Similar to The Long and the Short of it. Analysing the short and long-term impact of emergency education upon child protection and communicty fragility
Similar to The Long and the Short of it. Analysing the short and long-term impact of emergency education upon child protection and communicty fragility (20)
The Long and the Short of it. Analysing the short and long-term impact of emergency education upon child protection and communicty fragility
1. i
The Long and the Short of it:
Analysing the short and long-term impact of emergency
education upon child protection and community fragility
- with a case study of the Kivus
Photo: Children at school in Makisabo, Grand North Kivu, in the Democratic
Republic of Congo
Thomas Evans
MA Post War Recovery Studies
University of York
Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU)
Department of Politics
September 2012
2. ii
Abstract
“If education for all can become a reality for the young people at the fault
lines of social conflict or natural disasters, then the whole society has a better
chance of peace and prosperity” (Sinclair, 2001, p. 55).
Emergencies, particularly armed conflicts, disrupt the lives of children as they
become exposed to the numerous dangers and risks that characterise crisis contexts.
In such circumstances, child protection has a direct impact upon the fragility of
communities; on one hand, increased levels of child protection can enable
community fragility to be reduced, but on the other, an absence of protection can
damage fragility. Educational organisations explicitly recognise the importance of
this connection and whilst their activities can vary, programmes always feature a
strong focus upon increasing child protection.
This paper examines the various ways that emergency education effects child
protection, and assesses the impact this has upon the fragility of communities. With a
particular focus upon the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Teacher Emergency
Package in the Kivus, it will be argued that emergency education programmes
mitigate community fragility by increasing the level of protection for vulnerable
children. However, the paper will contend that only a short-term increase in child
protection is delivered by emergency education programmes, meaning a long-term
reduction in community fragility is unattainable. It will be stressed that the nature of
emergency education programmes, inherent problems within the sector and a discord
between academic theory and practice have contributed heavily to the
unsustainability of child protection.
Ultimately, the paper will contrast the short and long-term impacts of emergency
education upon child protection and community fragility; it will maintain that the
increase in child protection lacks sustainability, which means that community
fragility is unable to be reduced on a long-term basis.
3. iii
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I am grateful for the generosity of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
who financed the research period.
I would also like to express my gratitude to all members of the NRC staff for their
assistance throughout the research period; your commitment, enthusiasm and help
were very much appreciated.
I would like to personally thank Pietro Galli, Andrea Bianchi, and Ana Palao; your
support during my time in the Kivus was incredible and you contributed significantly
to my dissertation. You were never too busy to answer my questions and discuss the
purpose of my research.
I am also extremely appreciative for the assistance provided to me by John Kasereka,
my companion throughout the entire research period; without you it would have
extremely difficult to collect relevant research in the many areas we visited
throughout the Kivus.
Above all, I would like to thank Nadia Bernasconi; you placed your faith in me and
made the whole research period possible.
4. iv
Author’s Declaration
This work is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of MA in Post-war Recovery Studies at the University of York. It is my own unaided
work, except where otherwise stated, and has not previously been submitted for any
degree or examination.
17,677 words
Signed .....................................................................
Name: Thomas Evans
University of York, Heslington
Date: 07/09/2012
5. v
Table of Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................1
Chapter One: The methodology used for the collection of data...........................................9
Focus groups, interviews and questionnaires ...................................................................11
Statistical data....................................................................................................................13
Problems in getting beneficiaries to attend meetings.......................................................15
Chapter Two: An examination of the links between emergency education, child
protection, and community fragility.....................................................................................17
Increasing child protection through emergency education ..............................................20
The nuanced approach of organisations implementing emergency education................24
A lack of sustainable child protection................................................................................28
Chapter Three: The context of the Kivus..............................................................................32
A weak education system and protracted conflict ............................................................34
Chapter Four: The short and long-term impact of the Teacher Emergency Package upon
child protection and community fragility.............................................................................40
The Short-term impact of TEP in reducing community fragility ........................................41
Avoidance of recruitment into militias ..........................................................................41
Reducing the involvement of children in violence and crime........................................45
Summary........................................................................................................................47
An absence of sustainable child protection leading to long-term fragility........................49
Norwegian Refugee Council’s withdrawal and the end of the TEP programme ...........49
A return of child protection issues.................................................................................53
A lack of child protection sustainability.........................................................................56
Intervention regardless of sustainability? .........................................................................57
7. vii
Figure 1: Map of the Kivu Provinces.
Figure 2: Map of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the Kivus
Highlighted
8. viii
Figure 3: Map of the geographical positioning of the Democratic Republic of
Congo
9. 1
Introduction
The field of emergency education, often used interchangeably with the term
education in emergencies, has been growing since the 1990’s, but still no standard
and uniform definition is agreed upon (Nicolai & Triplehorn, 2003, p. 13). At an
inter-Agency level, the term emergency encapsulates not only conflict, but a whole
range of man-made and natural disasters that destroy a state’s education system and
prevent children and young people from gaining access to it (Sinclair, 2001, p. 4).
Emergency education programmes can take a variety of directions such as physical
reconstruction of educational facilities and infrastructure, psychological healing,
curriculum development, curriculum and textbook development or school feeding
programmes (Kagawa, 2005, p. 494). Also, they can vary from the immediate
intervention within the midst of a humanitarian crisis, to the months and years that
are taken to repair the education system of a country affected by disaster; responses
depend upon the nature of an emergency, the type of beneficiaries and the political
and social context of the crisis-affected nation. Given the range of factors
incorporated, it is of little surprise that the definition of emergency education appears
exceptionally broad:
“For those working in this new and emerging field, the term generally serves
as shorthand for diverse formal and non-formal educational interventions in a range
of different contexts, including acute emergencies, on-going ‘chronic’ crises,
protracted refugee and early reconstruction and recovery settings (Winthrop, 2006,
p. 12).
Recently, emergency education discourse has undertaken a natural evolution to
incorporate debates regarding education and fragility. In 2007, countries with high
10. 2
levels of fragility were singled out as the most divisive obstruction to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of Education for All
(EFA) (Mosselson, Wheaton, & Frisoli, 2009, p. 2). The education and fragility
discourse connects the provision of emergency education to positive peacebuilding
methods; in this manner it aims to establish an understanding of the myriad of ways
that education can both fuel and mitigate fragility (Tebbe, 2009, p. 2). As the
terminology has evolved naturally, emergency education, education in emergencies
and education and fragility terminology, whilst possessing different names, can be
considered as the same; thus, although the term emergency education will be used
throughout this thesis, it is inclusive of the education and fragility discourse.
One of the most compelling arguments behind the implementation of emergency
education is that it provides an increased level of protection to children, especially
within conflict affected countries. Education can act as a tool for child protection in a
number of ways; it aids the healing of the psychological effects of conflict, it
provides a protective environment for children to engage with education away from
the risks of recruitment into militias or an involvement with violence and crime, it
helps disseminate life-saving messages such as landmine and HIV/AIDS awareness,
and can instil children with critical thinking skills and an understanding of their
human rights that helps them avoid exploitation and abuse (Sinclair, 2002, p. 48).
Nowhere is the need increase child protection more apparent than the Kivu provinces
of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Although the second Congo war
officially ended in 2003, the country has been in a protracted state of conflict ever
since; large amounts of militias continue to operate in the region and violence and
conflict remain a part of everyday life for the civilian population (Autesserre: 2010:
4). Children are frequently caught up in the violence as many are recruited into
11. 3
militias that operate on the outskirts of their communities, but they also risk
becoming involved with the high levels of violence and crime that permeate the
region due to lack of state imposed law and order (Save the Children, 2009, p. 1).
Despite these difficulties, children and parents throughout the Kivus still maintain a
strong desire for their children to gain an education, but achieving this is a battle
against the odds for much of the population (War Child, 2012). The Congo’s
education system is largely supported by school fee payments of student’s parents
and, when considering that the average monthly wage of a family can be less than
$50, it is of little surprise that many children are unable to gain an education
(International Rescue Committee, 2010). Nevertheless, parents still recognise that an
access to education is one of the best ways to decrease fragility and steer
communities towards development. Children who are denied access to education
during times of conflict become much more susceptible to military recruitment and
involvement in violence and crime and this can lead to them becoming a
destabilising force within their societies, enabling the cycle of violence and
vulnerability to continue (Save the Children, 2006, p. 7). Essentially, by increasing
the level of protection afforded to children, emergency education can significantly
reduce fragility by safeguarding them from exploitation and abuse.
Throughout this paper, fragility refers not to the state, but to fragility at a community
level. It is extremely hard to measure community fragility in terms of data and
empirical evidence, but it will be shown that it is directly linked to the well-being
and protection of children. Essentially, the thesis will address the question:
12. 4
What are the short and long-term impacts of emergency education on child
protection, and how do these directly affect the fragility of communities where
the programmes are implemented?
With a particular focus upon the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Teacher
Emergency Package (TEP) in the Kivus, the ways that emergency education
programmes mitigate community fragility by increasing the level of protection for
vulnerable children will be examined. It will be argued that TEP facilitates an
increased enrolment into the education sector which reduces community fragility by
extending protection to many out of school children. Furthermore, the curriculum of
TEP will be highlighted as an effective method of instilling critical thinking skills
and an awareness of their individual human rights within the students. In turn, it will
be shown that this enables them to avoid an involvement in violence and crime
which serves to lower community fragility. However, it will be contended that
emergency education only provides a short-term increase in child protection, which
means that community fragility is only able to be reduced on a temporary basis.
Essentially, it will be maintained that TEP lacks a sustainable element of child
protection because many beneficiaries abandon primary education following the end
of the programme. Therefore, in the long-term, children have to leave the secure
environment of the classroom and return to situations where they are again exposed
to protection related issues. Ultimately, it will be stressed that TEP does not provide
sustainable child protection due to the short-term nature of the programme, which
means that the decrease in community fragility that comes with the implementation
of the programme is short lived.
Although there is a strong focus upon TEP in the Kivu provinces, the overall
discourse surrounding the links between emergency education, child protection, and
13. 5
fragility are also crucial for this paper. Therefore, the academic debates surrounding
emergency education and the provision of child protection will be discussed, as will
the nuances between the emergency education programmes of different actors. As
this paper argues that the child protection provided by TEP is not sustainable, it is
necessary to study the approach of different organisations to understand whether this
is an inherent problem in the sector, or limited solely to TEP. It will be demonstrated
that the problem of sustainability is universal due to problems within the field of
emergency education such as a lack of coordination, a disconnect between academic
policy and field practice, and the limited financial resources allocated to the sector.
Essentially, for the purpose of this dissertation, the TEP programme in the Kivus
provides a case study but can be seen as representative of all emergency education
programmes.
The first chapter of this dissertation will focus upon the methodology that was used
in order to conduct primary research within the Kivu provinces of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Various methods were used to collect data and these will be
discussed and explained, in order to provide a clear description of how the research
was gathered. In addition, this chapter will assess the limitations of the study and the
problems that were encountered during the research period.
In the next chapter the literature surrounding the provision of emergency education
and the way that it links to fragility will be discussed; there will be a specific focus
upon the provision of child protection as a way to mitigate community fragility. In
particular, this section will focus upon three main areas of academic discourse; the
ways that child protection is able to be increased through the provision of emergency
education, the nuanced approach of different organisations implementing
programmes, and the lack of sustainable child protection provided by programmes
14. 6
due to the design and delivery of emergency education. It will be argued that
emergency education allows the fragility of the communities to be reduced by
providing children access to education in a safe environment and increasing their
capacity to deal with protection issues through a specific curriculum designed for
situations of crisis. The approach of various actors in the implementation of
emergency education will then be examined in order to understand the similarities
and differences in their approaches to increasing child protection. The last part of
this chapter will examine these differences and highlight them as a major reason that
an increase in child protection is not sustainable. Moreover, it will be stressed that
the short-term inherent nature of emergency education programmes also provides
another reason for this unsustainability.
The third chapter will examine the complex context of the Democratic Republic of
Congo with a particular focus upon the Kivu region. Whilst the current humanitarian
situation in the Kivus will be explored, the main focus will be upon the DRC’s
primary education system. The chapter will stress that the Congolese government are
unable to effectively manage the education sector due to a poor system of
governance that was established under the dictatorship of Mobuto. Inherited systems
of governance will be underscored as one of the major reasons for the weak
educational institutions, but a lack of national and international funding will also be
highlighted as a cause. The approach of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Teacher
Emergency Package will be considered, with a particular focus on the ways that it
tries to counteract the weak educational structure of the DRC by providing free
education to the most vulnerable children in the Kivus. Fundamentally, an analysis
of the context of the Kivus is essential as it will highlight why there is a need for
emergency education programmes such as TEP to be implemented.
15. 7
The main research chapter will focus specifically upon the Teacher Emergency
Package and will assess both the short and long-term impacts that it has upon
community stability. Firstly, it will be argued that TEP increases child protection
and, in turn, decreases community fragility on a short-term basis. The ways that TEP
prevents the military recruitment of children and helps them avoid an involvement in
violence and crime will be examined, and it will be asserted that TEP achieves this
by increasing the number of vulnerable children in primary education and through a
context sensitive curriculum. Conversely, the next section of the chapter will
examine the end of TEP and the withdrawal of the NRC and the negative
consequences this has for community fragility. The high abandonment rates of TEP
students from primary schools will be used to provide evidence that child protection
afforded by TEP is not sustainable. The chapter will draw attention to the fact that
many children have to return to the streets following the NRC’s departure, where
they face the same protection issues as prior to the implementation of TEP.
Finally, the last chapter will offer a conclusion before recommendations are given;
these will suggest a new approach for emergency education programmes in order to
increase the sustainability of child protection and the long-term impact in reducing
community fragility.
It is important to highlight the breadth of emergency education discourse and
acknowledge the significant academic debates in the field. The stage at which
education should be implemented is subject to on-going discussion, with some
asserting that education is an activity to be implemented in the initial relief phase,
whereas others propose is an intervention to that should remain as a development
activity. For a long period of time, education has been deemed outside the remit of
the initial humanitarian response as it is judged to be life enhancing rather than life
16. 8
saving, and therefore low on the list of priorities in humanitarian interventions
(Sinclair, 2001, p. 14) (Muñoz, 2010, p. 17) (Save the Children, 2006, p. 13). As
Sinclair (2002, p. 27) asserts, some donors take the view that stopping people from
dying and taking care of their physical health is an adequate response in an initial
intervention; they fail to recognise the benefits that implementing education in an
emergency setting can have. Arguments continue to be made that, rather than
education, money should go to the three original pillars of humanitarian, food and
water, shelter, and sanitation in a relief situation whereas advocates of emergency
education disagree. Although many now view education as the fourth pillar of
humanitarian aid alongside food and water, shelter and healthcare aid (Barakat,
Connolly, Hardman, & Sundaram, 2012, p. 1), this recognition is not universal.
Whilst this academic discourse is significant for the field of emergency education
and is of the upmost importance to both theorists and practitioners, unfortunately it is
outside the remit of this paper.
17. 9
Chapter One: The Methodology used for the Collection of Research
The research for this dissertation has been undertaken in conjunction with the
Norwegian Refugee Council in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The NRC has
been operating in the Kivus since 2001, implementing the Teacher Emergency
Package in all three provinces of the region; their head office is situated in Goma, in
the Petit North Kivu Province, but they also have field offices located in Grand
North Kivu and South Kivu [please see appendix 2 for a map of the Kivus and the
NRC’s offices].
A comprehensive desk study was carried out before, and upon arrival in Goma in
order to gain an in depth understanding of all aspects of the TEP programme.
Previous TEP evaluations were reviewed in order to establish a relevant approach
and methodology that would ensure the research conducted would produce the most
comprehensive results. Through close collaboration with the NRC’s education
Project Manager, all the necessary research tools that were required for the collection
of data in the field were produced; this included questionnaires, structured and semi-
structured interviews, and outlines for focus group discussions. Once produced, these
resources were translated into both French and Swahili, and checked for accuracy by
both the education Project Manager and the education Project Coordinator.
Devising the route to be taken during the field missions, as well as selecting the
schools that would be visited proved difficult and had to be closely coordinated with
the security officers and field managers, both in Goma and the individual field
offices. The complex network and vast array of armed rebel groups and militias in
the Kivus creates a challenging environment for humanitarian activities and,
unfortunately, some areas where the TEP programme had been implemented were
18. 10
restricted for field missions; therefore, they were unable to be considered and
included in the research.1
Schools and communities that were visited had to be
selected on the basis that they were cleared by NRC security officers, and that travel
was logistically possible given the weak infrastructure of the roads in the Kivus.
Given the restraints, they were carefully chosen by the education Project
Coordinator, who has a long experience of organising field missions within the
Kivus. The itinerary was designed so that research was conducted in schools and
communities where TEP had been implemented in different years. This meant a
range of beneficiaries were able to be questioned, from those who were targeted
when TEP was first implemented in 2001, through to current benefactors of the
programme. In this manner, the research was strengthened as a more comprehensive
view of the short and long-term impacts of the programme upon community fragility
and child protection was able to be developed.
It must be noted that the research period was restricted to nine weeks, and this time
constraint limited the amount of information that was able to be gathered.
Additionally, poor road infrastructure meant that journeys often took longer than had
originally been planned and this was especially the case in times of rain when large
tracts of road could be damaged, adding substantial delays. Evidently, the
unpredictable travel conditions meant that field missions had to be extremely flexible
and potential time delays had to be factored into the journeys. Regardless of these
1
At the beginning of April 212, the Congolese government bowed to international pressure and
initiated a campaign to arrest General Bosco, a Commander in the Armed Forces of the Democratic
Republic of Congo (FARDC), whose arrest warrant had been issued in 2008 by the International
Criminal Court (ICC). Among the complexities of the situation, this led to a mass desertion of
National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) troops from the Congolese army. As a
result, the level of fighting across the Kivus escalated and this restricted NGO field movement. This
prevented research being carried out in some areas where TEP was, or had previously been, in
operation.
19. 11
problems, a large amount of primary research was able to be completed which allows
for a comprehensive analysis of the TEP programme. Throughout the research period
all three provinces of the Kivus were visited; Petit North Kivu, Grand North Kivu
and South Kivu. In total, thirty three schools were attended with seven semi-
structured interviews, twenty two structured interviews and nine focus groups being
held with teachers, school directors, the parents of TEP pupils and government
officials. The research visits were organised in a way that enabled the directors and
teachers of different schools to travel to a central location in order to take part in
interviews and group discussions; teachers and directors from different schools were
able to be interviewed together, thus providing a more comprehensive picture of the
TEP programme. Altogether, a large amount of parents participated in the research
questionnaires; 343 parents of current TEP pupils, 394 parents of former TEP pupils
who were currently integrated into the formal primary school system, and 342
parents of former TEP pupils no longer enrolled in the formal primary school
system.
Focus Groups, Interviews and Questionnaires
Focus groups were organised through a random selection method that aimed to select
twenty participants. All parents were gathered into one group for an initial meeting
to explain the purpose of the research, before each parent was given a number.
Following this, participants for the focus group were selected through the utilisation
of a random number table that had been generated as part of the desk study; a variety
of random number tables had been produced in order to account for groups of
varying size. In spite of the random approach, focus groups conducted with parents
were often hard to control because there were usually more willing participants than
20. 12
needed. Even when focus groups began, parents would continue to join although
they had been invited to take part. Putting members of NRC staff on the entrance to
buildings where focus groups were being held did not deter parents because they
would simply position themselves at the windows of the building and join the
conversation in this manner. Given the basic infrastructure of buildings in the DRC it
was often impossible to close the windows and therefore difficult to keep the size of
focus groups to a minimum of twenty. In such circumstances it was not ethical to
continue to prohibit parents from joining in the focus groups because there was a
strong chance it would create tension between those who participated and those who
did not. Many communities had not seen a representative of the NRC for a long
period of time so they were desperate to join the focus group to express their ideas
and concerns; considering that parents were sacrificing work to attend meetings, it
seemed unethical to bar them from focus groups if they were intent on joining.
Therefore, parents insisting on their inclusion in focus groups were allowed to join.
Both interviews and focus groups were conducted with the assistance of the NRC’s
education Project Coordinator, who provided support in the form of language
translation. The official language of the DRC is French, but Swahili is also
recognised as a national language; outside of urban cities and towns in the Kivus,
most of the population speak only Swahili, or other dialects of this language. This
meant that a translator was needed for the interviews and focus groups in order to
translate what was being said to both the interviewer and the interviewees. Using a
translator increased the chance of bias within the research project as there was a risk
that they would unconsciously alter the questions and answers in accordance with
their own personal beliefs and values. As a counter measure, a close working
relationship was established with the project coordinator which increased the
21. 13
accuracy of the translations. Long meetings were held in which the aims and
objectives of the research were clearly explained and discussed. In this manner, the
translations for both interview and focus group sessions were able to be carefully
devised in order to avoid any bias that could have prevailed. However, as English is
not an official language in the DRC and is rarely used across the Kivus, the quotes in
this dissertation are translations from French or Swahili; both the Project
Coordinator and Education Manager were consulted in the translation of these quotes
in order to reinforce their accuracy.
Whilst focus groups and interviews were being undertaken, questionnaires were
conducted with the parents of TEP students. In order to do this, current and former
NRC employees, who all had experience working within the organisation’s
education projects, were utilised. Arguably the most beneficial element of using
current and former NRC staff was that they all had prior knowledge of the TEP
programme and each one spoke French, Swahili and other regional dialects; this
meant that they were able to question parents without language being a barrier. Prior
to each field visit, discussions were held with the research team regarding the
questionnaire, and this meant anything that was not understood was able to be
clarified; this enabled them to gain a strong understanding of the purpose of the
research and meant that the questionnaires could be completed more effectively,
leading to a gathering of more accurate data.
Statistical Data
Whilst school directors were being interviewed, they were asked to complete a form
designed to ascertain the amount and typology of fees across primary schools in the
Kivus [see appendix 3]. The purpose of this was to gain an understanding of the
22. 14
average payments that parents have to make for their children to receive one year of
formal primary education. Moreover, as the form separated the fee payments by
school year, it also indicated which year of primary education was the most
expensive. Directors had to write down the different types of fees that parents were
asked to pay, and also indicate the cost in US$.
To justify the findings of the research attempts were made to organise a control
group that would offer a direct comparison between TEP and non-TEP pupils. The
aim was to track the academic progress of both TEP and non-TEP pupils in the same
school over the same length of time; these results could then permit an analysis of
the discrepancies in the primary school abandonment rates between the two groups.
Endeavours to organise these control groups in four schools in Grand North Kivu
were all hampered by the lack of available data. In one school, the director at the
time of TEP student’s integration had been replaced and had no way to differentiate
between TEP and non-TEP pupils. In the three other schools a different set of
problems were encountered; namely, that the schools had been either looted or
occupied by armed rebel groups and many of the records had been destroyed. In fact,
finding relevant statistical data was a key limitation throughout the research period.
School directors could often, although not always, provide stats on the number of
beneficiaries enrolled in TEP, and detail how many of these had integrated into
formal primary schools. However, they were unable to provide statistical data
regarding the number of TEP students who were able to complete the entire school
cycle, or likewise, the number of students who abandoned before completion. In
many schools accurate records regarding the progress of TEP students were not kept,
or were considered of little value; most records were incomplete and some even
stated that a pupil had both completed and abandoned the formal primary school
23. 15
cycle. There are a large percentage of children who are unaccounted for after their
first year of integration; the records showed that they were present in class three, but
did not indicate whether they abandoned or completed the formal primary school
cycle.
Despite the problems faced, it did eventually prove possible to organise a control
group for two schools in Grand North Kivu, as well as gain access to relevant
statistical information. Whilst the data for the control group did not show the
progress of TEP and non-TEP pupils on a year by year basis, it did highlight the
number of children in both groups who started and finished the primary school cycle.
In this way, it became possible to draw a contrast between the continuing educational
progress of TEP and non-TEP pupils. In addition, a limited amount of data was able
to be gathered by the Education Managers of the various field offices; this
information demonstrates how many students had been able to enrol onto TEP, the
amount who were able to complete the entire primary school cycle, and the number
of children who had to abandon the education system. This data is restricted to
certain areas of the Kivus and, as such, does not include information on every TEP
beneficiary throughout the entirety of the programme’s operation. Nonetheless, it is
exceptionally important because it provides a clear picture of the short and long-term
effects the programme has upon individual communities.
Problems in Getting Beneficiaries to Attend Meetings
Crucially, it was extremely difficult to get former TEP students who had dropped out
the formal primary school system, as well as their parents, to attend the meetings that
were held during the research period. During interviews and focus groups, it was
highlighted that former beneficiaries who had abandoned school were either now
24. 16
working, or had returned to their original homes. This severely constricted the
research as it sometimes proved logistically impossible to find people belonging to
this group; given the size and scope of the evaluation it was not feasible to travel to
all the potential locations of former TEP beneficiaries. Moreover, it was impossible
to track these beneficiaries down as no effort had been made to catalogue their
location after they dropped out of the formal primary school system. Therefore,
various forms of communication were relied upon in an attempt to contact former
beneficiaries, although these proved somewhat limited. Prior to field visits school
directors were contacted to request that all former beneficiaries of TEP, children and
parents, gather at the school at certain times and on particular days in order take part
in the research. NRC staff were also sent directly to schools and communities prior
to field visits to ensure as many beneficiaries as possible would be in attendance.
Additionally, a radio announcement was drafted in both French and Swahili which
was played several times a day on the local radio station of the areas that were to be
visited; this announcement specified the time and date of research visits in order to
maximise the number of beneficiaries in attendance.
25. 17
Chapter Two: An Examination on the Links Between Emergency
Education, Child Protection, and Community Fragility
Education initiatives in emergency settings have a long history dating back to the
founding of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1950
and the implementation of refugee education that followed (Kagawa, 2005, p. 488).
The right to education was clearly established in the 1951 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, as well as the 1951 convention relating to the right of refugees to
education (UNESCO, 2003, p. 7). However, it was in the 1990s that the long-term
damage of conflict upon education was explicitly recognised (Kagawa, 2005, p. 488)
and the discourse on emergency education came to the fore. In 1996, the UN
published Graca Machel’s report which examined the psychological impact of
conflict upon children. The report broke new ground as it was the first
comprehensive assessment on the human rights of children in war affected countries
(Machel, 2001, p. 3) and it strengthened the argument that education should be
viewed as an essential humanitarian intervention in the initial phases of emergency.
Growing support for the field of emergency education led to the establishment of the
‘Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting our Collective
Commitments’ in 2000 (UNESCO, 2000, p. 3), which reaffirmed the commitment
and obligation of the international community to meet the educational needs of crisis
affected countries. It urged international and bilateral donors to work with
governments and NGOs to restore education as a human right for children, young
people and adults in emergency contexts (Save the Children, 2006, p. 11). Later in
the same year the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) was
formed with the aim of improving inter-agency collaboration and communication in
26. 18
the delivery of emergency education (Inter-Agency Network for Education in
Emergencies, 2012).
Developments in the emergency education sector mean that the discourse has shifted
from simply addressing the impact of crisis upon the delivery of education, to the
relationship between formal schooling and the continuation of crisis (Kagawa, 2005,
p. 10). Bush and Saltarelli (2000) argue that education can have both a positive and
negative effect upon conflict, depending on how it is delivered. Ultimately, while
education cannot be seen as the cause of wars, nor the end of them, every education
system can both exacerbate and prevent the conditions that directly contribute to
violent conflict (Buckland, 2006, p. 7). Academics agree that education can have a
negative effect if it perpetuates social exclusion, racial or ethnic tensions, or
propagates a message of hate that is disseminated to children (Ibid). Nevertheless,
they also accept that education can contribute to peacebuilding and act as a tool for
social development and stabilisation (Pigozzi, 1999, p. 6). Importantly, the presence
or absence of education is a significant factor in the length of a crisis; the provision
of education can enable the building blocks for development and recovery, whereas
an absence of education can create a situation where a crisis becomes severely
protracted (Inter-Network Agency for Education in Emergencies, 2012). Over the
past decade, the emergency education discourse has increasingly emphasised the
links between the provision of education in situations of emergency, and a reduction
in the fragility of areas where it is implemented (Tebbe, 2009, p. 3). Notably,
arguments have centred on the various ways that emergency education increases
child protection as a way to mitigate community fragility.
This chapter seeks to add weight to this assertion. Firstly, various components of
emergency education programmes will be examined to assess how they facilitate an
27. 19
increased level of child protection; the way this helps to reduce community fragility
will also be addressed. This section will utilise the INEE’s Analytic Framework for
Education and Fragility (Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies,
2009), which provides a holistic approach to understanding the role of education
within fragile situations. The framework is comprised of an in-depth series of
questions that permit theorists and practitioners to understand the ways in which
education can mitigate fragility. Due to the scope of this paper and the size of the
INEE’s framework, only two questions will be used, but they permit a thorough
examination of the links between emergency education, child protection and
community fragility. Subsequently, the different approaches of educational
organisations will be highlighted and it will be argued that, although they all aim to
increase child protection, they attempt to achieve this through alternative methods;
the different approach of three organisations will be outlined to demonstrate that a
uniform emergency education methodology is yet to be adopted. Following this, the
sustainability of child protection will be scrutinised and it will be stressed that
emergency education provides unsustainable child protection due to both programme
design and funding constraints in the education sector. This lack of sustainable of
child protection will be used as evidence to show that emergency education
programmes are unable to reduce community fragility on a long-term basis.
28. 20
Increasing Child Protection Through Emergency Education
How can violence be mitigated through education at school level? (Inter-Agency
Network for Education in Emergencies, 2009)
“Armed conflict affects all aspects of child development – physical, mental
and emotional – and to be effective, assistance must take into account…the
psychosocial concerns intrinsic to child growth and development” (Machel, 1996, p.
49).
Emergencies, particularly armed conflicts, have a huge impact upon the development
of children. It is extremely difficult to measure the impact of conflict upon children
and although numbers can be cited regarding casualties, the psychosocial problems
that can lead to trauma and underdevelopment are harder to quantify (Nicolai &
Triplehorn, 2003, p. 1). This psychological impact is a reality across many conflict
affected nations where children may have seen a family member murdered,
witnessed an act of brutal violence, or even have been forced to commit a violent act
themselves. For example, Sinclair (2002, p. 64-65) highlights that after the genocide
of 1994, two thirds of Rwandan refugees claimed they had witnessed someone being
killed or injured, and a large number of these were children. Increased levels of
trauma create a higher risk that children will themselves resort to violence in the face
of conflict (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, p. 48) and, in such a scenario,
community fragility frequently suffers. Emergency education can be viewed as an
essential response for mitigating this risk by alleviating trauma and helping children
deal with psychosocial issues. It provides a venue for children to express themselves
through activities such as music, drama, and art (Inter-Agency Network for
Education in Emergencies, 2010, p. 25), and allowing children to share their
29. 21
experiences with peers significantly improves the process of healing. Removing
psychological stress makes children more resilient and instils them with a better
capacity to cope with traumatic events. It protects children as they are less likely to
resort to violence in the future and this helps to alleviate community fragility
(UNICEF, 2006, p. 18).
Another way emergency education mitigates violence and fragility is by restoring an
element of hope, providing a psychological boost for children and parents (UNHCR,
2001). It affords a sense of normality and structure for children and the community,
and removes some of the burden placed upon parents (UNESCO, 2003, p. 7)
(Sinclair, 2002, p. 40). Crucially, the restoration of education can enable community
cohesiveness to be strengthened and can provide the foundations upon which peace
can be built (Aguilar & Retamal, 2009, p. 5). Education is a persistent request of
crisis affected populations as they realise that it offers the best route to the
stabilisation and development of their communities (Save the Children, 2006, p. 12).
Providing emergency education creates a sense of optimism for the population and
UNESCO (2003, p. 6) argue that this sense of optimism prevents children joining
gangs and militias, and Sinclair (2001, p. 55) asserts that it helps children to see a
positive future and stops them “seeking aggressive outlets for their feelings”. By
instilling hope for the future, emergency education programmes offer protection to
children by dissuading them from an involvement in violence and conflict; it
safeguards their future and allows them to constructively engage in the development
of their communities (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, p. 48). In this manner,
emergency education programmes limit fragility by offering a greater promise of
recovery from protracted crisis (Save the Children, 2006, p. 19).
30. 22
Children can also be deterred from using violence through the emergency education
curriculum. Positive conflict resolution skills constitute a major component of the
curriculum and these help to protect children by encouraging children to resolve
conflict through non-violent means (UNICEF, 2006, p. 40). These skills must be
strongly encouraged in the schools and so teachers are forbidden to use corporal
punishment; by ostracising this practice a peaceful environment can be fostered in
the classroom that can be reproduced throughout society (Norwegian Refugee
Council, 2009, pp. 40-43). Furthermore, the curriculum also raises children’s
awareness about the human rights of others, and also for themselves which protects
them by giving them an in-depth understanding of abuse and exploitation. Teaching
children how to avoid these problems (Save the Children, 2009, p. 26) can be viewed
as a prime protection measure that reduces community fragility because it disrupts
the cycles of abuse and exploitation that characterise emergency settings (Norwegian
Refugee Council, 2009, pp. 46-50) (Save the Children, 2006, p. 7).
How can putting protective measures or services in place for students impact on
fragility? (Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, 2009)
Arguably, the most important way that emergency education programmes reduce
community fragility is by facilitating a greater student enrolment in schools. This
increases child protection in the most basic manner as it grants more children a
greater degree of physical security by placing them under the protective influence of
the education system. It is recognised that school going children are less likely to be
recruited into militias than those who do not attend (Price, 2011) because education
provides a positive and constructive alternative to joining armed groups. In fact, for
every one year of formal education that a boy receives their risks of becoming
involved in conflict can fall by 20% (Save the Children, 2009, p. 25). Essentially,
31. 23
children who lack an education often feel as though they have little or no social
mobility and joining an armed group or gang can represent the only chance they have
to earn money and respect. When children spend their time outside of the protective
influence of the school sphere it makes them far more susceptible to all types of
exploitation, be it military recruitment, sexual abuse, or an involvement in violence
and crime (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, pp. 46-48). Emergency education
programmes provide a safe environment away from these issues, and teachers and
educational staff can act as an immediate alert and response mechanism that enables
protection issues to be remedied more quickly (Wargo, 2006, p. 28). Wargo (2006,
pp. 26-27) states that when children have access to education, schools become the
centre for the documentation of child abuse as they act as a primary interface for
human rights workers. For example, when educators are aware of child recruitment
they can take necessary steps to stop it, such as informing the relevant UN agencies;
therefore, educators are an immediate vehicle of response to counter protection
issues. In times of crisis the traditional systems of care within both extended families
and communities are frequently disrupted and children are exposed to higher levels
of harm, exploitation and abuse (Save the Children, 2009, p. 4). Increased levels of
physical safety for children is key to reducing fragility as it enables destructive and
destabilising forces, pervasive in many crisis affected situations, to be circumvented.
Without the element of physical protection that emergency education and educators
deliver, there always remains the risk of “continuing cycles of violence and
vulnerability” (Save the Children, 2006, p. 7).
“Education can save lives by providing physical protection from the dangers
and exploitation of a crisis environment. When a child is in a safe learning
environment, he or she is less likely to be sexually or economically exploited or
32. 24
exposed to other risks, such as recruitment into or joining a fighting group or
organized crime” (Inter-Network Agency for Education in Emergencies, 2012).
The creation of safe learning zones and the dissemination of life-saving messages are
also methods through which emergency education programmes increase the physical
safety of children (UNICEF, 2006, pp. 38-40) (Sinclair, 2002, p. 48). Emergency
school sites are selected on the basis that they are child friendly spaces away from
anything that could cause harm or injury, such as unexploded ordinances and pools
of stagnant water (UNICEF, 2006, pp. 38-42). In classes children are educated on the
dangers they could encounter within their daily environment such as landmines,
cholera and other water borne diseases, sanitation and health, and HIV/AIDS
(Sinclair, 2001, p. 54). Organisations also focus upon physical infrastructure as a
way to improve children’s physical safety; they often make improvements in toilets
and drainage systems, facilitate greater access to clean water, or improve waste
disposal systems and sanitation facilities (UNICEF, 2006, pp. 38-40). Obviously,
this protects children by promoting better health rates and increasing their awareness
of how to stay safe and avoid the dangers present in their environment; Save the
children (2006, pp. 6-8) argue that this reduces fragility because it assists children to
remain in the protective environment of the school by helping them avoid disease
and injury which may force them to abandon.
The Nuanced Approach of Organisations Implementing Emergency
Education
As highlighted, emergency education programmes increase child protection in a
variety of ways and these all help to reduce community fragility. Clearly,
programmes can take a variety of directions such as a physical reconstruction of
33. 25
educational facilities and infrastructure, a focus upon psychological healing, or
curriculum and textbook development (Kagawa, 2005, p. 494). There is no uniform
response and the activities of organisations can vary greatly depending upon the type
of emergency, the status of beneficiaries and the political and social context of the
crisis-affected nation (Sinclair, 2002, p. 26). Although all actors within the field aim
to increase child protection as a way to combat fragility, they usually adopt different
approaches and techniques in order to achieve this objective.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) strongly promotes the improvement and
professional development of teachers as the main instrument for increasing child
protection; they seek to do this through their Healing Classroom initiatives
(International Rescue Committee, 2010). As the frontline carers for children in
emergency contexts, the IRC believe that teachers possess huge potential to ensure
the psychological well-being of students. Also, they stress that teachers have a strong
role in enabling children’s positive socialisation and development through their
lessons and teaching methods. The IRC provide training to teachers on educational
methods and classroom management; these lessons provide teachers with knowledge
on child development, communication techniques, the establishment of a supportive
and healing environment, learning to identify distressed children and understanding
the ways in which to mitigate trauma (Winthrop & Kirk, 2005, p. 20). Moreover,
teachers are educated on how to deliver lessons on life saving skills, such as land
mine awareness, HIV/AIDS, and basic hygiene and sanitation (International Rescue
Committee, 2006, pp. 5-7). The training of teachers allows for an increase in child
protection that positively impacts upon the fragility of the communities in several
ways. Firstly, children and parents are reassured by the child centred curriculum and
methodology and this discourages them from abandoning the school system or using
34. 26
violence as a way to vent their frustrations (Winthrop & Kirk, 2005, p. 19). The
teaching methods instil an ability within children to resolve interpersonal, classroom
and community disputes peacefully without reverting to the use of violence
(International Rescue Committee, 2006, p. 6). An atmosphere that encourages
psychosocial healing is paramount to increasing socialisation between children
(International Rescue Committee, 2010, p. 2) and encourages the development of a
peaceful society which reduces the risk of communities succumbing to fragility
(Pigozzi, 1999, p. 7). In addition, the dissemination of life-saving messages that are
disseminated instils children with an awareness of the dangers in their environment
and makes them less likely to succumb to disease or injury; this enables them to
remain in the protective realm of the school (Save the Children, 2006).
Although Save the Children (StC) also aims to increase child protection in similar
ways, they do this through Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs). These
programmes are flexible and age appropriate courses that enable children to catch up
on primary education they have missed due to conflict or disaster, before integrating
back into the formal school system (Save the Children, 2010, p. 1). ALPs condense
and adapt the national primary curriculum to cover literacy, numeracy, and science
as well as implementing life-saving messages and the promotion of peace and
socialisation of children (Save the Children, 2009, pp. 3-6); in this way they can be
seen as providing child protection in many of the same ways as the IRC’s Healing
Classroom approach. However, ALPs focus more attention on decreasing the
fragility of the communities by facilitating the increased access of out-of-school
children into education, and by promoting the existence of safe learning
environments. In past interventions, StC have initiated the Schools as Zones of Peace
campaign and have established district and community-level protection committees
35. 27
in order to ensure that schools continue to provide physical protection for their
pupils; StC train these committees on methods to help them protect schools and
ensure that students are not targets of violence or exploitation (Ibid, pp. 29-35). In
this manner, ALPs aim to provide a physical zone of protection to pupils by utilising
the community, and lessens fragility by increasing child protection and giving the
community a shared commitment and purpose.
Similarly to ALPs, the NRC’s TEP seeks to integrate out-of-school children back
into the formal primary school system by providing ten months of intensive catch-up
classes for children. As with ALPs and the Healing Classrooms approach, TEP
reduces fragility by providing special training on life-saving skills and critical
thinking abilities within children (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, pp. 10-14).
The NRC trains teachers to address children’s psychosocial issues, but also put in
place a code of conduct to eradicate protection related issues such as sexual
exploitation from the classroom (Ibid). Children who are internally displaced persons
(IDPs), returnees or refugees make up the largest component of TEP beneficiaries as
they are considered to be particularly vulnerable; it is also part of the NRC’s
mandate to provide assistance to these groups (Ibid, p. 14). Therefore, TEP is often
implemented in areas with a high proportion of IDPs, returnees and refugees, making
it distinct from the programmes of both StC and the IRC. Unfortunately, populations
in these areas are often exceptionally poor as they have been forced to flee from their
homes, which often means they are without a current source of revenue. Considering
that many children in this position choose to enrol into armed militias or become
heavily embroiled in violence and crime due to a lack of social mobilisation (Wargo,
2006, p. 30), the NRC reduces community fragility by enabling the most vulnerable
and at risk children to enter into the education system where they are protected.
36. 28
A Lack of Sustainable Child Protection
“There is a need to bring research, policy and practice more closely together
through an inter-disciplinary effort that draws on the policy-research work of
academic institutions and the strategic programming practices of development
agencies” (Johnson & Kalmthout, 2006, p. 3).
The different approaches and methods of various organisations are evidence of the
on-going debates regarding the best and most effective way to deliver emergency
education. As a recently emerging field, there still remains a large disconnect
between the field and research communities (Bird, 2006, p. 30) and this has
augmented itself in continuing arguments regarding best practice. Aguilar and
Retamal (2009, p. 6) stress there is a need to narrow the gap between theory and
practice, and insist that the success of emergency education programmes rests on the
ability of organisations to revise and develop their approach to make emergency
education programmes homogenous. However, the failure to do this has led to an
absence of clear and uniform programmatic features and indicators across the
emergency educator sector (Muñoz, 2010, p. 11). For example, whilst emergency
education programmes such as the Healing Classrooms programme, ALPs and TEP
employ similar methods as a way of increasing child protection, their approach
cannot be viewed with complete uniformity. Although the INEE is attempting to
standardise the approach of emergency education programmes through the
production of guidance tools, such as the minimum standards for education in
emergencies (Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, 2010), it will
still take some time for a homogenous approach to be universally adopted.
Problematically, this has created a situation where there is no single actor that states
37. 29
can turn to in the face of an emergency, but rather “a plethora of actors each with
their own expertise, agenda, priorities, capacities, spheres of influence, field
presence and financial base” (Muñoz, 2010, p. 18). Significantly, the existence of a
multitude of actors has damaged the sustainability of emergency education
interventions, particularly in the case of child protection
A comparison of the differences between ALPs and TEP can add further strength to
this argument. Before initiating TEP, the NRC reaches agreements with the local
Ministry of Education that facilitates the integration of beneficiaries into formal
primary education following the programme’s cessation. These agreements
guarantee the Ministry’s recognition of the qualifications and curriculum of TEP,
which ensures children have a chance to continue receiving an education despite the
NRC’s withdrawal (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, pp. 33-34). However, ALPs
are often not recognised by the government and are not accredited for national
exams, making it difficult for children to enrol in formal education following the
withdrawal of StC’s support (Save the Children, 2010, p. 3). Consequently, it can be
argued that the child protection that ALPs afford is unsustainable as many children
struggle to continue in the formal primary education system.
Despite facilitating an easier integration into formal education for its beneficiaries,
TEP also suffers from unsustainable child protection as the very nature of the NRC’s
education policy means that TEP targets areas with high numbers of IDPs, returnees
and refugees (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009, p. 15). People from these groups
often spend many years in a constant state of flux, particularly in the case of
protracted emergencies, and there is always a high chance they will leave host
communities following the end of the programme cycle. Through either choice or
displacement, many people move areas after the end of TEP and this has an effect on
38. 30
the abandonment rates of children who often drop-out of the formal primary school
system when changing location. Basically, after StC and the NRC end their
respective programmes it is often followed by a high abandonment rate of children
from formal primary schools and, with a high number of out-of-school children
lacking protection, a log-term reduction in community fragility is unable to be
sustained.
Overall, emergency education programmes lack sustainable child protection as they
are short-term interventions designed to ensure that children have access to
education during crisis (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009) (Save the Children,
2010) (International Rescue Committee, 2010). As such, programmes are usually
only funded for a limited period of time as longer funding is persistently associated
with development, and therefore outside the remit of emergency education
programmes. For example, TEP is usually only implemented in areas for one year,
with a maximum of two years (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2009), but this does not
take into account protracted crisis contexts. Additionally, the programme is only ever
funded for a period of one year and the NRC must submit new project proposals
annually in order to receive fresh funding; this makes it extremely difficult for a
long-term sustainable impact to be achieved. Fundamentally, the short-term
financing of emergency education damages child protection sustainability because
children from the most vulnerable families are forced to drop out of education
following the removal of financial support (Save the Children, 2010, p. 3). Thus,
children are forced back to situations where they encounter the same protection
related issues they had faced previously, and the community experiences a return of
fragility.
39. 31
Organisations do possess a desire to co-ordinate their activities, but they are
ultimately driven by their concern for resources and the struggle for limited funding
often prevails (Sommers, 2004, p. 82). This competition prevents an inter-agency
collaboration of skills and knowledge that would make emergency education more
efficient (Muñoz, 2010, pp. 16-18), and would provide an increased amount of child
protection sustainability. If organisations worked together the knowledge and skills
of individual actors could be pooled and a uniform approach to emergency education
could be adopted. Consequently, lessons learned and best practice guidelines to
promote the inclusion of sustainable child protection could be produced, and this
would enable projects to be designed with long-term child protection in mind.
Essentially, if cooperation between agencies improved, emergency education
programmes would consist of a more streamlined approach and this would reduce
the competition for limited funding as each organisation would offer the same
programme. Working in partnership would reduce project costs, and this would
allow donor funds to be spent more resourcefully.2
In turn, emergency education
projects could operate on a longer-term basis, or additional projects could be funded
at the end of programme cycles, such as the establishment of youth clubs. Crucially,
this would create a more sustainable element of child protection for the communities
that could allow community fragility to be reduced on a longer-term basis.
2
Project costs would be lowered through inter-agency partnerships in various ways such as lowering
the number of staff required, or reducing the cost of transport and logistics which often account for
a significant portion of emergency education programme’s budget.
40. 32
Chapter Three: The Context of the Kivus
No country in the African continent has seen greater political turmoil, social
dislocation, and loss of life over the past forty two years as the Great Lakes area in
the DRC (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2002, p. 215). Historically, the Kivu region has always
been associated with political chaos and violent conflict as its geographical location
[see figure 1] places it next to Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi; heavily linking it to
their social and political dynamics (Vlassenroot & Romkema, 2002, p. 1) as well as
the Congo’s own internal dilemmas. Although the second Congo war officially
ended in 2003, conflict in the Kivus remains rife, leading to the assertion that it is
“the largest on-going crisis in the world” (Autesserre, 2010, p. 4). Scholars such as
Stearns argue that the war in the Congo should be placed alongside the other great
wars of our time, such as World War Two, but it has received little sustained
attention from the rest of the world thus far (Stearns, 2011, p. 5). Unfortunately,
media coverage of the war in the Congo usually reduces the violence to a simplistic
drama; an array of caricatures is often presented such as the savage warlord with
soldiers who rape and loot communities, children who are high of marijuana or
amphetamines, and helpless black victims who are malnourished and constantly
displaced. Between the constant clichés there remains very little room for a rational
explanation of the conflict to be offered.
“It is the war of the ordinary person, with many combatants unknown and
unnamed, who fight for complex reasons that are difficult to distil in a few sentences
– much to the frustration of the international media” (Stearns, 2011, p. 5).
The protracted nature of the conflict in the Kivus has had a direct impact upon the
lives of the civilian population. UNICEF estimated that in 2010 there were around
41. 33
1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the DRC, with half of these being
children (UNICEF, 2010, p. 1). A more recent UNICEF report from the end of June
2012 shows that this figure has risen to over 2.2 million, with 1,531,144 IDPs in the
Kivus (UNICEF, 2012, p. 2). As children make up a significant proportion of this
group, the damage that on-going conflict is having on the development of the
youngest Congolese citizens in this region is undeniable. With only three years to go
until the MDG of primary education for all is expected to be met, it appears as
though the DRC is still a long way from achieving this objective. The average
primary school net enrolment rate across the country is 58%, although 20% of
students drop out within their first year (International Rescue Committee, 2012, p.
1). Only 29% of children, out of the 58% who enrol, complete the entire primary
school cycle; this means that only around 17% of children are able to gain a primary
education. Vast amounts of IDPs and an acute degree of poverty mean that this
problem is even more pronounced in the Kivus, with Save the Children (2011)
claiming that children in this region constitute a large proportion of the three million
children who unable to attend primary school throughout the DRC,
A variety of protection issues permeate the lives of out out-of-school children in
emergency situations, and this is certainly the case for children living in the Kivu
provinces. Given the quantity of armed militias, they frequently face the dangers of
forced or indoctrinated recruitment, and a lack of social mobility and time spent
outside the protective influence of schools can lead to an increase in child
involvement with violence and crime (Save the Children, 2011, p. 25). Violence and
crime characterise the Kivus because there is a huge lack of state imposed law and
order; people feel free to use force to take whatever they want as there is little chance
of any repercussions (Autesserre, 2008, p. 100). Children also face a high risk of
42. 34
sexual abuse, especially in the case of girls; Save the Children (2011) report that
5,517 cases of sexual violence committed against school aged children were reported
in between 2007 and 2008 in the Kivu provinces. As the number of out-of-school
children is so high and protection issues are so rife, there is complete justification for
the implementation of emergency education programmes in the region. Nevertheless,
in order to understand the grounds for intervention there is also a need to highlight
the current context of the education system in the Kivus, and the failures of the
Congolese government. Only through an examination of these factors can the need
for emergency education programmes be fully appreciated.
A Weak Education System and Protracted Conflict
Education in general is vastly underfunded by both the international community and
the Congolese government. Between 2007 and 2008 international donors invested
just $150 million in the education sector which amounted to US $2 per pupil for the
year, compared with Afghanistan which received US $19 (International Rescue
Committee, 2010). Although the Congolese government pledged 16% of its budget
to education in 2008, only half of this commitment was met (Ibid) and currently the
financial allocation for education stands at just over 9% of the budget (International
Rescue Committee, 2012, p. 1); this figure needs to be significantly increased if the
country is to even come close to achieving primary education for all. However, the
failure of the primary education sector is not a recent development as it can also be
heavily attributed to the system of governance that was passed down from the
colonial period. The Belgians utilised a system of state sanctioned, yet unregulated
resource extraction that enabled them to collect huge profits without filtering them
down to the grassroots population (Rackley, 2006, p. 418); this method was
43. 35
continued firstly by Mobuto, then under Kabila, and led to huge economic
underdevelopment in the Kivus. An inexistent state economy resulted in a limited
number of social institutions and an insufficient infrastructure, and this allowed an
informal war economy based upon violent coercion to permeate the region (Nest,
Grignon, & Kisangani, 2006, p. 20). Problematically, security forces have been
unable to promote a long lasting stability because the minimal development of the
Kivus means that belonging to an armed group is often one of the only profitable
occupations available to the population (Autesserre, 2008, p. 99).
Essentially, forty years of poor governance, civil war, economic collapse and
exploitation have left millions of Congolese children with no access to education
and, as a result, the number of out-of-school children is amongst the highest in the
world (Save the Children, 2006). Under Mobutu, the Zairian government did not
exist in order to meet state requirements in terms of public services, but rather to
establish a system of individual enrichment and patronage (Gambino, 2011, p. 3).
From the 1970s onwards, the government implicitly, and even explicitly, expected
civil servants working for the state to steal or supplement their low incomes with
side activities (De Herdt, Titeca, & Wagemakers, 2010, p. 5); teachers and other
primary school staff often had their wages stolen by government officials and had to
develop coping mechanisms to enable schooling to continue. By 1980 the state
started to withdraw all financial support for the education system and in 1983 the
education budget for the country virtually disappeared (Ibid).
Since colonial times schools had been heavily aligned with a limited set of religious
networks, and in 1977 a convention was signed that effectively handed over the
managerial and financial responsibilities of the state to the different religious
administrations. With almost a complete removal of government financing,
44. 36
administrations had to start operating primary schools as tax units by charging
school fees in order to subsidise the wages of teachers and enable schools to remain
open (De Herdt, Titeca, & Wagemakers, 2010, p. 11). As a result, community
financing can be viewed as almost the sole reason that primary education continued
to function during Mobuto’s reign. Over time, the inability of the government to
effectively finance primary education has become so accepted that most primary
schools currently draw the majority of their finances from school fee payments. As
will be shown later, school fees in the Kivus cost a parent between US $20 and US
$30 a year on average, and in some schools parents’ fees represent over 65% of the
school’s funding (European Commission, 2010, pp. 11-12). Despite this, only 35%
of parent’s fees are able to be spent on the school as the rest are sent upwards in
order to top up the low salaries of ministers at both the provincial and national level
(Ibid, p. 12); this makes “a mockery of the public nature of the state school system”
(Mokonzi, 2010, p. 8). Primary education in the DRC lasts for 6 years (Southern
African Regional Universities Association, 2008) and, when considering the low
income of civilians in the Kivus, the stress placed on parents to finance primary
education for their children becomes apparent; this financial burden is increased for
some parents as approximately 17% of pupils have to repeat at least one year of
primary school.3
Accordingly, an extremely high primary school abandonment rate
has embedded itself throughout the Kivus (Save the Children, 2006, p. 3). However,
it is essential the fees are paid as any attempts to waive them can drastically lower
teachers’ wages and hamper their motivation to continue in the profession and can
lead to a high level of teacher absenteeism or their abandoning of the profession
(Mokonzi, 2010, p. 17). Therefore, a ‘catch 22’ situation has manifested itself in the
3
In 2011 the World Bank reported that the Gross National Income per capita in the DRC was $190,
putting it amongst the most poverty stricken nations in the world.
45. 37
primary education system of the Kivus; school fee payments prevent children from
enrolling or completing primary education, but removing these fees would cause a
shortage of teachers and force schools to close.
Although the government does distribute some money to the primary education
sector, it is hard to assess its impact as the allocated funds lack efficient management
and transparency and must pass through a highly complex and bureaucratic system
(Mokonzi, 2010, pp. 7-8). The government does not produce a publication showing a
breakdown of the education budget and itemised budget documents regarding
spending are only available to staff inside the Ministry of Education; it is impossible
to know whether expenditure is following the plans and priorities outlined by the
government (European Commission, 2010, p. 17). In fact, there is not even reliable
data on the amount of people working for the Ministry of Education who are on the
government’s payroll. The absence of an education sector or sub-sector plans
creates a situation where Ministerial planning is based upon the expenditure of the
previous year, rather than according to any long-term goal or strategy (Ibid, p. 18).
Essentially, primary education governance consists of poor planning on a provincial
and national level, and an inadequate and mismanaged collection of primary
education statistics. Problematically, there is a lack of information regarding the
distribution of teaching staff throughout schools and regions in the Congo (Mokonzi,
2010, p. 9), and also a dearth in knowledge surrounding areas with high and low
primary school coverage (European Commission, 2010, p. 18). Altogether, this
severely hinders the ability of the government to implement effective primary
education reform in the Kivus, as they are unaware of the problems and requirements
of individual areas and communities.
46. 38
Despite this, primary education continues to be of the upmost importance to Kivu
citizens as it is associated with a reduction in fragility, an investment in the
development of the community (De Herdt, Titeca, & Wagemakers, 2010, pp. 8-10),
and an increase in child protection (Save the Children, 2011, p. 4). However, the
failings of the Congolese government, combined with the protracted conflict in the
East has created a situation where primary schools have remained vastly
undeveloped in the Kivus; infrastructure has been destroyed and roads have been
damaged which has led to an almost complete abandonment of rural schools
(European Commission, 2010, p. 8). Therefore, although the desire of civilians to
gain access to primary education is palpable, children still face an uphill battle to
achieve this aim (War Child, What we do: Democratic Republic of Congo, 2012).
Given the circumstances, the need to implement emergency education programmes
in the region is apparent and the NRC is directly responding to this situation through
TEP. Simply put, TEP can be viewed as a direct response to the on-going
humanitarian crisis within the Kivus, and as a mechanism to enable access to
primary education for out-of-school children despite the failings of the Congolese
government (Johannesen, 2005, p. 4). TEP condenses the curriculum of the first two
years of formal primary education into a ten month period, providing basic
knowledge with a particular focus upon literacy and numeracy (Iverson, 2012, p. 7);
it also involves strong elements of psychosocial healing and the instilling of critical
thinking and positive conflict resolution skills. Through these mechanisms, TEP
enables a greater degree of protection for students which is reflected in a reduction of
community fragility. At the end of the TEP year the NRC, in collaboration with the
Ministry of Education, organises an examination where approximately 85 % of
47. 39
children are either integrated into the second or third year of the formal primary
school system (Johannesen, 2005).
48. 40
Chapter Four: The Short and Long-term Impact of the Teacher
Emergency Package upon Child Protection and Community
Fragility
Having been in a state of protracted conflict for over ten years, violence has
permeated the Kivus and child protection issues have come to characterise the
region. Arguably, with such a large presence of militias, military recruitment is the
biggest protection concern that children face. However, they are also at risk of
becoming involved with violence and crime as these are an ever present element of
society. High poverty levels mean that many children are unable to attend primary
school as their family do not have the capacity to pay the required school fees. In
addition, most families rely on agriculture as their sole source of revenue, but this
provides a limited income and facilitates the continuation of poverty. Parents
interviewed during the research period explained that this reliance on agriculture
forces them to travel and stay in their fields for weeks at a time in order to harvest
their crops.4
The combination of poverty and the reliance upon agriculture has
created a precarious situation for children as they are unable to attend school due to
an inability to pay the fees, and they remain without adult supervision for long
periods of time when their parents are working in the fields. As a result, many
children spend their time hanging around the local streets or markets and this makes
them extremely susceptible to the protection related issues of the region.
This chapter will analyse the links between TEP, child protection and community
fragility, and in order to do this it will be structured into two main sections - the
short-term and long-term impacts of TEP. The first part will examine the short-term
4
(Focus Group 5, 18/04/2012)
49. 41
impact that TEP has in mitigating fragility by increasing child protection, with a
particular focus upon preventing their military recruitment and helping them to avoid
an involvement with violence and crime. It will be asserted that this is achieved by
facilitating an increased enrolment of vulnerable children into primary education,
and also through the curriculum that is applied. However, the second part of the
chapter will stress that this increase in child protection is not sustainable and that
community fragility is only able to be reduced on a short-term basis; the high
abandonment rate of TEP pupils will be used as evidence to highlight unsustainable
child protection. It will be shown that child protection deceases following the NRC’s
withdrawal because large amounts of children abandon formal education which
negatively impacts upon community fragility.
The Short-term Impact of TEP in Reducing Community Fragility
“Without education there is violence, theft, recruitment of children into
armed militias outside of our towns, delinquency, and an inability of the parents to
control the actions of their children. This is extremely bad for the future of the
community”.5
Avoidance of Recruitment into Militias
The existence of a multitude of armed rebel groups makes recruitment a huge
protection issue for children. A School Director in Oicha, Grand North Kivu,
explained that many children from his community are recruited by the local militia,
ADF/Nalu, who operate in the surrounding forests and hills.6
Likewise, another
Director in Kahungwe, South Kivu, stressed that there has been a massive
5
(Focus Group 3, 16/04/2012)
6
(Semi-Structured Interview 2, 10/04/2012)
50. 42
recruitment of children into armed groups over the last few years.7
Militias actively
target out-of-school children who spend time hanging around the streets and markets
as they are outside the protective sphere of schools. Parents across all focus groups
unanimously agreed that when children join armed groups there is a higher risk that
they will use violence against people in the communities.
TEP mitigates this problem by increasing the number of out-of-school children
enrolled in primary education. In fact, the programme goes further than this as it
directly targets the most vulnerable children within society. The child beneficiaries
of TEP are over the age limit for enrolment in formal primary education and usually
represent the most vulnerable members of their community. NRC selects these
children because they have missed a large amount of primary schooling and are
usually illiterate; this point was underscored by an official for the Ministry of
Education who stressed that vulnerable children have a higher chance of illiteracy.8
Furthermore, he claimed that vulnerable and illiterate are more susceptible to
recruitment as they have no other form of social mobilisation; he drew a direct link
between this group and community fragility: “vulnerable children are often illiterate.
These children affect fragility because if they do not go to school they are likely to
join militias”.9
Essentially, TEP stops child recruitment by physically removing the
most vulnerable children from areas of risk and placing them in a secure
environment. Parents in Bukobati, Petit North Kivu, confirmed that when children
are protected in TEP classes it lowers the risk of them using weapons and violence
against members of their community, and this leads to a reduction in fragility.10
7
(Structured Interview 22, 28/04/2012)
8
(Structured Interview 10, 12/04/2012)
9
(Structured Interview 8, 10/04/2012)
10
(Focus Group 1. 30/03/2012)
51. 43
“Our children who were over the age limit for official education and
desperate, now had access to an education. They were protected in TEP schools and
this helped them to avoid the militias that operate close to our village”.11
“The fragility of the community is linked to the recruitment of our children.
TEP helps them to avoid recruitment and this gives the community security. We do
not have to fear our children attacking the village with weapons”.12
The following tables emphasise the increased enrolment rate of vulnerable children
in both Petit North Kivu, between 2002 and 2008, and Grand North Kivu, between
2004 and 2008. In Petit North Kivu the NRC supported nearly 10,000 out-of-school
children to enrol in TEP classes, and this placed them in a protective environment
that lessened their risk of recruitment. The figures for Grand North Kivu are lower,
but this is because they are based on individual schools, whereas the figures for Petit
North Kivu are based upon groups of schools belonging to an axis.13
Nevertheless,
they still demonstrate a significant increase in the number of pupils enrolled in
education and each cycle saw at least 180 vulnerable children enter the TEP
programme. Just as in Petit North Kivu, vulnerable children were afforded an
increased level of protection in classes and this helped them to avoid recruitment into
armed groups.
11
(Semi-Structured Interview 7, 26/04/2012)
12
(Focus Group 7, 25/04/2012)
13
It is extremely difficult to gather uniform data across the Kivu region as there is often no set
method for school directors and authorities to track the academic progress of students. Moreover,
as mentioned in the methodology, schools records are often destroyed by armed groups who use
school buildings as a base. This means that whilst data may be available for some areas, it is not
necessarily accessible across all primary schools within the Kivus. It is important to stress that the
number of children who were involved in the TEP programme in Grand North Kivu between these
years is more than 1620. However, the data for other schools was not available and so it has not
been included.
52. 44
Table to show the enrolment figures of children in the TEP cycle in the province
of Petit North Kivu 2002 – 2008.
Axes Number of Children Enrolled
Bord du Lac (2 cycles of TEP – Jan 02
to Sep 02 and May 02 to Jan 03)
2260
Matanda-Kichanga (Jan 03 to Sep 03) 1450
Sake-Karuba (Nov 03 – July 04) 1223
Masisi-Centre (May 04 – January 05) 1200
Masisi-West (Nov 04 – July 05) 1781
Rushuru-Tanda (May 05 0 Jan 06) 1710
Total 9624
Table to show the enrolment figures of children in the TEP cycle in the province
of Grand North Kivu 2004 – 2008.
Schools Number of Children Enrolled
EP Mwangazo (2007 - 2008) 270
EP Mungano (2007 - 2008) 270
EP Oicha (2004 - 2005) 360
EP Vulindi (2005 - 2006) 180
EP Kambali (2005 – 2006) 180
EP Kavaghendi (2005 – 2006) 180
EP Nyamusingha (2005 – 2006) 180
Total 1620
53. 45
Reducing the Involvement of Children in Violence and Crime
An increased enrolment rate also lowers children’s involvement in violence and
crime. Parents, teachers and directors insisted that high levels of out-of-school
children damages community fragility because children spend time idly hanging
around the markets and streets and they often become embroiled in anti-social
behaviour, especially violence and crime. Teachers in Akye-Ato, maintained that this
increases the risk of armed gangs operating in villages.14
The situation was
summarised by a male parent in Kambali, Grand North Kivu: “when children are out
of school it is a disaster. They often succumb to violence and crime and all of the
community suffers”.15
As mentioned, violence and crime are widespread throughout
the Kivus due to lack of state imposed law and order which fuels an atmosphere of
impunity and encourages children’s involvement with these activities (Autesserre,
2008, p. 100). In exactly the same way as it prevents recruitment, TEP counters this
by taking children from the streets and integrating them into the education system,
and, in this manner, children are directly removed from areas of danger. Parents
claimed this stopped them participating in violence and crime: “TEP has provided
protection for our children and taken them from the streets. Now they are able to
avoid involvement with delinquency”.16
TEP not only prevents children’s involvement in violence and crime through
enrolment, it directly addresses these issues through the curriculum and educates
children on their civic and moral responsibilities towards the community (UNESCO-
PEER, 2003). Through this, children learn that violence and crime are not acceptable
forms of behaviour and that they should endeavour to avoid involvement with these
14
(Semi-Structured Interview 3, 13/04/2012)
15
(Focus Group 2, 13/04/2012)
16
(Focus Group 5, 18/04/2012)
54. 46
issues. Furthermore, it increases their awareness of human rights and encourages
respect for parents, elders, their community, and members of different ethnicities.
Importantly, the curriculum emphasises that the use of violence is wrong and
highlights positive conflict resolution methods that enable children to avoid conflict.
In this way, the TEP curriculum protects children by lessening their chances of being
involved in conflict in the future. By encouraging children to respect the human
rights of others, TEP reduces the risk that they will use violence against others in the
community; with less violence pervasive throughout the community, fragility is able
to diminish.
“Violence and crime were greatly reduced in the community and the families
of TEP students and the community were more stable as they knew their children
were in a safe environment”.17
During the research period parents of current and former TEP pupils were questioned
on the impact of TEP in reducing children’s involvement in crime and violence. As
the table below demonstrates, parents acknowledged that TEP facilitated a
significant decrease in these issues.
17
(Structured Interview 13, 18/04/2012)
55. 47
Graph to show the opinion of 1079 parents regarding the benefits of TEP
Summary
As demonstrated, TEP increases the protection of children throughout communities
in the Kivus and this helps to mitigate fragility. The tables below provide further
evidence to support this argument. Parents were asked if TEP had increased the
protection of children, but also how important the programme is in reducing
community fragility. The data shows that the overwhelming majority of parents
believe that TEP enables an increase in Child protection; 86% claim that TEP is very
important in reducing community fragility, whilst 11% stated that it is important.
Although 3% feel that TEP does not have an effect, there were no responses arguing
that TEP is unimportant in reducing fragility.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Does TEP reduce the amount of children involved in crime or violence in
the community?
NumberofParents
Question Asked
YES
NO
56. 48
Graph to show the response of 1079 parents in relation to the benefits of TEP in
increasing child protection
Graph to show the response of 1079 parent of TEP students in relation to TEP’s
impact upon community fragility
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Does TEP increase the protection of children in the community?
NumberofParents
Question Asked
YES
NO
925
117
37 0 0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Very Important Important Neither
Important nor
Unimportant
Unimportant Very
Unimportant
How important has TEP been in reducing the fragility of this
community?
Very Important Important
Neither Important nor Unimportant Unimportant
Very Unimportant
57. 49
An Absence of Sustainable Child Protection Leading to Long-term
Fragility
Norwegian Refugee Council’s Withdrawal and the End of the TEP Programme
In September 2010, the Congolese government launched a policy of free primary
education for all in accordance with the MDGs that aim to establish free primary
education in all countries by 2015 (United Nations, 2012). In theory, the policy
means that children in classes one to four receive free education because primary
schools are prohibited from charging fees, but in reality this is not the case for the
majority of primary schools across the Kivus. The government has not accompanied
the policy with any reinforcing measures; many teachers still remain unpaid by the
state, no additional classrooms have been built, and repairs to ramshackle classrooms
have not been made. Therefore, the majority of primary schools in the Kivus
continue to charge pupils from class one to class six. The following table
demonstrates the average yearly primary school fees for one pupil in the region.
After this, the next table will highlight the typology of fee payments charged, and
show the cost of fees per pupil depending on their school class. The data was
gathered from the thirty three schools that were visited during the research period
across all three provinces of the Kivus.
58. 50
Table to show the average primary school fees per pupil, per year in the Kivus
Fee Cost US $
School Fee 0.08
Insurance Fee 0.08
School Operation Fee 1.97
School Construction Fee 2.63
Teacher’s Fee 13.14
School Bulletin Fee 0.16
Specific Intervention Fee 0.42
TENAFEP Fee (school exam) 4.81
ANAPECO Fee (National Parents
Association)
0.11
Total US $ 23.40
59. 51
Table to show the average cost of sending a pupil to a formal primary school
per year
Class charge US $
Fee 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
6th
School Fees 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.11 0.11
Insurance 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.10 0.10
School
Operation
2.17 2.17 2.17 2.17 2.91 2.91
Construction 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.07 3.07
Teacher’s
Fee
13.86 13.86 13.86 13.86 16.82 16.82
School
Bulletin Fee
0.19 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.20 0.20
Specific
Intervention
Fees
0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.56 0.56
TENAFEP
(Exam)
0 0 0 0 0 4.81
ANAPECO
(National
Parents
Association
0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15
Total Cost
Per Year for
parents in
US $
21.25 21.25 21.25 21.25 23.92 28.73
The numerous fee payments required have dire consequences for TEP pupils
attempting to integrate into formal primary schools. Parents do not have the capacity
to fund their children’s education following the end of TEP, and the withdrawal of
the NRC’s support is often met with a high abandonment rate from the formal
primary school system. This pattern of abandonment continues throughout the
60. 52
primary school cycle, with former TEP pupils dropping out in their second, third,
fourth and fifth years of primary education. Evidence gathered throughout the
research period suggests that even though a child remains in primary school for one
or two years, it does not mean they will be able to complete the entire primary school
cycle. The high abandonment rate following the cessation of TEP and the withdrawal
of NRC financial support is demonstrated in the tables below.
Table to show the abandonment rate of pupils in Grand North Kivu
School
TEP Students
Number of
TEP
beneficiaries
who enrolled
in formal
primary
school
Number who
completed
the primary
School
Cycle
Total
Number of
Drop-outs
% of Drop-
outs
EP Mwangazo
(2007-8)18
270 32 238 88.1%
EP Mungano (2007-
8)
270 25 245 90.8%
EP Oicha (TEP
2004-5)
360 50 310 86.1%
EP Vulindi (TEP
2005-6)
180 27 153 85%
Total 1080 134 946 Average –
87.6%
18
EP stands for Ecole Premiere, which translates to Primary School.
61. 53
Table to show the abandonment rate of pupils in PNK
Axes
TEP Students
Number of
TEP
beneficiaries
who enrolled
in formal
primary
school
Number who
completed
the primary
School
Cycle
Total
Number of
Drop-outs
% of Drop-
outs
Bord du Lac 2260 478 1782 78.8%
Matanda-Kichanga 1450 199 1251 86.3%
Sake-Karuba 1223 401 822 67.2%
Masisi-Centre 1200 320 880 73.3%
Total 6133 1398 4735 Average –
77.2%
A Return of Child Protection Issues
“TEP had contributed massively in reducing the fragility of this community.
When you [NRC] left a lot of children had to go back onto the streets. The COPA
[Parent Committee] had meetings with the parents in order to fix the problem, but
most of them are too poor for the problem to be solved”.19
Unsurprisingly, given the high poverty levels of the Kivus, 87.6% of TEP pupils
from Grand North Kivu, and 77.2% of TEP pupils from Petit North Kivu had to
abandon primary education following the end of TEP. Whilst TEP beneficiaries
praised the programme for the short-term impact that it had on child protection and
community fragility, they placed emphasis on the programme’s lack of
19
(Focus Group 8, 26/04/2012)
62. 54
sustainability. In their opinion TEP did not go far enough in its approach, and the
underlying problems within society, mainly poverty, were still there after NRC
withdrew. After the removal of the NRC’s support the communities were left
devastated and one parent reported that the parents had been reduced to tears,20
whereas another stated that “our wound was healed and then it was opened again”.21
Poverty led to the high drop-out rate and return to vulnerable settings of many TEP
students and many returned to the streets where they are vulnerable to attack from, or
recruitment into armed groups, as well as the threat of becoming embroiled in
violence and crime; consequentially, this has increased the fragility of communities
as the child protection has been lost.22
“A lot of children now spend their time on the streets because they have
dropped out of school. This is very dangerous for them as they have no protection,
and this negatively impacts upon the whole community”.23
Poverty is a huge problem across the Kivus and is not restricted to the families of
TEP pupils; there is a universally high abandonment rate of children from the formal
primary school system throughout the region. Therefore, it could be argued that TEP
does not lack sustainability but that the high abandonment rate is due to the context
of the Kivus. The table below shows that child protection is an issue for all children
throughout the Kivus, not just TEP beneficiaries, as many children are forced to
abandon the primary education system. However, whilst the abandonment rate of
non-TEP pupils is high, it does not match the extremely high abandonment rate of
TEP pupils. In both schools approximately 90% of TEP pupils had to drop-out of
20
(Focus Group 9, 27/04/2012)
21
(Focus Group 6, 24/04/2012)
22
(Structured Interview 12, 17/04/2012)
23
(Semi-Structured Interview 4, 13/04/2012)
