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What does recent evidence from data and policies say about inclusion in education?

This week is the 30th anniversary of the Salamanca Declaration, a seminal moment in global education policy that defined the concept of inclusive education. Four years ago, the 2020 GEM Report, All means all, focused on inclusion, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was amplifying many of the factors that lead to exclusion in education. This blog looks at some recent quantitative and qualitative trends since our major publication on the issue.

Exclusion is rife for millions

Out of school rates had been declining but at a slow pace but in 2022 the out-of-school population increased for the first time, reaching 250 million. The number out of school has barely changed in sub-Saharan Africa since 1990.  And such numbers are likely to be underestimated, as data are difficult to capture in areas of the world affected by crises, such as Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and Myanmar.

Identity, background and ability continue to dictate education opportunities. The new Her Education Our Future Factsheet showed that, while the world has achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education gross enrolment ratios on average, extreme gender exclusion exists in some corners of the world: 80% of school-aged Afghan females were out of school.

Disadvantages can stack up to exacerbate exclusion, as the WIDE database shows. Girls’ disadvantage is exacerbated due to location, for instance. In Mozambique, there are 73 young women in school for every 100 young men. But while there is gender parity in urban areas, there are 53 young women in school for every 100 young men in rural areas.  Disparity is even more exacerbated in terms of wealth. In Côte d’Ivoire, there are 72 young women in school – but only 22 poor young women – for every 100 young men.  New WIDE data based on the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys shows that children with a disability are 7 percentage points less likely than children without functional difficulties to complete primary school.

Data from the 2021 PIRLS reading assessment show that in upper-middle- and high-income countries, children who speak at home the language they are taught in school are 14% more likely to read with understanding than those who do not at the end of primary. At the end of lower secondary, data from the 2022 PISA show that adolescents speaking the language of instruction at home were over 40% more likely to be able to read with understanding compared to those who did not. In 2023, Slovakia’s parliament failed to adopt an amendment to the School Act, which would take steps to address discrimination against Roma children.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) learners have seen walls rise up in education settings in the United States, where 7 states have introduced ‘don’t say gay’ laws for curricula since our 2020 Report was released. There have been protests against LGBTQ curriculum content in Canada.

During COVD-19 at least half a billion students worldwide (31%) could not be reached by any form of remote learning, rising to 72% of the poorest.

But there are signs of improvement

In the face of these worrying signs, many countries continue to demonstrate commitment to the ‘all means all’ approach outlined in the 2020 GE Report.  Since the release of the 2020 GEM Report, 8 more countries have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, bringing the total to 164 signatories. Another 36 additional countries have now legally recognized national sign languages since 2020.

The radical inclusion policy in Sierra Leone, is one example, as is the first ever strategy on inclusive and special education introduced in Austria in 2021 and the new guidelines on equitable and inclusive education in line with the New Education Policy in India in 2020. The state of New South Wales in Australia developed an Inclusive Education Policy, which declares that “all students, regardless of disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status, nationality, language, gender, sexual orientation or faith, can access and fully participate in learning, alongside their similar aged peers, supported by reasonable adjustments and teaching strategies tailored to meet their individual needs”.

The PEER country profiles compiled for the 2020 GEM Report showed that a quarter of countries had laws making provisions for educating children with disabilities in separate settings. Some have changed their stance on this front as well. In 2022, a new decree by the government of the Flemish Community in Belgium enabled learners with learning disabilities and special educational needs to be able to follow lessons in mainstream education as far as possible, with extra support.

Denmark began a new special education training programme for teachers in 2022. Uganda began training teachers language resilience in refugee areas in 2023. Japan also tackled language barriers after a survey showed that 19,000 primary or lower secondary school-age children of foreign nationalities in Japan do not attend school at all, introducing a new policy in 2020 to improve Japanese language education.

In the province of Manitoba in Canada, a new policy was introduced in 2022, entitled Mamàhtawisiwin: The wonder we are born with, bringing indigenous elders into the classroom to help indigenous students succeed in school. Bulgaria introduced a new inclusive education strategy for learners, including Roma, who our regional report showed suffered particular exclusion.

The growth of technology has brought opportunities with one hand as it has brought challenges with another, as a new advocacy brief being launched on the subject this week will show. But there is no doubt that inclusive technologies have major advantages in that they support accessibility for students with disability. The 2023 GEM Report found that 87% say that accessible technology devices, including smartphones and tablets, were replacing traditional assistive tools most or all of the time. Digitizing textbooks can also make them more accessible. Over 92 countries have also now ratified the 2013 Marrakech Treaty allowing reproduction of published works in accessible formats for people who are print-disabled.

This is clearly a marathon, not a sprint. Achieving full inclusion and meeting every learner’s needs will take time. We hope you will join us in celebrating countries that have recognized the benefits of an inclusive approach to education and calling on others to follow suit.

 

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One year into the Global Convention on Higher Education – what will it take to make it a gamechanger?

By Borhene Chakroun, Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO

This week marks the one year anniversary since the entry into force of the UN’s first Global Treaty on Higher Education, a landmark agreement that establishes universal principles for the recognition of higher education qualifications.

Opening new avenues for further study and employment across borders, the Global Convention promises to be a game changer for higher education – bringing about the fundamental changes needed to make higher education more equitable, accessible and inclusive.

It comes amid a dramatic shifting higher education landscape characterized by expansion, massification, diversification and digitization. More than 250 million students are now enrolled in higher education, up from 100 million in 2000 and 180 million in 2010.

Meanwhile, student mobility has increased more than threefold over the last two decades, with more than 6 million learners now studying abroad -a number that has tripled in the last two decades and is set to do so again. Half of these internationally mobile students are studying outside their region.

The Global Convention promotes fair, transparent and non-discriminatory practices for recognizing higher education qualifications.

This will prove especially important for refugees and displaced persons who often have difficulty providing documentary evidence of their qualifications.

It’s also a sign of how the right to education is evolving towards a vision of lifelong learning, including the right to higher education.

So far, 28 countries have ratified the convention, representing a quarter of the world’s internationally mobile student population. Another 30 countries are at advanced stages of the ratification process.

This week, UNESCO is convening an extraordinary session of the Intergovernmental Conference of the States Parties to examine the Global Convention’s work programme for the next year. The session will also be attended by many observers including key global and regional higher education stakeholders as well as the presidents of the regional convention committees. This is the first meeting since a historic convening of State Parties last July to chart a course for implementation.

What will it take to make the Global Convention a success?

Five key dimensions will determine the effective implementation of the Global Convention – in line with the recommendations of UNESCO’s recent World Conference on Higher Education:

  • Information exchange: Three regional networks of information centres are already in operation – the Asia-Pacific Network of National Information Centres (APNNIC), European ENIC-NARIC and the Regional Network of Information Centres in Latin America and the Caribbean (CINLAC). These must be capitalized upon to create a global network under the Global Convention.
  • Quality assurance: Education systems and institutions must trust each other if education and multilateral cooperation is to truly transform. The Global Convention is the first multilateral agreement which addresses quality assurance and promotes and affirms the role a culture of quality plays in establishing trust between higher education institutions and systems.
  • Inclusion: Higher education systems need to put greater emphasis on inclusion, flexible learning pathways and recognition of prior learning. This is particular important given the diversification of higher education including the increasing role played by private providers and EdTech, as well as the emergence of higher technical and vocational education and training.
  • Technology: The digital transformation of education can increase access to higher education, both through the possibilities of virtual mobility and the enhanced portability of qualifications. At the same, online provision powered by artificial intelligence, virtual mobility and digital credentialing in an era of massification, bring with them their own new challenges both for quality assurance and for the data protection and security of students, all of which need to be addressed in the context of the Global Convention.
  • Data: While there is always a need for more and better data, the number of countries reporting to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) continues to decrease, with the reporting rate in some regions as low as 25%. With this in mind, UIS has just launched the 2024 Survey of Formal Education and countries’ participation in the higher education questionnaire is key for accurate monitoring.

If these key areas are addressed, the Global Convention will indeed live up to its potential as a game changer for higher education. UNESCO is calling on all countries to ratify this important Convention to make our ambitions become a reality to unleash the talent of our youth around the world.

 

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Advancing education with technology: Honouring teachers on their day

By Daniel April and Anna Cristina D’Addio, GEM Report

Today, on October 5th, we celebrate World Teachers’ Day, a special occasion dedicated to celebrating and honouring the contributions of teachers in our society. It also serves as an opportunity to advocate for better working conditions, training and professional development for teachers.

Teachers are crucial for the successful integration of technology in education as the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report, Technology in education: A tool on whose terms?, emphasized. Keeping teachers and students at the forefront of education technology is a must but within a student-centred approach. Digital tools should enhance, not replace, the essential teacher-student interaction for better learning outcomes.

Technology is transforming teaching worldwide and could, when mastered, equip teachers with tools to focus on student needs, providing access to various resources and encouraging meaningful interactions in the classroom.

For example, teachers can use technology to support personalized learning with adaptive platforms, flexible schedules, and exciting virtual experiences such as augmented reality. Tech-savvy teachers can also use different communication platforms to build strong connections with students and parents, which has been vital during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the REDS International Survey revealed that more than two thirds of teachers in the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, and more than half of those in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia increased parent communication during the pandemic, relying more on technology.

But technology adoption by teachers is not straightforward. First, inadequate digital infrastructure is a major issue. During the pandemic, only two in five teachers used their personal devices in 165 countries. One-third of schools had only one device for educational use, causing significant disruptions in the learning process. Teachers with disabilities worldwide also face technological challenges. In Ethiopia, the absence of assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, e-books, and word prediction programmes is a significant barrier to their full participation. In fact, some teachers may not even be aware of the existence of certain assistive technologies.

To take advantage of technology in education, teachers must be prepared to use it. Some educators also lack the necessary training to harness digital tools effectively. The 2018 TALIS shed light on this, indicating that only 43% of lower secondary school teachers felt adequately prepared to use technology for teaching after training, and 78% of teachers lacked confidence in employing technology for assessments. Many countries also face a shortage of science and mathematics teachers because few enter the profession and even fewer stay. In the United States, there were over 30,000 vacancies for physics teachers in 2019. Policies to encourage recruitment, training and retention of teachers in these subjects include bonuses upon signing, salary supplements and the targeting of graduates or professionals who currently have a non teaching career.

Countries are taking steps to help teachers acquire the necessary skills in technology

An analysis of the 211 GEM Report’s PEER country profiles on technology in education suggests that more than half of the countries in four different regions have included ICT standards for teachers in their policies, guidelines, training plans, development strategies, or similar efforts. However, this happens much more often in wealthier countries (62%) compared to less affluent ones (33%) (Figure 1). One in 4 countries globally have laws ensuring training for teachers in education technology, whether during their initial training or later on. Notably, 84% of these systems have strategies for ongoing professional development, while 72% focus on technology in pre-service education. Moreover, by 2022, more than 80% of low- and middle-income countries had introduced digital skills training for teachers from primary to upper secondary education. Although the percentage was lower for pre-primary teachers, it increased from 48% in 2020/21 to 62% in 2021/22.

Teachers are also increasingly taking it into their own hands to enhance their skills and foster collaboration

In the Caribbean, over 80% of surveyed teachers are part of professional WhatsApp groups. Among them, 44% use instant messaging weekly for collaboration. This virtual network enhances in-person collaboration and is now an integral part of teachers’ lives. In Flanders, Belgium, KlasCement, originally a non-profit initiative which is now under the Ministry of Education, has become a hub for teachers, providing a platform for discussions on distance learning. At the start of the pandemic, over 22,000 teachers joined this platform, sharing more than 500 learning resources and initiating over 50 discussions weekly.

On this World Teacher’s Day, let’s thank once again the teachers worldwide for their invaluable contributions and celebrate the strides made to empower teachers to use technology effectively in their classrooms. Increasing their active participation in shaping policies would be crucial to further enhance their impact. This not only brings valuable insights but also fosters a critical attitude toward technology. Together, let’s stand with our teachers, equipping them with the skills and confidence required to thrive in today’s ever-evolving education landscape.

 

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United States: How investing in our youngest children will help them cope with a climate crisis not of their making

By Justin van Fleet, President of Theirworld, a global children’s charity

Investing in early years care and education might not seem the most obvious way of tackling the climate crisis.

Why would investment in the world’s babies and toddlers aid efforts to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change unfolding all around us right now? After all, it’s the very definition of a grown-up problem: urgent, life-threatening and riven with complicated political and diplomatic disputes.

The truth, however, is that no matter how great our efforts to address the crisis, the problem is an enduring emergency that is not going away any time soon. The generation that will face both the gravest consequences and the challenge of mitigating those consequences is being born now.

A global analysis showed that young children will face more extreme weather events than their grandparents’ generation: seven times as many heatwaves, twice as many wildfires and three times as many droughts, crop failures and river floods. Despite this stark reality, a recent study on climate spending found that only 2.4 % of finance from key multilateral climate funds supported projects that either addressed the risks posed to children by the climate emergency or empowered them to become agents of change.

But to build climate resilience, leaders need to prioritise investment in the full range of quality early childhood care and education programmes: access to health services, nutrition, clean water and sanitation, and a safe and protective care and learning environment.

The better educated children are, the safer they are, the healthier they and their parents and caregivers are, then the stronger their communities and societies will be. Stronger communities and societies will, in turn, be more resilient and adaptable to climate change.

That’s why as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week [week of September 18] it is crucial that they it is critical that they act for early years to give children the best possible start in life, and to give the planet we call home a chance of thriving in the future.

The United Nations has identified the potential of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes for its potential to be a “building block for climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainable development”, given that ECD cuts across several sectors and, if done properly, has the power to transform lives.

Research has suggested that universal education and health interventions can have a direct impact on climate change. The resulting reductions in emissions globally could be as high as 85.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide between 2020 and 2050, according to Project Drawdown, the equivalent of 19 billion passenger vehicles driven for a year. It was also estimated that educating girls could result in a massive reduction in emissions of 51.48 gigatons by 2050.

Ensuring that all girls and boys from the youngest age can grow, learn, and play in a healthy environment by definition includes clean energy investment in ECD infrastructure and facilities to address poor air quality and creating child-friendly green spaces.

Climate education itself should become a lasting element of early years learning. Children instinctively want to protect the planet, so by teaching them about the connections between humans and their environment, they can be the first to raise awareness about the dangers to it and to bring that knowledge to their families and communities.

Their early lives will shape the adults they become, and that may make all the difference to overcoming the climate crisis. We know that the first five to six years are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That is when 90% of brain development occurs and patterns of learning and behaviour are set for the future. This opportunity is being wasted for so many children on a global scale, with just a tiny proportion of international and domestic spending going to the early years.

Five years ago, the G20 members launched a new Initiative for Early Childhood Development but progress has been blown off course due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other global crises.

Giving these children the best chance of facing down the challenges of their present and later lives points to one very clear priority for decisions being debated in New York. It is vital that they push investment in early childcare and education right to the top of the agenda, and include climate financing in programs for children. In doing so, they will be setting the stage for prioritising the right strategies at the G20 talks in 2024, where the incoming chair President Lula of Brazil looks to make tackling the climate crisis a high priority.

We know which interventions and innovations will help give the world’s youngest children achieve the best possible start in life. However, good ideas will amount to nothing without the most essential change that needs to happen – a change of attitude among governments, policy-makers and donors. They must begin to see the early years not as a cost but as an investment, and one of the smartest investments that a society can make.

 

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Technology in education in Kenya: from gathering dust to gathering momentum

By Monica Kinyua, a proud Kenyan teacher and “Girls United” Club Leader at Nyakio Primary School in the rural South Kinangop Sub-County of Nyandarua County, Kenya, who received teacher training in a Technology Hub organized by Flying Kites, a charitable organisation.

In late 2017, the Kenyan Ministry of Education announced a big change to a new competency-based curriculum (“CBC”) to include technology and digital skills that will help prepare our students for the future. I am one of 19 teachers at Nyakio Primary, a public school in rural South Kinangop. Our school has 601 students from pre-primary to grade 8.  When we heard of the Ministry’s expectations, we wondered how we would transition and if and when our schools would receive the needed resources to do so.

Having had no technology in the school before, the government soon started to deliver tablet computers for students at primary schools across Kenya. At Nyakio, we accepted 64 of these gadgets for the entire school, but we were a bit scared because we had no knowledge or instructions on how to use them. As with many teachers around the world, we were hesitant, or lacked confidence in using technology. Myself, I was computer illiterate, and so were my colleagues. So the tablets remained in a closet gathering dust and, as teachers, we somehow felt left in the dust as well.

 

“I felt it could have been useful for teachers to be consulted when the new curriculum was being designed to make sure we were able to use the technologies well when teaching as they expected us to.”

 

We realized that we weren’t the only teachers in this situation when schools closed for nine months in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we started working with teachers from other schools in our region to help our students keep learning. We would gather with our masks and safe distancing in the basement of the Flying Kites Hub to prepare and print learning packets for pupils. This is when we realised that other teachers in our region were no better prepared than us. We all had these same gadgets in closets at our schools, but we had no digital skills or training to use them.  When I told my story to the GEM Report team, they told me this is common for many teachers around the world: only a quarter of countries have laws to support teacher training in technology.

When schools reopened in 2021, Flying Kites began a program to help local teachers build very basic digital skills and confidence to use the government-issued tablets and other technology (such as computers, smartphones, and the internet) for teaching. I remember when I was first invited to the Tech Training program because we were asked to find the tablets, wipe off the dust, and bring them to the workshop. I was a bit afraid and feeling like a preschool student, but also I had so much hope.

By now, the CBC has been implemented and we need a lot of knowledge about computers and technology to do our jobs on a daily basis. Most of the activities in our books require us to go to the website of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to find the right content, student-centered activities, and resources. I admit there are times I have to skip some areas because I can’t do the research without access to the internet. I have now started to bring my research to Flying Kites because they allow me to use their internet and their equipment. Being able to access the KICD website with independence is one of the first and most important learning targets for the Flying Kites Tech Training program. I know how to do it now, but, as is the case for multiple schools on our continent, I don’t always have the internet.

Just this year Flying Kites started opening their Computer Hub after school for teachers who have gotten training. Even though I must travel about 45 minutes to get there, I find myself visiting for access to the internet, to improve my digital skills, and even to get support from our trainer, Mr. Okal. Sometimes we even go there as a group of teachers and we are helped to navigate through skills to reach what is needed by the CBC. It becomes so easy. Mr. Okal is never shy to help us and I like how he builds our skills using practical exercises that are very relevant to our jobs. For example, I am now able to use simple spreadsheets to mark my exams. I used to do it on pencil and paper.

Now, we are teachers who are confident and skilled. I feel that we’re finally using #TechOnOurTerms. It’s not the way we started. Now with digital skills, it makes learning much easier for the pupils. It feels good.The pupils and teachers are having a learning experience and enjoying using technology together. My students participate and they are very lively and eager to learn. We use the tablets very frequently for learning games and to watch educational videos. While before they sat in a closet, I now find myself in competition with other teachers to use these gadgets. Technology is changing our profession; we are growing step by step and our pupils are growing also. They want to learn more and more.

We are feeling ready to move forward. We have the basic digital skills and can even self-direct our learning using very good resources on the internet. Myself, I learn new skills every day and when I go back to my school I am able to equip my learners with confidence using the gadgets and technology that is available to us. Yes, we still have a journey ahead because our school has limited electricity, the tablets are getting worn out, and still no internet, but we are on a good path and our students are benefiting. I know they will graduate with the skills needed to compete in the world. And because I am now digitally literate myself, I am able to help them reach their goals.

 

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On the Day of the African Child, join us in shining a spotlight on their learning

Today, on the Day of the African Child, we invite you to stand alongside the GEM Report and our partners, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa and the African Union, in calling for foundational learning to be made a priority across the African continent.

Join us in spreading the word about the day with other organizations and colleagues so that we can demonstrate a powerful groundswell of support, demanding urgent attention to this critical issue.

Visit the campaign page for more information

Three easy ways to get involved:

1. Share online and tell us what you are doing in your work to support foundational learning and tag #BorntoLearn. Feel free to include a link to your work, and we will strive to share and amplify it on our channels. Use the hashtag #BorntoLearn to amplify your impact and contribute to a powerful collective voice advocating for foundational learning for all.

2. Take a photo, forming an ‘L’ for Learning using your thumb and forefinger and share on social media using the hashtag #BorntoLearn. This simple gesture will serve as a visual identifier for the movement as a whole.

3. Twitter event – Hear ministers and youth champions from across the continent tell us how they are shining a spotlight on foundational learning.

Join our Twitter space with youth leaders from across the continent to amplify efforts to promote foundational learning, address challenges, and celebrate successes. We’ll be joined by partners including ministers of education and heads of agencies, culminating in a live #BorntoLearn campaign action.

Join us live today at 15.00 CET on @GEMReport to listen to the discussions.

Let’s harness the power of social media and the Day of the African Child to demonstrate our collective commitment to education. Share your message, make an ‘L’ for Learning, and be part of the #BorntoLearn movement.

 

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Utahns rank education as a priority. Did that align with what lawmakers did this year?

Utahns think providing better support to teachers and addressing the teacher shortage are the most important strategies for ensuring students get a great education, according to the nonprofit Envision Utah.

The organization surveyed 505 adults last December before the start of the 2023 Utah Legislative Session. Respondents rated public education as the most important issue right now, ahead of water resources and inflation.

Within public education, respondents rated school safety, student mental health and teacher pay as the most important education policy priorities. Most said there would be positive outcomes to improving compensation like more people would become teachers and turnover would decrease, which would benefit students.

More controversial issues about what is taught in school, like transparency in curriculum and the appropriateness of books in libraries were further down on the list.

Jason Brown, vice president of education and communications, said Envision Utah wanted to do this survey partly because of the transparency and sensitive materials bills run during the 2022 legislative session, as well as a national focus on controversial topics in schools.

“We wanted to see if Utahns felt like those were the big things that needed to be focused on. And the answer that we got from the polling seems to be ‘no.’” Brown said.

The survey showed that how racism and gender are taught in school remain polarizing issues in Utah, but they are not the most important education issue. Brown wasn’t surprised, but he was a little relieved to see Utahns were so supportive of teachers.

During the recent legislative session, Brown felt lawmakers did not spend as much time on issues surrounding curriculum and transparency as they did in 2022. He said one of the bills headlining the session had a teacher pay raise component, in addition to creating a new school voucher program.

“As outsiders felt pretty good about that because it seems like that was in line with how Utahns are thinking about and prioritizing these issues,” Brown said.

Envision Utah’s survey did not ask respondents how they felt about vouchers, school choice or scholarship programs, a question that Brown wished they had some data on.

Republican Rep. Dan Johnson, a retired educator and vice chair of the House Education Committee, called this session “historic” because of the funding allocated to public education and the engagement of parents. He said in addition to school choice and funding, lawmakers were also focused on supporting teachers and will continue to focus on them.

“I think that sends a strong message that the Legislature really supported teachers.”

Johnson acknowledged that some teachers did not feel that support, especially because of the number of curriculum and sensitive materials bills that were run.

“Even though we give them $64 million for additional days to do their work, the biggest pay increase in the history of the state, it still doesn’t feel good. Why is that? It’s because they keep feeling like the Legislature sometimes is the gorilla in the room, hitting them over the head with a sledgehammer. And I think the teachers, a lot of them kind of felt like that. And I don’t blame them.”

During the interim session, Johnson said he will be working with House Education Committee Chair Rep. Candice Pierucci to monitor the number of bills dealing with curriculum and encourage lawmakers that are running these bills to combine them so there are not as many to deal with.

Democratic Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, also a retired educator, does not feel like supporting teachers was a priority this session and called it lip service, especially because the school voucher bill was combined with the pay raise.

“We love you, but we’re going to appropriate $42 million to encourage parents to take their kids out of public school and put them in either homeschool or any kind of private school.”

To Spackman Moss, supporting teachers would look like lawmakers giving them a bigger pay raise and showing that they respect the professionalism of teachers.

The average starting teacher salary in Utah is $44,349, according to data that the National Education Association released in 2022. Lawmakers gave teachers a $6,000 raise, which is a $4,200 salary increase and a $1,800 increase in benefits.

Brown said Envision Utah would like to see starting pay be between $60,000 and $70,000. He would like those salaries to keep growing throughout a teacher’s career so that they’re making more than $110,00 by the time they retire.

“If we really want to make sure that we have the best teachers possible, and if we really want to make sure we get over the teacher shortage, then we definitely need to have much more competitive salaries.”

https://www.kuer.org/education/2023-03-14/utahns-rank-education-as-a-priority-did-that-align-with-what-lawmakers-did-this-year

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