Make learning relevant, say young people

As thousands of Rwandans were killed or fled to neighbouring countries ten years ago, the international community provided primary school education in exile camps and local communities. Surveys by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) found that young people wanted to learn but felt that education is not available and that subjects taught are not relevant.

Many young Rwandans cannot enter the formal education system and so non-formal alternatives are needed. Work in Tanzania and Rwanda led to the development of a 'Youth Literacy Package', a non-formal education programme, subsequently used as the model for the Youth Pack developed in Sierra Leone with the Ministry of Education and ActionAid.

The war in Sierra Leone is said to have started in part as a youth rebellion because the state failed to respond to young people’s needs for education and training. After the peace agreement, the challenge of re-integrating young people is now critical to achieving lasting peace.

Youth Pack is a one year full-time programme for young people with little or no formal education: many cannot spend more than a year studying before having to look for paid work. Training in life skills, literacy, numeracy, and other skills are offered in small classes - half girls and half boys - given that pupils need lots of attention and teachers have limited experience. Two locally recruited and trained teachers are allocated to each class - one male, one female. Female teachers provide protection for the girls; male and female teachers provide role models for both sexes.

With the Peace Accord the NRC is now phasing out work in Sierra Leone by the end of 2005. It will complete two years of Youth Pack, evaluate its effectiveness and identify useful lessons for other countries. NRC evaluation findings in June 2005 include:

• Young people, teachers, community members and leaders say that Youth Pack has had a beneficial effect on reintegration and on young peoples’ self-confidence.
• Young people have ‘found a purpose in life’ or have changed from being ‘trouble-makers’ to being positive role models.
• Vocational and skills training are seen as the main benefit. Most first year graduates are building on what they have learnt as apprentices, in employment, or in school.
• Young participants say that the Youth Pack has ‘equipped them with skills to make a living and to be self-reliant’; a teacher estimates that ‘66 percent of first year students are self-employed and doing well’.
• Most young people did not learn to read and write due to a lack of integration between the literacy and numeracy classes and vocational training.
• Lack of experience in managing partnerships (with ActionAid Sierra Leone) led to some disagreements that were not handled constructively.

Recommendations include:

• The curriculum needs adapting to young people’s needs, their level of education and pace of learning.
• Literacy training should use practical examples from skills training to make learning more relevant.
• In-service training to improve the teaching skills is essential.
• Programmes developed in partnership with local agencies with planning and implementation skills will be more sustainable; training may be needed to achieve this.
• National and international field staff need good training in constructive conflict management and cross-cultural communication skills.

Eldrid K Midttun
Norwegian Refugee Council
Grensen 17/POB
6758 St. Olavs Plass
0130 Oslo
Norway
T +47 2310 9800
F +47 2310 0901
Eldrid.midttun@nrc.no
www.nrc.no

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