Think Creative - Issue 5

Learning in conflict

School brings some stability and normalcy to communities, helping students thrive. This classroom is participating in the Northern Education Initiative Plus project.

Creative partnered with the Afghan Ministry of Education and community representatives to develop new teaching and learning materials.

Zainab began her education at a non-formal learning center and was then able

to integrate into the formal school system.

A student in Afghanistan reads from the blackboard in his classroom.

cation can be delivered in a non-formal setting: Under the shade of a tree, under temporary structures, in a mosque or church … [It] has to be flexible.” But simply enrolling out-of-school children and youth in school is not without its challenges. Students often need to catch up after significant time out of school. Others struggle to overcome poor-quality education or have not yet had the opportunity to study in a formal school. Creative helps bridge that gap by establishing non-formal education centers with accelerat- ed curriculums. This provides students a safe environment to catch up on skills like basic lit- eracy and math, as well as psychosocial support before integrating into formal school. It also expands the possibilities of what can constitute a place of learning, which is import- ant in crisis and conflict when actual school buildings may be at risk, closed or damaged. While taking an adaptive approach to educa- tion, Creative also prioritizes curriculum that is compatible with existing systems and has a path to accreditation. This is essential to ensure that students are not only learning, but that their studies are also recognized for the next level of schooling or to join the workforce. Zainab is one of these students. Though she is only 11 years old, she knew from an early age that a quality education would illuminate a path toward becoming a doctor in her home of Northern Nigeria. She learned about the non-formal learning centers implemented by Creative through the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus project and asked her father’s permission to join. Zainab studied at one of the project’s non- formal learning centers in Bauchi state for nine months and then took an exam that qualified her

Students of the Afghan Children Read program use Social Emotional Learning skills to regulate their emotions and strengthen their relationships.

“The challenges faced by these children are only part of their story.”

are key components for a successful education in conflict program. Jan Aqa Sahibyar is part of the Shakardara Edu- cation Department in Kabul, which is involved in the current USAID-funded Afghan Children Read project and its efforts to develop and roll- out new teaching and learningmaterials. He says that engaging students’ parents has been a priority of the program and, in turn, par- ents have expressed interest in their children’s education. “The role of parent councils has been improved through this program, and they are more en- gaged because of it. Parents requested that we form committees in every school because they could help us with whatever kind of aid that was required,” he explains. Due in large part to this level of support, the project has taken root in communities across four provinces and, as of the first quarter of 2019, has trained 6,802 teachers and reached 402,434 students. Feeling safe: Emotional support for students and teachers Janet Shriberg, Creative’s Senior Technical Ad- visor for Child Protection andWell-being, was overseeing a disaster mental health program in Venezuela after the 1999 mudslide when

she fully committed to a career in education in emergencies. Tens of thousands had been killed; many were displaced; and the country’s schools, hospitals and businesses were closed— yet Shriberg saw a common theme of children wanting to continue their studies. “The challenges faced by these children are only part of their story,” says Shriberg. Children who have survived conflict have special needs that must be addressed, but they are also resilient. “In conflict settings, there is so much going on in the environment and it’s so dangerous. Who wouldn’t have struggles? It’s hard to address emotional regulation in an unstable place,” she says. “Teachers are so overburdened and there isn’t as much time and space to think through and practice these things as you would have in other places.” To meet this need, Creative incorporates Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into its approach to support students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach. SEL is “the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empa- thy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions,” according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning.

– Janet Shriberg, Creative’s Senior Technical Advisor for Child Protection and Wellbeing

After a rocket-propelled grenade knocked a hole in their classroom wall, students in Nigeria repaired the damage by filling it in with bricks.

for admission into grade 3 in a formal school. While her father was not initially enthusi- astic about Zainab’s academic pursuits, two years later he has become one of her greatest supporters. “He was the one who brought me to school and he bought my uniform and books. He loves that I can now read,” Zainab says. In three years, the Northern Education Initiative Plus project has provided abridged education programs to approximately 180,000 out-of-school-children like Zainab, including more than 73,000 girls, and facilitated their mainstreaming into formal schools. Education led by government, brought to life by communities Eileen St. George remembers being the only woman sitting on the floor of a mosque full of

men in Afghanistan. It was the early 2000s— long before she became Vice President of Creative’s Education Division—and earning the trust of these men was a key step in extending education programming to their children, in- cluding their daughters. Relationship building from the community level to the government level is particularly delicate and necessary in complex environments like Afghanistan, she explains. “Trust is destabilized in conflict countries; cohesion is destabilized at all levels,” says St. George. “You’re walking into environments where there are all these political actors engaged and you’re trying to figure out who’s who and with what agenda,” she adds. “We take very seriously that process of engaging, orienting and listening to the local entities to really hear from them and grow consensus around the program.”

One element of this proven approach is to improve the skill level of personnel at the educa- tionministry and then position them to lead the process. Other essential actors—teachers, par- ents, local organizations, community councils, women’s groups, religious leaders and others— are then brought in to develop projects. Creative’s experts introduce best practices, offer guidance based on similar situations and introduce techniques to evaluate progress, all the while with the aim of strengthening exist- ing systems rather than coming in as outsiders with all the answers. “It’s hard work… but it’s critical to do it authen- tically and remember the importance of hearing local voices and evolving the program to make it ever more responsive to them,” says St. George. Community input, buy-in and ongoing support

Photo by Sani Toro (top left); Erick Gibson (right)

Photo of wall by Chris McMorrow; Afghan school photos by JimHuylebroek

16 | Think Creative | Spring 2019

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