The SSF connects learners across the world with technology appropriate for their location – flexibility, simplicity and affordability is essential. Ann then spoke about the Positive Periods Project https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects – learning how to make reusable sanitary pads using locally sourced materials is a skill for life. The products are sustainable, affordable, comfortable and give the girls and women independence. The charity works with people on the ground – training many thousands of women now in countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Haiti, Malawi, Uganda – learning how to manage periods with dignity. They are then able to train others. While the young women have been learning and making the pads, dialogue has started around violence against women and girls which has also now been built into learning programs. A message Ann was keen to get across was for people to “STOP SENDING STUFF” – always ask “what do you need?” – there is so much waste.
We both love London and walking, and this year, in honor of The Steve Sinnott Foundation's 15th Anniversary we have decided to embark on this journey. We planned to complete the 10KM walk along the river Thames, passing by many iconic London attractions on the way. We wanted to raise funds, and awareness, to ensure that every child worldwide, can have the opportunity to go to school, as well as adults too. It was an amazing experience and we enjoyed each other's company on luckily a very sunny day! “Since working for the Foundation I have witnessed firsthand the impact it has in supporting young people develop essential life skills by working to ensure provision of quality education for all children worldwide. The ripple effect of this education is truly remarkable as students go on to empower and educate others.” - Nicolet “I’ve been friends with Nicolet since we were kids, and I appreciate her and support her in any way that I can! She does amazing work for the Steve Sinnott Foundation and I want to be able to support her in this as well. A sponsored walk would not only be something we can accomplish together, but the fact that our efforts could go some way to making a difference for children around the world made it very worthwhile.” - Becky
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