Every child out of school, or not in touch with regular school-based education, is a serious waste of human potential. A fresh global initiative, perhaps led by the United Nations, needs to address this issue. The number of girls out of education is a serious issue for the development of global society as a whole shared, David Boddy, Chairman, Anglo Schools International Services Ltd and Head, City of London Freemen’s Global Programme in an exclusive conversation with Sheeba Chauhan of Elets News Network. Edited excerpts:
How do you see global collaboration in education? Do you think it can help the foundational stages?
We are witnessing more regional collaborations happening, especially since the pandemic which stimulated the value of online learning across the world. However, there are only a handful of global collaborations, and they are mainly directed towards the secondary or high school levels. City of London Freemen’s, a top 5 UK boarding and day school, has been leading the innovation with the development of a ‘global classroom’, teaching advanced levels and providing enrichment programmes to students in partner schools in the Far East and Europe. Managing time zones is a major blocker. But the technology is available to make it happen. Freemen’s is using the state-of-theart digital immersive learning platform, originally developed by X20 Media for Harvard University. Bringing teachers and teams along with a global perspective is a harder job, and until that happens, technology will continue to outpace human software which is the essential ingredient to make global learning happen across age groups.
Some two-thirds of the world’s school-aged children do not have an internet connection in their homes. Do you think the digital divide can be a major drawback to the digitisation of education?
Fortunately, the technology is moving so fast that I predict within five years the problem could be solved, financial support permitting. ASIS Education (www.asiseducation.co.uk), a division of Anglo Schools which works to bring education to remote areas, is in discussion with Elon Musk’s ‘Starlink’ company about providing cost-effective satellite dishes, which in turn can provide internet services via a string of low-orbiting satellites. It will not be the digital divide which will impede progress. It will be a shortage of competent teachers to work in the digital space. This is one reason why I have been proposing that ‘Learning to Teach in the Digital Space’ should become a key part of modern teacher training, at all levels.
244 million children and young people are out of school globally, of which 118.5 million are girls. Apart from several other concerns, this is the major concern seen in school-age students. Your comments please.
Every child out of school, or not in touch with regular school based education, is a serious waste of human potential. A fresh global initiative, perhaps led by the United Nations, needs to address this issue. The number of girls out of education is a serious issue for the development of global society as a whole. There is so much evidence, not least of all in Afghanistan for example, which shows that the whole of society is made poorer when girls and women are not provided with formal education, comparable to that given to boys. So for the economic and social health of a nation, girls must be given the chance to learn in school. If the UN and others can tackle this problem with new vigour, so many other issues will be solved too, not least of all in public health and the elimination of poverty.
According to UNICEF, over 600 million children and adolescents worldwide are unable to attain minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. What do you consider to be the main issues in developing foundational skills in literacy and numeracy.
My response to this maybe surprising. The family unit across so many societies, especially in the West, is breaking down. That, combined with the fact that teaching is no longer regarded as a ‘vocation’, which in turn creates shortages of great educators; these are two critical factors in our young people growing up without the necessary reading and numeracy skills. Every child needs access to parental figures and teachers – and when anyone of these is absent, the child inevitably suffers. Basic literacy and numeracy are learned on the laps of mothers and fathers, and in the early years of education, in a loving, caring and intelligent educational setting. Although I have spent most of my educational experience in the secondary sector, I still firmly hold the view that the most important time for education is between the ages of 0-5. If a warm-hearted environment can be created at home and at school – even if it is conducted under a tree – then the basics of literacy, numeracy and transmission of good values can take place.
My critics will shout: ‘What about the need for more resources?’ Of course, they are necessary. But the root cause of this problem is more subtle than that. That is why I have argued for governments to provide more resources to support families and early stage education.
An estimated 93 million children worldwide live with a disability and these children are overlooked while making educational policies. What are the programs you have at your school for these differently-abled children.
As a Headmaster, I spent time with my teachers delivering a single-message, first and foremost: “Every child – every child – every child – has the potential for brilliance”. And then I told them to find that brilliance and work out ways to bring that brilliance to the surface. Now, that’s the same challenge I pose to every teacher I meet. From that approach, for example, we developed a programme whereby our Art & Drama teachers worked in the same class at the same time as our English and Maths teachers, ensuring that the knowledge content was delivered in a way most suitable for the learner. And the results were brilliant. Two of our pupils, for example, who came to us as “rejects” from other schools, finally found their own talents and ended up at Oxbridge. Of course, special programmes are helpful, but the most important thing is how the teacher views the pupil. Change the teacher’s viewpoint, and the child can fulfil their brilliance.
