Providing Education for Refugees | Children on the Edge

Children on the Edge is currently providing education for children in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, the largest refugee crisis in Lebanon, the most forgotten war in Kachin State Myanmar, and one of the world’s fastest growing refugee situations in Uganda.

RIGHT NOW, WE PROVIDE EDUCATION IN A SAFE SPACE FOR OVER 17,000 REFUGEE CHILDREN WHO HAVE FLED PERSECUTION, CONFLICT OR VIOLENCE.

Group of Rohingya boys holding Children old the Edge school textbooks and laughing and smiling. The background shows a long hilly landscape packed with makeshift shelters.

Rohingya students in Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh.

- We find innovative ways to enable access to education, working alongside refugee communities to find the best possible solutions.

- We train refugee teachers so that children can learn in their own language or dialect and be with familiar, trusted adults that understand them.

- Our classrooms are colourful and fun environments, where children are safe and can learn to express themselves. Children can learn, play and discover how to be children again.

When we began, in 1990, the children on the edge we served were those incarcerated and forgotten in Romanian orphanages.

Today, the “edge” takes us into refugee camps, slums, and warzones where we support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Congolese refugee children in Uganda, and internally displaced Kachin children in Myanmar.

WHICH REFUGEE SITUATIONS DO WE WORK IN?

ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH >>

Teacher and class in Kutupalong refugee camp. Teacher is crouching down and chatting with girls who are sat at a colourful painted desk with a picture of a boat on it.

CONGOLESE REFUGEES IN UGANDA >>

Three young Congolese boys sat in a line laughing and holding colourful signs with different numbers on, which are learning aids for their classes.

SYRIAN REFUGEES
IN LEBANON >>

Group of Syrian refugee boys laughing and giving the camera a 'thumbs up' as they sit in their classroom in Lebanon.

KACHIN COMMUNITIES IN MYANMAR >>

Group of young children from Kachin State, Myanmar, taken from above, showing them surrounding a basket of colourful plastic shapes and choosing ones to take out and play with.

WHAT ARE THE HALLMARKS OF CHILDREN ON THE EDGE REFUGEE EDUCATION?

Each of our refugee learning programmes is bespoke to each situation, but all the refugee education we support is led by the communities we work with and provides quality learning in safe, colourful spaces that enable children to thrive.

1. WE HAVE TRAINED, MOTIVATED TEACHERS FROM THE CHILDREN'S OWN COMMUNITIES

By training teachers from within the refugee communities themselves, we are not only investing in local people, but ensuring that the children have familiar, trusted adults around them, who can teach them in their own language.

Teaching in volatile environments requires dedication and bravery, and investing in our teachers has meant that when the schools face challenges, the teachers do everything they can to ensure consistent education and support. Across the board, the children we interview nearly all say their favourite thing about school is their teacher.

Group of young Congolese children sat on a mat outside with a teacher and homemade learning materials. He is explaining counting to them with some sticks.

Cluster group learning for Congolese refugee children in Kyaka II settlement, Uganda.

“MY LOVE AND CARE FOR MY STUDENTS HELPED CHANGE THEM. I DON’T LET THEM YELL AT EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY HAVE ENOUGH STRESS. I WANT THEM TO BE RELAXED AND CALM.
I SEE THAT LOVE CAN CHANGE THEM... I LOVE THEM WITH MY WHOLE HEART.”

Syrian refugee teacher, Lebanon.

2. EVERY LEARNING SPACE IS COLOURFUL, CREATIVE AND FUN

Walk into any Children on the Edge learning space and you will be met by a riot of colour. With artwork and decorations pinned to every inch of the walls and hanging from the ceilings, indoor spaces spark joy and encourage children’s creativity. In the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh, each classroom is surrounded by plants and flowers, creating the feel of an oasis in the barren landscape of the camp.

Our outdoor classrooms can be under trees or in the shade of nearby buildings, but wherever these spaces are, we find ways to bring out creativity and colour; peppering learning with songs, rhymes and games, and using colourful upcycled learning materials to bring lessons to life.

A line of Rohingya girls in a classroom packed with artwork on the walls. They are laughing and smiling and have their classwork on the floor in front of them.

Colourful classrooms in Kutupalong refugee camp for Rohingya refugee children.

Ten year old Nisha is watering plants outside her Learning Centre in Kutupalong. She is wearing bright pink.

Naifah is ten years old and one of six sisters. Her father is paralysed since being severely attacked when they lived in Myanmar, they since fled to Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh.

She says "I am pleased to come to the learning centres as, through my lessons I can now read, write, sign my own name and support my family and neighbours with my new skills. We hadn’t seen any school like this in the camp before, and I really enjoy it. I have also learned a lot more about hygiene and keeping clean and well.

I like to help with watering the plants outside the classroom and I like to skip with my friends after school."

3. EDUCATION IS HIGH QUALITY AND FULLY INCLUSIVE

Good education will not only benefit a child’s learning, it will keep them in the classroom for longer, making it more likely that they will continue learning through higher stages. All of our curriculums are fully inclusive and designed specifically for each group of children we are working with.

In the Kutupalong camp in Bangladesh we have created hundreds of video lessons, projected in each classroom to overcome language barriers.

In Lebanon we have a bespoke curriculum combining elements of the Lebanese and Syrian curriculum, taught through Montessori teaching methods.

When the pandemic shut down early learning opportunities in the Kyaka II refugee camp in Uganda, we facilitated learning with solar powered radios, ensuring Congolese refugee children would not miss out too much on their learning. As demand for early years education here surpasses what we can offer in our buildings, we’re beginning to provide ‘cluster group’ learning which takes place outside in the communities, so as many children as possible can be included.

A class of Rohingya boys watching a digital lesson that is being projected in their classroom in the Kutupalong camp, they all look enthralled.

Digital lessons in Kutupalong refugee camp break down language barriers.

"THE KIDS COME HOME AND SAY THEY NOW STUDY BY WATCHING ON THE BIG SCREEN. THEY CAN LEARN MUCH FASTER THAN THEY COULD BEFORE. WE LOVE IT BECAUSE OUR KIDS ARE LEARNING SO MUCH"

Abdul Majid, Parent - Kutupalong refugee camp

18 year old man holding a certificate, with the caption 'Meet Mounzir'.

Mounzir is a refugee from Syria, living in Lebanon. He was 18 years old when he went back across the border to take his grade nine exams. He had been out of school for years working to help his family, when he met with one of our teachers and heard about the Grade nine class.

He knew he wanted to get his diploma, but felt that it was an impossible dream. The teacher really encouraged him to give it a shot, and in the months after the whole team stood by Mounzir, recapping his lost years of learning and equipping him for his test. He crossed the border with a group of friends and passed with flying colours, opening up the possibility of higher education in his future.

4. CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT ABOUT THEIR RIGHTS, AND THEIR SELF EXPRESSION IS NURTURED

We place children centre stage by encouraging them to know their worth, to understand their rights, and to be active agents in shaping their own futures.

They are not only encouraged to express themselves in class, but beyond the confines of the refugee camps with initiatives like ‘Moja Kids’, where the children produce video newsletters and share them back and forth with children in other communities and countries.

We facilitate child councils, so children can contribute to the direction and running of their own education and we’ve found that even the tiniest children can be encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings using their creativity.

A boy and a girl in a green screen studio recording a message.

Students in Bangladesh recording their thoughts for their 'Moja Kids' newsletter.

“I LOVE HOW I AM FREE TO THINK AND ASK QUESTIONS AND HOW MY TEACHER ALWAYS ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS AND EXPLAINS THINGS TO ME SO I CAN UNDERSTAND”

Hala - 11 year old Syrian refugee learner, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

5. SAFE LEARNING SPACES HELP CREATE A PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENT

It is essential to build protection into a child’s surroundings, throughout each interconnected layer —from the family and classroom, to community and national level—ensuring that children are not only physically safer, but have the freedom to develop and thrive.

The classroom is a vital part of this, providing a safe place where children are supported and cared for and where teachers can look out for their wellbeing.

Teachers are trained in first aid and how to identify and refer both health and emotional problems to professionals. Alongside the literacy, numeracy, languages and science, they teach about health, hygiene and how to stay safe from trafficking and child marriage.

Programmes are owned by the refugee communities we work with. They are trained to become teachers, they run school and centre management committees, and parents are encouraged to be involved in the programme and with their childs’ learning at every stage.

Play area constructed in an outhouse with homemade climbing frame, boxes of colourful toys and learning materials and brightly coloured bunting hanging all around the ceiling.

Safe space in the mountain displacement camps of Kachin State, Myanmar.

“WE ARE SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. SHE LOVES HER TEACHERS BECAUSE THEY MAKE SURE SHE IS SAFE AND TEACH HER WITH CARE. IN MYANMAR WHEN WE HAD TO FLEE TO BANGLADESH, WE NEVER THOUGHT THAT OUR GIRL WOULD GET SUCH QUALITY EDUCATION HERE”

Parent - Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh

Young Bangladesh woman wearing black dress and pink headscarf, standing in front of a classroom structure made of bamboo and orange tarpaulin. There are green plants to the right of her and a caption reads 'Meet Shifa'

Shifa is a student at National University, Bangladesh and a teacher at one of the schools we support in Kutupalong refugee camp.

She says, "At first, I found it difficult. Classroom management was not easy. Most of the students were still suffering from trauma due to the violence they had seen in Myanmar and on the road while fleeing to Bangladesh, which made dealing with the children harder. But soon, with the guidance from my line manager Bristy and support from colleagues, I overcame the difficulties.”

“I have often wanted to make my students strong and resilient. Having grown up in poverty as a marginalised member of society and having lived in fear of social stigmatisation myself, I know how important it is to become self-reliant and to have a boost to self-confidence. This was why, in the classroom, I often tried to inspire my students.”

WHY IS EDUCATION VITAL FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN?

IT’S EVERY CHILD’S RIGHT TO HAVE ACCESS TO LEARNING

Big group of Syrian refugee students aged between 7-11 smiling and laughing and holding up certificates.

Every child has the right to an education, but refugee children who are forced to flee their homes often don’t have any school to go to. The UN states that on average, less than 2% of humanitarian aid goes toward education.

When refugee children can access schools, the conditions make it hard for them to learn and thrive. Classrooms are often crowded and lessons are not always taught in their own languages. Refugee children can also experience discrimination and harsh treatment from teachers and other students.

IT CREATES A BRIGHTER FUTURE… FOR EVERYONE

Group of Syrian refugee students aged between 15-18 surrounded by balloons, smiling and laughing and throwing graduation caps into the air.

Education helps all children learn the skills they need, builds their confidence, their ability to think critically and to express themselves. It improves their chances of earning an income when they grow up, meaning they are more likely to get out of the cycle of poverty.

Research from UNESCO shows that lack of access to education can lead to an increase in conflict within society in the future, creating a cycle of missed learning opportunities, violence and displacement.

IT ENSURES SAFE SPACES FOR THOSE WHO NEED THEM MOST

Group of Congolese refugee children aged between 4 - 10 standing outside a learning centre smiling and waving.

Children who have fled conflict, persecution and violence need a place where they feel safe and cared for to begin to move on from the adversity they have lived through. Classrooms are vital for providing a sense of normalcy and a safe space for those who have faced trauma. In addition to learning academic subjects, children can learn about health, hygiene, life skills and how to stay safe from exploitation and abuse.

The classroom can also act as a check in point where teachers can keep a close eye on children’s safety, health and wellbeing.