Joint UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank webinar series on the reopening of schools
The joint webinar series is organized around the Framework for reopening of schools, published in April 2020 in collaboration with UNICEF and the World Bank, and aims to support governments in strengthening distance learning and facilitating the reopening of schools, as part of the Global Education Coalition’s efforts on COVID-19. The series includes 5 webinars broadcasted over the month of June.
Global school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children’s education, protection and wellbeing. Interrupting education services also has serious, long-term consequences for economies and societies such as increased inequality, poorer health outcomes, and reduced social cohesion.
Across countries leaders are grappling with difficult and uncertain trade-offs as they consider easing lockdowns. The Framework for reopening of schools serves to inform the decision-making process on when to reopen schools, support national preparations and guide the implementation process, as part of the overall public health and education planning processes. Contextualization and continuous adaptation are necessary in order to respond to local conditions and meet each child’s learning, health and safety needs.
This proposed joint UNICEF-UNESCO-World Bank webinar series is organized around this framework as part of the Global Education Coalition on COVID-19 efforts to support governments in strengthening distance learning and facilitating the reopening of schools.
Schedule of webinars
8 June - Learning (UNESCO)
3:00 to 4.30 pm (Paris) GMT +2
- Register
- Read the concept note and agenda
The webinar will examine the impact of COVID-19 school closures on learning, how learning loss in primary and secondary education may be captured and how this may be managed through accelerated and/or remedial learning programming.
10 June - Safe school operations (UNICEF)
A review the newest evidence on the safety of re-opening schools and highlights of country-level actions on operational safety, building on the Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Schools as well as the Framework for Reopening Schools.
15 June - Well-being (UNICEF)
A discussion on psycho-social support, protection and health promotion practices, focused on country examples, will provide insights on promoting children’s health and well-being in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
24 June - Reaching the most marginalized (UNICEF)
This session will review strategies to ensure inclusive school reopening for the most marginalized children building on the UNICEF note: Inclusive School Reopening: Supporting the Most Marginalized Children to go to School. Country examples will focus on how to support girls, children with disabilities, ethnic and linguistic minority groups, migrants, IDPs and refugees, etc to get back to school and stay in school.
29 June - High stakes exams (World Bank)