an Eldis Resource
Learning for a future: refugee education in developing countries
How to improve education for refugees
Authors:
M. Sinclair; J. H. Williams; T. Brown; M. Sommers; E. Lyby
Publisher:
United Nations [UN] High Commission for Refugees , 2002
Looks at education as a vehicle for rebuilding refugee children’s lives, through social interaction and gaining knowledge and skills for their future lives.
It reviews the state of the art, identifys key issues and best practices, and aims to assist in updating UNHCR guidelines for assistance to refugee education in developing countries. The five chapters in this book address different issues within the context of education for refugees:
- Margaret Sinclair reviews the rationale for education in situations of emergency and crisis and in terms of the protection and psychosocial needs of displaced children and adolescents, the need tomaintain and develop study skills as a contribution to individual and national development, and the dissemination of key messages regarding health, environment, conflict resolution and citizenship
- Jim Williams looks at research on education in developing countries, to see what lessons can be learned for refugee education in ‘care and maintenance’ situations
- Tim Brown visited refugee schools in Nepal, to examine issues of quality and draws attention to the lack of consistent donor funding to maintain even the low-cost models of refugee education supported by UNHCR
- Marc Sommers looks at the conceptual framework underlying ‘education for peace’, a term not popular with some analysts but greatly appreciated by refugee participants seeking a peaceful solution to the conflicts that have led to their refugee status
The papers presented in the volume were commissioned by UNHCR and presented at a March 2001workshop on ‘Refugee Education in Developing Countries: Policy and Practice’.
