EiE

The Education in Emergencies (EiE) project aimed at improving education opportunities for out-of-school children (OOSC) and youth impacted by COVID-19 in four countries, including Mali, Sudan, Syria and Peru. During its three years of implementation, the project addressed a shortage of education programs for OOSC, poor learning outcomes, unavailable school infrastructure, weak child protection systems and lack of teaching and learning materials for OOSC and youth. Some of the key results of the project, lessons learned, and innovations are presented below.

Key results

Improved literacy and numeracy skills for children and women
Remedial classes: In the education in Emergencies (EiE) program, 5,402 learners attended remedial classes, catch-up, kindergarten, or adult literacy programs. In Syria, 400 girls attended remedial classes with an improvement of 100% in mathematics and Arabic classes.  In Peru, 2,211 learners enrolled in remedial and summer remedial classes. An average of 93% of learners increased scores and improved their literacy and numeracy skills. In Mali, catch-up programs supported 26 learners to graduate with a primary level certificate, giving them the opportunity to reintegrate into formal schooling. Additionally, 220 internally displaced children attended remedial classes, and 73 children attended kindergarten classes. In Sudan, a total of 2,472 learners attended accelerated learning programs in which 1,691 passed ALP examinations, supporting them to transition into formal schooling.

Adult learners: In Mali, 185 women graduated from literacy and numeracy classes, as well as soap-making skills. Out of 65 women assessed in literacy and numeracy, 42 achieved minimum requirements for literacy and numeracy in life competencies skills.

Improved School Infrastructure
106 classrooms and 35 administrative rooms were renovated, while 17 classrooms were constructed, benefiting more than 8,128 learners. WASH facilities were also provided, supplying schools with 63 gender segregated latrine blocks, water points in 7 schools and distribution of hygiene and sanitation kits.

Improved Access to Learning Materials
In all four countries, teaching and learning materials were distributed to 4,518 learners and 427 teachers. Learning kits included notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, backpacks, and pencil cases.

Improved Child Protection Mechanisms
A total of 9,932 community and school community members were trained in topics such as child rights, positive discipline, protection mechanisms and systems etc. Child protection mechanisms, such as referral systems, CBPNs, complaint boxes were established and functional resulting in the identification of 117 cases of abuse or neglect, which were reported to services and followed up. 1,509 learners attended psychosocial support services (PSS) that adopted therapeutic activities such as games, individual and group sessions and music therapy.