A second chance at education for children in Syria

The conflict ravaging the Syrian Arab Republic has left over 13 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. While the international community has mobilized to provide shelter, food, and life-saving aid, UNESCO has been working to support the education system.

The Capacity Development for Education (CapED) Programme, one of UNESCO’s delivery platforms for the 2030 Agenda, focuses on providing educational opportunities and psychosocial support to children and young people affected by the crisis. Targeting children and youth deprived of, or at risk of missing education, CapED is working closely with education personnel at both the school and governorate levels to ensure education is accessible, an instrument for inclusion, and a means to alleviate the trauma of war. The approach is centred on the pivotal role of teachers and seeks to empower them with the necessary skills to deliver gender-responsive accelerated learning programmes and psychosocial support.

The Second Chance Programme aims to fill a gap in the education system. It provides the necessary assistance to families who cannot afford additional tuition for their children who have failed exams, supporting them to better understand the curriculum.

To date, 113,228 learners have benefitted from the Second Chance Programme, of which over 50% were girls. To complement these interventions, UNESCO carried out psychosocial support training for counsellors, and contextualised and produced 40,000 psychosocial support handbooks for distribution to teachers and counsellors. UNESCO also fundraised and rehabilitated 12 schools. While progress is encouraging, challenges remain.

CapED first started supporting psychosocial support training in Yemen in 2017. When completed, the programme will have trained master trainers from both sides of the conflict in psychosocial support who will then go onto train local governorate focal points. They will in turn train up to 320 primary and secondary school teachers across 24 schools. CapED replicated the psychosocial support initiative in Syria and expanded it to offer it as part of the Second Chance Programme.

Original source: UNESCO
Published on 18 February 2019