This year has been populated by a number of key moments for the shifting education landscape, which have brought a renewed sense of urgency, as well as productive conversations on how all stakeholders can work together to get progression to SDG4 back on track. One such key collaboration, formulated to align with the Transforming Education Summit (TES), which took place in New York City on September 19th, saw IDP Foundation (IDPF), alongside over 30 other foundations, sign a joint statement by philanthropic actors supporting education change and promoting increased inclusion.

Attending the Schools2030 Global Forum earlier this month in Tanzania, it was clear to me, and my fellow attendees, how valuable this space is for reflection, learning and collaboration. It encourages all-hands-on-deck to reimagine how stakeholders might work better together to achieve SDG4 by 2030. This goal is understandably ambitious, and therefore uniting the forces of all stakeholders is an absolute must, made more attainable by events such as this.

The COVID-19 pandemic may not be the first major event to disrupt individual countries’ education systems – but its impact has been a stark reminder that countries cannot continue to pursue narrow education policies and programs that ignore the complexities of provision from state and non-state players. Hence, any national response to the pandemic, as well as any attention paid to other pre-existing challenges in the education sector, must focus on building resilience in all settings, to ensure that no child is left behind.

In 2019, Ghana was ranked among the top ten countries for female business ownership globally[1]. Behind this statistic is the reality that most of these women-led businesses are small enterprises in the informal sector, that operate with tight margins and a variety of challenges that hamper their capacity to grow and employ others. The issue of the gender gap has been present across all of history, in all world economies, and remains a barrier for many women today.

As Ghana’s independent low-fee private schools settle into the third term of the year and exams loom on the horizon, proprietors and teachers have the unprecedented task of trying to combat the challenges of learning loss, financial instability, and lack of staff. Following 10 months of school closures last year and the passionate efforts of school proprietors to safely open their doors, the focus is on bridging the learning gap. While these schools are battling to keep their classrooms open, as well as support their pupils in catching up by extending hours and term times, their resilience is self-determined with limited external support. Without formal state intervention, any future pandemic waves could close their doors for good, resulting in a spike of out-of-school children across Ghana.

IDP Foundation recently partnered with external Ghanaian research group, Associates for Change (AfC), to conduct an Impact Assessment aimed at investigating the extent to which COVID-19 has affected the operations of Low Fee Private Schools (LFPS). IDP Foundation serves these schools through its keystone IDP Rising Schools Program.

In honor of this years’ International Day of the Girl, under the theme “My voice, our equal future”, IDP Foundation joined in supporting the 2020 digital campaign aimed at amplifying girls’ voices and standing up for their rights. Through promoting the hashtag #IDG2020 and education-related facts across our digital channels, we focused on bringing attention to girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face all over the world.