Co-convenor: Lori Heninger, Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
Education is a human right for all children; that right does not end when a conflict or crisis occurs. Still, about half of the 61 million primary-school aged out-of-school children live in situations of crisis and/or natural hazard. The average conflict in the least developed countries lasts 12 years, and refugees are displaced for an average of 17 years.
The field of education in conflict and emergencies has grown significantly in the past decade. Examples of success include the creation of the Education Cluster, a UN Resolution “The right to education in emergency situations,” academic programs of study, research and multiple networks and coalitions such as the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack and the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies. Even with this progress, education receives two percent of humanitarian funding, and is still at times not recognized as a first-phase humanitarian response.
New challenges and opportunities are arising for education in conflict and emergencies. Climate change and the resulting natural hazards will cause migration and will impact education. Environmental hazards are linked to conflict, as in the Sahel, creating a double negative impact on education. Education is being viewed by many donors through the lens of conflict sensitivity; education policy and programming can not only mitigate, but can exacerbate conflict. Education is also linked with peacebuilding and statebuilding, moving beyond the standard education in conflict and emergencies framework of disaster/conflict preparedness, response and recovery.
In the coming two years, there is an opportunity to impact large-scale processes such as the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals and Education for All agendas, as well as to provide enhanced vision and intervention on emerging issues in the education in conflict and emergencies field.
Available Papers
ASEAN Safe Schools Initiative (ASSI)
Avianto Amri, Plan International, Adviser for ASEAN Safe Schools Initiative
Every day, more than 100 million children in schools in ASEAN countries are at risks of disasters. Just in the last 5 years, disasters caused full or partial damage to more than 14,500 school buildings in the ASEAN region. Climate change, urbanization, population growth and other factors will further exacerbated the impact of disasters to education. These risks are a direct warning to the fulfilment of every children’s right to education as well as the achievement of targets under the MDGs and EFA for achieving universal access to primary education. The ASEAN Secretariat and AADMER Partnership Group (APG) have initiated a new initiative called ASEAN Safe School Initiative (ASSI). ASSI is developed under the basis that ASEAN countries face similar characteristics of hazards and also that among ASEAN Member States share common interests in the economic, social, and cultural fields. Therefore, Plan International, MERCY Malaysia, Save the Children, and World Vision are conducting research in stock taking of current programmes, approaches, guidelines and tools on Safe School programming in ASEAN countries from January until June 2013. The results of the research will then identify the progress of Safe School programming in each country, identify their distinctive strength and approaches, and then will further guide ASEAN to forge regional collaboration and improve south-south cooperation among ASEAN Member States. Preliminary findings also showed non-traditional stakeholder groups, such as the private sectors and media, could have a significant role in supporting Safe School programming as they have the resources to support the initiative.
Introduction of Disaster Safety in the Sri Lankan Education System: Factors for success
Patricia Bitter, GIZ Education for Social Cohesion programme, Consultant
M.N.S Edirisinghe, National Institute of Education, Director, Department of Research and Development, Maharangma Sri Lanka
Due to the increase of disasters worldwide, the global agenda of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters has become increasingly important. Therefore, to build a culture of safety through the use of knowledge, innovation and education is a priority. In post-tsunami Sri Lanka, in 2005, the Ministry of Education and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) initiated ‘Disaster Safety Education’. The project integrated DRR in teacher training, developed school curricula and materials, launched school safety guidelines and established coordination structures and partnerships. This paper identifies, and gives the genesis of five factors of success that give valuable hints for how to successfully introduce new concepts into education in the development cooperation context.
How can teachers be supported to provide quality learning in emergency and conflict situations? Voices of teachers in South Sudan
John J. Lujang Wan, Director Deputy for Quality Assurance and Standards, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of South Sudan
The Ministry of Education is working hard to promote quality education for all children in South Sudan. Though peace was won, yet the country is still suffering from the situation of emergency and conflicts. The issue of quality and access of education to all is considered very important as it is stated in all policy papers. Teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes are still the key factors for quality education required for economic and social development, which leads to stability of the country with peace. It cannot be denied that teachers’ ineffectiveness and unconnected professional development may cause poor learning. Interventions that provide teachers with education and training opportunities are essential if teachers are not teaching to the expectation. Many attempts even before the independence of the country were made with support from the international community to improve provision of quality education. A lot of focus was put on teachers with only a few successful stories. These failures may have been made due to poor planning without considering the reality on the ground. This paper attempts to identify what is happening in the schools from the voices of the teachers. It will investigate support provided for the teachers. It is hoped the study will contribute to the stakeholders understanding of what teachers are doing in schools and that the study synthesizes teachers’ teaching abilities, the kind of teaching and learning in the schools, and support teachers can receive in emergency and conflicts situations. This may allow stakeholders understanding of what teachers face in emergency and conflicts situations.
The Role of Education in Developing Women Struck by Terrorism and Natural Disasters
Abida Mahmood, Administrator Qurban & Surraya Educational Trust, Lahore, Pakistan
There is a large body of research that shows that all natural and man made disasters impact men and women differently. The collective positioning of women as subordinate and dependent vis-à-vis men determines and shapes women’s vulnerabilities in conflict and disaster struck areas and situations. More than ever before there’s a need to empower women so that they can have full access to resources, power and decision making. Education is one of the fundamental rights of a human being and is considered as a distinction between human and beast. In the male dominated society of Pakistan women has always remained confined in a compound especially in the northern parts of Pakistan. The female education in North West of Pakistan is considered to be almost against of social and traditional norms while the on going militancy added insult to injuries depriving women of education, their inborn right. The recent floods also added to the psycho-social, economic and political conditions of women. This paper looks at the current situation of women’s conditions due to terrorism and natural disasters and suggests ways to improve the lives of women through education. Educating girls and women is central to long-term progress in Pakistan. With poverty and exclusion important contributing factors to the chronic instability and discontent, any longterm solution to the current conflict will have to find ways of improving the socio-economic status of the population. Educating girls and women is one of most highly leveraged investments in long-term development. It is recommended that the government and the global community should concentrate on the education of women so as to help them enter a self – sustaining circle.
Teacher Professional Development in Crisis
Becky Telford, War Child Holland
Teacher professional development (TPD) in conflict and emergency settings is in crisis. Children growing up in war are already at the sharp end of global development challenges: of the 57 million primary-age children who are out of school, almost half live in a conflict zone (Save the Children, 2013). Whilst the difficulties in realising the Millennium Development Goals on Education For All are well documented, emergency settings have both an increased need for education and an additional set of challenges which are significantly hampering efforts to provide it. Against this background, teacher quality is vital for child learning, yet those very teachers who need the most professional development are often those for whom it is non-existent or of a very low standard. Using a case study of South Sudan and the Connect.Teaching project, this paper outlines the current issues in teacher training in conflict-affected countries and the possible uses of ICT in supporting new models to raise the quality of teaching and of child learning. The discussion builds from the TPD in Crisis online series of 20-articles (Feb-April 2013). Curated by Mary Burns and James Lawrie, this forum brought together international experts, practitioners, and teachers from the North and South and generated an online community and movement. Using the research from that discussion, alongside experiences in South Sudan, this paper considers how wise use of ICT could help address many of the challenges we currently face: the problem of scale, of building capacity, leadership, and of budgetary issues. The debate on ICT and TPD should be placed alongside the current discourse on primary education in the global South in general and in conflict zones in particular. A diverse spectrum of ICT for education (ICT4E) programmes has been developed and are being tested internationally – some with great fanfare – but these tend to focus on the use of ICT and multimedia to develop enrichment materials for low quality formal primary education. Many programmes view the complex and multiple challenges facing formal education and teaching as too great to address, and focus instead on providing alternative access to education. But with all uses of ICT in education – and indeed in humanitarian work more generally – ICT and multimedia need to be seen as a tool, not an end in itself. Considering ways in which ICT can complement or potentially scale-up initiatives to improve teaching must be done within the framework of policy and infrastructure development, and a real commitment to providing quality education to children growing up in conflict.