23 April 2013 – Calling for quick action by authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today warned that education was becoming another casualty of the months-long conflict, with half the country’s schools shuttered and hundreds of thousands of students at risk of missing out the entire year.

At least 250,000 children who started the 2012-2013 primary school year, and 30,000 who were in secondary school at the start of the crisis, could lose the entire school year if schools do not re-open in the coming weeks, the agency said in a news release. (via United Nations News Centre - Children’s education in Central Africa Republic devastated by conflict, UN says)

Schools are protected by international human rights law; they should be safe places for children to play, learn and develop. But in Syria, schools have come under direct attack, denying children their right to education in a safe learning environment. An eight-year-old boy from Aleppo refused to talk for more than two weeks after fleeing Syria. When he eventually did speak, his first words were,“They burned my school.”

(via Save the Children)

[SIERRA LEONE] Thousands of children in Sierra Leone are paying for their own education or helping their families make ends meet by working as rock-breakers for the country’s construction industry.

Child labour is nothing new in Sierra Leone, but the brutal job of breaking stones with a hammer for hours on end in the baking heat has raised particular concern.

[…]

Education and child labour are often closely entwined in Sierra Leone, where schooling can impose a severe financial strain. Although primary education is nominally free, parents must pay for uniforms, books, pens, transport and in some cases contributions to teachers’ salaries. To send their children to school, therefore, many parents must also send them to work. (via IRIN Africa | SLIDESHOW: Children break rocks to pay for school in Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone | Children | Economy | Education)

DAKAR, 15 March 2013 (IRIN) - Aid workers and experts are calling for more attention to education in Mali, where 200,000 children are out of school due to the crisis but where money for emergency education has yet to come forward.

Though most schools in northern Mali are closed or thinly staffed, and thousands of children risk missing two years of schooling, donors have once again de-prioritized education to focus on what they say are more direct life-saving activities.

[ … ]

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says dozens of schools in the north have been closed, destroyed, looted or, in places, contaminated with unexploded ordnance. It estimates the education of 700,000 children across Mali has been disrupted by the crisis. 

In the north, some 5 percent of schools have reopened in Timbuktu; a handful in Kidal; and more in Gao, but only 28 percent of teachers were estimated to have returned to work there as of the end of February, said UNICEF. 

Many teachers are too afraid to return to the north, while already overcrowded schools in the south cannot cope with the influx. 

(via IRIN Africa | Call to end neglect of emergency education in Mali | Burkina Faso | Mali | Mauritania | Niger | Chad | Aid Policy | Children | Conflict | Education | Natural Disasters | Refugees/IDPs)

unicef:

Children of Syria: Witnessing Pockets of Hope in the Midst of Turmoil
By Mark Choonoo - Emergency Specialist, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa

The following op-ed was published in the Huffington Post on 7 February 2013.

I have just completed a mission to Homs where I stayed for one month as part of a mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the governorate, review our programmes and to strengthen and build our relationship with local partners.

Almost one in three persons in Homs is a displaced person, our partners on the ground tell us, and according to them, two thirds of the displaced population are children. Explosions, the sound of shells landing and the crack of gunfire are all part of the day-to-day life here.

Less than a kilometre from the hotel where I was staying, fighting raged on with a ferocity that shakes the city. Even after 20 years of doing this type of work in some very dangerous areas of the world, every explosion still made me worry. Amid this, we as a humanitarian team had to keep focused on how to improve the lives of those affected by this two-year long crisis.

I walked around to see how children in Homs are living. In a convent that works with children, situated at the end of a line of fully standing buildings and right before the destruction and rubble begins, I was amazed to find children reading books, listening to teachers, drawing pictures and playing games. The drawings on the walls spoke of smiling faces, waving hands, laughter and messages about the need to forgive. A total contrast to the rubble outside that represents so many battered lives.

I also went to what is called the “towers” which are unfinished blocks of apartments turned into collective shelters for displaced families. There, I met a 14-year-old girl and her younger brother who have literally opened a classroom on their own for themselves and their peers. The two siblings, whose schooling was disrupted because of the conflict, have transformed their shelter into a learning space where children come to study text books together.

The common message I got from parents and all education practitioners I met was the need to make sure that children can continue their schooling. A significant part of the education infrastructure in Homs has been severely affected by the conflict, with many schools either damaged, or turned into shelters for displaced families.

Naturally, this is putting enormous pressure on classrooms that are still functioning and on teachers who are challenged to do more than their best to teach double and triple the size of their normal class.

Unicef is working with partners to provide remedial learning programmes to help more children continue their education. About 6,500 children benefited from this programme in Homs so far and we are working to reach more children in the coming weeks. We will also soon be providing formal schools in Homs with essential school supplies to allow more children to enrol and improve the quality of education.

In Homs, I saw and heard about much suffering and desperation, but I also encountered amazing stories of people who, in the midst of all this, are doing everything they can to cope with their circumstances and create pockets of hope in a world of chaos.

Our partner in Talbiseh town, in Homs Governorate, told us how women are coping with the shortage of clothes, in this harsh winter, by turning blankets donated to them into clothes.

We are providing winter supplies and non-food items for affected families, including packages of children’s winter clothes. Unfortunately, because of the ever growing scale of the crisis, there’s not enough to go around for every child.

Our partner in Talbiseh described how they will unpack the content of the boxes of children’s clothes that they receive from Unicef and distribute to mothers and children piece by piece, according to the need. “So for instance, we will give shoes to a child who needs them and give pyjamas to another child who has shoes but no clothes.”

During the last two weeks, Unicef relief supplies — which include family hygiene kits, blankets, quilts, food kits and high-energy biscuits for children — reached more than 67,200 people in Homs.

I cannot imagine the fear a little child experiences with each shattering blast that rocks the city. Most children I saw were showing some signs of distress. This is why it is extremely important that we set up child friendly spaces and provide psychosocial support for as many children as possible.

We met with some local organisations working on psychosocial projects to discuss how we can work together. They are groups of energetic young people who have never imagined that one day they would need to do such work in their own city. Given my experience as a counsellor, I was asked to help them set up a focus group of practitioners to help address the problem.

If we had more resources, and strong partnerships, there is so much more that we could do. I realize more and more the fear that has crept into communities, and into children’s lives. Our work in the area of psychosocial support will be extremely important to make sure that children can regain connection with their childhood, and grow up to become healthy members of their society.

Follow Mark Choonoo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/UNICEFmena

Photo caption: Children engage in fun activities in one of the UNICEF-supported recreational facilities in Homs.
Photo credit: UNICEF/Syria2013/Mouaz Mahfouz