Understanding education in emergencies

1Why education cannot wait

Education in emergencies (EiE) refers to the quality learning opportunities provided for all ages in crisis situations: conflicts, disasters, epidemics, forced displacement. It covers early childhood development, primary, secondary, non-formal, technical and vocational education. It is a right (article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child) that does not stop when a crisis strikes.

School is also a protection mechanism. A child out of school is more exposed to recruitment by armed groups, child labour, early marriage, exploitation and sexual violence. A structured learning space provides a routine, trusted adults and an entry point to health, nutrition, protection and water services. Yet education usually receives less than 3% of humanitarian funding, while crises often last more than ten years: an entire generation can lose its schooling.

2The INEE Minimum Standards

The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) has published Minimum Standards, recognised as Sphere companion standards. They comprise 19 standards organised in five domains:

• Foundational standards: community participation, coordination and analysis (assessment, response strategies, monitoring, evaluation).
• Access and learning environment: equal access, protection and well-being, facilities and services.
• Teaching and learning: curricula, teacher training and professional support, instruction and learning processes, assessment of learning outcomes.
• Teachers and other education personnel: recruitment and selection, conditions of work, support and supervision.
• Education policy: law and policy formulation, implementation.

Each standard comes with key actions and guidance notes. The foundational standards cut across all other domains: there is no quality response without community participation, coordination and analysis.

3Barriers to access and learning

A sound analysis identifies, group by group, what prevents children from going to school, staying there and learning:

• Physical and security barriers: schools destroyed, occupied by displaced people or armed forces, distance, dangerous roads, landmines.
• Economic barriers: school fees, uniforms, supplies, child labour, loss of livelihoods.
• Social and gender barriers: early marriage, household chores, lack of separate latrines and menstrual hygiene management, shortage of female teachers.
• Disability-related barriers: inaccessible buildings, prejudice, lack of reasonable accommodation and trained teachers.
• Administrative and language barriers: lack of documents, refusal of enrolment, unfamiliar language of instruction, non-recognition of prior learning.

Data must be disaggregated by sex, age and disability; for disability, use the Washington Group questions or the Child Functioning Module (UNICEF and Washington Group).

4The Joint Education Needs Assessment (JENA)

The JENA (Joint Education Needs Assessment) is the needs assessment conducted by Education cluster partners together with the ministry. It follows a step-by-step approach:

• Secondary data review first: ministry statistics (EMIS), existing reports, multi-sector assessments. Only what is missing is collected.
• Targeted primary data collection: observation of schools and sites, interviews with head teachers, teachers and parent committees, focus group discussions with girls, boys and children with disabilities.
• Joint analysis: number of children in need (PiN), severity by area, priority barriers, existing capacities.
• Dissemination and use: findings feed into the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and funding requests.

A JENA respects the "do no harm" principle: no interview that exposes a child, informed consent, protected personal data. A rapid assessment is possible in the first weeks, followed later by a more in-depth analysis.