Education Cannot Wait

The official launch of the UN Secretary-General's Education First Campaign took place a few days ago. It's really positive to see that quality education in conflict and/or disaster-affected communities is high on the agenda. In the coming days I'll try to post on some of the key points of the Education First vision document. In the meantime below is the related Education Cannot Wait infographic. For more on the Education Cannot Wait - Call to Action, check this out. 

p.s. Thanks to all of the recent new followers on Twitter (despite my lack of recent blogging)! I love to interact with you all, so for those of you who aren't following yet, you can find me at: @GEDBlog 

Neglect of education in slow-onset emergencies

'In Somalia in 2011, school enrolment rates plummeted due to the food crisis and large-scale displacement. The Education Cluster estimates that more than 1.8 million children aged 5–17 are out of school in South and Central Somalia alone – the worst-affected region, due to persistent and ongoing conflict and drought. The current education coverage and response supports only 20% of the school-age population in this zone. The availability of education for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and local host communities has not been sufficient to meet the need.  

Challenges to effectively delivering education in Somalia include:
• the lack of an appropriate curriculum
• inadequate learning spaces
• a lack of trained teachers from affected communities
• insufficient teacher remuneration and incentives for teaching
• the underlying challenge of the absence of a governance structure.  

Scarce teaching and learning materials are not enough to cover even the current low enrolment rates, made worse by the continued lack of funding for education in emergencies. 

In the Dollo Ado camp in Ethiopia and the Dadaab camp in Kenya, resident populations increased significantly during the 2011 crises – from already high levels. More than a quarter of a million Somali refugees arrived at the two camps in 2011 alone. The camps now host more than 600,000 Somali refugees, approximately 60% of whom are children. 

Providing education in the camps is particularly challenging given the chronic lack of services for the host populations in marginalised, drought-affected areas, where many refugees have settled. Many refugee children have had little or no previous access to formal education in Somalia, making it even more difficult to integrate them into the limited formal schooling in host communities. In Dollo Ado, only an estimated 15–20% of children are currently accessing education services.'

As well as East Africa, the report also discusses West Africa. Read the full report here.

Reiterating the negative impact of emergencies on education

From the report entitled Building a Culture of Resilience:  

'The impact of the natural disasters and political and economic turmoil on children and the education sector is immense.  In the Horn of Africa, the mortality rate for Somali children is one of the highest in the world and school attendance is the lowest globally. Nearly 9 million children are out of school in [Eastern and Southern Africa Region] ESAR, many of them due to emergencies such as conflict, socio‐political crises, and recurring natural disasters. These emergencies regularly disrupt schooling for millions more. In countries like Madagascar, where large‐scale disasters like cyclones occur regularly, education is disrupted sometimes for months, increasing drop‐out rates and negatively impacting on attendance rates generally. In Rwanda and Malawi, frequent flooding and disease outbreaks interrupt schooling. Malawi also experiences heavy annual seasonal wind storms which often damage school roofs, forcing classes to share learning spaces or meet outside in unbearable conditions during the rainy season. Comoros experienced a fuel crisis in August 2008 and a teachers’ strike in 2010, closing schools and postponing year‐end examinations. In addition to the natural disasters and man‐made emergencies in ESAR, the education sector in nearly all of the countries faces severe lack of resources and funding and is heavily reliant on external support. Teacher shortages, large class sizes, lack of up‐to‐date and relevant learning aids, and inadequate classrooms, to name only a few factors, combine to make progress in the education sector challenging. Despite these obstacles, there are noteworthy achievements to report from the ESAR education sector. Rwanda, one of the five countries that participated in this evaluation, has attained one of the highest primary school enrolment rates in Africa, with nearly 96 per cent of boys and 97 per cent of girls attending primary school.' 

The above passage alone highlights the strong link between Disaster Risk Reduction and educational outcomes. 

The full report includes Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity Gaps, and 16 'Lessons Learned'. Worth a look - check out the full report here.

INEE's Minimum Standards Assessment Report 2012

Who: Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE): 'an open, global network of practitioners and policy makers working together to ensure all persons the right to quality education and a safe learning environment in emergencies and post-crisis recovery'. To this end, INEE has the Minimum Standards Handbook which is the only global tool outlining the minimum level of educational quality in emergency and post-emergency situations. 

What: INEE recently released their Minimum Standards assessment report, which attempted 'to understand awareness of the INEE Minimum Standards (MS), how they are being used, and how they are institutionalized in plans and policies'. I'll cut to the chase and provide you with some of the main findings:

• Usage: Conflict is the most frequent context where the MS are used (32%), followed by Natural Disasters (24%).
• Awareness: Approximately 1 in 7 people report having limited understanding of the MS. 
• Training: National NGOs and people based at community levels state most often that trainings are inaccessible to them (in comparison to that received by UN Agency members, Education Coordinators).
• Advocacy: This is a primary use for the MS. 
• Coordination: The MS prove helpful with coordination in the field. 
• Programme Planning and Response: Written plans on using the MS are far from fully implemented in practice. 
• Research: The MS are also reaching academic realms and being used for research purposes. 
• Institutional Change: The MS have increased organisational capacity to prepare and respond to emergency education.
  
  

In light of the findings, some of the report's suggestions are:

• a more user-friendly format;
• simpler language;
• more realistic standards - possibly replacing 'Minimum Standards' with 'Quality Standards';
• greater guidance on how to contextualise the standards;
• more specific and measurable indicators to enable measurement of progress.
  
  

Having used the MS for research purposes, I tend to agree with suggestions that the standards need to be more realistic, specific, and allow for greater contextualisation. For further information on the assessment, and full details of the findings and recommendations, check out the full report.

What do you think?

Do you use INEE's MS in your line of work? Do you agree/disagree with the findings of the report? Do you think that general, global guidelines for Education in Emergencies are beneficial for successfully implementing the Right to Education in emergency and post-emergency contexts? Share your comments and experiences below!

Related Posts

Liked this post? Check out others related to Emergency Education here.

Online Resources from UNESCO-IBE on Conflict and Education

A useful list compiled by the International Bureau of Education (IBE) at UNESCO on online resources relating to conflict and education.

Research methodologies for Education in Emergencies

A paper from Laura H.V. Wright entitled Education in Emergencies: Research Methodologies Identifying Successes and Gaps:

'Because EiE research is emerging concurrently with the push for education to be considered the fourth pillar of humanitarian aid, much of the research is conducted and/or used for the purpose of EiE advocacy and project design, focusing on a linear model of relief to development. This advocacy push has blocked the field from developing “strong theoretical and analytical tools to support critical scholarly inquiry and research” (Rappleye & Paulson, 2007, p. 260). This, as evidenced in the literature, results in a dearth of theoretical research and research that critically examines the positives and negatives of education (Bush & Saltarelli, 2000), and long-term effects of persons affected by emergencies. Education theory, such as that presented by Davies (2003) and Novelli and Cardoza (2008), should be infused into the research design process. The use of theory is critical. It could aid researchers in linking different patterns found in evidence and increase the credibility of qualitative research conducted in EiE. 

[...] 

Innovative participatory research methodologies have taken root in the EiE field (Mitchell, 2011; Bengtsson & Bartlett, 2011). The use of child-friendly qualitative methods that seek to understand children‟s perceptions of their own education and aspirations is pertinent. The participatory studies thus far have predominantly focused on examining NGO-based education programs. This method should also be used to understand non-formal, community-developed education programs that are not influenced/developed by INGOs and international organizations. A central tension that lies at the heart of comparative and international education, and plays out in education in emergencies, is the belief of being able to “learn from elsewhere,” constrained by the realization that contextual differences make importing „best practices‟ observed elsewhere extremely problematic (Rappleye & Paulson, 2007).'

Get the paper here.  

Refugee-run news magazine from Kakuma Camp, Kenya

'The Kakuma News Reflector, or KANERE, is an independent news magazine produced by Ethiopian, Congolese, Ugandan, Rwandan, Somali, Sudanese and Kenyan journalists operating in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. It is the first fully independent refugee-run news source of its kind to emerge from a refugee camp, and has attracted considerable international attention.'

A necessary platform for refugee voices. The posts on education are amongst the worthwhile reading at the magazine.

Sahel - the role of education before, during, and after drought

This post is by no means exhaustive (there are far too many issues involved to cover them all in a readable blog post) and aims to address the problem of drought apparent in the Sahel at present.

Before emergency education critics jump in, it's probably necessary to note that I am not suggesting education should take precedence over more urgent needs e.g. food, rather wish to explore whether or not environmental education has a place in preventing and helping to manage such disasters. Only once the more pressing matters are met - given funding - does it seem education for the sake of education in such contexts can resume.

Current Interventions

Specific interventions include: cash transfers; water distribution; food distribution reaching the severely malnourished. 

Educational Situation

Perhaps unsurprisingly - given that there is insufficient funding for more immediate concerns - there seems to be little evidence of education activities as part of the international response. 

The importance of education prior to the onset of drought however is worth mentioning. Given that the situation is a recurring one, the question I want to ask is: could the current situation be prevented or the impact lessened in any way through appropriate educational measures? The Sahel region is prone to recurring drought therefore complete prevention is perhaps unlikely. However, are there measures that could be taken before such disasters to prevent or at least lessen their impact? 

Food Insecurity or Political Access? 

Another salient question to be asking is whether food insecurity truly is a problem as a result of the drought or whether the impact has been compounded with power hierarchies and therefore selective access to food.

Potential Risk Factors

With any kind of reform, there are risks. Some of the possibilities with regard to incorporating preventive measures into education include: protraction of the emergency i.e. extended drought, therefore preventing the application of preventive measures; whilst the international community may be receptive to such changes, the local communities may not - needs assessments here are crucial; as far as I'm aware there is no one organisation that focuses solely on education in emergency situations, or preventive projects, therefore such reforms are likely to further stretch over-burdened organisations. 

What do you think?

Is the international community right to believe and/or suggest that education can help to prevent such disasters? Do local farmers really need educating on what works best for their crop? Can environmental education before, during, and after such humanitarian crises empower people to prevent or move away from such disasters? Share your thoughts in the comments box below. 

Review of UNHCR's Education Strategy 2012-2016

UNHCR recently released its Education Strategy for 2012-2016 and promises a greater focus upon education in its areas of work. Below are the main points of the strategy, along with discussion of the positives and drawbacks of its approach.

Key points

Action 1: More children will learn better in primary school - linked to objective 1: Improve learning achievement for refugee children in primary school

Action 2: Schools will protect children and young people - to achieve objective 2: Ensure that schools are safe learning environments for refugee children and youth

Action 3: More young people will go to secondary school - to achieve objective 3: Improve access to formal secondary opportunities for refugee youth

Action 4: More youth will follow HE courses - linked to objective 4: Improve access to HE opportunities for refugee youth

Action 5: Education will be available at every age - to achieve objective 5: Ensure opportunities for education are lifelong and available to all according to need

Action 6: Education will be part of all emergency responses - linked to objective 6: Provide education as early as possible during an emergency

Priority countries from 2012-2013: Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Yemen

Positives and negatives

+ Focus upon post-primary education including HE

+ Recognising the importance of education in all emergency responses

+ Proposed capacity development of UNHCR staff to manage education programmes (UNHCR staff at present are not trained in this area)

- Objective 6 reproduces the discourse of implementing education programmes according to their current state as opposed to improving/adapting them

- All of the actions are dependent upon receiving adequate funding

- Rationale for priority countries is not publicly available (apart from the brief description in the strategy itself, which is not context-specific)

- The use of partnerships for implementing the proposed actions is not something new (at present, UNHCR rely upon education development organisations to implement education programmes)

- Although promising, none of the proposed measures are new - they have all been heard before with seemingly little impact

The development of this strategy is undoubtedly welcome. In fact some might argue it's long overdue. It seems time will tell if it is mere rhetoric or is likely to bring about significant positive impact upon the quality of education received by refugees in different contexts. I for one am going to be keeping a close eye on the outcomes - I'll do my best to keep you all posted. 

Read the complete Education Strategy 2012-2016.

Would be great to hear your initial reactions/comments/thoughts on the strategy - you can post your comments in the box below.