Fewer than 10% of countries have laws that help ensure full inclusion in education, and 40% of  the poorest countries failed to support learners at risk during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to UNESCO’s 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report: Inclusion and education – All means All.

The report urges countries to focus on those left behind as schools reopen so as to foster more resilient and equal societies.

The report provides an in-depth analysis of key factors for exclusion of learners in education systems worldwide including background, identity and ability. It identifies an exacerbation of exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic and estimates that about 40% of low and lower-middle income countries have not supported disadvantaged learners during temporary school shutdown.

Signs of progress towards inclusion: The Report and its PEER website note that many countries were using positive, innovative approaches to transition towards inclusion. Many were setting up resource centres for multiple schools and enabling mainstream establishments to accommodate children from special schools, as was the case in Malawi, Cuba and Ukraine. The Gambia, New Zealand and Samoa were using itinerant teachers to reach underserved populations.

Odisha state in India, for example, used 21 tribal languages in its classrooms, Kenya adjusted its curriculum to the nomadic calendar and, in Australia, the curricula of 19% of students were adjusted by teachers so that their expected outcomes could match students’ needs.

“To rise to the challenges of our time, a move towards more inclusive education is imperative”, said the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. “Rethinking the future of education is all the more important following the Covid-19 pandemic, which further widened and put a spotlight on inequalities. Failure to act will hinder the progress of societies.”

Persistence of exclusion: This year’s Report is the fourth annual UNESCO GEM Report to monitor progress across 209 countries in achieving the education targets adopted by UN Member States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It notes that 258 million children and youth were entirely excluded from education, with poverty as the main obstacle to access. In low- and middle income countries, adolescents from the richest 20% of all households were three times as likely to complete lower secondary school as were as those from the poorest homes. Among those who did complete lower secondary education, students from the richest households were twice as likely to have basic reading and mathematics skills as those from the poorest households. Despite the proclaimed target of universal upper secondary completion by 2030, hardly any poor rural young women complete secondary school in at least 20 countries, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Also according to the report, 10-year old students in middle and high-income countries who were taught in a language other than their mother tongue typically scored 34% below native speakers in reading tests. In ten low- and middle-income countries, children with disabilities were found to be 19% less likely to achieve minimum proficiency in reading than those without disabilities.

Inequitable foundations: Alongside UNESCO GEM Report, team launched a new website, PEER, with information on laws and policies concerning inclusion in education for every country in the world. PEER shows that many countries still practice education segregation, which reinforces stereotyping, discrimination and alienation. Laws in a quarter of all countries require children with disabilities to be educated in separate settings, rising to over 40% in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia.

Blatant exclusion: Two countries in Africa still ban pregnant girls from school, 117 allowed child marriages, while 20 had yet to ratify the Convention 138 of the International Labour Organization which bans child labour. In several central and eastern European countries, Roma children were segregated in mainstream schools. In Asia, displaced people, such as the Rohingya were taught in parallel education systems. In OECD countries, more than two-thirds of students from immigrant backgrounds attended schools where they made up at least 50% of the student population, which reduced their chance of academic success.

Parents’ discriminatory beliefs were found to form one barrier to inclusion: Some 15% of parents in Germany and 59% in Hong Kong, China, feared that children with disabilities disturbed others’ learning. Parents with vulnerable children also wished to send them to schools that ensure their well-being and respond to their needs. In Queensland, Australia, 37% of students in special schools had moved away from mainstream establishments.

The Report shows that education systems often fail to take learners’ special needs into account. Just 41 countries worldwide officially recognized sign language and, globally, schools were more eager to get internet access than to cater for learners with disabilities. Some 335 million girls attended schools that did not provide them with the water, sanitation and hygiene services they required to continue attending class during menstruation.

Alienating learners: When learners are inadequately represented in curricula and textbooks they can feel alienated. Girls and women only made up 44% of references in secondary school English language textbooks in Malaysia and Indonesia, 37% in Bangladesh and 24% in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. The curricula of 23 out of 49 European countries do not address issues of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

Teachers need and want training on inclusion, which fewer than 1 in 10 primary school teachers in ten Francophone countries in sub-Saharan Africa said they had received. A quarter of teachers across 48 countries reported they wanted more training on teaching students with special needs.

Chronic lack of quality data on those left behind. Almost half of low- and middle-income countries do not collect enough education data about children with disabilities. Household surveys are key for breaking education data down by individual characteristics. But 41% of countries – home to 13% of the world’s population – did not conduct surveys or make available data from such surveys. Figures on learning are mostly taken from school, failing to take into account those not attending.

Faizan Alam, a 15-year-old from Patna, Bihar, is going viral for all the right reasons. The young boy has not only composed an English song but has also sung it, thus attracting the attention of music lovers on all the social media platforms, especially Youtube.

Alam, popularly known as ‘Shadow Chrome’ because of his Youtube Channel, has recently composed a song ‘One Time’. In addition to composition, Alam also sang it and played the lead role in the video, which has attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of music lovers.

Appreciating the efforts of the young singer, music lover went berserk to accolade his overall performance. “Honest try is the only ingredient of success,” writes a music lover namely Rakesh Jha, adding the way you perform is simply awesome.

His engaging performance in the song where he’s trying to woo this gorgeous lady, his eyes caught in a club also earned his respect and positive remarks. The song is no less than any famous album number when it comes to the production.

The social media has gushed after his performance, wherein music lovers say that he “nailed every note” and that this was a “mountain of a song that he conquered”

This young bundle of talent has a YouTube channel named by his stage name ‘Shadow Chrome’ and this song One Time has already crossed 7 lakh views. This new single has received a lot of love at this young age and it surely is a way to go.

Ahteshaam Hubilkar, a 26 year old Biomedical Engineer and MBA, passed out from DY Patil college, turned towards his passion, food and has become one amazing food blogger today. His love for food and trying new cuisines has evolved since his college days. He was always keen to try new things and wanted to explore something new everyday. His Instagram is filled with mouth watering pictures of amazing cuisines and restaurants he has visited during his journey of blogging. 

Ahteshaam’s family has always been his support system. He says and believes that “Family serves as a major role in their children’s lives. Their career development and helping them through their journey and being supportive towards their children is what parents need to do. My parents have supported me in every decision I’ve made and loved me for whatever I’ve achieved.” Supportive and loving parents are the most important essence in someone’s life.

His day begins with a nice workout and post workout breakfast. He completes his work by late afternoon so he can have proper spare time to conduct his shoots for brands. His working time is quite flexible but he never wastes any minute. He’s always into doing something or the other and tends to keep himself busy. He believes that “If one wants to achieve and grow, they should never let any minute pass by without doing something productive. I keep myself busy, keep pushing myself into doing more and more and I tend to climb the steps towards success and growth everyday.” What a true motivator, isn’t he?

From a part time food blogger he became a full time influencer now and as an influencer he promoted and worked for more than 100 brands over these years. Then he also started promoting movies such as Street Dancer 3D, Panipat, and Suryavanshi etc and in political campaigns for Rajasthan and Jaipur government. I have also worked for web series with Zee 5, Alt Balaji and Amazon Prime.

Upon being asked how men/women fashion has evolved over the years, he to the point answered the question saying; “Social media has had a dramatic impact on the fashion industry. It has changed the way of styling largely. Women’s fashion has largely evolved over the years with mix and matching and chic looks. While men’s fashion has been neglected with the thinking that men don’t care about fashion. Although over the past few years, men’s fashion has evolved and found its way towards growing with now; leather wear, pastel colours, mix and matching and bare ankles.” The way this man has described fashion considering today’s generation is commendable. His thinking and the way he has evolved himself as well in the field of fashion and now acknowledging the mass with the same is truly amazing. 

There are plenty of lessons one learns through his journey in whatever field one goes to. Ahteshaam has learned some valuable lessons with his years of hard work and through his journey as a blogger. Quoting him; “Being a blogger means you have to make sure that the mass around you are happy with you and your work. But I’ve learned that I need to keep myself happy and at peace too. While you’re trying to make others happy, make sure one of them is you. Make yourself happy. Keep checking up on yourself often. Make sure you are doing what makes you happy and confronting the mistakes that you make and correcting them as well. Keep checking up on yourself and your mental state. Keep yourself and your mind at ease and peace first before you try to do the same for yourself.” This is something which we all need to learn and know. Being there for yourself is so important. 

A little something for the readers from Ahteshaam; “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes. But what we need to understand is that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success. Failures are important for one to face, it’s only us whether we defeat failure or let failure defeat us.”

Ahteshaam Hublikar (whree_the_fo0d)

IG handle :- https://instagram.com/iamahteshaam

Zomato handle :- Follow my food journey on @Zomato! http://zoma.to/u/29819552

Tiktok- https://vm.tiktok.com/9Sd9Dv/

The man who inspired 3 Idiots movie shared his views on “Economics of Giving” 20 June 2020 Chandigarh, Punjab, India: Sonam Wangchuk, the man who inspired Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 3 Idiots was the speaker at Chitkara Univesity’s Explore series this week. Wangchuk, an Innovator Academician, Education Reformist and the Founder and Advisor of SECMOL ( Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh ) shared his views on “Economics of Giving” in his online live session with students at Chitkara University.

Sharing his vast treasure of knowledge in a session which had a wide array of people joining in for the session, Wangchuk said that any education system must address to the real needs of the time, if our country and planet is facing real challenge from the industrial production then we should change what we teach our children, we increasingly need to start talking about healing the planet rather than further fueling its destruction similarly whatever is the need of time must be incorporated in the education system. It has to be rooted with real problems and their solutions.

When asked to share his take on innovation Sonam Wangchuk highlighted the fact that most of the innovation that we see around us these days is not something which was done keeping local factors and India specific solutions into consideration. Stating an example he said “we see these glass buildings in Delhi that were copied from the architecture of western cities with sub zero temperatures. There, this type of architecture has a meaning to it because it helps in keeping those places warm in chilly cold conditions but the same architecture Indians cities like Delhi where it is already very hot, this architecture will not be of any use it would rather end up creating more problems as then it leads to us to air conditioning causing huge costs of electricity bills and health and environment issues.

On his recent views on Boycott China Movement, Wangchuk said that let there be more indigenous products manufactured locally and something that creates more employment and gradually weans off the addiction and dependency on Chinese goods and products, the world is looking at exploring India for setting up big ventures. We should not have short term reactions which will yield no results but need to strategize by taking a middle path and built up our capacities.

Uttarakhand government has decided to train its healthcare and social workers in palliative care to relieve the suffering of patients with Coronavirus infection and their families. Palliative care is the alleviation of serious illness related suffering of the patient and the family. It involves prevention, assessment and management of symptoms including pain, breathlessness, and agitation, and providing psychological, social, and spiritual support.

To this effect, the National Health Mission, Uttarakhand will train doctors, staff nurses, social workers, and paramedical staff to undergo this training to be conducted by Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences, a WHO collaborating center for policy and training on access to pain relief based in Kerala. Close to 300 people have already enrolled for the weekly online training.  

Having undergone the basic training, a social worker from Uttarakhand said, “I was happy to attend the course. Some of the most important points were communications, psychosocial and spiritual issues, grief, and bereavement along with the importance of the mental health of caregivers (us) during COVID-19. I am grateful to Pallium India for all their efforts. We are forever grateful.”

A medical officer at a public hospital in Uttarakhand added, “I learned to not get agitated during my work and listen to the patient and their family patiently. To take more time in understanding them and not to rush to any decision or advice. Check my emotions. Use of psychotherapy and drugs in palliative care.” 

To sustainably manage COVID 19, few palliative care experts in Kerala came together to form an informal task force (PallicovidKerala) to develop an e-book on guidelines for integration of palliative care with COVID-care.  Aimed at healthcare professionals in their tireless battle against the pandemic, the algorithm-based e-book derived from evidence-based guidelines and advisories from around the world helps enhance their existing skill sets. 

Applauding the efforts of the PallicovidKerala team, State Nodal Officer National Program for Palliative Care Dr. Fareeduzzafar said, “This is a very commendable task and we are happy that our healthcare workers are being empowered with the relevant palliative care tools to sustainably manage COVID 19. We have received good feedback from the participants and are grateful to the team providing the training.”

Sessions are conducted on the ECHO platform and participants meet for five days, 1hr 15min daily to go through a lecture, case study, and open discussions. This rapidly equips them to practice palliative care, relevant to meet the needs of the patient and their families who are going through suffering and anticipatory grief. Acknowledging the efforts of the Uttarakhand government, Dr. M R Rajagopal, Director, Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences said, “I congratulate the Uttarakhand Government in seeing the value of this training and encouraging the service providers to participate and learn how to be more compassionate and take informed decisions for treatment and self-care as well.  This simple solution if adopted by all governments will immeasurably bolster our healthcare force for the current and future emergencies.” 

Topics of online training include the relevance of Palliative Care in COVID 19 and concept of grief and bereavement, management of important symptoms in COVID 19 (Cough, Breathlessness/delirium/Fever/ Myalgia), how to provide emotional support by applying basic principles of communication, triage in COVID 19 with special reference to the management of ethical issues, psychosocial interventions in COVID 19, and burn-out and self-care, a statement issued here by Pallium India said. 

Pallium India (www.palliumindia.org) is a national registered trust formed to address the needs of people who are suffering from terrible pain and isolation due to cancer, AIDS, paralysis or other prolonged, debilitating illness. Pallium India strives to address the needless suffering of those millions in India and enable them to live a life of dignity and self-respect. Pallium India works in collaboration with several national and international organisations to improve the accessibility and affordability of pain relief drugs (opioids) and other low cost medicines, to ensure the availability of palliative care services in India and to improve the quality of palliative care services provided by the healthcare and allied health care professionals. 

Lockdown, in wake of COVID-19, has brought pets and their owners closer than ever. As the society gets accustomed to the new normal, our pets are trying hard too, to adapt to the world that is changing every single day. Now with the Unlocking 0.1 underway, while you are getting ready to get back to your life, as it was before the Corona outbreak, have you thought about how your pet needs to be trained to adapt to the new normal? The best way to care for your pet’s mental wellbeing and to train them well for the post-COVID-19 world is to take him to the Sovereign Dog Training School. The School’s motto is “You & Your Dog deserve the best!”

The Dog Training School

Sovereign Dog Training School is a full-service dog training facility that specializes in obedience training, agility and behavior modification. The man behind this school is Sandeep Lad. Sandeep is the Training Director, Founder and Owner of the School and he possesses 18+ years of extensive and diverse experience of training dogs. He trains dogs in the privacy of a dog owner’s home/surroundings with minimal distractions and at a convenient time. Sandeep has worked with renowned dog trainers from the US, Europe, which helped him learn new techniques and keep himself updated in this field. He also attends various seminars to keep adding to his knowledge trove. Sandeep’s calm & cool approach, coupled with his patience and a good sense of humor, makes the training sessions a breeze for your pet.

Guidance & Structure

Sandeep has trained more than 1800 dogs of different breeds and has solved more than 10,000 small or and big behaviour related issues in his career. He has also educated more than 25000 pet owners. This experience has led him to develop a personalized, creative and distinguished program to motivate & stimulate your dog. The dog is trained to learn commands in a gentle, relaxed, and unhurried manner. Sandeep can train dogs of any age and breed. His training sessions are customized, enjoyable and fun for the furry friends and focus on its mental, physical and emotional stimulation. The training program contains private dog training sessions too. The main purpose of Sandeep’s training schedule is to create effective strategies to help dog owners as well as the whole family to feel comfortable and confident around their pet.

Dog Training Certifications

Sandeep is the first Indian trainer whose trained dog was adjudged “Canine Good Citizen” with a certificate from the FCI (Kennel Club of India). He is also the first Indian dog trainer whose trained dog participated in the International Sport Dog called B or BH Begleithunde – a combination of temperament & obedience tests. This is a preliminary, perquisite test for a dog, who passes it to get his/her IGP/Schutzhund titles. So, if you are interested in working the man’s best friend and train it as well, the Sovereign Dog Training School also provides comprehensive Professional Dog Training Certifications.

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Fashion and Lifestyle Bloggers and Influencers in India have been thriving and they serve as an important tool for fashion brands that want to reach out to an audience and colossal markets. From new clothing lines to accessories to designer labels and fashion events to fashion trends and styles — fashion bloggers are an expert on everything fashion. And one of the rising stars of the Fashion Influencer world is Aastha Mehta, who is currently a full-time Fashion, Beauty, Travel, and Lifestyle Influencer hailing from Mumbai. 

“Fashion was always my passion and there are no two ways about that. There never was.” Aastha added. She studied in London and along with her master’s degree she got one more thing back home with her – A dream of becoming a successful Fashion Influencer. 

“As for me, Fashion is freedom. It allows me to be who I am. It’s about being yourself. Fashion is about expressing yourself through your fashion choices. My idealogy has always been: ‘If people are going to stare, make it worth their while. Don’t do Fashion. Be Fashion” say’s Aastha. From highlighting current fashion trends, styles, and styling inspiration to reviewing luxury products, beauty recommendations, makeup videos, skincare and haircare hacks, lifestyle enthusiast, and a travel junkie at heart. Aastha also voiced out her awe-inspiring opinions and beliefs through her blog which brings out her strong powerful influential self through every post! Her followers adore her infectious, gleeful, and miraculous vibe which she spills on her page. She makes our wanderlust REAL. Her zest for life is spiteful. Truly, a self-made Boss Lady of her own empire!

She made her way up her dreams and she gives all the credit to her family and friends who stood by her like a rock and supported her in every way to become who she is today. “They are my world and they will always have my back,” she said. She has also been one of the finest Bollywood and Fashion content writers at India’s leading publication house at the Times Network where her content had millions of readers and her articles were always trending. Aastha knew content writing, how to crack breaking news, making it to the headlines, social media audiences, hashtags, how to shoot a Vlog, photography, etc. and these were also all the skills she needed to start a blog by herself. That’s when life came together for her and she finally pushed herself and persuaded her dream of Blogging.

“The best part about Blogging is that the content you create is an expression or rather a part of you. It’s such a beautiful platform to express. Not just fashion, styling, beauty; there are so many things we bloggers or influencers can take up and change. We become walking talking advertisements to brands and companies. If we promote something good, something helpful to society, it can make such a huge impact and change millions of opinions. You have the power of VOICE. That’s the best part about blogging” Aastha said as she signed off. 

Aastha’s Instagram handle is @thebellame.co where she has more than 20K followers! 

We are sure that this Boss Lady is going to get out there to be a huge trendsetter very soon.

At first, she used to wake up every morning and rush to her workplace and do the regular morning grind of content writers…Find out “what’s trending?”….now she wakes up to see that she is “Trending” all over social media!

Now that’s what we call a journey from dreaming the dream and living the dream ??

29-year-old global impact entrepreneur Pratik Gauri is on the path to positively impact 6 billion humans by redefining “business as usual”

COVID 19 crisis has made everyone believe “Business As Usual” won’t work. We need to redefine the way we do business. What will be the post-COVID-19 new normal? 5th Industrial Revolution!
Business and Impact can go hand-in-hand and companies can make more profits if they positively impact society. Impact entrepreneur Pratik Gauri has proven companies end up making more profits if they focus on impact. He has been helping fortune 500 brands move from for-profit to for-benefit. This is what he calls the “5th Industrial Revolution.”
In the Fifth Industrial Revolution, humans and machines will dance together, metaphorically, writes Pratik in his article published in The European Sting.  “5IR is about using frontier technology created in 4IR ( AI / IoT / Blockchain etc ) to positively impact humanity”, says Pratik.
Gauri has also successfully proven that companies get a better ROV (Return On Value) when they mobilise marketing money towards social causes. Through 5th Element Group, a global impact consultancy he runs in India, he mobilises millions of marketing dollars for social causes which increases ‘Brand Warmth’ of the brands.
In January 2020, he also helped take RB’s Harpic Mission Paani stewarded by Amitabh Bacchhan to World Economic Forum in Davos. Amidst COVID 19, he and his colleagues at 5th Element Group helped build “Some Good News”, a global news phenomenon by actor John Krasinski by mobilising money from Pepsico and Starbucks towards restaurant associations.
Gauri founded his first startup when he was 16, and since then he has founded 8 purpose startups in the 5IR Space. “The only way to be successful in post COVID-19 world is by creation of omniwins”, says Gauri. He has managed to create win-win partnerships between Fortune 500 companies, Ultra High Net Worth Individuals / Family Offices, Social Entrepreneurs, and Government. 
Globe-trotter Pratik went to 26 countries last year and represented India at prestigious covenings like World Economic Forum in Davos, Skoll World Forum in Oxford, Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Oslo, and United Nations in New York. He also won Gold at the UNLEASH innovation lab for SDGs in China.
Among his many awards, he has been named a GreenBiz Global “30 under 30”, BP Scholar, WEF Global Shaper, Climate Leader trained by US Vice President Al Gore, Ambassador at One Young World, and Asia’s top 50 voices by Earth Day Network.Looking at his vision and plans, this 29-year-old is definitely on the path to becoming a self-made billionaire. When asked about his plans to become a billionaire, he smiles and says, “If i can make 6 billion people live more abundant lives by building unicorn startups in the 5IR space, i’m certain i’ll have an abundant life too.”The world certainly needs more impact entrepreneurs like Pratik to redefine “business as usual.”
Tags : Pratik Gauri, 5th Industrial Revolution

Food that makes you feel even hungrier, as soon as you taste it, that’s the skill showcased by Taha Maklai. Sugarskull.ae aka Taha Maklai is a dessert specialist, who has been creating enchanting and irresistible desserts with such great aesthetics and zeal, that he has procured immense recognition. Taha is an experienced food blogger as well, commencing blogging 3+ years back and establishing his grandeur. Capturing the spellbinding aesthetics in the lenses of his camera, the pictures can make people crave for more.
Acknowledgment and recognition paved his way to success. Prominent collaborators and many prestigious bloggers have already started to work with him closely and Taha has collaborated and amalgamated his knowledge with theirs, to engender innovative ideas. Not being limited to a dessert specialist, Taha Maklai is not only independent but a versatile and illustrious person.  Prodigal photography, combined with varying skills of creating a variety of promotional content, engendering innovative hashtags and captions that mystify people ad make them go beyond crazy! Being highly interactive, Maklai also offers great giveaways. These skills grasped the attention of many and dragged him to the limelight.

Adding to his splendor, he has been featured in Khaleej Times, CosmoMiddleast  and also the dessert specialist procured top post on #dessert and #dessertporn. A lively and energetic aura around him, Maklai is a conversationalist and a food connoisseur. He believes in acquiring the true essence of life and has created a phrase for himself – “Life is short, why not the dessert first”. Aiming to be at the pinnacle in the list of dessert specialists in his region, he is endeavoring to achieve what he has proclaimed. His content is so unparalleled and appealing, it adds to the gravity of his desserts. The delectable desserts are right on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sugarskull.ae/
As admirable he is now, we hope Taha Maklai becomes the top-notch dessert specialist and soon becomes a food king proffering us with more delicious delights!

Salman Mithani’s Ishq Da Rog released June 5, 2020, and has been making serious noise in the Bollywood industry, racking up nearly half a million views in its first week. According to Salman, his first single is about remembering a lost love and brings up feelings of nostalgia. He stated that the song was created in a tough time of his life after he’d taken a pause from music, so signing it to Zee Music Company meant a lot to him and his team.  
Salman is a Houston based Bollywood singer and songwriter. His interest in music began at the early age of 6, and he spent his teenage years learning the piano, guitar, and singing on his YouTube channel. He was also inspired to sing by his older brother, Raheel Mithani. He was eventually noticed by Zee Music Company, a major Bollywood music publishing label, and has since released singles such as Tu Jo Kahe and Ishq Da Rog with Zee. He has also collaborated with artists such as Shahzeb Tejani on his song Apna Bana Le Na. 
Salman has created a big fan base around the world, primarily in India. According to one of his recent Instagram posts, he has a few surprises in the works for his fans and well-wishers. He has also been dropping hints about new music releasing this year.
Facebook – https://m.facebook.com/salmanmithani33/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/salmanmithani/