Innovation in Refugee Education

Refugees are victims of war, conflict, and oppression. Once the immediate danger subsides, usually through displacement and seeking safety elsewhere, refugees gradually re-emerge. As they try their best to pick up the pieces of their lives, they must work twice as hard to navigate a new world where they have even fewer resources than they did before. Children are especially affected by this shift, as they must catch up with all the learning they missed while uncertain about their future prospects. 

The unique situations that create displacement call for innovative solutions to refugee education. Community organizations and NGOs often struggle to deliver adequate education to youth due to the lack of resources and infrastructure that are necessary to most modern learning. Barriers to access provide a challenge for organizations to implement creative, portable, empowering educational opportunities that uplift youth after facing years, or even decades, of trauma. 

Refugee education must be accessible in a variety of unique settings from refugee camps to remote villages lacking internet access. Moreover, it must be tailored to meet children’s specific needs, which include traditional skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic and development skills like self-confidence. War Child’s “Can’t Wait to Learn'' program focuses on these two facets and creates self-guided education through tablet-based games. The games are custom-made for each community’s elementary-age children and include instruction, practice, and learning management modules. Students can access the program through audio and video instruction, learn at their own pace, and revisit activities. Trained teachers guide students through the program and provide direct support to those who need additional help in a specific lesson. The system combination of learning modules and psychosocial support to make sure a variety of needs are met. 

The “Voicemore” program, also by War Child, takes another unique approach to education by focusing on youth advocacy. Recognizing that children in emergency settings are often escaping violent conflict and must be highly mobile, the program focuses on skills rather than tangible output by giving children the skills to impact future change. It provides meaningful areas of advocacy and teaches development skills like communication and problem-solving to impact high-level decision making. Voicemore strives to expand child participation in policy to child-led processes. 

These two programs were developed with NGOs, private companies, ministries of education, donors, and a board of children to ensure its long-term sustainability. The vast support system for the programs allows research and data to be collected to make sure the games are updated and implemented properly. Using this data collection, War Child proves its success in areas like gender-balanced learning and improved literacy outcomes.

An innovative approach to education is necessary when delivering it to vulnerable populations. However, these solutions are not only applicable to refugee populations. Emerging communities all across the globe can replicate aspects of the structure and learning objectives of War Child’s programs, especially given the adaptability and transportability built into their design. These programs are not simply education for refugees, but education for all children seeking skills that will set them up for success.