Challenges

Schools in the Asia-Pacific region are making efforts to achieve inclusive and quality education as a means of making societies more just, tolerant, and peaceful, but many of them still face various challenges regardless of their economic status. Countries in the region are still facing persistent poverty and inequalities and schools are impacted by marginalization, discrimination, lack of financial and human resources, socioeconomic inequalities, and the existence of negative stereotypes and prejudice in society.

More specifically, schools in the Asia-Pacific region are often characterized by a lack of teacher capacity, outdated curriculums, pedagogy or teaching materials, lack of shared vision by school personnel, absence of leadership by decision makers, lack of support for motivated teachers, and lack of opportunities to motivate students which lead to unemployment. Poor governance in the country as well as prolonged and unresolved conflicts can also impact education.

Toward a Solution

Schools should be considered a good, safe and responsible space for engaging in intercultural and interfaith dialogue, which is a critical factor for developing learners’ competencies as active contributors to building peaceful social cohesion and embracing diversity. In order to make this a reality, the beneficiaries were invited and supported to revisit their school environment and teaching practices through the lens of SDG4, especially its Target 4.7.

This involved an exchange and support programme put in place in cooperation with the partners in Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, school communities and experts) as well as the partners in the beneficiary countries (ministries of education, schools, madrassa and their registration/administrative departments and provincial governments, etc.). 

In the first phase, partners first identified additional pilot schools and participants; the respective national project team selected two additional schools (secondary level) to join, while the first phase pilot schools stayed on to be part of the project. The schools/teachers who took part in the first phase were invited to share their experiences with and guide the newcomers. UNESCO Offices facilitated the discussion and coordination with a view to expanding the network of partners in the country, and decided on the modalities of function/action in close working with the national project team.

In the second phase, the project involved orientation meetings for preparing new pilot schools. The implementation of Phase 2 was challenged by the travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the study visit to Japan could not take place as planned. The study visit was supposed to create a momentum where the participating teachers and education stakeholders would appropriate the project content and process. However, the Learning for Empathy project overcame this by organizing a series of orientation meetings with the help of the first cohort of schools and madrassas, and the participants discussed the school-level action plans on these occasions.

The project involved continued knowledge sharing, such as the exchange among the participants in the beneficiary countries, which was maintained through information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the progress and findings were shared more widely through UNESCO’s and the donor’s communication channels and relevant events related to SDG4.

An 11-minute highlights video was produced with the participation of students and teachers, and presented at the regional concluding meeting in March 2022. Furthermore, a project outcome brochure with concrete examples and testimonies from participating schools and students is currently being finalized, based on the in-depth report documenting the activities in the beneficiary countries. The Learning for Empathy project has successfully created enabling conditions for education professionals in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (school leaders/principals, religious seminary/madrassa teachers and non-religious teachers) to effectively address the challenges they face to make learning meaningful, motivating and empowering in their school context.

As part of scaling-up efforts, UNESCO Bangkok, Dhaka, Islamabad, Jakarta and New Delhi closely collaborated in identifying opportunities to link the initiative with the country’s national education system-wide efforts for achieving SDG4 (policy formulation, curriculum review/reorientation, teacher training, etc.). This project aimed to encourage education authorities and schools to place more importance on the teaching and learning of knowledge, skills, values attitudes, and behaviours as promoted by SDG 4.7. This is the only way to sustain the impact of the project by mainstreaming Learning for Empathy at national and regional levels.