Educational planning for safety, resilience and social cohesion

This paper will examine how educational planning can contribute to safety, resilience and social cohesion of learners and teachers. Education protects learners and their communities by providing life-saving advice in... [ view full abstract ]

This paper will examine how educational planning can contribute to safety, resilience and social cohesion of learners and teachers.
Education protects learners and their communities by providing life-saving advice in situations of conflict and in cases of emergency. Good planning can save the cost of rebuilding or repairing expensive infrastructure. Over the long term, crisis-sensitive planning strengthens the resilience of education systems and communities to overcome the challenges and risks facing learners and education institutions.

However, education can also contribute to exacerbating the risk of conflict if it is not delivered in an equitable manner, if it does not address historical and contemporary injustices, or if it does not ensure equitable participation in decision making at all levels of the education system.

UNESCO IIEP and IBE and the Protect Education from Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC), a programme of the Education Above All Foundation (in collaboration with a range of partners) have worked together to develop and implement guidance on educational planning and curriculum for safety, resilience and social cohesion. This will assist education ministries to develop and implement safety-enhancing policies and plans. The materials have been piloted in Uganda and Mali in collaboration with UNICEF in order to develop a flexible model for long-term capacity development. They will also be used in Burundi and South Sudan. The paper will present lessons learned from implementation in these countries, highlighting what has worked most effectively and what has been challenging.