Educa&onal Policies and Schooling Prac&ces for Urban Refugees

- Stakeholder Mee&ng -

Emerging Findings from a Global Survey and Lebanon Case Study

Elizabeth Buckner Teachers College, Columbia University

Issam Fares Ins&tute, American University of Beirut June 28, 2016

Photo: UNHCR / Richard Wainwright

Ra&onale

•  Two thirds of the world’s refugee popula&on now live in urban areas (Kronick 2013; Morand Mahoney & Rabkin, 2012)

•  The ‘experience, approaches, tools and skill sets of humanitarian agencies are s&ll mostly grounded in rural or camp seYngs’ (IRC 2015, p.5).

Urban

CampandRural

What is urban?

Research Ques&on

 How do global educa&on policies, na&onal educa&on policies, and local schooling prac&ces intersect to shape urban refugees access to quality educa&on?

GlobalEduca2onPolicy

LocalSchoolingPrac2ces

Na2onalEduca2onPolicy

GlobalEduca2onPolicy

LocalSchoolingPrac2ces

Na2onalEduca2onPolicy

Sub RQ1: How do global policies inform

na&onal policies for urban refugee educa&on?

Sub RQ2: How do na&onal policies influence access to safe and quality educa&on for urban refugees?

Sub RQ3: What can we learn from local schooling prac&ces and how can they inform global (and

na&onal) policies?

Global Survey Case Studies

Conceptual Framework

Global Survey •  Survey Sample

o  16 countries with high popula&ons of urban refugees o  Organiza&ons

•  Topics covered: o  Global and na&onal polices o  Different organiza&onal roles and rela&onships o  Challenges and recommenda&ons

•  Translated into local languages (7 languages) •  Cogni&ve interviews with select stakeholders •  Sampling Design: non-random, snowball (N=187) •  Data collec&on: February – May 2016

Countries and Regions

[CATEGORY

NAME] [PERCENTAGE]

[CATEGORY

NAME] [PERCENTAGE]

[CATEGORY

NAME] [PERCENTAGE]

456666

89

121313

1517

1920

26

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

CostaRicaVenezuela

SouthAfricaIran

PanamaSudanEgypt

MalaysiaUganda

CameroonLebanon

KenyaTurkey

EcuadorJordan

Pakistan

Profile of Respondents

15%

17%

24%

28%

28%

31%

31%

36%

40%

43%

51%

52%

87%

ArtsandcultureOther(Pleasespecify):RefugeereseWlement

Housing/shelterSportsandrecrea2onWaterandsanita2on

FoodsecurityLegalservices

Healthandnutri2onLivelihoods

ChildProtec2onPsychosocial

Educa2on

Case Studies

Lebanon Case Study March 2016

Overview of Data Collec&on   22 interviews + 4 teacher interviews:

◦  2 government- MEHE ◦  4 UN agencies- UNHCR, UNICEF, UNRWA, UNESCO ◦  5 INGOs ◦  3 NGOs & CBOs ◦  1 donor ◦  1 legal advocacy org (via Skype)

  Field visits: ◦  Sha&la- Pales&nian urban neighborhood, now home to Syrians as well ◦  Bekka Valley- spectrum of urban/rural seYngs ◦  Public school in Beirut ◦  Non-formal school in Beirut

An NGO-Run School in Beirut

Emerging Findings

Urban Refugee Educa&on in Lebanon Roughly 80% of refugees in Lebanon are in urban areas; 15-20% in rural areas / ITS

◦  Refugees in urban areas have greater access to public services ◦  Refugees’ choice to sesle in rural or urban area oten reflects differences in SES

URBAN RURAL

●  Transporta2onavailable(cost~$20/mo)●  Work(construc2on,shops,restaurants,streetlabor,

domes2clabor)●  Languageofinstruc2on(French&Englishvs.Arabic)●  Integra2onwithLebanese(inschoolsand

surroundingcommuni2es)●  Difficultyiden2fyingandreachingrefugees

●  Transporta2on-bothcostanddistance●  Agriculturallaborinterrupts●  Raidsandevic2onsofITS=fearofleavingcamps●  LowdemandschoolamongmanyinITS●  Mismatchbetweenloca2onofschoolsandloca2on

ofrefugees

Educa&onal Rights of Refugees

Opportuni&es for Advocacy

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

NotSignatory SignedwithSomeReserva2ons FullComm2ment

Scal

e of

Incl

usiv

ity (1

-4)

How Inclusive are Educa&onal Policies of Refugees?

Survey results suggest that signing the 1951 Convention on Refugees and its 1967 Protocol is associated with having more inclusive educational policies for refugees cross-nationally

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

POLICY TIMELINE

2011 2012

July 2013Creation of

Education Sector Working Group (ESWG)

Early 2015Creation of PMU

2015-2016 Government of Lebanon and Its Partners Launch LCRP to Reinforce Stability

June 2016Creation of NFE NGO Sub-committee

In ProgressMEHE Reviews RACE II for Release

2014

May 2014RACE Launched

Reaching All Children in Education RACE is a a three-year program organized under three main pillars: access, quality, and systems strengthening. The overall objective is to ensure equitable access to educational opportunities, improve the quality of teaching and learning, and strengthen national education systems, policies and monitoring.

2016

September 2014ESWG Disbanded

October 2013UNICEF and Partners Launch

No Lost Generation February 2016Supporting Syria 2016(London Conference) Commits $12B in Aid

Regional

National

January 2016 NFE FrameworkReleased

March 2011Beginning of Syrian Civil War

2013 2015

September 2015MEHE/PMU Open 238 Second Shift Schools to Syrians

LEBANON: SYRIAN CRISIS

February 2016 MEHE Launches ALP

January 2015 Lebanese GeneralSecurity Cancels Open Door Policy

May 2015UNHCR stops

registering new refugees

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

Impact of RACE

 Es&mated out of school rate has fallen from 78% in 2013-2014 to 49% in 2015-2016.

Current Policy Issues 1.  Policy Contradic&ons: Even though MEHE posi&on and RACE is inclusive, refugees’

lack of legal status and right to work undermine educa&onal goals

2.  Sustainability: if RACE II meets its goals, it is likely that more Syrians to be enrolled in public schools than Lebanese – what will happen if donor funding is not sustained?

3.  Civil Society: Ensuring civil society voice in issues of policy design – some progress on this with crea&on of NGO sub-commisee

4.  Time Frame: RACE II is a 5-year program, but it must take into account various scenarios concerning Syrian civil war and various scenarios for changing numbers of refugees

Policy-Prac&ce Gap

Policy-Prac&ce Gap Globally

34%

35%

36%

36%

41%

42%

43%

46%

50%

55%

60%

50%

63%

48%

63%

62%

50%

59%

55%

64%

72%

56%

Teacherrecruitmentofna2onalteachersInclusion(i.e.,gender,disability,language)

Schoolschedule(one-ortwo-shiis)Tui2onandfees

Gradeplacementandpromo2onTeachertraining

Languageofinstruc2onCurriculum

Gradua2on,degree,orexitexamsSchoolregistra2on

Teacherrecruitmentofrefugeeteachers

Implementa2on Policy

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

In Lebanon…

 “Policies are great…. I mean we're way ahead of other countries in the region…It's just the actual implementa&on is really lagging…both because of capacity limita&ons but also because…maybe the refugees are just not interested in the services that are being provided.” ~INGO Employee, March 2016, Beirut

Policy-Prac&ce Gap in Lebanon •  RACE policies are officially very inclusive – but implementa&on faces a number of barriers: • Lack of mapping second-shit schools to where refugees actually are – in

part, due to lack of data on refugee communi&es • Resistance from local communi&es and/or school administrators to

implemen&ng RACE • RACE policies – and MEHE policies generally – are undermined by feelings of

insecurity due to restric&ve residency and employment regula&ons • Mistrust on part of refugee communi&es

• Unclear policy framework has made it difficult for civil society to carry out their work

Major Barriers and Recommenda&ons

Major Barriers to Accessing School - Globally • Overcrowding or lack of space (89.6%)

•  Lack of awareness about educa&onal op&ons (87.5%)

•  No transporta&on and distance to school (87.45%)

•  Government schools not accep&ng students is the LEAST cited problem (29.9%)

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

Top Recommenda&ons Globally

IntegrateRefugeesintoPublicSchools

(48.3%)

ProvideTeacherTraining(30.0%)

SupportCommunitySchools(29.2%)

Key Tension

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

Integraterefugeesinto

na2onalschoolsGovernmentschools

donotacceptrefugeestudents

Top recommendation

Least cited barrier

In Lebanon…The Cer&fica&on Ques&on •  As with global survey, major finding from Lebanon interviews: all actors support integra&on into public schools

•  Major jus&fica&on for full integra&on is official cer*fica*on

•  But, in prac&ce, official policies (requirements for 7th and 8th grade transcripts) have prevented refugees from siYng for the Brevet and difficul&es in language and curriculum make it difficult to pass

•  Given these contradic&ons – if most refugee children do not actually end up siYng for or passing Brevet and have few op&ons for secondary - is official cer&fica&on the only / best jus&fica&on for integra&on into public schools?

Top Three Recommenda&ons in Lebanon

SupportCommunityRunSchools

ProvideTransporta2on

ProvideTeacherTraining

What Should Role of Civil Society Be?

“We're pushing to put in place programs that actually address the needs of the children because obviously formal educa&on and ALP are not enough.”

~INGO Representa&ve, March 2016, Beirut

Government and Civil Society •  Globally, among all survey respondents, an “unclear policy framework” is the biggest obstacle for organiza&ons working in refugee educa&on (54.24% sta&ng it as a significant barrier)

•  In Lebanon, we know the rela&onship between government and civil society has been tense, with civil society feeling as it has very lisle voice in policy decisions / pushed out of opera&ng space

•  There has been some progress on this with crea&on of the consulta&ve NFE NGO sub-commisee, announced on June 10, 2016

• Moving forward, MEHE sees civil society providing: ECD, community outreach, homework support and transporta&on

Programma&c Findings

The Secondary Gap

9% 17%

50%

75%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Primary Secondary

OutofSchoolRateGlobally

AllChildren Refugees

Source: UNHCR 2016

The Secondary Gap

22%28%

37%43%

48%56%58%

69%77%

OnlineordistanceReligious/Parochialschools

Privateschools(non-religious)RefCommunitySchools

SchoolsinrefugeecampsNGOschools

AcceleratedlearningNFEprograms

Governmentschools

What are you doing to support urban refugee educa&on?

Primary Secondary

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

In Lebanon…

•  Lebanon has <3,000 Syrian refugee students in public secondary schools

•  Issues of language and curriculum compounded in secondary and specific policy barriers

•  Very lisle funding for secondary educa&on

•  SDG4 commits all countries to mee&ng full course of primary and secondary

The Transporta&on Gap - Globally

65% 67%

56%

18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

LackofTeacherTraining LackofTransporta2on

ViewasMajorBarrier ProvideSolu2on

Source: Teachers College Urban Refugee Global Survey

Program Ideas from Other Countries…

•  School feeding programs to asract students and address family demand •  Mentoring programs (for students and/or teachers) •  Developing student leadership opportuni&es for refugee students / such as student councils •  Providing direct grants to schools to promote integra&on •  Mobile / semi-permanent classrooms (used in Iraq) •  Prolonged community integra&on •  Arts, theater, sports clubs and ac&vi&es with both refugee and local communi&es •  In-school point person/resource to focus on refugee needs

Teacher Recruitment and Training •  Many issues with double-shits – difficult working condi&ons • What advances in policy are needed regarding teachers?

• Training in bilingual educa&on – possibili&es for using Arabic as a LOI at least transi&onally? • Serious issue for all displaced contexts

•  Trainings for both teachers and school administrators

•  Trainings on mixed-grade or mixed-age classrooms (ALPs)

•  More thorough trainings on the psychosocial needs of refugees

What the future might hold…  From other protracted refugee contexts in Ecuador and Kenya, we know… • Donors’ asen&on tends to be short-term – current funding

levels are unlikely to be sustainable • Organiza&ons’ staff will likely be na&onalized – meaning

capacity will increasingly lie in local NGO offices • Refugees may become further integrated – urban refugees

may become “invisible”

Future Research •  Teacher Survey

• We need to understand beser teachers’ needs and experiences •  Refugee Mapping

• Opening second-shit schools where refugees actually are •  Psychosocial Needs

• Tools to beser assess psychosocial needs of refugees •  UNRWA Integra&on

• UNRWA has been more successful at integra&ng refugees into schools, even secondary and has produced and implemented human rights/peace educa&on curricula – what lessons can MEHE learn from UNRWA experience?

Thank you!

 Any ques&ons, comments, sugges&ons, please feel free to contact:

 Elizabeth Buckner (esb2174@tc.columbia.edu)

 Mary Mendenhall, Co-PI (mendenhall@tc.edu)

 Garnes Russell, Co-PI (sgrussell@tc.columbia.edu)

Ques&ons for Discussion

•  What data would be most useful for you? In what format? •  What are your sugges&ons for strengthening the programma&c guidance we

might be able to offer? •  What are your concerns about the emerging recommenda&on that integra&on

into na&onal schools is the best approach? •  What are the barriers/challenges to implementa&on of this

recommenda&on? •  What does “integra&on” mean in different local contexts?

•  What are the poten&al implica&ons of this study on the policy and prac&ce for the educa&on sector?

•  What are we missing? •  What about linkages with other sectors?