Problem Assessment: In 2017 in SW enrolment numbers were: 126 ECDs with enrolment 40.3%, 72 primary schools with enrolment 67% and 4 secondary schools with enrolment 8%. 1 VTC had enrolment 203 with 422 students trained in 2017 (Refs: 53%, Nats: 47%). In MW: 10 primary schools with enrolment 70% (inclusive of community-initiated schools), 18 ECD centres with enrolment 55%, and 17% at secondary school. 13 attend tertiary education and a Youth Community Technology Access (CTA) Centre has 68 students. Classroom to pupil ratio stands at an average of 1:98 (MW) and 1:116 (SW) for primary while the government standard is 1:53. Major problems: inadequate access to quality education and limited access to post primary education due to funding constraints and limited number of infrastructures, long distances to schools, inadequate support for feeding, lack of uniforms and materials, inadequate support for children with SN, inadequate number of teachers and a high turnover, inadequate sanitary materials for girls, ECDs lack instructional and playing materials, limited scholarships for post-primary and post-secondary education, inadequate tutors/training rooms/workshops/staff accommodation at vocational training centres (VTCs), inadequate recreation facilities for youth and children, inadequate parental support, insufficient teachers’ accommodation, lack of by-laws to enforce compulsory education and inadequate boarding facilities for secondary education.
Comprehensive Response: The operation will strive to ensure an overall improvement in enrolment rates and quality of learning. Focus is aimed at improving access to early childhood and primary education, enhancing performance, providing support to secondary education and increasing opportunities for vocational training and tertiary education, promoting child-friendly learning environments, providing required scholastic materials, infrastructure development and upgrading primary and secondary schools and VTCs, and capacity development for teachers and community-based education structures. Partnerships and collaboration with concerned district authorities will be strengthened. In MW, there is a need to construct a VTC.
Prioritized response: Significantly improve construction and renovation of schools, WASH facilities, classrooms, teachers’ accommodations, library facilities, and staff rooms. For secondary education, there is a need for science laboratories, multipurpose halls, dormitories and upgrades to existing facilities. Advocate for UNICEF and other partners to construct permanent ECDs, learning structures and child friendly spaces, annex ECDs to primary schools, develop learning frameworks for ECDs, register and licence ECDs, provide child-friendly learning materials, train caregivers, equip ECDs with drinking water and furniture. There is a need to provide uniforms and scholastic materials to vulnerable children and new arrivals, establish a specialised specific needs unit attached to primary schools and recruit additional teachers at secondary schools. It is important to support government education authorities with vehicles and motorcycles and facilitate district education offices to support monitoring of education activities in settlements and conduct quarterly monitoring visits in settlement schools.