Education in Conflict Zones: Advancing Technology for Learning in Chad

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N’DJAMENA, CHAD – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 December 2023 – Amid an escalating refugee crisis and the strain it imposes on Chad’s education system, the research initiative led by War Child and funded by GPE KIX, explores the expansion of technology for education, notably the Can’t Wait to Learn program. The initiative’s aim is to improve and ensure continuity of children’s learning for displaced children in conflict affected regions through engaging technology.

In 2003, Nour fled Sudan due to an attack on the region she lived in. Currently residing in Djabel camp in Chad with her husband and children, she has observed a positive change since the introduction of Can’t Wait to Learn. Her son, who aspires to be an accountant or pilot, has a newfound enthusiasm for learning, eagerly racing to be the first in class every day. Nour has seen a significant shift: not only are children learning more, but they’re also noticeably happier and more engaged outside of lessons. (Michael Knief/Global Partnership for Education)

The research

GPE KIX supported research aims to explore, extend and integrate the roles of multiple stakeholders – including caregivers, the community, teachers and educators, academic institutions, implementing organizations and policy makers – to deliver sustainable education and the provision of education technology programming informed by evidence.

In Chad, the research produced analyses and tools to support the adoption of Can’t Wait to Learn by partners and guide its sustained impact at scale. It combined interviews with key members of the government and private companies, organizational document analysis, and social network analysis among technology actors.

Using the International Competency Assessment of Numeracy, War Child and GPE KIX also analyzed the learning of over 800 students in 20 schools across three refugee camps in Chad: Djabal, Gos Amir and Goz Beida. In 11 of the schools, Can’t Wait to Learn accounted for more than half of the numeracy lessons each week. In the remaining 9 schools, education continued as before.

The results

Results suggest that between November 2021 and March 2022, children participating in the Can’t Wait to Learn program showed noticeably better learning than those in the comparison group.

  • Children using Can’t Wait to Learn learned 50% more than children who didn’t use the program.
  • Girls learned four times more than boys.
  • Girls started with lower numeracy skills compared to boys but caught up in just 4 to 4.5 months.

These results are significant in the face of Chad’s learning poverty rate (being unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10) which stands at 98% for children completing primary school. The findings suggest that with the right support, technology initiatives such as Can’t Wait to Learn can help bridge the gender gap in educational achievement and improve learning for refugee children in Chad.

In terms of the broader research Jasmine Turner, from War Child, highlighted a crucial insight regarding scaling strategies, emphasizing that a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t apply universally. In some contexts, governments are readily embracing technology programs, whereas in others, NGOs and private companies are better equipped to facilitate scaling up efforts. Chad’s Ministry of Education has endorsed War Child’s research and appealed to NGOs to support the scaling up of Can’t Wait to Learn in the country.

Hashtag: #CantWaittoLearn

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