Focusing on girls’ education in the time of COVID
In the last year, school closures have affected approximately 90 percent of children worldwide, with 1.5 billion students out of school at the peak of the pandemic, according to the United Nations Development Program.
We are feeling the effects of those closures now, and will continue to feel them for years to come. When schools cannot reopen after a natural hazard, there are long-term impacts on students’ learning. For instance, in Pakistan children in areas affected by the 2005 earthquake experienced nearly three months of school closures. Four years later, those students remained one-and-a-half to two years behind. The impact of school closures affects some students more than others, with younger students being most affected. Additionally those who lived closer to the fault line scored significantly worse on tests — unless their mother had completed primary school education. Children whose mothers completed primary education did not experience that gap.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, school closures can create a multiplier effect on learning losses for millions of children. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable — to early pregnancy, child marriage and gender-based violence.
What can we do to help children, especially girls, develop key capabilities so that they are able to thrive in these complex times? We can work together and share what we know, and what we learn.
Technovation will convene experts, leaders, educators and researchers to share their work, hard-earned findings, mistakes, secret tips and strategies so that we can better support children develop the skills they need to thrive now, and in a post-COVID world. We will continue to run the Global Education Taskforce and are excited to introduce a new livestream conversation series with Taskforce members.
Join us every Friday for short, informal, Field Notes conversations on our Twitch Channel.
We usually start around 8AM PT — wondering what time that is for you? Use this time zone converter to find out!
Catch up on previous Field Notes episodes:
Upcoming Field Notes Conversations
November 5, 8am PDT
Cristina Garza ED, AVANCE-Austin
Join us for a conversation about the impact of COVID on low-income families in Texas
Previous Field Notes Speakers
Shivani Nayyar, co-author of the UN Human Development Reports
Shivani joined us on January 28, 2021 to discuss How to improve learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the UN Human Development Reports from 2020.
Justine Sass, Chief of the Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality at UNESCO
Justine joined us on February 8, to discuss How the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting girls' education and what we need to do in the years ahead to keep girls learning.
Replay the conversationGilberto Duarte, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Gilberto joined us on February 19 to discuss Education and Justice.
Replay the conversationAmir Banifatemi, Chief Innovation and Growth Officer at XPRIZE
Amir joined us on February 24 to discuss using AI for our common good.
Replay the conversationTeresa Drew, Director of STEM Next Opportunity Fund
Teresa joined us on March 8 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on afterschool programs across the US
Replay the conversationAlicia Hammond, Gender Specialist at the World Bank Group
Alicia joined us on March 8 to discuss research on women in STEM around the world.
Replay the conversationJacqueline Strecker, UNHCR
Jacqueline joined us on March 12 to discuss COVID-19's impact on learning in refugee communities
Replay the conversationMary-Jane Strom & Marisa Cidre, Girl Scouts, Northern California
Mary-Jane Strom & Marisa Cidre from the Girl Scouts joined us on March 19.
Alice Rodrigues, Instituto Paramitas
Alice joined us on March 26 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on girls' education in Brazil.
Replay the conversationNavya Akkinepally & Shivi Chandra from Learning Equality
Navya Akkinepally and Shivi Chandra from Learning Equality joined us on April 9 to discuss how to bring quality eduction to everyone.
Replay the conversationHal Abelson, MIT
Hal Abelson joined us on April 16 to talk about how to tackle the UN's Sustainable Development Goals with code.
Replay the conversationSengmeng Koo, AI Singapore
Sengmeng Koo joined us on April 23, to talk about AI Singapore, one of the most successful AI programs for the broader public.
Aintzane Morales, Knowledge Innovation Market (KIM) and Technovation Girls Ambassador
Aintzane Morales joined us on April 30 for a conversation about girls technology education in Spain.
Replay the conversationDana Jawad Amro, Dubai Cares
Dana Jawad Amro joined us on May 7 to discuss how to fund meanginful impacts in girls education
Replay the conversationMutriba Akhmedova, Chief Information Security Officer at IMON International (and Technovation Girls Chapter Ambassador in Tajikistan)
Mutriba Akhmedova joined us on May 14 to discuss girls technology education in Tajikistan
Replay the conversationKatie Zee, TechWomen
Katie Zee joined us on May 21 to discuss girls' technology education
Replay the conversationBruce Au, CoolThink@JC
Bruce joined us on May 28 to discuss how to equip thousands of students with computational thinking skills
Replay the conversationMaria Makarova & Laura Aguilar, Mentoralia
Maria and Laura joined us on June 4 for a conversation about girls’ technology education in Mexico
Sana Mahmood, Manager & Science Communicator, Pakistan Science Club
Sana joined us on June 11 for a conversation about girls’ tech education in Pakistan
Replay the ConversationSidratul Moontaha, Technovation Bangladesh
Sidratul Moontaha joined us on June 18 for a conversation about women in technology.
Replay the conversationGregg Behr, Grable Foundation
Gregg Behr joined us on July 2 to talk about helping children wonder and learn
Neeraj Sharma, Technovation Chapter Ambassador (India)
Neeraj Sharma joined us on July 9 to talk about helping girls in India engage in technology entrepreneurship
Vivienne Byrd, LAPL
Vivienne Byrd joined us on July 23 for a conversation about engaging library communities in LA in STEM programs
Replay the conversationDharam Panwar, STEAM Vision
Dharam Panwar joined us on July 30 for a conversation about STEM education in India
Replay the conversationDr. Christian Greer, Michigan Science Center
Dr. Christian Greer joined us on August 6 to talk about building STEM centers and learning hubs
Dr. Vikki Katz, Rutgers University
Dr. Vikki Katz joined us on August 20, to talk about learning at home, while under-connected
Replay the conversationChristina Pei, Chicago Learning Exchange
Christina Pei, Chicago Learning Exchange joined us on August 28 to talk about connected communities
Michael Stone, Public Education Foundation
Michael Stone joined us for a conversation about Fab Lab communities on September 3, 2021
Replay the conversationErin English, San Diego County Office of Education
Erin English joined us on September 10, 2021 to discuss innovation in education
Replay the conversationDavid Miyashiro Cajon Valley Union School District
Join us for a conversation about how Cajon Valley mobilized to keep students learning through COVID
Replay the converationTra-My Nguyen, Country Director for Kidspire Vietnam
Tra-My Nguyen joined us for a conversation about innovation in education on September 24, 2021
Wolfgang Slany, Catrobat founder
Wolfgang Slany joined us on October 1, 2021 to talk about innovation in education.
Nathalia Goes, iSmart Innovation and Technovation Alumna
Nathalia Goes joined us on October 6, 2021 to talk about her life and career after Technovation Girls
Jasmine Shaw
Jasmine Shaw joined us on October 11, 2021 to discuss creating and supporting effective STEM ecosystems
Dr. Tonya Matthews, CEO, International African American Museum
Dr. Tonya Matthews joined us on October 22, 2021 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on museums
About Technovation
Technovation is a technology education nonprofit with a mission to empower vulnerable groups (especially girls and women) to create technology-based solutions to problems in their communities. Over the past 14 years, Technovation has engaged ~50,000 mentors and educators to support more than 250,000 participants across 100+ countries, to tackle pressing problems ranging from climate change to substance abuse, and most recently, COVID-19. Students and adults learn about technology entrepreneurship through a 12-week curriculum. Learners are equipped with 21st century skills of problem identification, complex systems thinking and real-world problem solving.