Education News Blog
Posted: 31/01/12
Jake Scobey-Thal is an associate in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch.
We told the children not to enter the building because the soldiers had weapons everywhere,” an official explained as he pointed to the corner of a government office where the soldiers had stacked guns. The troops had arrived in Gueday, a small village in the Cordillera Autonomous Region in northern Luzon, Philippines, in April 2010, just before the national elections.
As we sat in the village’s municipal hall, local officials described the military’s four-month stay, gesturing around the building the soldiers had transformed into a barracks. The officials squabbled over the size of the detachment (eventual consensus was approximately 15) and recalled how the troops gave out goods (canned food mostly). They pointed us to the basketball hoop the detachment built and the yard where soldiers would conduct morning exercises with the children.
But after the second cup of coffee, they revealed that the municipal hall was actually the second structure the detachment had used as a camp. For the first three months of their stay, the soldiers had occupied the smaller of the two buildings that make up the local elementary school.
The Philippine government is engaged in a long-running armed conflict with the insurgent New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. While the NPA maintains a presence in the mountains of northern Luzon, there has only been limited military action in the Cordillera region since the 1990s. Despite the low levels of conflict, the military continues to place troops and guns in local communities. And in some cases these troops and their guns establish a home on school grounds.
During our eight-day investigation in November, Human Rights Watch documented five cases in which the military had used parts of functioning schools in the area as encampments for military detachments since 2009. School administrators, principals, and teachers described the troubling dynamics of running a school on top of, adjacent to, and occasionally within, de facto military barracks.
The first thing we saw as we approached Sadanga High School was the military sentry overlooking the access road. The lone entrance to the school opens up to a large courtyard, surrounded by individual classrooms. A school official told us that at one point the army had placed an armed guard at the entrance, but on the day we visited the soldiers were confined to a patch of land across the yard.
Local officials assured us the land the soldiers used was actually private, adjacent to the government-owned school grounds. While a portion of the camp was built behind the school on land that could, conceivably, be independently owned, we observed that at least part of the detachment—two soldiers, their sleeping quarters, and a 3x3 camouflaged military truck—sat well within school property.
The camp sits directly across the courtyard from the school’s one entrance. In order to leave the base, the soldiers - even those encamped on the ostensibly private land – must cross the school grounds. If a firefight were to occur, students and staff could well be caught in the middle.
At Sadanga, soldiers explained that they were on a “civilian-military operation.” Their mission is not combat related, they said, but rather focused on community development. The local mayor consented to their occupation, though in the Philippines sometimes local officials find it difficult to refuse the military’s requests.
The Philippines military has had a tenuous relationship with the indigenous communities of the Cordilleras owing to the legacy of Marcos-era abuses and ongoing violations by military forces in the efforts to dismantle the communist insurgency. The NPA has also committed abuses against the local population. Civilian-military operations, such as the one at Sadanga, are part of a larger government strategy to engage indigenous communities and isolate the NPA—an effort to “win hearts and minds.” Human Rights Watch saw these types of projects in a number of schools we visited.
While some people expressed unqualified contempt for the soldiers, many not only tolerated, but appreciated the military’s presence. In Sadanga, the soldiers built an office for the school nurse and led a Boy Scout troop; in another school, soldiers had maintained a small vegetable garden.
However, the question remains: Why are the soldiers in the schools?
As the soldiers at Sadanga High noted, the military occupation of schools is banned under Philippine law, and can violate international humanitarian and human rights law—and for good reason. The presence of soldiers endangers students and staff and disrupts education. The occupation of educational facilities also makes the school a legitimate target for insurgent forces. Human Rights Watch has documented the bombing of schools as part of insurgency tactics in India, Afghanistan, and southern Thailand. In the Philippines, teachers reported that students often interact with the soldiers, and with only a few staff members, schools do not have the resources to supervise these interactions. Teachers described instances in which students ran errands for the detachment, joined soldiers in their barracks to eat lunch and watch “bang bang” movies, and ran up to soldiers to touch their guns.
A teacher in Gueday ¬– one of four who taught while the military was encamped in the school - spoke highly of the troops. She recalled the morning exercises the soldiers led with the students and the help the soldiers provided in cleaning the school. We asked her why, after three months, the soldiers had left the library and moved to the municipal hall. She replied matter-of-factly, “The community asked them to leave… The danger to the students.”
If the government is serious about putting an end to military abuses in the north, it should protect students and teachers by ordering the armed forces to respect the law and to stay out of educational facilities. The military will not win hearts and minds by putting schools in the line of fire.
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Posted: 24/01/12
Dear INEE Members,
INEE and The Sphere Project are pleased to announce that the Companionship Agreement between the two entities has been renewed. The Agreement recognizes the INEE Minimum Standards as Companion and Complementary Standards to the Sphere Project's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response. The continued use of the INEE Minimum Standards alongside the Sphere Standards will help to ensure that crucial linkages between education and traditional sectors are made at the outset of an emergency - through contingency planning, multi-sectoral needs assessments and holistic response. Used together, the two good practices tools help improve the quality of humanitarian assistance, enhance the predictability and accountability of disaster preparedness and response, and improve coordination among humanitarian actors.
Through the Companionship Agreement, "both Parties recognize that education in emergencies is a necessity that can be both life-sustaining and life-saving, providing physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection. Education in emergencies is an integral component of humanitarian aid alongside assistance in water and sanitation, health, nutrition, shelter and protection. The right to education is both a human right, which applies even in emergencies, and an enabling right, allowing people to exercise their other rights, such as the right to health and the right to life with dignity."
Signed in 2008, the original Companionship Agreement established a formal relationship between INEE and The Sphere Project. As part of the Agreement, INEE Secretariat and the Sphere Project staff mainstreamed education in the revised Sphere Handbook as well as inter-sectoral linkages in the updated INEE Minimum Standards Handbook. The renewed Agreement further strengthens the collaboration between the two entities at all levels, including the Sphere Board and the INEE Steering Group. To access the full Agreement, click here.
The Sphere Project was created to improve the quality and accountability of disaster response. It promotes the universal right of all disaster-affected people to life with dignity, protection and humanitarian assistance. The Sphere Project's Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response represents sector-wide consensus on minimum standards, key technical indicators and guidance covering four life-saving areas of humanitarian aid: water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion; food security and nutrition; shelter, settlement and non-food items; and health action.
The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is an expression of commitment that all individuals - children, youth and adults - have a right to education during emergencies. The Standards articulate the minimum level of educational quality and access in emergencies through to recovery.
For more information about The Sphere Project and its Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, visit http://www.sphereproject.org. For more information on the INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery, visit http://www.ineesite.org/standards.To learn more about the INEE-Sphere Project Companionship, visit INEE's website. To access tools on education and inter-sectoral linkages, visit the INEE Toolkit. To share how you have used the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook and the Sphere Handbook, please contact Tzvetomira Laub at tzvetomira@ineesite.org and Aninia Nadig at aninia.nadig@ifrc.org.
Sincerely,
INEE Secretariat and The Sphere Project staff
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Posted: 17/01/12
It's time to join in the All Children Reading Grand Challenge!
Evidence shows that learning to read at an early age is one of the strongest indicators that a person will develop the skills they need to lead a healthy life, earn a productive salary, and contribute positively to the economic growth of a community. Yet millions of students today are finishing primary school without being able to read basic words. We need game-changing solutions that increase the availability and effectiveness of literacy teaching and learning materials and that improve education data for accountability and smarter decision-making. The opportunity before us has never been more clear: We need to harness the creative, practical, and inventive powers of the crowd- yes, that's you- to generate significantly better results for children. Here's how you can participate today.
1) Submit your idea to address childhood literacy by applying for the challenge. Applications will be accepted through January 31st at 2 pm EST/19:00 GMT. Visit http://www.allchildrenreading.org/apply to learn about the application guidelines and eligibility requirements. You can download the Request for Applications (RFA) with full guidelines here. We have also attached a brief overview of the RFA (please use the entire RFA to guide your submissions). Organizations with winning submissions will be eligible for as much as $300,000, provided by USAID, AusAID, and World Vision.
The competition is open for submissions now until January 31st at 2pm EST/ 19:00 GMT
2) Spread the word about the All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development competition! And encourage people to submit! Don't be shy. Share the challenge website and mission with your friends, families, media contacts, and colleagues via Facebook, Twitter (#allchildrenreading, #usaid), other social networking sites, your university connections, and regular community outlets. Your network may include people and organizations who can help us to achieve better results together.
Visit the website to learn more: www.AllChildrenReading.org
Join the movement today to get All Children Reading!
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Posted: 03/11/11
How have you recently used the INEE Minimum Standards? We'd love to hear about your experience using the INEE Minimum Standards. Any articles, policies or projects incorporating guidance from the INEE Minimum Standards would also be helpful. Please contact Jessica Alexander (Jessica@ineesite.org) and Tzvetomira Laub (tzvetomira@ineesite.org).
Take the Survey! Share your experience with the Minimum Standards in 15 minutes!
Please complete the entire survey. If you don't have time to do the entire survey now, please come back to it at another time.
The survey will soon be available in Urdu as well. If you unable to take the survey online, click here to download the survey in pdf.
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Posted: 15/08/11
ECD experts discuss concrete ways to mitigate the impact of this severe drought and food shortage on young children here.
Share your reactions, experiences and ideas in the comments. Some questions to consider:
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Is it sufficient for affected families in HoA to receive cash support and food aid? How can this be complemented with information on psychosocial support to children and mothers/caregivers?
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Is this an appropriate or suitable time to provide affected families with additional information like the importance of stimulation, or caregiver-to-child interaction; or should such information be conveyed post emergency/when more suitable conditions are in place? Why/Why not?
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Posted: 26/07/11
INEE is collecting information on how our members are responding to the drought and growing humanitarian crisis in Horn and East Africa.
We invite you to share your insights and experiences in the comments. Some questions to consider:
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Has the fact that this is a slow onset crisis (in contrast to a tsunami, earthquake, or sudden-onset conflict) impacted the response? What are the lessons we can learn from this?
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How is your organization taking into account the overlapping political, economic and environmental factors in responding to this complex emergency?
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What lifesaving and life-sustaining education interventions is your organization providing in this region?
You can also email arianna@ineesite.org with any relevant resources and information for INEE to share with the rest of the network.
This listserv message provides updates on the region and the education sector response.
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Posted: 22/07/11
The INEE Secretariat invites you to apply be a member of the Minimum Standards Working Group for 2011-2013. The new Working Group on Minimum Standards (2011-2013) will work toward the following objectives: 1. Translation, dissemination and promotion of the INEE Minimum Standards, and 2. Application and Capacity Development on the INEE Minimum Standards. Please see here for the complete TOR and here for a link to the Call for Applications.
To apply, submit a letter signed by a senior organizational officer who is able to make an institutional commitment, specifying their commitment to this two-year process. Please state the organization's ability to meet the criteria and responsibilities involved. In addition to the letter, please send the C.V. of the organization's proposed member for the Working Group.
Application deadline: August 8, 2011. Email: aya@ineesite.org and tzvetomira@ineesite.org. Late and incomplete applications will not be considered.
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Posted: 24/06/11
INEE is an active network of over 6,000 members working around the globe to ensure all persons the right to quality and safe education in emergencies through to recovery. An important and often overlooked element of emergency response is preparedness. Emergency preparedness planning within the education sector, outlining actions to respond to a range of threats, is a critical step towards ensuring access to quality education for all learners in times of crises. Part of this process involves creating a contingency plan. This articulates how the education sector will respond to a specific emerging or anticipated crisis prior to its occurrence. This can contribute greatly to the success of humanitarian response during an emergency. INEE is committed to supporting members in this planning process.
The strength and success of INEE lies in the participation of its members in sharing their experiences in the field. To encourage and facilitate such a dialogue, we are inviting INEE members to submit sector-wide contingency plans that indicate procedures for educational responses in times of an emergency.
It is also critical that education is considered in the wider national emergency response plans. Please share case study examples of how you've worked to ensure education is included in national emergency response plans as well.
We welcome contributions from all INEE members and local partners. We will post these plans on our website and share them over the listserv. They will accompany guidelines on contingency planning for the Education sector that are currently being developed by the Education Cluster and other information about preparedness and contingency plans. Your efforts will inspire and inform the work of other INEE members in the field and improve educational preparedness around the world.
Please submit contingency plans to the INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards at minimumstandards@ineesite.org by August 26, 2011, clearly indicating which country the contingency plan was developed for.
Thank you in advance for your valued contributions!
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Posted: 17/06/11
Join INEE in honoring World Refugee Day, 20 June 2011, and help pay homage to the approximately 15 million refugees and 27.5 million internally displaced persons who have been forced to flee their homes because of deadly violence, persecution or natural disaster.
In addition, today we recognize the important work of INEE members around the world who are seeking to secure the right to education for displaced people and we applaud the hard-won gains for education as a right for refugees, internally displaced people and all who are impacted by conflict or natural disaster.
Click here to read the listserv message on World Refugee Day and download relevant tools and resources on refugee education.
Join the conversation on refugee/IDP education:
- What is your organization doing for World Refugee Day?
- What challenges does your organization face providing education for refugees or IDPs? Where have you succeeded?
Share your thoughts and stories in the comments!
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Posted: 17/05/11
Dear INEE Members:
The INEE Working Group on Minimum Standards is pleased to share this “Call for Applications” for delegates to participate in the upcoming Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop on the INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response Recovery. This TOT will be held in Doha, Qatar, from Monday, June 20 to Wednesday, June 22, 2011, and will be hosted by Reach out to Asia (ROTA). The focus of the workshop will be on using the INEE Minimum Standards to support education programmes and policies. It will bring together approximately 30 participants from the Middle East and South East Asia, including representatives from NGOs, UN agencies and donor agencies. The workshop will be conducted in English. The background note is also available on the INEE website.
INEE is inviting applications from individuals who represent an organisation/institution working in the field of education, protection and/or emergency humanitarian work (government, UN, NGO, training institution, academic institution, education personnel). To be selected for this regional TOT on the INEE Minimum Standards, applicants must meet the following criteria:
1. Significant experience in providing leadership to education, protection and/or humanitarian response in emergencies, chronic crises and recovery situations
2. Currently developing and/or implementing education programmes and/or policies
3. Proven training experience and skills, including good communication and interpersonal skills
4. Familiarity with the INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery
5. A written commitment from the applicant’s employer that the applicant will be supported to conduct a minimum of two local, national or regional trainings on the INEE Minimum Standards in the 12 months after participating in the TOT workshop.
6. Ability to secure organisational support for travel and expenses associated with attending the TOT workshop. (Scholarships will be provided to very few participants)
7. Fluency in English and one other language.
Individuals interested in applying for this TOT workshop on the INEE Minimum Standards must submit one word document with the following three components:
1. Completely filled-out application form.
2. A curriculum vitae (four pages maximum).
3. A written commitment from the applicant’s employer that the applicant will be supported to conduct a minimum of two local, national or regional trainings on the Minimum Standards in the 12 months after participating in the TOT workshop.
Please forward this information widely to qualified trainers in your organisation and to partner organisations, noting that the deadline for applications is Wednesday, June 1, 2011. Selected applicants will be notified by June 3, 2011.
Sincerely,
Tzvetomira Laub, INEE Coordinator for Minimum Standards
INEE Working Group on Minimum Standards:
• Academy for Educational Development, Ken Rhodes, US (NGO)
• ActionAid, John Abuya, Kenya (NGO)
• BEFARe, Shakir Ishaq, Pakistan (NGO)
• FAWE, Martha Muwezi, Uganda (NGO)
• GTZ, Sylvia Schmitt, Germany (donor)
• Mavikalem Social Assistance and Charity Association, Zeynep Turkmen, Turkey (NGO)
• NORAD, Randi Gramshaug, Norway (donor)
• Norwegian Refugee Council, Helge Brochmann, Norway (NGO)
• Oxfam Novib, Veerle Verloren van Themaat, Netherlands (NGO)
• Plan International, Sweta Shah, US (NGO)
• Save the Children Alliance, Bente Sandal-Aasen, Norway (NGO)
• War Child Holland, James Lawrie, The Netherlands (NGO)
• World Education, Fred Ligon, Thailand (NGO)
• UNESCO, Eli Rognerud, France (UN)
• UNHCR, Annika Sjoberg, Switzerland (UN)
• UNICEF, Pilar Aguilar, Switzerland (UN)
• USAID, Mitch Kirby, US (donor)
• ZOA Refugee Care, Simon Purnell, Thailand (NGO)
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