Getting to Know Your International Contacts (Part 2)

In a previous blog assignment, I mentioned that I researched the UNICEF website and I chose to connect with UNICEF representatives in Palestine to know about the projects implemented there to help improve education and health conditions of Palestinian children. Last week, I received an Email from Monica Awad which is a UNICEF representative there explaining some of the things that UNICEF is doing to improve children’s education. The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education were combined in late 2002 to form the MOEHE. The Ministry has maintained the schooling system during difficult times. UNICEF works with Ministry officials in a number of different areas, including:

• Remedial education project
• Child-friendly schools and child-friendly summer camps
• The integration of life skills based education into the curriculum
• Improving the overall quality of education - including teacher training on child-centered learning
• Advocating for unfettered access of students and teachers to schools
• Back to School campaign

A Project to Improve the Quality and Content of Education:
The lack of teaching facilities and overcrowded classrooms has generated direct negative impact on learning achievement – this has been most apparent and alarming in the subjects of Arabic, mathematics and science, with alarming low marks in these subjects. To compound matters, a recent survey shows that in a few years, there will be few qualified candidate as teachers for math and science subjects for higher education in Palestine. To address this situation, UNICEF is supporting an education project in Palestine that seeks to improve both the quality and content of education.
The educational project supported by UNICEF has developed and provided a set of math and science teaching kits to some 500 government schools covering over 170,000 children. The 500 schools represent about 37% of all government schools in Occupied Palestinian Territory. Most of these schools were located in the hard-to-reach areas and often are considered as marginalized. Utilization of the kits has not only partially filled in the gap of education supplies but also stimulated enthusiasm for studying science and mathematics and in the end helped to improve the quality of learning by students.
The project aims to:

1. Change and improve the teaching and learning process in the classroom through move interactive process;
2. Let the students be active learners and help change the passive learning environment in the classroom through hands-on activities with different items in the kits provided;
3. Improve teaching process skills and motivate students through the utilization of kits;
4. Change the traditional “Talk and Chalk” pattern and build up new relationships between students and teachers;
5. Motivate teachers and students.

According to the evaluation completed by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), the quality and frequency of using the Math and Science kits by the teachers and students in those schools is rated as 85%. The evaluation concluded that teachers’ performance increased, teaching hours became more efficient, and the learners became more active and participatory in the teaching and learning process. An overall plan for the use of the kits needs to be determined (evaluation, monitoring, training, phase out). Now, over 170,000 children in 500 government schools are currently utilizing the kits. About 1,000 teachers have been trained on the utilization of the kits. A Teacher's Guide and a Training Manual have been produced in Arabic. The project is ongoing, general feedback from the early users is very positive. The next step is the revision of the Teachers’ Guide and Training Manual has been recently undertaken by the experts group.
Insights gained: I was very impressed to see that UNICEF is working on improving educational outcomes of children in areas like Palestine. The good thing is that they are doing the right things like changing the “talk and chalk” teaching pattern to a child centered teaching practice which goal is to help children be more motivated and interested to learn.