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What is a Back-to-School programme and why is it important?
Crises can bring education to a halt, depriving children of their fundamental right to learn and contributing to an atmosphere of chaos in already traumatized societies. With the introduction of the first UNICEF-supported Back-to-School campaign after the Rwandan genocide in 1994, ‘Back-to-School’ (BTS) initiatives have become a powerful first response and strategy in facilitating access to protective learning environments for millions of children affected by conflict and natural disasters.
These initiatives have been implemented with great success in over 55 countries from the period of 1994-2012, including Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Lebanon, oPt, South Sudan, and Uganda. Back-to-School Initiatives are characterized by 1) the establishment of robust targets for numbers of children to return to some form of education as quickly as possible after the onset of the emergency, 2) rapid deployment of education supplies and materials to aid in resumption of education, 3) establishment of some form of temporary learning infrastructure as needed combined, with the rapid repair of damaged schools, and 4) intensive advocacy, communication and social mobilisation efforts aimed at mobilising governments, communities, donors and partner organisations.
These efforts help provide a sense of normalcy, as well as safety and security from the heightened risk of violence and exploitation that children – particularly girls – experience during emergencies. By promoting stability and rights-based learning, they help strengthen countries’ social fabric. UNICEF helps provide tents, supplies and human resources as part of its Back-to-School programmes. Working with partners, UNICEF has helped to organize mass Back-to-School campaigns and offers longer-term assistance to governments to support resuming quality education activities, rehabilitating schools and infrastructure, and developing accelerated and adapted learning strategies for children who have missed schooling. Back-to-School initiatives serve as opportunities to mobilise resources and introduce innovations that will improve the quality of the learning environment and catalyse the reconstruction of sustainable education systems over the long term. BTS can create the momentum to accelerate achieving Education for All (EFA) goals.
Back-to-School (BTS) initiatives have evolved in recent years to encompass multi-phase initiatives: Back-to-School, Go-to-School (GTS), Stay-in-School (SIS), and Welcome-to-School (WTS). These initiatives have taken place in countries during different phases of emergency. Many governments have now adopted such BTS initiatives as part of their annual education strategy, and use campaigns containing social messages of inclusiveness to promote the attendance of girls and other marginalized groups as part of their sector programming. These campaigns have also involved efforts to improve quality education to keep children in school who have enrolled but for a range of reasons are likely to drop out of school.
Evidence base for Back-to-School programme successes and challenges
The UNICEF Back-to-School Guide was created from data and analysis gathered about Back-to-School programmes from 55 countries in all seven regions in which UNICEF operates, summarized in the companion piece, Analysis Report of Back-to-School Initiatives (1994–2012). The Analysis Report synthesizes information, lessons learned, challenges, and similarities and differences among the BTS programs over the past two decades drawn from evaluation and donor reports, proposals, and interviews with field staff. The Guide also incorporates recommendations from UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, and reflects the Minimum Standards developed by the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies to align BTS actions to the recognized global standards for UNICEF and for humanitarian action in education