Educational Challenges in the Republic of Colombia: Great Access, Little Quality

A ‘Silent Revolution’ in Education

When one thinks about Colombia today, what may first come to mind is the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar due to the hit Netflix series Narcos or the decades-long civil conflict waged between the Colombian Government and left-wing guerrilla groups, namely the National Liberation Army (ELN) or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the latter of whom recently signed a peace agreement with the Government in mid-2016. Despite this, Colombia is home to the second-largest amount of people in Latin America and has experienced a period of major economic growth that decreased the rate of poverty. Hailed as the ‘Colombian Miracle’, and more so a ‘silent revolution’ in education, Colombia has achieved this by expanding the learning outcomes of students, raising the bar in equal and equitable opportunities in schools, utilising the collection and analysis of data to make informed decisions and create policies, and focusing an increased amount of funding on seeing education reforms bear fruit.[i]

(Source: Education in Colombia: Highlights, OECD, 2016)

These educational achievements are primarily due to a firmer control over the consequences of Colombia’s troubled history of violent socio-political unrest since 1948 after the political assassination of Jorge Eliecer, resulting in the internal displacement of millions.[ii] Such control allowed the Colombian government to introduce reformed policies like ‘From Zero to Forever’ in 2010, which is now the common structure of handling the development and well-being of children through holistic measures; its 2014 ‘New School’ model to expand education to rural and poorer regions of Colombia by making it affordable and focusing on training teachers to create an environment that encourages a stimulating yet tailored education; and the ‘40 by 40 Program’ implemented by the former Education Secretary of Bogotá, Óscar Sánchez, that increased the number of hours in school to 40 hours per week for 40 weeks per year so that children can participate in extra-curricular activities like sports and art.[iii] These policies indeed raised the level and quality of education that each student received, as noted by the OECD, with participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and tertiary education increasing to 40% and 50% respectively, the rate of enrolment for 0-to-5 year olds went from 16% to 41% between 2007-2013, and increasing the gross enrolment from 57% to 76% between 2002-2012.[iv] This has been the case especially for girls, who between 1900 and 2000 saw their average years of completed education grow by 23% from 3 to 3.7 years, their completion of lower-secondary education increase from 37% in 1989 to 94% by 2011, and their representation in the labour market rise from 30% to 43% between 1990 and 2012.[v]

An Unequal Education System

Despite these positive actions, it is also true that there is still a long way to go for Colombia to establish an education system that is genuinely equal between private and public schools in urban and rural regions, which provide the same quality education, and both increase the net enrolment into education and retain attendance throughout the lifecycle of children’s education. In 2017, Children Beyond Our Borders, an organization working towards equal empowerment in education, reported that 37.2% of Colombian students did not continue their education past upper-secondary education. This has resulted in a significant gap for those who have attained a PhD degree, standing at a ratio of 7 per one million Colombians; 45.4% of students had dropped out of university since 2010 in contrast to the approximately 75% of students who dropped out of education by age 17; an estimated 37% of students started their education at a later period; and 41% repeated at least one grade by the age of 15.[vi] With regards to universities, this high dropout rate is mainly due to the overall system being overloaded and fragmented by lacking a standard curriculum for schools and the insufficient salaries paid to teachers that have led to a high rate of absenteeism. Still, because of the total 4.6% of GDP invested into education, only 0.5% went to rural areas, which might explain why two out of ten students from rural areas still cannot afford to access education, reproducing a vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment, and violence.[vii]

The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) noted that over 70% of upper-secondary students lacked basic literacy and numeracy skills, creating a major barrier to enter public universities that require passing the standardized entrance exam called the SABER 11 (ICFES) that measures the level of performance in English, mathematics, natural sciences, social science, and civics across grades 3, 5, 9, and 11, and policy-makers have so far failed to respond to the higher rate of failure in public schools in comparison to private schools when taking the exam(s).[viii] In connection to this, there was significant tension since the early 2010s due to the Ser Pilo Paga initiative intentionally diverting funds to private institutions and subsidized approximately 32% of top-performing students to enter accredited, private universities through grants and financial loans, and was only suspended in 2018 when large numbers of students protested against this unjust inequality and demanded that President Ivan Duque Marquez increase expenditure for public universities whose tuition fees remained a barrier for many.[ix]

There remains an apparent mismatch of supply, in the sense that more Colombian students aspire to attain higher education (reportedly growing from 3,600 in 2001 to 6,276 by 2011), in parallel to a stagnant level of quality sometimes referred to as ‘garage universities’ running alongside the top-tier institutions ranking relatively high in regional and global rankings.[x] This is further illustrated in the sphere of inbound and outbound education opportunities, whereby although Colombians are the 7th largest population deciding to study English or enter vocational training abroad, the country remains an undesirable destination for foreign students, except for Venezuelans who face significant barriers.[xi]

Barriers to Venezuelan Refugees

The cross-sectional crisis in Venezuela since 2015 has caused millions of people to flee from societal collapse. By November 2020, 1.7 million Venezuelans were living in Colombia, out of which approximately 460,000 were school-aged children.[xii] Colombia’s government and civil society once again outshined most in granting Venezuelans access to healthcare and placed nearly 200,000 school-aged Venezuelans in education, primarily due to the cultural and linguistic similarities between the two populations.[xiii] However, barriers are still evident in cities like Cucuta, which have struggled with a high rate of out of school (OOS) children and unemployment. It was estimated that there would be 22,350 Venezuelan OOS from the 93,000 Venezuelans living in Cucuta by early 2020, compared to the 361,433 OOS Colombians nationwide.[xiv] Venezuelans and Colombians in schools are struggling to attain basic literacy and numeracy skills, with 69% and 65%, 61% and 64%, 70% and 68%, and 93% and 94% respectively falling below the benchmarks for oral reading fluency, reading comprehension capability, simple addition, and subtraction problems.[xv]

Another worrying issue is the fact that Venezuelan OOS children show higher signs of social and emotional learning (SEL) than their in-school peers, with 66% of Venezuelan and 63% of Colombian children respectively showing empathy in imagined negative scenarios in comparison to 76% of Venezuelan OOS, and young or disabled students become victims of bullying.[xvi] UNESCO acknowledged that other barriers are the indirect costs of transportation, uniforms, food, and school materials, as well as the fact that Venezuelan teachers have struggled to have their credentials recognized by Colombia, which could potentially reduce the lack of human resources and overcrowding in schools.[xvii] According to the International Rescue Committee, these barriers are a result of the overburdened educational system in Colombia, applauding access as the first step but calling for more focus on absorbing OOS children, combining academic and SEL tools, increasing teacher training, and adhering to the 2013 ‘Ley de Convivencia’, a provision that seeks to implement co-existence committees for all stakeholders of education.[xviii]

The COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak amplified the socio-economic and educational challenges across the board in Colombia, leaving many at risk of dropping out of education to enter the labour market.[xix] In a New York Times article, Gloria Vasquez explains how graduating in Colombia is a major achievement since, in the past, Colombians did not have the same opportunities for education, aptly explaining that ‘violence and crime are as common here as the ice cream cart that circles the block each afternoon’, and many parents in the past worked as ‘recyclers’ who roamed the streets to collect anything of value in order to attempt selling it.[xx] The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing fear that many children will drop out of education, especially since 50% of households cannot afford an internet connection and children did not have the digital means to follow their classes or complete their assignments, nor remain in contact with their teachers when schools closed, often burdening uneducated parents in ensuring the education of their offspring.[xxi]

Due to the financial fallout of the pandemic, an estimated 100,000 children dropped out of school in 2020.[xxii] In his interview with Peoples Dispatch, Harold Garcia, a Colombian popular educator and a secondary-school teacher, explained that cities and private schools were better equipped to handle the outbreak and doubled the work of teachers who raced to complete the curriculum whilst learning how to use and incorporate digital methods of teaching.[xxiii] Garcia further expressed the dissatisfaction with the administration of President Marquez during the outbreak, who diverted public spending critically needed by education towards national security measures and assisting banks.[xxiv] The 1.5 million indigenous peoples living in Colombia, on the other hand, gained attention during this time. The largest indigenous group, the Wayuu people, who predominantly inhabit the La Guajira region, were severely impacted by the closure of the tourism sector since 90% of them worked informally in it, and only 10% had sufficient internet access to work or learn remotely.[xxv] Initiatives by Fundación El Origen increased indigenous children’s access to virtual education in terms of language, through the use of applications, and through proving 260 Wayuu children with tablets, which both support the steps to expand the language of instruction to the 64 languages that are spoken outside of the official Spanish and aid indigenous peoples break the cycle of poverty.[xxvi]

Lastly, COVID-19 put children at significant risk of being recruited by the remaining guerrilla groups as child soldiers, rolling back the efforts achieved through the 2019 national plan and Case No. 7 of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace that aims to prevent the recruitment of and sexual violence against children, as well as the positive work being done by civil society organizations like the Misiones Salesians and Missioni Don Bosco Onlus to ensure access to education.[xxvii] It is a known strategy for these groups to target children who live in rural regions and come from a poor socio-economic background and are thus easier to coerce due to their lack of access to education and vocational training, but often become human shields, porters, spies, child brides, sex slaves, or used for labour activities in the ongoing civil conflict with the Colombian government.[xxviii] To address this persistent issue, the Borgen Project has recently called on both the Colombian government to implement stricter policies and measures that discourage recruitment, and demand that the international community adopts more substantial foreign aid plans that aims more towards holistic, collective progress.[xxix]

***

Colombia’s educational system has taken positive steps that have borne great results in access to education. Still, it underscores the quality that is both affordable and valuable in the outcomes that education ought to prepare students to attain higher levels of education or enter the labour market. Globally, education is an important asset which shows that the benefits outweigh the costs of injecting time and funding to boost the access, quality, outcomes, and value that each child receives through their education, serving as crucial defining moments in their future and of their countries. In this way, Colombia would not only address the other half of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals concerning quality but also bolster its progress to reduce poverty, establish lasting mechanisms of peaceful and just resolution, streamline economic growth, achieve more robust levels of health and wellbeing, and closing the remaining inequality gaps.

Written by Karl Baldacchino

Edited by Olga Ruiz Pilato

Sources;

[i] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2016) ‘Education in Colombia: Highlights’, pp. 2-3; see also Trines, S. (2020) ‘Education in Colombia’. World Education News + Reviews. Available online from: https://wenr.wes.org/2020/06/education-in-colombia-2/ [Accessed on 27/03/2022[.

[ii] Ventura, R. C. (2018) ‘Girls’ Education in Colombia Continues to on the Path of Progress’. The Borgen Project. Available online from: https://borgenproject.org/girls-education-in-colombia/ [Accessed 27/03/2022]; see also Gozzo, F. (2022) ‘The Struggle of Child Soldiers in Colombia’. The Borgen Project. Available online from: https://borgenproject.org/child-soldiers-in-colombia/ [Accessed on 27/03/2022].

[iii] Ibid.; see also ‘Education in Colombia’; see also Solivan, M. (2014) ‘A City’s Push for Access and Quality Education for All: Report on a Recent Visit to Bogota’. Brookings. Available online from: A City’s Push for Access and Quality Education for All: Report on a Recent Visit to Bogotá (brookings.edu) [Accessed on 27/03/2022]; see also ‘Education in Colombia: Highlights’, pp. 6 & 8.

[iv] ‘Education in Colombia: Highlights’, pp. 4, 6 & 10.

[v]  ‘Girls’ Education in Colombia Continues to on the Path of Progress’.

[vi] Moutter, C. (2017) ‘Colombia’s Education System’. Children Beyond Our Borders. Available online from: http://www.chbob.org/blog/colombias-education-system [Accessed on 27/03/2022]; see also ‘Education in Colombia’; see also Education in Colombia: Highlights’, pp. 6-7, 8 & 10.

[vii] Ibid.; see also ‘Education in Colombia’.

[viii] ‘Education in Colombia’; ‘Education in Colombia: Highlights’, p. 10

[ix] Ibid.; see also Alexandra, Z. (2020) ‘In Colombia, the Pandemic is Widening Inequality in Access to Education’. Peoples Dispatch. Available online from: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/29/in-colombia-the-pandemic-is-widening-inequality-in-access-to-education/ [Accessed 27/03/2022].

[x] Ibid.

[xi] Ibid.

[xii] International Rescue Committee (2020) ‘Colombia’s Education Crisis: Results from a Learning Assessment of Colombian and Venezuelan Children’, p. 2.

[xiii] Ibid.; see also ‘Education in Colombia’; see also United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2020) ‘Significant Efforts by Colombia Ensure that Nearly 200,000 Children and Youth Have access to the Education System’. Available online from: https://en.unesco.org/news/significant-efforts-colombia-ensure-nearly-200000-venezuelan-children-and-youth-have-access [Accessed on 28/03/2022].

[xiv] Ibid.

[xv] Ibid., pp. 3 & 4; see also ‘Significant Efforts by Colombia Ensure that Nearly 200,000 Children and Youth Have access to the Education System’.

[xvi] Ibid., p.5.

[xvii] ‘Significant Efforts by Colombia Ensure that Nearly 200,000 Children and Youth Have access to the Education System’.

[xviii] Ibid., pp. 5 & 6.

[xix] ‘Education in Colombia’; see also Turkewitz, J. (2021) ‘1+1 = 4? Latin American Confronts a Pandemic Education Crisis’. The New York Times. Available online from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/world/americas/latin-america-pandemic-education.html [Accessed 28/03/2022]; see also ‘In Colombia, the Pandemic is Widening Inequality in Access to Education’.

[xx] 1+1 = 4? Latin American Confronts a Pandemic Education Crisis’.

[xxi] Ibid.; see also ‘In Colombia, the Pandemic is Widening Inequality in Access to Education’.

[xxii] Pope, L. (2021) ‘Virtual Learning for Colombia’s Indigenous People’. The Borgen Project. Available online from: https://borgenproject.org/colombias-indigenous-people/ [Accessed on 28/03/2022].

[xxiii] ‘In Colombia, the Pandemic is Widening Inequality in Access to Education’.

[xxiv] Ibid.

[xxv] ‘Virtual Learning for Colombia’s Indigenous People’.

[xxvi] Ibid.; see also ‘Education in Colombia’.

[xxvii] ‘The Struggle of Child Soldiers in Colombia’.

[xxviii] Ibid.

[xxix] Ibid.

Cover Image by Rafael Socarras from Pixabay

CHAPTER D – Indicator D3: How much are teachers school heads paid?

OECD

CHAPTER D – Teachers, the learning environment, and the organisation of schools

 

Indicator D3: How much are teachers school heads paid?

 

The following text will examine teachers’ and other school staff’s salaries at pre-primary, primary, and general secondary levels of education on average across OECD countries and economies.

 

The teachers’ actual salaries are 81-96% of the earnings of tertiary workers on average across OECD countries, and the salaries of male versus female teachers tends to be similar, the discrepancy among them accounts for under 2% of the actual salaries. Despite this, male lower secondary teachers’ actual salaries are around 20% lower than the earnings of tertiary-educated male workers, whereas female lower secondary teachers earn 3% more than their peers. This shows that the teaching profession may be more attractive to women than to men, compared to other professions, but it also reflects the persistent gender gap in earnings in the labour market. On average across OECD countries and economies, primary and secondary school heads’ actual salaries are at least 28% higher than the earnings of tertiary-educated workers. The salaries of school staff, and in particular teachers and school heads, represent the largest single cost in formal education. Teachers’ salaries have also a direct impact on the attractiveness of the teaching profession. Finally, there are large divergences regarding taxation and social benefits across OECD countries.

 

Teachers tend to receive additional compensation for working extra hours or picking up responsibilities falling outside of their contractual scope. However, school heads are less likely than teachers to receive additional compensation for performing responsibilities over and above their regular tasks.

 

Salaries of teachers

 

Teachers’ statutory salaries can vary according to several factors, including the level of education taught, their qualification level, and their level of experience or the stage of their career. In most countries and economies with available information, teachers’ salaries increase with the level of education they teach. Salary structures usually define the salaries paid to teachers at different positions in their careers. Deferred compensation, which rewards employees for staying in organisations or professions and for meeting established performance criteria, is also used in teachers’ salary structures. OECD data on teachers’ salaries are limited to information on statutory salaries at four points of the salary scale: starting salaries, salaries after 10 years of experience, salaries after 15 years of experience and salaries at the top of the scale.

Top scale refers to the amount reached after an average of 25 years, and, when reached, salaries are 67% higher than the average starting salaries. The range of salaries within countries also increases as different qualification levels of teachers can be associated to different salary scales.

The salary premium for teachers with the maximum qualifications at the top of the pay scales, and those with the most prevalent qualifications and 15 years of experience, also varies across countries.

 

Actual salaries of teachers

 

In addition to statutory salaries, teachers’ actual salaries include work-related payments, such as annual bonuses, results-related bonuses, extra pay for holidays, sick-leave pay, and other additional payments. Actual average salaries are influenced by the prevalence of bonuses and allowances in the compensation system. Differences between statutory and actual average salaries are also linked to the distribution of teachers by years of experience and qualifications, as these two factors have an impact on their salary levels. Across OECD countries and economies, in 2020, the average actual salaries of teachers aged 25-64 were USD 40,707 at pre-primary level, USD 45,687 at primary level, USD 47,988 at lower secondary level and USD 51,749 at upper secondary level.

 

The report establishes that education systems compete with other sectors of the economy to attract high-quality graduates as teachers, and proceeds to analyse the differences between full time and part-time work. Part-time work might be more common in education than in the rest of the labour market, not least because women make up a large proportion of teachers in most OECD countries and they are likely to work part time.

 

The data from teachers’ salary often comes from regulations, collective agreements, administrative sources, or sample surveys. There are differences in pension systems between teachers and other workers, whereby, in many countries, teachers in public institutions have substantial pension contributions paid by their employer, but a relatively low salary compared to the private sector. In contrast, private sector employees may have higher salaries, but they may also have to make their own pension arrangements.

 

Salaries of school heads

 

The responsibilities of school heads may vary between countries and also within countries, depending on the schools they lead. The educational activities undertaken by school heads include teaching tasks as well as the general functioning of the institution in areas such as the timetable, implementation of the curriculum, decisions about what is taught, and the materials and methods used. In addition to these, school heads may have other administrative, staff management, and financial responsibilities. With regards to their statutory salaries, school heads may be paid according to a specific salary range and may or may not receive a school-head allowance on top of their statutory salaries. The amounts payable to school heads (through statutory salaries and/or school-head allowances) may vary according to criteria related to the school(s) where the school head is based (for example the size of the school based on the number of students enrolled, or the number of teachers supervised).

 

About half of OECD countries and economies have similar pay ranges for primary and lower secondary school heads, while upper secondary school heads benefit from higher statutory salaries on average. The actual salaries of school heads are higher than those of teachers, and the premium increases with levels of education.

 

Trends in statutory salaries

 

According to the report, teachers’ statutory salaries increased overall in real terms in most of the countries for which data are available between 2000 and 2020. On average across OECD countries and economies with available data for the reference years of 2005 and 2020, statutory salaries increased by about 3% at primary level, 4% at lower secondary level, and 2% at upper secondary level.

 

Formation of base salary and additional payments: Incentives and allowances

 

Throughout OECD countries and economies, it is common to award additional payments, either annual or occasional, when teachers teach more classes or hours than required by their full-time contract, have responsibility as a class or form teacher, or perform special tasks, such as training student teachers. The extent to which teachers receive additional compensation for taking on extra responsibilities and the activities for which teachers are compensated vary across these countries.

Teachers and school heads are also likely to receive additional payments for working in disadvantaged, remote, or high-cost areas in half of the countries and economies with available data, with the exception of Australia, where such incentives are only provided to teachers. In most countries, the criteria to determine he most prevalent qualifications of teachers are based on a principle of relative majority (ie. the level of qualifications of the largest proportion of teachers).

 

 

Source: OECD (2021), Table D3.2 (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-aglance/EAG2021_Annex3_ChapterD.pdf)

 

 

Original text written by OECD

Summarised by Olga Ruiz Pilato

 

CHAPTER D – Indicator D2: What is the student-teacher ratio and how big are classes?

OECD

CHAPTER D – Teachers, the learning environment, and the organisation of schools

 

Indicator D2: What is the student-teacher ratio and how big are classes?

 

The following document will summarise the D2 indicator by the OECD Report ‘Education at a Glance’. It will cover the student-teacher ratio and class size throughout OECD countries and economies.

 

There is a difference with regard to class size between public and private primary institutions. At primary level, the average class in OECD countries in 2019 had 21 students in public institutions and 20 in private institutions. On average across the countries examined, there are 15 students for every teacher in primary education and 13 students per teacher in lower secondary education. The average school class has 21 students in primary education and 23 in lower secondary education. Between 2013 and 2019, the average class size remained constant at lower secondary level both in public and private institutions.

 

Teachers’ salaries, instruction time, class size, and student-teacher ratios have a considerable impact on the level of current expenditure on education through teacher salary costs. The ratio of students to teaching staff is an indicator of how resources for education are allocated. There is evidence that smaller classes may benefit specific groups of students, such as those from disadvantaged backgrounds (Bouguen, Grenet and Gurgand, 2017), however, overall evidence of the effect of class size on student performance is mixed.

 

Class size is defined as the number of students who are following a common course of study, based on the highest number of common courses (usually compulsory studies), and excluding teaching in subgroups. Student-teacher ratios provide information on the level of teaching resources available in a country relative to its student population, whereas class size measures the average number of students that are grouped together in a classroom. The number of students per class tends to increase between primary and lower secondary education.

 

Class size in public and private institutions

 

In most OECD countries, average class sizes do not differ between public and private institutions by more than one student per class at both primary and lower secondary level. Defining a class size that ensures at the same time high attendance, teacher-student interaction, instructor feedback, and student involvement in class may prove challenging.

Class participation is a central aspect of student learning and instructor teaching, and some studies have revealed that a high amount of participation paired with peer-to-peer interaction contributes significantly to critical thinking (Frijters, ten Dam and Rijlaarsdam, 2008).

 

Source: OECD/UIS/Eurostat (2021), Table D2.1 (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-aglance/EAG2021_Annex3_ChapterD.pdf

 

Student-teacher ratios

 

Student-teacher ratios do not consider the amount of instruction time for students compared to the length of a teacher’s working day, nor how much time teachers spend teaching. There are around as many countries where the ratio is greater in vocational programmes as there are countries where it is lower. Vocational students require more careful supervision as skill training requires both specialised machinery and a greater level of human resources (Astor, Guerra and Van Acker, 2010). At upper secondary level, the student-teacher ratio is greater in public institutions than in private institutions in 17 countries, smaller in public institutions in 15 countries, and similar for both sectors in 4 countries. This mixed pattern in upper secondary education may, in part, reflect differences in the types of programmes offered in public and private institutions.

 

Teachers’ aides and teaching/research assistants include non-professional personnel or students who support teachers in providing instruction to students. Teaching staff refers to the professional personnel directly involved in teaching to students.

 

Finally, class size is calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled by the number of classes. The ratio of students to teaching staff is obtained by dividing the number of full-time equivalent students at a given level of education by the number of full-time equivalent teachers at that level and in similar types of institutions. For the ratio of students to teachers to be meaningful, consistent coverage of personnel and enrolment data are needed.

 

Original text written by OECD

Summarised by Olga Ruiz Pilato

CHAPTER D – Indicator D1: How much time do students spend in the classroom?

OECD

CHAPTER D – Teachers, the learning environment, and the organisation of schools

 

Indicator D1: How much time do students spend in the classroom?

 

This chapter of the OECD Report covers the time spent by students in the classroom. It discusses how providing instruction in formal classroom settings accounts for a large portion of public investment in education and the fact that it is up to countries themselves to make the choices that concern both the overall amount of time devoted to instruction and the subjects that are compulsory. The choices reflect national and/or regional priorities and preferences concerning what material students should be taught and at what age. Almost all countries have statutory or regulatory requirements regarding hours of instruction. According to the report, primary education lasts six years on average across OECD countries and economies, ranging from four to seven years. On the other hand, lower secondary education lasts three years on average across OECD countries and economies, ranging from two to five years.

The number of grades allocated to each level of compulsory education may differ within countries, across subnational entities. Countries allocate annual instruction time differently over the year, and the number of instruction days and their distribution throughout the school year may vary accordingly, as it is dependent on the countries’ cultural and traditional holiday structures. OECD countries additionally vary in the way they organise recess and breaks within the school day, however, in most countries, the organisation of breaks is usually similar at primary and lower secondary levels.

Intended instruction time is the total number of hours during which schools are obliged to offer instruction in compulsory and, if applicable, non-compulsory subjects. This is defined at a national level, as are the total statutory number of hours on intended and/or compulsory instruction time. In the case of federal or decentralised countries, the latter may be defined by the subnational or regional levels. Instruction time may differ among subnational entities within a single country. Variations in the annual amount of instruction hours can translate into significant variation in the total number of hours of instruction over the whole duration of primary education.

Compulsory instruction time refers to the amount and allocation of instruction time that must be provided in almost every public school and must be attended by almost all public sector students, as per public regulations. The report highlights that students receive 4,590 hours of compulsory instruction over 6 years of primary education and 3,049 hours during 3 years of lower secondary general education on average across OECD countries. Compulsory instruction time per year generally increases with age, so it only captures the time spent by students in formal classroom settings (as established by public regulations). In more than two-thirds of OECD countries and economies (21 out of 33 countries) and economies at primary level and 25 countries and economies at lower secondary level), instruction was delivered via distance learning during school closures in 2020. (OECD/UIS/UNESCO/UNICEF/WB, 2021)

The year of reference for the above figure is 2020.

Source: OECD (2021), D1.1 (https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-aglance/EAG2021_Annex3_ChapterD.pdf)

 

In about three out of five countries and economies with available data, there is no non-compulsory instruction time, meaning that intended and compulsory instruction time are the same for primary and lower secondary students. In another two-fifths of the countries and economies, intended instruction time includes both compulsory instruction time and a specified amount of non-compulsory instruction time: six countries at primary level and seven at lower secondary level. On average across OECD countries, 42% of the compulsory instruction time is devoted to providing students with fundamental skills in literacy and numeracy: 25% on reading, writing, and literature, and 17% on mathematics. Religion, ethics, and moral education; information and communication technologies (ICT); technology; practical and vocational skills; and other subjects make up the remainder of the non-flexible compulsory curriculum at the primary level, representing about 12% of the compulsory instruction time on average across OECD countries. At the lower secondary level, there is substantial variation in how countries allocate time to the different subjects within the compulsory curriculum. The difference between the primary and secondary levels of education shows that there are major differences in the allocation of time to school subjects the older the students grow. Across ages, there are also changes in the proportion of instruction time devoted to other subjects.

In most countries, central and state authorities establish regulation or recommendations regarding instruction time and the curriculum. However, local authorities, schools, teachers, and/or students also have varying degrees of freedom in organising instruction time or in choosing subjects. Despite this, flexibility in the choice of subjects is less common across OECD countries. Curriculum flexibility allows more agile interventions to minimise the impact of learning interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional activities before and after classes offered by the school are not per se part of the non-compulsory curriculum. Particularly, non-compulsory education excludes morning care classes or after-school care classes, even if they are officially regulated.

 

Original text written by OECD

Summary author Olga Ruiz Pilato

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TURKISH PRISONS

The Turkish government is violating well-established domestic and international law by keeping severely ill prisoners arbitrarily detained. Prisoners in Turkey are struggling with sexual and physical violence such as bare-searching, harassment, and brutal beatings as well as many rights violations such as exorbitantly expensive canteens, midnight raids in the wards, book restrictions, denial of medicine and arbitrary punishments.[1] This article will shed light on some human rights violations cases taking place in Turkish prisons today.

Following the attempted coup in 2016, incarceration numbers have massively risen to the extent that prison overcrowding has become a prevalent issue. However, overcrowding is not the only concerning matter in prisons throughout Turkey, but the ill-treatment and human rights abuses happening to the tens of thousands of prisoners is a serious problem that must be tackled immediately.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been targeting followers of the Gülen moment, a faith-based group inspired by the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, since a series of corruption investigations took place in December 2013, implicating Erdogan, his relatives and inner circle.[2] Among the targeted are many opposition politicians, journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Yusuf Bekmezci (82), a gravely ill prisoner who was in custody at Kırıklar F-Type Prison in Izmir, died after 47 days in intensive care.[3] He was arrested in January 2020 as part of investigations into the Fetullah Gülen Movement. Bekmezci was remanded in Izmir Kırıklar F-Type Prison and sentenced to 17 years and 4 months imprisonment on 9 April 2021 on a charge being a “manager of an organisation”.[4] Saadet Aytekin, his granddaughter and lawyer stated that her “grandfather’s case was at the Supreme Court. His sentence had not been ratified. However, the court ruled that ‘he should continue to serve his sentence in hospital’ as if his conviction had been ratified. He had illnesses throughout his two-year detention, but they refused to release a man attached to tubes in intensive care because he was an “escape risk”.”[5] Indeed, the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) issued a medical report stating that Bekmezci was unfit to remain incarcerated, but the court dismissed the report by stating he was at “flight risk”.[6] His daughter, Şeyma Bekmezci, stated her father’s inability to understand court proceedings in light of his advanced Alzheimer’s, which consequently made it impossible for him to defend himself. She suggested that the lack of proper mental health care in prison was one of the factors causing his deterioration: “he completely forgets himself in court and is in a vulnerable position”.[7]

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) declared that, as of June 2020, the numbers of sick inmates locked behind bars in Turkey amounted to 1,605, of which approximately 600 were in a critical condition. The government allowed their detainment even though most of them had forensic and medical reports deeming them unfit to remain incarcerated. Authorities refused their release on the basis that they pose a potential danger to society. The failure to release critically ill prisoners in time to receive proper medical treatment resulted in five deaths during the first eight months of 2020. After the pandemic hit, the government released prisoners charged with murder but decided to keep political prisoners in spite of the pandemic’s risks. Mugla died after contracting Covid-19.[8]

Throughout November and December 2021, several prisoners lost their lives while detained in Type T and Type F prisons. Prisoners Garibe Gezer and İlyas Demir were found dead in the padded cells where they had been isolated.[9] Some prisoners, such as 33-year-old Bangin Muhammed and 65-year-old Abdülrezzak Şuyur passed away due to failure of being released in spite of their severe illness and, in the latter case, advanced cancer.[10] Others were suspiciously found dead in their cells, and the administration informed their families that they had committed suicide.[11]

On the 20th of January 2022, 43 bar associations and lawyers as well as human rights organisations nationally and internationally signed an urgent letter for the United Nations special mandate holders to call attention to the imminent risk to health and life of the ill prisoner Aysel Tugluk, detained in Kocaeli Kandira F-Type Prison since December 2016.[12] Tugluk has been diagnosed with dementia and continues imprisoned despite the calls by medical reports demonstrating her precarious state and deteriorating health, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Providing additional information on systemic issues concerning the treatment of prisoners in Turkey, the letter requests that the Special Procedures urge the Turkish government to immediately release Aysel Tugluk and all severely ill prisoners in line with both domestic and international standards with regard to the treatment of prisoners.[13] Despite this, at the beginning

of February 2022, the imprisoned Turgay Deniz (39) suffered lung failure and lost his life while in arbitrary detention. Although medical reports stressed the importance of being cared for throughout hospitalisation, he remained incarcerated.[14] His story is one of eight stories of people that have passed away in Turkish prisons in the last three months.[15] 84-year-old Nusret Mugla was convicted and imprisoned for being a Gulen Movement sympathiser. His arrestment failed to consider his age, heart and kidney diseases, and prostate cancer, and as a result of the neglected assistance, he died incarcerated.

 

The press statement held in the İHD İstanbul Branch noted that the serious violations of rights in prisons are gradually becoming systematic and has reached a stalemate in healthcare, the right to communication, torture, and ill treatment respects.[16] Accessing justice has become hopeless for many prisoners in Turkey. The rights organisations raised concerns that “it is now seen as an ordinary incident in the country that the dead body of a person is taken out of a prison any time.”[17]

Referring to the İHD data, as of March 2021, there were at least 1,605 ill prisoners, 604 of whom were in precarious conditions at the time of the statement’s publishment.[18] Human rights organisations know of at least 38 prisoners who should be released urgently, as their conditions are further deteriorating. However, to date the authorities have not responded to calls either from human rights activists or from the families.

 

On behalf of Broken Chalk, I make an urgent call to all the international communities and organisations to take action against the injustices and inhumane treatments against political prisoners undertaken by Erdogan and his regime, and to assist them in their release from the degrading conditions they are detained in.

 

Written by Olga Ruiz Pilato

 

Sources;

[1] Duvar English, MHP submits social media proposal, seeks penalties for fake accounts, February 2022 <accessible at https://www.duvarenglish.com/mhp-submits-social-media-proposal-seeks-penalties-for-fake-accounts-news-60333>.

[2] Turkish Minute, Turkish court rejects ailing philanthropist’s appeal for release from prison, January 2022 <accessible at  https://www.turkishminute.com/2022/01/12/kish-court-rejects-ailing-philanthropists-appeal-for-release-from-prison/>.

[3] MedyaNews, Turkey: Severely ill octogenarian prisoner dies, January 2022 <accessible at https://medyanews.net/turkey-severely-ill-octogenarian-prisoner-dies/>.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Turkish Minute, Turkish court rejects ailing philanthropist’s appeal for release from prison, January 2022 <accessible at  https://www.turkishminute.com/2022/01/12/kish-court-rejects-ailing-philanthropists-appeal-for-release-from-prison/>.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Politurco, Gulenm sympathisers are dying in prisons under the ruling of the Erdogan regime, February 2022 <accessible at  https://politurco.com/gulen-sympathizers-are-dying-in-prisons-under-the-ruling-of-the-erdogan-regime-84-year-old-nusret-mugla-was-one-of-the-many-and-died-most-recently.html>.

[9] English Bianet, At least 59 ill prisoners lost their lives in Turkey in a year, January 2022 <accessible at  https://m.bianet.org/english/human-rights/256124-at-least-59-ill-prisoners-lost-their-lives-in-turkey-in-a-year>.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] International Federation for Human Rights, Turkey must immediately release Aysel Tugluk and other severely ill prisoners, January 2022 <accessible at https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/turkey/turkey-must-immediately-release-aysel-tugluk-and-other-severely-ill>.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] English Bianet, At least 59 ill prisoners lost their lives in Turkey in a year, January 2022 <accessible at  https://m.bianet.org/english/human-rights/256124-at-least-59-ill-prisoners-lost-their-lives-in-turkey-in-a-year>.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

Russia’s Invasion to Ukraine: Who Will Pay the Price for This War?

Mahmud Darwish once wrote about war:

“The war will end. The leaders will shake hands. The old woman will keep waiting for her martyred son. That girl will wait for her beloved husband. And those children will wait for their hero father. I don’t know who sold our homeland But I saw who paid the price.”[1]

Over the years, many countries have been destroyed by war and dictatorship. Many of these countries were developed before war had ruined them; full of culture and advancements, like Syria, Palestine, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and many more.

The greed and selfishness of dictators and corrupt politicians have caused nothing but loss to these countries. Many innocent lives have been lost; many countries are suffering from poverty as a result of poor governance by oppressive regimes. National infrastructures have collapsed because of wars, while these countries’ environments have also been greatly affected.

 

The Costs of War Project, Watson institute of international and public affairs, Brown University, 2021

 

Ukraine has now joined the train of the countries that have been destroyed by war due to the greed of dictators. Vladimir Putin didn’t only invade a neighbouring sovereign state, but his regime also exercises full censorship regarding the Russian presentation of and discussion on the war. Independent Russian media outlets and journalists who speak out against Putin’s regime and tell stories about Russians suffering under his leadership, are harassed, intimidated, and unlawfully detained. The same treatment is meted out to protestors who oppose Putin and the crimes committed by his regime in Ukraine, such as forcing young Russians to join the armed forces without informing them that they are going to participate in the invasion of Ukraine. All these are textbook examples of the workings of a totalitarian state.

 

How has Ukrainian education been affected by the war?

The impact of the war is clearly visible in the education sector: there is limited access to education due to a shortage of educational materials and poverty. Many educational facilities, such as schools and kindergartens, have been destroyed or damaged due to the war, which endanger the future of children in Ukraine. [2]

UNICEF recently published a report regarding the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the report, the invasion has left more than 350,000 school children with no access to education, as school infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. At the same time, the teaching methods Ukrainian teachers were trained to use have often become insufficient in these new circumstances, which also limit children’s access to quality education. This means, that the war has taken away the chances for Ukrainian children to have safe shelter, water, or proper education. [3]

 

Some issues Ukrainian child refugees face in host countries

Many Ukrainians have sought refuge in different countries since the start of the war. There has been a lot of concern for child refugees and how they can be incorporated into school systems in other countries, especially because of language barriers. Despite these challenges, schools in Poland, for example, have approached these issues with a positive attitude and welcomed Ukrainian child refugees trying to help their integration as much as possible. Polish teachers have been providing support for the new Ukrainian students to overcome the language barrier and adapt to the Polish education system[4].

However, not all countries have taken the challenge of this child refugee influx so well. Ukrainian children in the UK are facing significant challenges, as registering and integrating new students with often little or no knowledge of the English language exceeds the capacities of most British schools. Added to this, insufficient funding for the education sector puts UK schools under a lot of pressure, and results in refugee students being turned away [5]

The war’s effects on international students in Ukraine

International students who studied at Ukrainian universities, many of whom came from Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, also became victims of the war. Many of them were not able to complete their studies and were forced to escape to other countries in the hope that they would be able to come back to Ukraine soon and complete their studies.[6]  Many of these foreign students have actually struggled to find refuge or to flee since they were not Ukrainian citizens and so their cases were handled differently by potential European host countries. Moreover,  at least two foreign students were killed in the early days of the war.  [7]

 

The effect of war on Post-Soviet States and on Russia:

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, citizens of post-Soviet states have been living in fear that Putin’s control will overtake their countries. An example from Azerbaijan is particularly worrying, where the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, signed an alliance agreement wit Russia. The 43-point agreement includes an educational and economic alliance which inevitably increases the Putin regime’s influence in Azerbaijan.[8] For example, Russian language is becoming mandatory in educational institutions, more so than it previously was in post-Soviet States.[10]

Lately, Russia’s Ministry of Education has started to spread propaganda via online education in an effort to influence children with ideologies that glorify Putin’s leadership and justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by explaining “why the liberation mission in Ukraine was necessary”.[11] There is a high risk that these lessons will contribute to the creation of a generation that supports both the war and Putin’s dictatorship in Russia, which poses a threat to the potential of a future democratic Russian society.

 

Hopefully, the day will come when wars end, and displaced people can return to the homelands where they left their loved ones. Leaders will shake hands to establish peace in the world, but at what cost will this happen when so much damage has been done already? Well, the homeland was sold for sure, and it was its very own people who paid the price.

 

By Zinat Asadova

 

Sources;

  1. “The war will end” Poem by Mahmud Darwish
  2. Save the Children. (2022). Ukraine: Attacks on schools endangering children’s lives and futures. Retrieved from https://www.savethechildren.net/news/ukraine-attacks-schools-endangering-children-s-lives-and-futures
  3. UNICEF Europe & Central Asia Region (ECAR). (2022). Ukraine Situation Report – 24 February 2022 (p. 2). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/media/116031/file/Ukraine-Humanitarian-SitRep-24-February-2022.pdf
  4. Deutsche Welle (DW). (2022). Poland fights to give Ukrainian kids access to education [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/poland-fights-to-give-ukrainian-kids-access-to-education/av-61185207#:~:text=About%202%20million%20Ukrainians%20have,Poland’s%20education%20system%20is%20enormous.
  5. Abrams, F. (2022). Ukraine refugees may struggle to find places in English schools, councils say. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/mar/05/ukraine-refugees-may-struggle-to-find-places-in-english-schools-councils-say
  6. Fallon, K. (2022). Foreign students fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine hope to return. Aljazeera.com. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/5/they-told-us-to-go-home-student-recounts-ukraine-war
  7. International education’s continuing response to the war in Ukraine. ICEF Monitor – Market intelligence for international student recruitment. (2022). Retrieved from https://monitor.icef.com/2022/03/international-educations-continuing-response-to-the-war-in-ukraine/
  8. Azərbaycan Respublikası Xarici İşlər Nazirliyi. (2022). No:056/22, Azərbaycan Respublikası Xarici İşlər Nazirliyinin Mətbuat xidməti idarəsinin məlumatı (AZ/RU). Retrieved from https://www.mfa.gov.az/az/news/no05622
  9. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. (2022). Declaration on allied interaction between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. Retrieved from https://president.az/en/articles/view/55498
  10. Aliyeva, J. (2022). Azerbaijani president notes importance of Russian language. Report News Agency. Retrieved from https://report.az/en/foreign-politics/azerbaijani-president-notes-importance-of-russian-language/
  11. Russia’s Ministry of Education Official Page on Vkontakte. (2022). An Open lesson “Defenders of Peace” (Открытый урок «Защитники мира») [Video]. https://vk.com/video-30558759_456242419?list=8411aa6de207bc39a2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Ecuador

This report was drafted by Broken Chalk to contribute to the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Ecuador. Broken Chalk is an organization that fights against violations of Human Rights and improving the quality of education around the globe. This report will discuss the main challenges Ecuador faces in regard to Education, what are some issues that could be improved through Education, and finally Broken Chalk will offer some recommendations for Ecuador in the field of Education based on the raised issues.

In the 2017 review, Ecuador received 182 recommendations and supported 162 recommendations relating to legal and general framework of implementation, universal and cross-cutting issues, civil and political rights, economic, social, and cultural rights, women’s rights, and rights of other vulnerable groups and persons.

Ecuador has stated that efforts to guarantee the widest coverage and highest possible quality of education at all levels has been intensified. In fact, between the years 2007 and 2017, net enrolment in basic education increased from 91.4% to 96.1%, and net enrolment rate in upper-secondary school increased from 51.2% to 70.8%. Regarding the gender gap, education for women has risen much faster than for males, therefore the gender gap in schooling has almost been closed. Despite this, there are still improvements to be made, especially in quality of education and accessibility.

By Alejandra Latinez

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41st_Session_UN-UPR_Country_Review_Eucador

Cover image by Martin Dewar.

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Finland

Broken Chalk is an Amsterdam-based NGO established in 2020 and is focused on raising awareness and minimising human rights violations in the educational field.

Together with our international sponsors and partners, we encourage and support the following activities/projects: removing obstacles in education; contributing to the achievement of peace and tranquillity in the society through adaptation studies in an environment of intercultural tolerance; preventing radicalism and polarisation; and eliminating the opportunity gap in education for all. Our goal is to work together with global partners to remove barriers to access to education and to take concrete steps to ensure universal access to education.

In this 4th Cycle Universal Periodic Review, Broken Chalk will be occupied with reviewing Finland’s challenges and improvements in the educational field. In the 3rd cycle, (September 2017) Finland received 153 recommendations and supported 120 (78% of acceptance).

By Maya Shaw

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41st_Session_UN-UPR_Country_Review_Finland

Cover image by Santeri Viinamäki.

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Morocco

Child domestics in Morocco face significant barriers to education before, during, and after working. Denial of the right to education leaves children without the skills and knowledge which they need to find good jobs, to participate fully in society, and to exercise their other rights. For child domestics, who frequently work in isolation, lack of education also means they miss its crucial role in socializing children and exposing them to potential sources of protection from workplace abuses.

By Ntchindi Chilongozi Theu

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41st_Session_UN_UPR_Country_Review_Morocco

Cover image by Monica Volpin on Pixabay.

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Bahrain

The right to education is a fundamental pillar of children’s rights. Achieving universal education, however, is a complex process that requires social policy to join with educational policy to develop strategies that bring about change. Bahrain is an island country located in western Asia, which, based on the projections of the latest United Nations data, has a population of about 1,773,831.

By Ntchindi Chilongozi Theu

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41st_Session_UN_UPR_Country_Review_Bahrain

Cover image by Allan Donque.