Impact of Remote Learning Modality on Non-Formal Education: Supporting the right to quality education for vulnerable Syrian and host community children and youth

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction & Background

Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita, which includes 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Since 2015, the Government of Lebanon together with humanitarian actors has implemented the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) to address the challenges it faces as a country due to the influx of Syrian refugees.
According to the LCRP, this influx has contributed to overwhelming public services, aggravating the economic challenges, and rising social tensions. The economic crisis has been compounded by COVID-19, which added further challenges to vulnerable populations including displaced Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinian Refugees from Syria (PRS), and Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon (PRL).

Amidst these crises, Non-Formal Education (NFE) Programs have been created to prepare out-of-school children to transition into formal education, while engaging INGOs, civil society and local NGOs. These programs are supporting refugee and Lebanese children to develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills, and helping children to remain in and complete their education. Their main goal is to reduce the number of illiterate and out-of-school children and youth and create a holistic approach for them where they can feel safe, especially the most vulnerable.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) has prioritized some NFE programs including:

• Preparatory Early Childhood Education (Prep-ECE for ages 5 to 7)

• Community-Based Early Childhood Education (CB-ECE for ages 3 to 5)

• Basic Literacy and Numeracy (BLN for ages 10 - 24)

• The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP for ages 7 to 24)

• Technical and Vocational Training (TVE/TVT for ages 15 to 24+)

Desk Review Objectives

Haqqi Consortium, composed of Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Back to the Future Consortium funded by the European Union, NABAD and Multi Aid Programs (MAPS), initiated a desk review of existing literature (evaluation reports, monitoring reports and other documentation) written by the education sector partners (i.e. national and international NGOs) on remote learning modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the desk review is to establish sector-wide findings on the impact of the remote learning modality in Non-Formal Education (NFE), as well as formulate best practices and recommendations for the provision of the remote learning modality in the future.