The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an education emergency of unprecedented scale. At the peak of school closures, 1.6 billion children were affected. The disruption caused to education systems set progress back and widened the gap between wealthier and poorer children.

Watch the recordings:

March 27 - Day 1

March 28 - Day 2

This virtual learning event aims to socialize findings of the evaluation of GPE’s support to COVID-19 responses, engaging country and global stakeholders in a dialogue on the key lessons learned during pandemic response and recovery.

In 2020, GPE quickly mobilized more than US$500 million to support partner countries to plan and implement their response to the pandemic. This funding helped governments sustain learning for up to 355 million children in 66 countries and aimed to ensure regional and global efficiencies and knowledge sharing.

The webinar explores four key themes:

• Using blended solutions for learning
• supporting teachers during the pandemic
• reaching the most marginalized
• adaptive implementation.

In addition to the evaluation findings, the webinar will draw upon insights from GPE partner countries, the broader research community and other global education stakeholders, to inform future education planning and implementation.

The webinar will be held in English with interpretation in French.

Day 1: Wednesday, March 27

• Welcome and framing GPE’s support to COVID-19 responses: by Margarita Focas Licht, Manager, Partnerships Team, GPE
• Overview of evaluation findings: by Learn More, Triple Line and Technopolis (evaluator team)
• Thematic session 1 - Distance learning: This session will discuss the experiences around different modalities of distance learning across the spectrum of low-tech options like radio and TV to medium/high-tech options like tablets and mobile internet.
  
  • Moderator: Evans Atis, Thematic lead for Tech4Ed at GPE.
  • Sisera Simon, Head - Human and Social Division, OECS Commission
  • Albert Nsengiyumva, ADEA, KIX COVID-19 Africa Hub
  • Alex Twinomugisha, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank
  • Linda Jones, UNICEF Innocenti
  • David Hollow, Research Director, EdTech Hub
  • Prof. Yonghwan Bang, Konyang University, South Korea
• Thematic session 2 - Supporting teachers: This session will explore lessons around teacher development, learning assessment systems, and well-being programs including psychosocial support.
  
  • Moderator: Ramya Vivekanandan, Thematic lead for teaching and learning at GPE.
  • Inspecteur général, Ministry of education, Côte D’Ivoire
  • Albert Nsengiyumva, ADEA, KIX COVID-19 Africa Hub
  • Cristobal Cobo, World Bank
  • Sonia Grigt, Education International
  • Donor: Norway.

Day 2: Thursday, March 28

• Thematic session 3 - Equity and inclusion: This session will illuminate lessons around reaching the most vulnerable children (including girls, children living with disabilities, children in conflict-affected countries) and supporting the return to school for all children.
  
  • Moderator: Anna-Maria Tammi, Thematic Lead for Equity and Inclusion, GPE.
  • Charles Karakye, Permanent Secretary, MoE, Rwanda
  • Rob Jenkins, Director, Education and Adolescent Development, UNICEF
  • Emma Sarton, Learning Lead, Girls Education Challenge
  • Donald Bundy, Professor of Epidemiology and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
  • Julia McGeown, Head of Inclusive Education, Humanity & Inclusion
  • Justine Sass, Chief of section on gender equality and inclusion, UNESCO.
• Thematic session 4 - Adaptive implementation: This session considers the evaluation’s findings around adaptation, continued relevance as the pandemic evolved, and resilience.
  
  • Moderator: Margarita Focas Licht, Manager of the Partnerships Team at GPE.
  • Chehem Mohamed Chehem, Inspecteur Doyen Coordonnateur de l'Ecole d'Excellence, Ministère de l'Education nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle, Djibouti
  • Alison Grimsland, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank
  • Rob Jenkins, Director, Education and Adolescent Development, UNICEF
  • Faiza Hassan, GPE Program Director – Somalia, Save the Children
  • Dr Martín Benavides, Director of the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)
• Closing remarks by Raphaelle Martinez, Lead, Education Policy and Learning, GPE

For technical support during the event, please contact: @email