Even before the publication of the INEE Conflict Sensitive Education (CSE) manual in 2013, practitioners internationally were testing and proving different conflict sensitive strategies, many of which are highlighted in the CSE Guidance Note. From June to August, I had the privilege to work with the Refugee Education Trust’s (RET) Dadaab team in Kenya. In this discussion post, I will speak to my understanding and experience with attempting CSE with out-of school and over-age youth in the refugee camps around Dadaab in order to open up discussion about CSE for adolescents and youth. The next few paragraphs outline my experience in Dadaab and are followed by discussion questions linking practice with the Guiding Principle from INEE: Stabilise, rebuild or build the education system.
Dadaab is a unique emergency context. It is protracted and the camps are subject to national and international law that restrict refugees’ movements and right to work.
These figures are compounded when we consider that many youth who completed primary school are not able to go to secondary school, thus creating a large population of over-age youth unable to return to school
The CSE Guidance note specifically focuses on youth, with some consideration of the unique position that youth may find themselves in during and after conflict and natural disasters. Specifically, the Note emphasizes the accessibility of education for youth, highlighting common concerns in educational programming in emergencies which emphasize primary education and literacy above secondary education, accelerated learning programming, and out-of-school training, either vocational or linked with community development. RET is exploring and expanding an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) for secondary school in Dadaab. The school serves as a program to build skills of refugees in the camps, while not (re)building a long-term educational programming or infrastructure. The ALP works with teachers from the camps, who are age-mates and community members with the students creating a supportive environment for team building. Finally, RET also provides frequent in service training opportunities for teachers, which helps build their skills, though teacher retention is low as many leave to pursue studies outside of the camp or for personal/ family reasons.
Discussion 6: Stabilise, rebuild or build the education system - Secondary Education, Accelerated Learning and engaging out-of-school and/or overage youth