Abstract
This interesting book is the result of collaboration between the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO), the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies of the University of Amsterdam, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC); it was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The editor, Jackie Kirk, who was unfortunately killed in an ambush in Afghanistan in 2008 before the book was published, showed her passion for the crucial message of this book, which is ‘Certification Counts’. She left us a valuable comprehensive conceptual policy and programming framework for the certification of the learning attainments of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP).
The major theme throughout the book is that “the long term impact of even the best education programs for refugee or displaced students is compromised when students are unable to officially ‘prove’ their competencies with acceptable certificates and documentation . . . Knowing that their studies will be recognized gives students hope, increases their motivation to continue their education, reinforces resilience and self-reliance and contributes to individual, family and community well-being.” (p 41)
The 236-page book starts with a long list of abbreviations (much needed by readers/educators who have not worked in such settings), and an Executive Summary; it falls into two sections with a total of 15 chapters. The first section consists of six chapters introducing the project and the publication, the importance of the subject matter of the book, the conceptual framework of the study, the factors that affect accreditation and certification of learning of displaced students, and finally the roles and responsibilities of the actors involved including governments, ministries, UN agencies, international NGOs, regional organizations, networks and conventions. This section is summarized by a set of conclusions and policy recommendations, adding to the minimal formal research or documentation on this crucial topic.
In its Executive Summary the book produces a set of valuable broad recommendations related to: advocacy and coordination, strategies and implementation, and capacity-building. Under advocacy and coordination the book concludes that advocacy activities need to be coordinated in collaboration with government departments, and coordination needs review on a regular basis to encourage synergy. When it comes to implementation, the book concludes that the most appropriate accreditation and certification options should be determined in partnership with affected communities, that missing or unrecognized identity cards should not prevent school entry, and that documents of certification–validation should be granted immediately and in more than one language. When it comes to policy however, the lessons learned were many. Most imminent among them is that Ministries of Education (MoEs) should develop clear regulations for the equivalency of curricula, programmes, and exit certificates to eliminate potential ad hoc decision-making by individual school authorities. Cross-border policy coherence and consistency for refugees and IDP populations should be clearly elaborated and, of course, the refugee and IDP teachers and education experts and their training should be at the core of any policy. As for capacity-building, the case studies showed that tools and instruments such as grade conversion charts, syllabus, and ‘certification support’ are a must for the smooth transition of students from one system to another and across borders. Evidently, all the above-mentioned would necessarily require the provision of support and technical and capacity-building for MoEs.
The second section, composed of nine chapters, supports the first section by providing a set of well-documented and evaluated case studies conducted by student researchers or IRC officers. These case studies are used as examples to manifest to the reader that if MoE officials, UN agencies and NGOs representatives all collaborate and work together, they can overcome the barriers of validation, certification, accreditation and recognition of formal and non-formal teaching and learning for internally displaced and immigrant students. Reading the case studies is interesting and enlightening, though my history and geography backgrounds were not enough in some cases to enable me to understand the reality of the situation on the ground. It was a good opportunity however to educate myself about some of the historical events in these regions that had caused the students’ displacement.
The different styles of writing and the different structures in each chapter of this book give it a special perspective. These different styles are depicted in the diversity of case studies discussed that demonstrate a variety of IDPs’ situations: Afghan refugees in Pakistan, migrant students on the Thai-Burmese borders, immigrants from Chechnya in the Republic of Ingushetia, Liberian students in Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire, Somalian camps in Dadaab, Kenya, and Republic of the Congo IDPs. Each case study demonstrates without any doubt the importance of certification and validation of educational attainment for students on the move. The lessons learned and/or conclusion section at the end of each case study is of great importance and serves as a good reference for similar future cases.
Is this book worth reading? Do I recommend it? Who should read it? The book is not an easy read or one to be read in a leisurely way. It takes the form of scholarly research based on past and current examples from the field. It is highly specialized and targets readers in the field of Education, policy-makers, or those who work in international aid or relief work. I enjoyed reading the book as I was able to relate its contents to a previous setting I worked in: Palestine in the 1990s. I could identify with the writers’ enthusiasm for the topic as I could imagine the issues they are discussing on the ground. And I wholeheartedly agree with the research conclusion. In Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, the basic education from KG to Grade 10 for Internally Displaced Persons is provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). UNRWA was fully aware right from the beginning, in its four areas of operation, of the importance of accreditation, validation and recognition. The smooth transfer for the refugees after Grade 10 between the public schools system, UNRWA schools and in-between the four countries was therefore seamless. This in turn, and as noted above, gave the students confidence and hope, and opened doors for them to pursue secondary education and to move easily between the four UNRWA areas of operation.
The question that poses itself here is that, since UNRWA services and operations started well before the case studies described in the book (UNRWA was established on 1949), why weren’t the lessons learned transferred into other refugee and displaced areas? One plausible answer might be that, despite the fact that common basic policies, strategies and protocols have been developed by relief agencies, UN organizations and MoEs that can be applied in any new situation, there will still be certain individual needs that need to be tailored case by case (per individuals or geography) and cannot be generalized.
Although this book shares a host of proven good practices, there are still many questions that need to be answered, among them two burning questions in particular: the question of language (is it better to teach in English, in the local language, or in the home country language?), and the question of remote on-line or e–learning which might be offered by the home country. Is it an option? Or is schooling more than just the curriculum?