Preventing learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting digital learning opportunities and career guidance for marginalized girls/youth in Egypt

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

One of the first impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across the world has been on the education systems compelling governments (many of which were not ready for the challenge) to find innovative ways to mitigate learning losses by reaching learners through home-based learning (most of which were done through a mix of modalities, including online platforms and various media like TV, radio). The Egyptian Government announced its first COVID-19 case on February 14th 2020 and the first death on March 8th, 2020. Since then, more than three hundred thousand confirmed cases were recorded in the country with more than eighteen thousand deaths over the course of various waves of the pandemic as reported by WHO[1].
Consequently, the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE) decided to keep schools closed for the rest of the 2020/2021 school year beginning in March 2020 as the COVID-19 situation worsened. This left over 23 million children away from pre- primary, primary and secondary school for the rest of the school year. As a mitigation strategy, the MOETE was able to build on an already existing online library (Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB)) launched since 2014 to shift it into digital learning modalities to help in the implementation of distance learning and assessment by providing content by grade level and subject area up to secondary level education.. The online e-learning platform was made accessible to both teachers and learners through the use of individual accounts that would allow access to text-based content including textbooks and dictionaries in both Arabic and English as well as multimedia content (videos, images, documentary films). Access was also provided to parents. The EKB was accessible by mobile phone or computer. ​ Additionally, the MoETE collaborated with the Ministry of Communication and IT and various telecom companies to provide SIM cards at no cost to students if they had a mobile device.
Despite the above efforts by the MOETE, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT), and various partners to make online learning options available for an increased number of learners, a rapid assessment of the situation conducted in remote areas of Upper Egypt (Governorates of Beni Suef, Asyut and Minya) by one of the projects supporting girls education found that more than 70% of learners from those regions may not be able to access the online learning platform due to limited access to devices, lack of Internet connectivity, and level of poverty. Parents and teachers needed to be closely supported during these new developments to be able to support children engaged in home-based learning. Various projects and initiatives were able to quickly pivot their implementation approaches to support the MOETE, various directorates, communities, teachers, and learners through this process.
This panel will highlight how some of these initiatives were able to support learners, teachers, parents, and communities to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic including support in the development of new digital skills, the provision of online vocational training and career guidance for youth, and the reinforcement of reading skills for the youngest. This included initiatives like an eight-week pilot digital based reading competition combined with tailored support to parents, community-based volunteers, and teachers to access age- and reading level appropriate content via a digital application to support learners’ engagement in reading and improving their reading skills. The competition was part of a wider reading competition organized by the above-mentioned project covering 32 schools in Upper Egypt across the governorates of Asyut, Beni Suef and Minya. The project’s COVID-19 mitigation plan involved the support to families to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 as well as awareness raising about COVID-19 prevention measures as well as remote support to learners, teachers and volunteers. The reading competition generated unexpected interest from parents and learners despite all the challenges. Parents (mainly fathers) were engaged and were able to support their children, including their daughters, during reading weekly stories and engaging in learning activities. Learners’ engagement time in reading was around 23 minutes per day on average, exceeding all expectations. The presenters for this session will share more on the factors contributing to the pilot’s successes as well as on lessons learnt and how the pilot could be leveraged by the Egyptian MOETE to promote skills-based education and the modernization/digitization of the education system by expanding digital skills (in line with the education 2.0 vision launched in 2017 and with the aim to be achieved by 2030).
Other initiatives include the successful inter-ministerial (Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, MOETE) and multi-partners initiative, aimed to support youth empowerment through digital literacy and career preparedness. The project contributed to prepare Egyptian youth to increase their employability, career shift as well as increasing their entrepreneurship/freelancing chances. The approaches also include the provision of special courses to increase teachers,’ government officials’, and students’ digital skills in order to allow them to be able to utilize and join online learning platforms. One major success from the project was that the development of and practice using digital skills helped pivot implementation approaches and support learners during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching more than 800,000 youth.
Finally, this panel will also introduce a new pilot using learnings from the previously discussed initiatives aimed at bridging the digital divide for the most marginalized children, including those living in refugee camps across Egypt. This pilot, established with support from UNICEF and the Egyptian MOETE, aims to create “learning hubs” using already existing safe spaces for girls to equip them with technology facilities and Internet connectivity in order to provide online and offline learning resources. The hubs also serve as a space for psychosocial support to children through play-based and recreational activities (using gender-segregated activities). The presenters will discuss the growing interest in the model and how it could potentially be embedded into new initiatives and expanded beyond the current target age groups to include career guidance for youth.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Areeg Hegazi, Care Egypt Foundation

Individual Presentations

• The “Reading is Life” Competition: Mitigating Learning Losses during School Closures through a Low-Tech Reading Application in Upper Egypt - Deborah Backus, Worldreader

• Youth Empowerment through Digital Literacy and Career Preparedness: How Egyptian Youth Accessed Training and Career Guidance Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic - Areeg Hegazi, Care Egypt Foundation

• Learning Hub Pilot--Providing Digital skills/ Resources to Rural Areas of Egypt to mitigate Learning Losses for Marginalized Children - Ali Ahmed AbdelMohsen, CARE USA; Areeg Hegazi, Care Egypt Foundation

Discussant

• Rachel Heavner, Worldreader