By Education Cannot Wait
Dec 2 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Nyagoa Dak was born to a world in chaos. Her story is one of loss, of redemption, of struggle and of triumph.

At a very early age, Nyagoa lost her parents to the conflict in South Sudan. As the conflict escalated, she escaped with her grandmother to Ethiopia in 2014. There they settled in the Pugnido refugee camp in Ethiopia’s Gambella region.

When they arrived there were no educational programmes for refugees – let alone a girl with a disability like Nyagoa. Unable to walk, the bright-eyed six-year-old was left out of many of the activities in the camp. She didn’t play with other children. She didn’t go to school. Nyagoa was a forgotten child living in a forgotten crisis.

With funding from Education Cannot Wait, Save the Children mobilized parents, teachers, children and the community to get refugee and host community children and youth back in school in Pugnido.

Through the Parent Teachers and Student Association, volunteers like Sara started cleaning the school and reaching out to children living in the area. Through this work, they met Nyagoa and her grandma. No child should be left behind. Especially a child as sweet and courageous as Nyagoa. So they decided to carry the little refugee girl on their shoulders to her preschool classes. Nyagoa had made a friend.

More friends were soon to follow. RaDO, a local organization that supports children with disabilities, provided Nyagoa with a wheelchair.

“I don’t have any word to express my happiness. Thanks to Save the Children, Sara and her friend, I am attending school and playing with friends. My situation is changed,” says Nyagoa.

Nyagoa’s teacher couldn’t be more proud of this joyful and brilliant girl, who’s found her place amongst the other preschool children. “You can read from her face the sense of ‘Yes, I can learn.’ There is nothing more inspirational than being in school for a child like Nyagoa and we need to mobilize the community to bring more and more children with disabilities to schools.”

One of the beneficiaries of the ECW-supported programme, Nya Banytik Hoth, 14, grade 4, learns at Makod Primary and Secondary School in Tierkidi Refugee Camp, Gambella Region. Credit: UNICEF Ethiopia/2018/Mersha

Responding to COVID-19
Nyagoa’s journey is far from over. After seven months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Gambella are only now reopening.

Through Education Cannot Wait’s COVID-19 education in emergencies response, Save the Children and other partners are providing schools with disinfectants, water and sanitation facilities, and training on prevention and protection methods to slow the spread of the virus. Children are benefiting from expanded psychosocial support, gender-responsive education, and early literacy programmes. And teachers are receiving advanced training on math and early childhood development to ensure they have the tools they need to provide quality learning outcomes for special-needs children like Nyagoa.

The Big Picture
Ethiopia hosts the second largest refugee population in Africa. While drought, conflict, poverty, displacement and unequal access to education still exist, the nation as a whole is making impressive strides in providing access to education for refugees, internally displaced people, and other at-risk children, and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

The gains in enrollment are impressive. With support from a US$15 million Education Cannot Wait initial investment implemented by UNICEF and other supports, the primary gross enrollment ratio for refugee children in Ethiopia rose to 67 per cent in 2019, up five per cent from the year before.

Education Cannot Wait expanded this investment through a multi-year resilience programme. Launched in 2019, the programme is led by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education in partnership with Save the Children International, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait and the Education Cluster.

ECW’s catalytic grant is designed to activate resource mobilization efforts from donors, civil society organizations, the private sector and philanthropic foundations to fully-fund the programme, which will cost an estimated US$161 million over three years. The programme is designed to reach close to 750,000 girls and boys displaced by the crises in Ethiopia.

Nyagoa received a wheel chair and returned to school. Credit: Save the Children / Ethiopia

“This is an opportunity for aid partners to work together in breaking the cycles of inequality, illiteracy, poverty and hunger that too often come with forced displacement and jeopardize a child’s development. It’s a new vision for how nations can address the pressing educational needs of internally displaced children, refugees and returnees. We must step up to address this challenge and I call on all partners to join our efforts and contribute to this multi-year resilience programme to ensure no child is left behind in Ethiopia.” – Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait.

In Ethiopia, which hosts the second-largest refugee population in Africa, ECW funding boosted access to education for refugee children and youth (mainly from South Sudan) in the regions of Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambela.

Learn more about the impact of ECW funded programming in Ethiopia in our 2019 Annual Report.

“For 75M children & young people trapped in conflict zones, #EducationCannotWait. A lost generation is one where hope dies in those who live. It is our responsibility to rekindle hope.” ~ Gordon Brown.

By Education Cannot Wait
Nov 13 2020 (IPS-Partners)

Despite the various challenges they face, teachers are showing incredible dedication to their profession, writes Leandro Salazar-Lievano, our education expert deployed to UNHCR Mali.

Teaching has always played an important part in my personal and professional life. From my first teacher back in pre-primary to my adult years in university and my own experience as a language teacher in Colombia and France; it has shaped the way I think and perceive this world.

Through teaching, I learned about myself and to be mindful of others by caring about people’s learning and development process. Through teaching, I discovered the important role education plays in every society, which made the education sector my battlefield and people’s learning my life goal.

Through an education, I was able to fulfill my own life goals. Refugee, internally displaced and host community children deserve the same fate\”, writes Leandro Salazar-Lievano, our NORCAP expert deployed to UNHCR Mali (pictured in blue).(Photo: UNHCR Mali)

Preventing conflict and trauma through education

At UNHCR Mali, we place a special focus on teachers’ capacity development and strengthening in our education interventions in conflict-affected zones. We understand how important it is for communities at large to have well equipped, motivated, committed, inspiring female and male teachers as role models for the current and future generations.

For displaced communities in hosting regions, it means an opportunity for children to find safety and protection as we strengthen teachers’ capacity to address stress and trauma through mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in safe, friendly, and inclusive learning environments.

For the country, it means the promotion and preservation of a peaceful nation, in which youth are essential actors contributing to peace-building processes.

Teachers in Gao, Mali during a training session with UNHCR and NORCAP. (Photo: Leandro Salazar-Lievano/NORCAP)

Teacher training in Mali

Our most recent teachers’ training session took place in Mali’s Gao region during the week the international day of the teacher is commemorated.

Thirty-six female and male teachers and school principals participated in an Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded six-day training on Covid-19 prevention in schools. Facilitated jointly by the regional education authority and UNHCR Mali’s education unit, the training focused on MHPSS and Education in Emergencies (EiE).

Every teacher had a story and a good practice to share, and the sessions became the right place to exchange about challenges and ways forward. I witnessed the commitment of each of them in giving their best to maintaining children at school – safe and learning – and to contribute to maintaining peace in their communities.

I love what I do

“What motivates me most in my profession is the love for children. I love what I do,” Maria, a young teacher, explains.

Like her, teachers in Mali showcase an intrinsic motivation towards the profession despite the various challenges they face, mostly in terms of security, threats, attacks against them, and limited resources. Other teachers, like Issa, manifest that their motivation lies in contributing to the development of future generations and highlights the role everyone plays as models in society.

One of the teachers participating in the training session in Gao, Mali (Photo: Leandro Salazar-Lievano/NORCAP)

They were also aware of their key contribution in reducing school dropout rates among children, as well as the impact of being out of school has on children’s safety, protection and future. Once children drop out, they become easy targets for early marriage and pregnancy, sexual exploitation and abuse, recruitment into armed groups, child labour, and other protection risks that hinder the fulfillment of their life goals.

Through education, I was able and continue to fulfill my own life goals. Refugee, internally displaced and host community children deserve the same fate, and teachers in Mali are doing all it takes to make that become a reality for hundreds of thousands of children across the country.

To all of them, my sincere admiration and unconditional support.

Responding to COVID-19

Earlier this year, Education Cannot Wait launched a series of COVID-19 education in emergencies responses. In Mali, a total of $1.5 million was allocated to UNICEF ($750,000) and UNHCR ($750,000).

Activities supported through this series of emergency grants run from 6 to 12 months and include:

• Emergency Education Measures: With the total disruption of the usual education systems in emergency-affected areas, grants are to support alternative delivery models, including informal education materials at the household level, as well as scaling up distance education programmes, particularly via interactive radio. Social emotional learning and psychosocial support are prominent components of the academic curriculum to be provided in these alternative delivery models.
• Messaging and Support Around Risks: ECW grants are to support information campaigns and the scaling up of risk communications and community engagement with target populations. Messaging, tailored to local languages and contexts, are to give practical advice about how to stay safe, including through handwashing and social distancing. Refugees, displaced and marginalized people may also experience xenophobia and stigma, requiring mental health and psychosocial support. Parents and teachers are to receive COVID19-specific guidance to promote the resilience and the psychosocial wellbeing of children and youth at home.
• Upgrading Water and Sanitation Facilities in Schools: This is to benefit both students and the wider community as handwashing is a first line of defense against COVID-19. Even when schools and learning facilities are officially closed, in many cases there is still access to these facilities, and they can serve as crucial hubs to increase access to handwashing and distribute hygiene materials and kits.

2019 Update

In Mali, after flooding devastated parts of the country, ECW established school feeding programmes that encouraged children to stay in school or to return if they had dropped out. The intervention reached more learners than planned, feeding 32,689 children (16,746 girls/15,943 boys) in 35 primary schools and 47 early childhood development centres.

Learn more about the impact of ECW-funded programming in Mali and the Sahel Region in our 2019 Annual Report.

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Alzira Ngomane, 17, and her brother Amilcar Ngomane, 14, have been studying at home using the television program Telescola since their schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique / 2020 / Claudio Fauvrelle

By Education Cannot Wait
Nov 2 2020 (IPS-Partners)

“We missed our teachers, they were very friendly and helped us solve the complex exercises, but with the coronavirus, we need to adapt and learn to solve our exercises alone at home,” says Alzira Ngomane, 17 years old, and her brother Amilcar Ngomane, 14, from the Albazine district, in the city of Maputo, Mozambique.

Since their school was closed in March 2020 as a preventive measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Alzira and Amilcar are now studying at home using the television programme Telescola da Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).

Every afternoon at 3 p.m., Alzira and Amilcar place their notebooks on the small wooden table in their living room and turn on the television to follow the classes broadcast by TVM. Both recognize that it is not the same as being in a classroom with their colleagues and teachers. But despite the short 30-minute lessons they can remember some subjects and do their exercises.

Alzira studies at Escola Secundária Eduardo Mondlane, in 12th grade, and dreams of being a civil engineer. Her school closed 6 months ago when the Government of Mozambique declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.

“I try to maintain a routine while I’m at home: wake up and do my housework, then study and watch Telescola. Without Telescola, it would be difficult to understand the subjects and solve some exercises. The teachers who participate in Telescola clarify many of my doubts, and I can do the exercise sheets they give us at school and also can better understand the subject,” says Alzira.

“At school, it was easier to get answers to my questions because we had the teacher present. At home it is more difficult to study and concentrate. I dream of being an architect because I like to draw. I know I need to go to school to achive my dream, and, with the schools closed, Telescola is helping me to continue studying at home so that I can continue working to make my dream come true,” says Amilcar.

Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique

Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique

Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique

To support the continuity of children’s learning during school closings, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with funding from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), is supporting Telescola television education and radio education programmes, including translation into local languages and broadcast on community radio. For example, TVM broadcasts about 1.5 to 2.5 hours of Telescola per day to support the continuity of learning for children in primary and secondary education. During COVID-19, school closings and movement restrictions continued in Mozambique, making it difficult for millions of children to learn. Until September 2020, the government had not yet decided on the reopening of primary and secondary schools.

Constância Guiama, 56, is one of several teachers who accepted the challenge of teaching at Telescola.

“This experience has been an asset both for the teachers who participate and for those students who accompany them, too. I have been part of the Telescola programme since its inception in 2005, so when schools closed due to the coronavirus it only made sense to return to teaching and supporting students through Telescola,” says Constância.

Constância Guiama, 56, is a teacher at Francisco Manyanga Secondary School, in the city of Maputo, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she is now teaching on television during the Telescola program. Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique / 2020 / Claudio Fauvrelle

Professor Constância also uses digital platforms to teach and support her students. Once a week she teaches using the Zoom application, so she can have face-to-face interaction with her students. Some of their students are unable to participate in online classes due to the financial situation that does not always allow them to access the Internet.

“I receive complaints from some of my students that they cannot access the Internet to participate in my Zoom calls or read my explanations on WhatsApp, so Telescola helps to solve this problem.”

Herika Manhiça, 17, and her sister Laurina Manhiça, 12, are also using Telescola to study and learn from home. They live in the neighborhood of Mahotas, in the city of Maputo. Herika studies at Laulane Secondary School in 12th grade, and her sister studies at Estrela do Oriente Primary School in 7th grade. Both share the same dream of becoming doctors.

With what Herika Manhiça, 17 years old, learned at Telescola, she decided to teach her younger sister Laurina Manhiça, 12 years old, and her friends: \”I use the gate of my house to teach them\”. Credit: | UNICEF Mozambique / 2020 / Claudio Fauvrelle

“Our day is different now, we have to be quarantined at home, and we learned that we always have to wear a mask if we want to go outside and wash our hands with soap and water to protect ourselves from the coronavirus. As soon as the coronavirus started, our school closed, and they gave us exercise sheets so we could study at home. It was difficult to do some of the exercises without support because some subjects were new. But with Telescola, it became easier because, through our television, we can learn all the new subjects and the teachers also teach us how to solve some difficult exercises. We all thought that the coronavirus would pass quickly and that we were going to go back to school soon, but unfortunately, that is not the case now,” says Herika.

With what she learned at Telescola, Herika decided to teach her younger sister and her friends at home: “I use the gate of my house to teach them. If I know how to read, I have to teach others to read too,” says Herika.

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