Strategy for
Education
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Introduction Enjoying good quality education is a fundamental human right, and hence an aim in itself. Moreover, education furthers the realisation of all other human rights and is thus a foundation and key driving force for development. Because of the knowledge, skills and self-confidence acquired through quality education, individuals and communities can develop. Education helps bring forward not only improved economic wellbeing and socio-cultural development, but also fosters the creation of free, critical and creative global citizens. For these reasons, the Strømme Foundation, as an organisation with a rights-based approach to development and the vision of a world free from poverty, takes great pride in our work to ensure quality education for disadvantaged groups. In line with UNESCO, we understand education as a process that enables people “to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for the benefit of themselves and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions”1. SF has a holistic view of education. We believe the right to education is life long and begins from birth. We also believe that an integrated approach, where education is combined with our other work, such as enhancing access to sustainable income sources, will often be more effective than an isolated education strategy alone. SF’s international engagement in education contributes to achieving the globally agreed education goals for 2015 and beyond. While our education indicators are tailor-made for SF, they complement and communicate the Education for All (EFA) indicators and targets, and those of the relevant Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, SF aims to work in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-2015 period. Furthermore, each of SF’s four programme regions is aligned with national goals and education policies of their respective countries of operation.
Approach In line with SF’s Development Policy, SF’s modes of interventions within Education comprise Advocacy, Capacity Building and Service Delivery. Our Rights-Based Approach places greater emphasis on the two former intervention modes. However, service delivery may be selected in special cases where necessary to fulfil children’s rights to education until the Government – the principal duty bearer for education – assumes its full responsibility. On the whole, SF’s education interventions are tailor-made to the context within which they are applied; as an organisation with four widely different programme regions, there may hence be some cross-regional variation in approaches and specialisations. However, provided there is a value added, SF will strive for cross-regional fertilisation and the replication of successful programmes / concepts between regions in contextually appropriate ways. In an SF context, this may be facilitated through for example the Program Annual Meeting, the Fredskorpset (FK) South-South exchange programme and field visits. SF’s entire work with education is permeated by SF’s three cross-cutting issues; Gender Equality, Inclusion and Environmental Sustainability. Girls and women are usually over-represented among the out-of-school and illiterate population, and measures will be taken to strive for both gender parity and gender equality in education.2 Furthermore, because social exclusion is so closely linked to 1
UNESCO as coordinator for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Whereas parity requires equal number of boys and girls to be enrolled in school, gender equality is a ‘wider’ concept and is concerned with equal opportunities to attend school, equality in the learning process and in learning outcomes, equality in salary and job opportunities (Colclough 2011). 2
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extreme deprivation in education, SF will work to ensure that the rights of marginalised groups, including ethnic minorities, Dalits or people suffering from caste-based discrimination, and people with disabilities, are met through quality education programmes that help combat discrimination. Finally, SF acknowledges that the success of our education programmes to some extent depends on the external environment. For example, climate change and natural disasters (such as droughts, floods, etc.) may cause food crises that keep our target groups from realising their rights to quality education; a hungry child cannot learn, a woman having to spend all day finding food for her family cannot attend her literacy class and children will not be able to go to school in a flood-affected area. SF will therefore integrate protection of the environment into our education work, and support measures that can sustainably ensure the continuation of our programmes in times of crisis.
Areas of Intervention Strømme Foundation’s intervention areas within education are chosen based on a combination of the educational challenges in SF’s four programme regions and our longstanding expertise in the respective fields. The following extract from SF’s Development Policy outlines SF’s focus within education for the Strategic Plan period of 2014 to 2018.
Thematic Goal
ENSURE QUALITY EDUCATION FOR DISADVANTAGED GROUPS
Intervention
Outcome
Quality Education (Formal and Non-Formal)
Increased enrolment of girls and boys in formal schools Improved attendance and completion rates of individuals continuing formal education Improved learning environment Increased government responsibility for quality of, and access to, education Increased enrolment in secondary school Increased literacy rate Reduced early marriage, use of bride price and/or gender-based violence in SF-supported communities Increased awareness of rights and capacity to claim them among participating adolescent girls and boys Increased government responsibility for the rights of disadvantaged groups Increased socio-economic self-reliance for participants
SF’s interventions within education are explained in more detailed below.
Quality Education (Formal and Non-formal) a) Early Childhood Development SF recognises early childhood as a critical development phase that has important and life-long effects. According to UNESCO, “participation [in Early Childhood Care and Education - ECCE] results in lower dropout and repetition rates in primary school”3. Through ECCE or Early Childhood Development (ECD), social inequalities can be reduced and educational attainment in later life can be improved. Yet only 1 in 3 children in developing countries are enrolled in pre-primary institutions4, and few Governments accord priority to pre-primary education in their spending. Working toward the first EFA goal on expanding early childhood care and education, SF pursues an integrated 3
UNESCO (2007) EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007. Strong Foundations. Early childhood care and education. Summary. UNESCO. 4 Ibid, p.27
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approach whereby young rights-holders are supported in critical growth areas – whether physical, emotional, intellectual or social – and whereby their duty-bearer families, communities and service providers are strengthened and empowered accordingly. SF supports community-managed ECD interventions that aim at increasing enrolment and performance in primary school. These efforts are strengthened through SF’s emphasis on sustainability strategies; SF will strive to find local solutions that enable the ECD centres to continue when SF support expires. Furthermore, SF will prioritise integrating an advocacy component into all ECD work, in order to encourage the Government – the primary duty bearer – to take increasing responsibility for pre-primary education. b) Basic Education SF’s work in basic education aims to improve the access to, and quality of, primary education, for boys and girls alike.5 Thus, our work is aligned with EFA goal 2 and MDG 2 on Universal Primary Education, with EFA goal 5 and MDG 3 on eliminating gender disparity in basic education, and with EFA goal 6 on improving the quality of education. Primary education is vital for the development of basic literacy, numeracy and other skills needed for an individual’s effective participation in society. In many of SF’s countries of operation, particularly in West and East Africa, the primary school enrolment rate is low, with high drop-out rates among primary school-age children due to poverty, child labour, long distances between home and school, early marriage, cultural beliefs, nomadism, armed conflict, weaknesses in government capacity, etc. In many countries, school infrastructure and teacher training are also poor, factors that often impact on enrolment and retention rates. In SF’s other regions of intervention, particularly in South America and Asia, although primary school enrolment may be high, the poor quality of the learning environment and the general exclusion of marginalised groups leads to inequalities in the learning process and a large numbers of drop-outs. Acknowledging that quality, access and retention are inextricably linked to one another, SF’s interventions in basic education and the respective emphasis placed on access versus quality and retention will usually vary between regions, depending on context and what the most pressing issue is in a given region.
Access to Basic Education Where primary school access is low, such as in West and East Africa, SF particularly targets children and young people who for various reasons have dropped out of the formal education system. SF targets these groups through offering free – often accelerated – alternative education programmes that complement and strengthen efforts of governments to attain Universal Primary Education (UPE). After the ‘graduation’ of participants from these programmes, SF aims at the increased enrolment of the target groups at appropriate levels in the formal school system. Attempts are also made to encourage community participation and mobilisation, particularly of parents, and to advocate for increased government responsibility for UPE. Where SF engages in formal or informal primary school programmes, efforts are continually made to ensure that the Government, the primary duty bearer for education, assumes responsibility for UPE so that SF does not build parallel structures that compete with those of the Government. Where SF has developed innovative education programmes with good results, we pursue a strong advocacy strategy in order to anchor and strengthen the ownership of our concepts at Government level6 (cf. SF’s Advocacy Guidelines). In line with SF’s Rights-Based Approach, SF believes that the work to increase access and improve primary school retention and completion rates also must address the root causes of why children do 5
Where it adds value to existing programs, SF may also consider engaging in the latter phase of basic education, the junior secondary phase, as this often enables rights-holders to more fully realise their right to good quality education. 6 The sub-regional Speed School Secretariat in West Africa, covering Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, is an excellent example of how advocacy has led to Government ownership of the Speed School concept.
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not attend school.7 As economic poverty is often a factor that hinders parents from sending their children to school, SF will work to combine interventions in basic education with microfinance and promoting sustainable income opportunities in order to give parents, particularly women, the financial means needed to send their children to school. Furthermore, where girls are kept out of school for cultural reasons, efforts are made to raise community awareness on the importance and benefits of sending girls to school. Indeed, in SF’s intervention countries, girls are less likely than boys to enter the formal school system, and more likely than boys to drop out early or leave school without basic literacy skills (World Bank, UNESCO). However, research shows that girls who receive an education are more likely to postpone marriage and childbearing, less likely to suffer and die from preventable diseases, and are less susceptible to HIV than those with no education. Education increases family income and political and social participation, and educated girls are more likely to have fewer and healthier children and more likely to send their children to school (UNESCO). Therefore, SF places great emphasis on ensuring both the equal enrolment of girls and boys in school (gender parity), and on ensuring equality in the learning processes, outcomes and opportunities (gender equality). Quality of Basic Education Where the quality of the learning environment is poor, SF will mobilise communities to help them identify and address the root causes of their poor education systems. This includes advocating for the Government to provide, and in some cases also enabling the community itself to provide, adequate school infrastructure such as buildings, desks, chairs, latrines, teacher housing and school materials. It also includes advocating for the inclusion of separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls, providing food in schools, promoting the use of inclusive and gender-sensitive curricula, promoting the use of modern teaching media (incl. ICT) and engaging in or advocating for good teacher training to complement Government efforts. SF will also emphasise the mobilisation of parents through School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations, in order to strengthen the local momentum for advocacy in support of quality basic education. Throughout this work, SF will advocate for “child-friendly schools” (UNICEF) and a holistic understanding of what constitutes a good learning environment. Placing high value on cultural and linguistic diversity, SF will complement efforts of governments in intervention countries to adapt school infrastructure and curricula to local needs and encourage the use of familiar language or education in the mother tongue until the pupils are able to master another language. This is based on extensive research that shows that initial instruction in the learners’ first language ‘improves learning outcomes and reduces subsequent grade repetition and drop out rates’8. SF is also concerned with strengthening the possibilities for marginalised and excluded groups to participate and benefit fully from basic education. This may include advocating for school facilities that better cater for the disabled, advocating for the equal rights of all groups to education and promoting an education that is non-discriminatory and relevant to the individual’s and group’s respective livelihood, culture and social circumstances.
c) Technical and Vocational Training In line with SF’s holistic approach to education, there is a clear need for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the follow-up of SF’s work related to basic education. The need for relevant training on skills that are tailored to the world of employment is particularly pertinent for
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This may include addressing issues of quality; such as poor school infrastructure, inadequate facilities and materials, etc.
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UNESCO (2005) ‘The Quality Imperative. Education for All Global Monitoring Report summary”, p.3
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girls and boys who are not enrolled in, or have dropped out from, the formal education system. Hence, SF’s efforts in TVET target this group. SF believes that the integration of relevant, demand-driven technical and vocational training components in life skills programmes, adult literacy courses and learning more generally can promote more sustainable incomes and jobs for the unemployed. TVET can increase productivity and income, prepare for “responsible citizenship” (UNESCO 2002) and safeguard participation in social and economic spheres of society. In order to increase the socio-economic self-reliance of participants, SF will support the development of entrepreneurial skills and promote technical and vocational training that can be transferred to useful employment. Training will be on a wide range of skills tailored to the needs of both the local and national labour markets and the global economy. In many countries, there is great discrepancy between what is taught in education systems and what is needed in the labour market. In such settings, SF will advocate for governments to align their education systems with the actual employment markets. Moreover, in line with SF’s holistic approach to education, SF will advocate for, and enable communities to themselves advocate for, gender equality and the same job opportunities for men and women, in the conviction that this will improve the opportunities for women and increase motivation for girls to stay in formal education.
Literacy and Life Skills a) Literacy The inability to read, write and calculate keeps millions of people from knowing what they are entitled to and how to claim it. Literacy is also key in the creation of a free and informed / critical global citizenship. 75% of the world’s illiterate population are women9. Furthermore, illiteracy is in many places closely linked to marginalisation. Linked to extreme poverty as well as the lack of gainful employment options, discrimination and social exclusion in the classroom, marginalised groups of people such as the Dalit population in South Asia have comparatively lower education attainment than others10. Thus, women and marginalised groups form a prioritised target group for literacy programmes. Working in line with EFA goal 5 to increase adult literacy by 50%, SF supports Literacy courses that aim to improve the opportunity of people, particularly women, youth and people from marginalised groups, to read, write and calculate. This will enable them to better access social services within education, health, political and economic life, and thus participate in the development processes of themselves, their families and their communities. SF endeavours to make adult literacy courses as practical and relevant to participants’ daily lives as possible. This includes promoting two levels of literacy: reading and writing in the mother language of the learner, and the transfer of these literacy skills into a second, more widely used language (e.g. Spanish, English, French) that enables the dialogue/communication with institutions and society in general. Thus, SF pursues functional literacy, according to UNESCO’s (1978) definition: “A person is functionally literate who can engage in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his group and community and also for enabling him to continue to use reading, writing and calculation for his own and the community’s development”.
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UNESCO (2006) Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Literacy for Life. Summary.
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Bishworma, D. R. 2010. M.Phil, Kathmandu University: Caste Based Discrimination in School: A study of Dalits in Ramechhap, Nepal
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Research has shown that increased literacy among women has improved the conditions for themselves and their children, both with regard to health, nutrition and education. However, it is not automatic that literacy training has these effects; they “result only when literate individuals are able to exercise their literacy, which requires that broader development and rights policies are in effect and implemented” (UNESCO 2006). Therefore, SF also emphasises the teaching of good governance and local democracy in literacy courses, in order to also increase women’s participation in the political sphere. Moreover, SF pursues an integrated approach by which literacy courses are combined with e.g. economic empowerment, in order to strengthen the participants’ ability and capacity to participate in the social and political sphere. b) Life Skills Life skills can be defined as “abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life” (WHO). They include cognitive skills for making informed decisions, thinking critically and creatively, personal skills for developing personal agency, managing oneself and resisting peer and family pressure, and inter-personal skills for communicating, interacting effectively with others and building healthy relationships. As climate change has an increasing impact on the lives of vulnerable people in affected areas, climate adaptation is also becoming an important life skill. In line with EFA goal 3 to promote learning and life skills for young people and adults, SF works to equip young people with the self-confidence, knowledge and skills needed for life in their particular context. Inspired by Pablo Freire, SF will particularly work to build the life skills of individuals and groups that are so marginalised that an entire change of mindset is necessary for empowerment to take place. These groups include ethnic minorities and people suffering under caste-based discrimination. For groups that are victims of strong and systematic oppression, a strengthened selfesteem is a precondition for them to affect change in their own and other people’s lives. Therefore, SF has a special focus on educational methodologies that effectively lead to bottom-up social change processes within marginalised communities. In our life skills programmes, SF particularly prioritises the empowerment of adolescent girls who are living in settings with high gender inequality, in order to enable them to increasingly determine their own lives, control their own bodies, and perceive themselves as fully-fledged citizens with rights. SF has experience that such programmes can reduce early marriage, the use of bride price that essentially considers women a burden and gender-based violence (GBV) in SF-supported communities11. When combined with literacy, vocational training, and economic empowerment through loans, participant girls will increasingly be able to stand on their own feet, embrace socioeconomic self-reliance and resist discrimination. Increasing focus will therefore be on developing such programmes in contextually appropriate ways in SF’s appropriate intervention countries. As such programmes are often implemented in patriarchal settings where power is primarily held by men, SF acknowledges the importance of fully including men and boys in empowering girls in the community. In culturally appropriate ways, SF will seek to build awareness among men and boys, as well as of other persons in authority, such as elders, about their own role in promoting gender equality and about the added value to society and their own families when girls are enabled to fully enjoy their rights to education, to self-determination and to protection from GBV. For more information about SF’s Development Approach and/or work within education, please refer to SF’s Development Policy with accompanying guidelines, or region-specific Education Strategies. 11
Such programmes include the Shonglap programme in Bangladesh and its adaptations in Nepal (Samvad) and East Africa (Mazungumzo)
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