Education programme models

Education is one of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s four core areas of activities. A range of programmes has been developed to meet the varying needs of refugee and IDP children in different countries. The constant challenge is how to help secure completion of schooling for the individuals and sustainability for the programme.

Bridge to formal schools

In 1999, after discussions with UNICEF and the Ministry of Education in Sierra Leone, NRC decided to give priority to 10- to 13-year-olds who had lost out on schooling either totally or in part. Governments and NGOs tend to start schools for younger age groups but older children are more vulnerable to recruitment or abduction to armed service, increasingly in demand at home, and have little interest in being in class with younger children. A ‘catch-up’ programme of eight months was therefore developed to provide an intensive learning opportunity to enable children to enter the third grade in mainstream schools.[1] Similar programmes are being used in Angola, Burundi and DRC.[2]

Youth Pack

Another seriously under-served age group is illiterate youth aged 14 to 18, or older. They are at an even more critical stage, some growing into adult illiteracy, some choosing violence and crime for lack of a positive alternative, and yet others trying to return to a normal life after involvement in armed groups. A one-year Youth Pack programme – providing literacy, life skills and skills training – was developed and piloted in Sierra Leone in 2003.[3] This provides youth with a minimum of important knowledge and skills to improve their quality of life and chances of getting a job. It does not meet the overarching objective of helping children to complete their primary schooling but is a realistic, relevant alternative for many war-affected youth. In future, academically-interested learners may be able to opt for primary school subjects instead of skills training.

Accelerated Learning Programme

In catch-up schemes, attendance and performance tend to be fairly good: schooling is free and the learning environment inviting. However, we have only limited knowledge of how many children continue in school, for how long, and how many actually complete their primary education. General statistics show encouraging numbers of children enrolling in first grade, with a reasonably good gender balance, but numbers plummet towards fourth and fifth grades, with a high number of drop-outs and greater gender imbalance.

For these reasons NRC decided to take a closer look at the issue of providing the longer-term Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP), where appropriate/feasible. An ALP is often defined as a three-year programme compressing six years of primary schooling; it aims to enable older children/adolescents to complete their basic education and obtain educational qualifications in a relatively short period of time. There are no fees and the methods and teachers are likely to be consistent throughout the programme.

The Sierra Leone model – CREPS (Complementary Rapid Education for Primary Schools) – was developed by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education. NRC helped implement the programme in three provinces, involving over 5,000 children. The content focuses on literacy and numeracy; religious, moral and values education; peace and human rights education; physical and health education (including nutrition, HIV/AIDS); environmental education; and culture and traditions. The teacher training element focuses on learner-centred and participatory methodology; understanding children with traumatic experiences; teacher ethics and behaviour; creation of conducive learning environment; and communication and cooperation with parents and community.

The dilemma for a short- to medium-term humanitarian organisations may be the dependence on annual funding from main donors, combined with a three-year commitment. By ensuring that partners and target groups are aware of the conditions, however, organisations should be able to take on the ALP challenge. ALPs are a stop-gap measure and are not viable as a permanent or development education mechanism.

NRC guidelines for planning an ALP will include the following requirements:

· reasonable certainty of financial support over some years

· understanding by the country’s education authorities of the programme’s limitations and the need for their support and gradual take-over

· local community understanding of the programme’s risks and limitations and the need for their support

· identification of donors with a two- to three-year perspective

· identification of NGOs willing to enter into partnership from the beginning or at an agreed point in time.