rmed conflicts, protracted crises and the impacts of climate change are causing disruption to education systems and resulting in record numbers of refugees and internally displaced people. From the floods in Pakistan, conflict in Ukraine, and now the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, children’s education and wellbeing are being disrupted. Currently, 222 million school-aged children are impacted and need educational support. Trends suggest this will escalate rapidly.
In many low- and lower-middle income countries, concurrent crises exacerbate one another. The most marginalized and vulnerable children are often most impacted. Education systems must consider their levels of preparedness, including reducing barriers to displaced children’s education.
What is “Preparedness” in Education?
‘Preparedness’ is about building resilient education systems; systems that have the processes, structures, depth of expertise and capacity to manage sudden changes with minimum additional investment of resources.
To build resilient education systems, we need to adopt a system-level response and strengthen the whole system in anticipation of disruption. Acting before a crisis is crucial. It can help save lives and reduce human suffering; offset some of the economic impacts of crises; improve the effectiveness of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts; and reduce reliance on ad hoc, slow and costly humanitarian aid after a crisis.
Evidence shows that in response to the pandemic, the education systems that were best prepared, agile, and adaptable were the most effective.
Past experience of crisis management can strengthen systems. During COVID-19, Sierra Leone’s Teacher Service Commission drew on experience from the Ebola crisis to launch an educational radio program within one week of school closures. However, we should not need to go through crisis to learn these lessons.
The Education in Emergencies (EiE) Day 1 approach outlines what is needed for Save the Children and partners to prepare for and deliver an education response which ensures that all children’s learning and wellbeing needs are prioritized from the outset of every acute humanitarian crisis.
For example, when Save the Children Country Office in Pakistan conducted Day 1 last year, their preparedness activities were put to an immediate test when the flooding emergency occurred soon after. The collection and prepositioning of teaching materials, the advanced preparation of life-saving messages on health, nutrition, and hygiene, and even the pre-vetting of potential staff for scale-up allowed for a much faster and more effective response.
At Cambridge, our approach to system strengthening is underpinned by the concept of system coherence. To strengthen your system, you should ensure as many components as possible are aligned. To ensure reforms work to improve coherence, a first step is system analysis to better understand which parts of the system are already well aligned, and working well, and which parts need improvement.
Preparedness, building resilience and whole system strengthening must be a priority for all governments, organizations, and donors.
A Cost-Effective Solution
With a rapidly growing funding gap for education in emergencies, it is essential we make greater investments, make investments go further, and make evidence-based decisions to accelerate results.
Investing in system strengthening in preparation for future crises or change will not only reduce the impact of the anticipated disruption but will also improve education outcomes outside of crises, delivering the best return on investment for donors and multilateral organizations.
For example, upskilling the teacher workforce on digital skills will improve teacher practices now and enable teachers to transition effectively to online teaching during a pandemic or climate crisis that results in the closure of schools. Similarly, investing in additional libraries and computer labs means you have rooms which can be easily repurposed as additional classrooms if required, or investing in education technology means the system has the tools for mass digital programs when needed.
If we compare two models for an education response to a crisis, we see Model A is a more coherent, savvy, and cost-effective approach to applying education funding:
However, recent research indicates that 55% of humanitarian funding is used for responding to crises that are predictable and a mere 1% is used for preparedness and early action.
It is critical for donors to better prioritize preparedness through system strengthening before crises hit. Donors should take a coherent approach to end the cycle of vulnerability, funding interventions that address urgent humanitarian needs as well as contributes to longer-term development and peace outcomes. For example, Cambridge has developed an approach to support teachers and learners affected by the war in Ukraine that responds to an immediate need, where children have been dispersed across geographies, while also preparing the Ministry of Education & Science to develop their education system in the future.
The first action leaders can take is investing in Education Cannot Wait (ECW), who are hosting a financing conference in Switzerland in just a few days’ time. Since 2016, ECW has transformed the delivery of education in emergencies and pursued the humanitarian-development nexus – practicing a context-driven approach, while maintaining focus on a long-term goal. They now require at least $1.5 billion to deliver an ambitious 2023 – 2026 strategic plan and reach 20 million crisis-affected children and young people with a quality education. It is within our power as a global community to invest more and invest more effectively, but we must act now.
a global affairs media network
Tomorrow’s Education Crises Require Preparedness, System-Strengthening
Photo by note thanun on Unsplash
February 15, 2023
Protracted crises like armed conflicts and climate change impacts are disrupting education systems-and those disruptions are likely to escalate. We need more resilient and smartly funded systems, particularly in low- and lower-middle income countries, write Hollie Warren and Marc Neesam.
A
rmed conflicts, protracted crises and the impacts of climate change are causing disruption to education systems and resulting in record numbers of refugees and internally displaced people. From the floods in Pakistan, conflict in Ukraine, and now the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, children’s education and wellbeing are being disrupted. Currently, 222 million school-aged children are impacted and need educational support. Trends suggest this will escalate rapidly.
In many low- and lower-middle income countries, concurrent crises exacerbate one another. The most marginalized and vulnerable children are often most impacted. Education systems must consider their levels of preparedness, including reducing barriers to displaced children’s education.
What is “Preparedness” in Education?
‘Preparedness’ is about building resilient education systems; systems that have the processes, structures, depth of expertise and capacity to manage sudden changes with minimum additional investment of resources.
To build resilient education systems, we need to adopt a system-level response and strengthen the whole system in anticipation of disruption. Acting before a crisis is crucial. It can help save lives and reduce human suffering; offset some of the economic impacts of crises; improve the effectiveness of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts; and reduce reliance on ad hoc, slow and costly humanitarian aid after a crisis.
Evidence shows that in response to the pandemic, the education systems that were best prepared, agile, and adaptable were the most effective.
Past experience of crisis management can strengthen systems. During COVID-19, Sierra Leone’s Teacher Service Commission drew on experience from the Ebola crisis to launch an educational radio program within one week of school closures. However, we should not need to go through crisis to learn these lessons.
The Education in Emergencies (EiE) Day 1 approach outlines what is needed for Save the Children and partners to prepare for and deliver an education response which ensures that all children’s learning and wellbeing needs are prioritized from the outset of every acute humanitarian crisis.
For example, when Save the Children Country Office in Pakistan conducted Day 1 last year, their preparedness activities were put to an immediate test when the flooding emergency occurred soon after. The collection and prepositioning of teaching materials, the advanced preparation of life-saving messages on health, nutrition, and hygiene, and even the pre-vetting of potential staff for scale-up allowed for a much faster and more effective response.
At Cambridge, our approach to system strengthening is underpinned by the concept of system coherence. To strengthen your system, you should ensure as many components as possible are aligned. To ensure reforms work to improve coherence, a first step is system analysis to better understand which parts of the system are already well aligned, and working well, and which parts need improvement.
Preparedness, building resilience and whole system strengthening must be a priority for all governments, organizations, and donors.
A Cost-Effective Solution
With a rapidly growing funding gap for education in emergencies, it is essential we make greater investments, make investments go further, and make evidence-based decisions to accelerate results.
Investing in system strengthening in preparation for future crises or change will not only reduce the impact of the anticipated disruption but will also improve education outcomes outside of crises, delivering the best return on investment for donors and multilateral organizations.
For example, upskilling the teacher workforce on digital skills will improve teacher practices now and enable teachers to transition effectively to online teaching during a pandemic or climate crisis that results in the closure of schools. Similarly, investing in additional libraries and computer labs means you have rooms which can be easily repurposed as additional classrooms if required, or investing in education technology means the system has the tools for mass digital programs when needed.
If we compare two models for an education response to a crisis, we see Model A is a more coherent, savvy, and cost-effective approach to applying education funding:
However, recent research indicates that 55% of humanitarian funding is used for responding to crises that are predictable and a mere 1% is used for preparedness and early action.
It is critical for donors to better prioritize preparedness through system strengthening before crises hit. Donors should take a coherent approach to end the cycle of vulnerability, funding interventions that address urgent humanitarian needs as well as contributes to longer-term development and peace outcomes. For example, Cambridge has developed an approach to support teachers and learners affected by the war in Ukraine that responds to an immediate need, where children have been dispersed across geographies, while also preparing the Ministry of Education & Science to develop their education system in the future.
The first action leaders can take is investing in Education Cannot Wait (ECW), who are hosting a financing conference in Switzerland in just a few days’ time. Since 2016, ECW has transformed the delivery of education in emergencies and pursued the humanitarian-development nexus – practicing a context-driven approach, while maintaining focus on a long-term goal. They now require at least $1.5 billion to deliver an ambitious 2023 – 2026 strategic plan and reach 20 million crisis-affected children and young people with a quality education. It is within our power as a global community to invest more and invest more effectively, but we must act now.
