The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

Having worked as a senior education policy adviser for the National Education Union (NEU) since its formation in September 2017, following the merger of NUT and ATL, and before that for the NUT, I was delighted to be appointed this year as the International Secretary of the NEU, the UK and Europe’s largest education union.

I am so proud of the dedication that educators across the UK and globally have shown to their pupils, both during lockdown and since schools have reopened. The move to distance and blended learning during lockdown was sudden and unexpected but educators rose to the challenge to keep children learning whilst also opening schools for the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils; distributing food, ensuring families had access to books and educational resources, computers and internet connections as well as supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing and ensuring that children remained safe.

School reopening has posed many new challenges. Ensuring schools are Covid-safe and secure is a huge responsibility for educators everywhere but in countries where many schools lack basic sanitary conditions, such as access to clean water, it is a huge barrier to safe reopening. Covid outbreaks among staff and pupils and enhanced restrictions continue to cause school closures locally, nationally and internationally.

The pandemic threatens to set back by decades achievement of Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG4) which calls for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. The impact on girls’ education in particular could be catastrophic without coordinated action to address this global education crisis.

According to UNESCO, over 875 million of the world’s students remain affected by COVID-19-related school closures, with the majority in Sub-Saharan Africa.(1) Many may never return to school as the economic impacts of the virus limit government spending on education and force families to make difficult choices between education and economic survival, particularly where schooling carries a financial cost. When family budgets limit the affordability of education, gender inequality means girls are most likely to lose out.

The Malala fund has analysed the impact of previous health and economic crises and finds that marginalised girls are more at risk than boys of dropping out of education altogether following school closures.(2) They estimate that approximately 20 million more secondary school-aged girls could be out of school after the Covid crisis has passed, if dropouts increase by the same rate as they did following the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone (3).

Girls who are out of school are more likely to face early marriage and motherhood, violence and domestic abuse. Save the Children has estimated that an additional 2.5 million girls are at risk of child marriage over five years and that adolescent pregnancies are expected to rise by up to 1 million in 2020, as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. An educated female population leads to improved health, gender equality, democratic engagement and economic growth for an entire country.

The theme of this year’s World Teachers Day, ‘Taking the Lead’ celebrated the crucial role of educators during the pandemic. Now Governments and global institutions must accept their responsibilities to ensure that high quality, free public education for all, girls included, is at the front and centre of sustainable national and international global recovery plans.

1 UNESCO, African countries must build back equal for girls’ education & learn from the COVID-19 crisis (September 2020). Available at: https://bit.ly/2HFpSRs
2 Malala Fund, Girls Education and Covid-19 – What Past Shocks Can tell Us about Mitigating the Impact of Pandemics (April 2020). Available at: https://bit.ly/34Aj7sR

3 Ibid.

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CELIA DIGNAN, NEU INTERNATIONAL SECRETARY • January 13, 2021

Supporting work for The Federation of Drama Schools

By Melanie Lavery • March 3, 2025

Last year the Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the work of The Federation of Drama Schools by providing financial aid to new graduates, enabling them to take part in an industry showcase at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The showcase is an annual event for Irish graduates who have completed a professional training at one of the Federation’s partner conservatoires in the UK, introducing young actors to the industry they hope to work in. The Federation of Drama Schools partners are institutions that provide conservatoire vocational training for those who want to be professional performers, theatre makers and technical theatre practitioners. The courses they offer are for students of eighteen years and over, who have completed their school level education. In November (2024) fourteen young Irish graduates took part in the showcase and the SSF provided financial support to two graduates who may not otherwise have been able to take part in this showcase, which is a bridge between training and their professional career. Melanie Lavery from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is one of those who benefitted from this support. Melanie writes of her experience. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Steve Sinnott Foundation for the support I received, making it possible for me to take part in the Dublin Showcase 2024. The opportunity allowed me to work with graduates from across FDS schools and widen my contacts in the industry. Coming from a socio-economically deprived area, I’ve often missed out on opportunities available to my peers. I have had to spend a lot of energy during my three years in drama school working to support myself and this has meant I often don’t have time to follow up network opportunities. In receiving this sponsorship and taking part in the showcase I have been able to connect with other Irish creatives - the people I am acting opposite, directors, casting directors and agents in the industry. These industry showcases are so important for graduates. It gives us the possibility of networking with industry professionals and hopefully the opportunity of taking that first crucial step into the profession we have trained for. As I studied in Wales, it gave me the chance to return to Ireland and to reach out to creatives there. The Foundation gave me this amazing opportunity to kick start my career in my home country. On the day of the showcase, I had such pride watching my fellow Irish peers performing on stage at Ireland’s National Theatre. Working together throughout the rehearsal period, I got to know them individually and we all helped each other to grow as performers. This showcase has helped me to create my own community of actors around me. When it came to talking with other creatives after the show case, I became so much more aware of how large and welcoming the industry is in Ireland and how much work is being produced here. I think this show case is so important as it highlights how vibrant and growing the industry is in Ireland. I feel so lucky that I was able to take part thanks to the help of the Steve Sinnott Foundation. For more information on the Federation of Drama Schools, professional industry showcases, and it’s partner schools please visit www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk

Empowering caregivers of children with disabilities through self-help groups

By Karen Bunning • February 28, 2025

Since 2015 we have developed and supported self-help groups for caregivers of children with disabilities in a rural part of Kenya. Currently we have 12 self-help groups with a membership of around 135. Through their participation in the self-help groups, the caregivers are empowered to take control of their lives by speaking up, supporting each other and acting to bring about positive changes. An extension of university-based research and development, we registered our work on self-help groups with the UK Charity Commission in August 2023. Our in-country partner is Walezi Foundation- a non-government funded organisation. The aim is to further develop the potential of selfhelp groups in Kilifi County, one of the poorest areas in Kenya, and to grow the number of groups supported. Long-term caregiving has been associated with fatigue, distress and poverty. Many feel helpless in the face of such challenges and very much alone. A combination of superstition, stigma and discrimination marginalises these families. Not only can these children be excluded from education, employment and contact with other villagers, the level of stigma is such that the caregiver’s shame may lead them to deny their child’s existence. This creates social isolation for both the caregiver and the child. In the beginning we listened to what people told us about their lived experiences: “People at home have very little to do with the child. The child is lonely most of the time and there is little assistance from family members and the community.” What do the self-help groups do? The self-help group members meet regularly. They share their experiences as caregivers and provide support for each other. Our partner NGO – Walezi Foundation – visits all the groups at regular intervals. The caregivers are supported to talk about: their personal situation and consider ways to support each other in the group; the inclusion of persons with disabilities in home and community events; encouraging more positive attitudes towards disability in the community; the importance of accessing education and health services; and practical solutions to relieve the challenges faced by them all in everyday life. Working together they register formally as a self-help group with the Kenyan government department of Social Development and embark on livelihood activities to alleviate their financial challenges. Since 2023 we have provided start-up funds for capital projects to expand the financial capacity of each group. Some of the projects that have been started include: livestock rearing, hiring large tents and chairs for community events and building a water tower for storing and selling water. Through this work we have shown that membership of a self-help group can bring about dramatic changes to the caregivers’ lives and those of their children with disabilities, including: development of essential skills for livelihood activities; growth in family income; increased social support; better access to health for all; more children with disabilities in education. Over the next three years we aim to expand our coverage of community-based self-help groups in Kilifi County, Kenya and roll out our mentorship scheme across other African countries. If you want to find out more about our work, please go to our website: www.walezi-caregivers-kenya.org

Is Education a Lost Cause?

By Bernard Noble • February 24, 2025

Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about learning and could wax lyrical about how important education is and how we have to try our best to ‘get it right’. As I started to prepare to write this article; a task that asked me to list successes within education, I was shocked about what I learnt about myself … I lean towards pessimism! Why is this? I launched into research and soon soothed myself by the fact that the human condition favours pessimism over optimism as it sounds more plausible. For example: tell someone that everything will work out fine and you will probably get a polite dismissal or platitude. Tell someone that they are in danger (or something serious is going wrong) and you will have their undivided attention! I brought this insight with me to a recent lunchtime chat with a placement student of mine (who has recently left school) and her mentor. To their credit and good humour, they allowed me to ramble on until I asked them about their views on what has been a success within their own educational experience. Silence. I took this as first hand proof of the human proclivity towards pessimism. But when they answered in joint chorus, “knowing that my teacher cared for me”, I could not help but smile. Pastoral care is a true and lasting success of education. Our children and young people come to our schools from a range of backgrounds and experiences but school is the constant; a place filled with people who are there just for them. Educational debate around the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is huge at the moment. I would champion its use in regards to personalising the learning experience or streamlining processes but it can never replace that which is most important - relationships. We all need and crave a deep sense of connection and belonging no matter what our age and stage. With lunch over I wanted to find out more about the successes there have been within education over the years and with no one else to consult, I turned to my computer; a Large Language Model (LLM) to be precise. Immediately, as soon as I hit ‘enter’, a profound list of accomplishments appeared on screen: More students than ever are in school Technology is revolutionising education Teaching has become more inclusive and innovative We are learning to value teachers more (Are we? Sorry my pessimism needs to challenge this one!) Education is adapting to global changes My screen was positively overflowing with optimism. ‘Definitely not human’ I thought to myself. But the AI’s summary heading made me pause: ‘Embrace Creativity for the Next Frontier”. This made me think. Creativity, alongside relationships, is another success of educational practice. We are all creative, either consciously or subconsciously, in whatever task we are doing and it is our role as educators to help our pupils be creative in design, thought or approach, especially in a world that is embracing technology more and more. As I write, two alternate thoughts swirl within my mind: Does educational progress happen too slowly to notice? Or do topical, educational trends occur too quick to ignore? The latter would always make education a failure by default. All I know is that continued improvements within the education sector must be built upon evidence based research, utilising the learnings from cognitive science. For me, continued success within pedagogy must be formed upon knowing what works. For the sake of having a balanced argument, I will end on an optimistic note: “Rather than lamenting what’s not working, we should focus on what’s been built and how we can expand upon success. Education is not a lost cause—it’s a dynamic force that’s been evolving for the better over the past 15 years. Let’s continue to push it forward, not by fearing failure, but by embracing it as part of the process toward even greater achievements.” LLM 2024 Not too shabby, AI, not too shabby at all. BIOGRAPHY Bernard Noble is an educational consultant and founder of Learning Me. With a background as a school leader, pastoral care lead and SENDCO, he has expertise in pedagogy, educational policy, nurture, neurodiversity and learning disabilities. Passionate about holistic education, Bernard is a strong advocate for making emotional health and wellbeing strategies explicit.