By Chris Niles

NEW YORK, USA, 9 January 2012 – A quality education is the cornerstone of every child’s rights, yet across the developing world millions of children’s futures are stunted because they don’t have the opportunity to learn.

UNICEF is addressing this deprivation with an innovative approach that aims to remove barriers to success in primary school by giving pre-schoolers the knowledge to successfully enter first grade.

Called ‘Getting Ready for School: a Child-to-Child Approach’, the programme is a low-cost way to provide supplemental education to pre-schoolers, especially the most marginalized.

Learning from friends

The programme is succeeding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the poorest country on earth, and one with an entrenched cycle of exclusion from education. Half of adults there have either never attended school or only completed primary school.

“In class, I love to read, write and sing,” said Mariam, 5, who lives in Kinshasa, capital of DR Congo. She attends pre-school with a handful of young friends.

The unique part about the programme is that Mariam’s teacher is not much older than she is. Child-to–Child builds on the natural phenomenon of children learning from their older friends – in Mariam’s case, her neighbour Nefa Kabeya.

“It’s important to help the younger kids so they can avoid having problems in first grade. If they’re not well prepared in first grade they’ll never ask questions and won’t participate in class,” Nefa said.

© UNICEF video
In Kinshasa, DR Congo, 12-year-old Nefa Kebeya tutors two of her young friends through the UNICEF-supported Child-to-Child programme.

A successful pilot

The Child-to-Child programme was launched as a pilot programme in 2007 in partnership with the Child-to-Child Trust. Six countries participated in the pilot: Bangladesh, China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Tajikistan and Yemen. It has proven successful in communities with strong community support, such as the Tigray Region of rural Ethiopia.

“The main reason for this is that the programme was designed to work within our culture,” said Maekelech Gidey, a UNICEF education specialist in Ethiopia. “It is our culture that neighbours work, eat and play together. The programme supports this, and that is why people can easily and happily participate in it.

Child-to-Child is filling a critical gap for pre-schoolers, giving them the social and academic confidence to begin their formal education on time and to stay with it. Ba-ati Primary School in Tigray is seeing the changes first hand.

“When I compare this year’s first graders to the last year’s, I can see a big difference. Ever since the Child–to-Child programme started, the children’s understanding has increased,” said teacher Tigist Araya.

In Bangladesh, 30 schools were selected for the Child-to-Child pilot because of their high drop-out and low school completion rates. In 2009, only 23 per cent of children between ages 3 and 5 attended pre-school.

Liton, 10, is making his own contribution to reversing that trend. Once a week he teaches two younger children the basics of reading, writing and counting. Guided by his own teachers, Liton makes lessons fun.

© UNICEF video
In rural Bangladesh, 10-year-old Liton (right) tutors his young neighbour Akhimoni.

Benefits to students and teachers

But the programme’s benefits go further than getting little ones ready for school. Since he’s been mentoring his young friends, Liton has discovered that, not only are his young charges improving in their studies, he is too.

“Since going into the Child-to-Child programme, I’ve learned a lot. My reading is much better. That’s been very good for me,” he said.

It’s also been good for Bangladesh, which aims to achieve universal primary school education.

“I have seen that enrolment has increased, school drop-outs have lessened in the areas that have the programme,” said Director General of the Director of Primary Education Shyamal Kanti Ghosh.

The programme is simple and cost-effective, which UNICEF and its partners hope will enable it to be expanded into more countries and regions and integrated into other UNICEF quality-education programmes.

“The most important thing for this innovation is that it’s less costly. And it is community-based, so everybody can see the changes. And the attachment of the teachers to the process is very strong,” said UNICEF Early Childhood Development Specialist Mohammad Mohsin.

© Blanchard Baembe/August 2011
Democratic Republic of Congo - Children of the Bikoro II ECD

By Taleen Vartan

NEW YORK, USA, 12 December 2011 – The earliest years of a child’s life are pivotal, both for the child’s immediate well-being and for his or her future development. Effective investments in early childhood development (ECD) have the potential to reduce disparities exacerbated by poverty, poor nutrition and limited learning opportunities.

Through UNICEF’s Back on Track programme on education in emergencies and post-crisis transition, children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are benefiting from the establishment of ECD centres, where preschool-aged children have access to high-quality, developmentally appropriate services and psychosocial support.

EEPCT_ECDinDRCcasestudy_Dec2011This case study is part of a series supported by the Back on Track programme in an effort to highlight innovative and substantial programming through hallmark interventions.

Early childhood development in the DRC

Despite protracted conflict, increased poverty and deteriorating living conditions, basic education in the DRC has improved in recent years. According to the Ministry of Education, the gross enrolment rate in primary education increased from 83.4 per cent in 2006/07 to 90.8 per cent in 2009/10. However, only about half of preschool aged children in the country are on a good developmental track in terms of literacy and numeracy, learning, physical growth and socio-emotional development.

UNICEF has worked with communities and the government to raise awareness among parents about the importance of supporting and encouraging children in their formative years. UNICEF’s ECD centres provide hygiene, health and nutrition services. These programmes aim to achieve gender parity and reach out to vulnerable groups.

The centres help prepare children for primary school, leading to better performance and higher enrolment. Moreover, in a country still healing from decades of conflict, young children feel protected and safe in these early learning spaces – helping remove long-lasting obstacles to their cognitive, social and emotional development, as well as contributing to overall stabilization and the promotion of peace.

Results achieved

© Blanchard Baembe/August 2011
Democratic Republic of Congo - The BikoroII ECD center for Children

Since the project began in 2008, nearly 77,500 children have benefited from preparation for primary school in the ECD centres. UNICEF has established more than 500 centres and trained 1,900 preschool teachers and 1,900 primary school teachers on the ECD approach. In Équateur Province alone, the number of ECD centres doubled from 29 in 2007/08 to 60 in 2010/11.

While challenges remain in continuing, reproducing and scaling up the ECD project – from the high cost of infrastructure to difficulties in securing financial support for teacher trainings, food for children and first aid kits – UNICEF is committed to working with partners to provide better early learning opportunities for all.

For these war-torn boys and girls in the DRC, the ECD centres provide hope. In doing so, they ensure that children are healthy, developmentally ready for learning and better placed to thrive in their communities and in life.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-0077/Noorani
A girl holds a wooden writing board at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre in the flood-affected Rajanpur district of Punjab Province, Pakistan.

NEW YORK, 4 May 2011 – Making sure girls and women have equal access to quality education is key to sustainable economic development, UNICEF said today, as the world celebrates Global Action Week on Education.

This year’s Global Action Week focuses on Education for Women and Girls, as 53 per cent of all children out of school remain girls denied of the right to learn. Poverty, exploitation and armed conflict magnify the risk girls face even as they go to school, forcing many to stay home or drop out in fear of their safety. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, sexual violence and mass rape – a clear violation of their rights – continues to terrify and severely harm women and girls, ultimately denying them access to education.

“If the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved by the 2015 deadline, we must step up efforts to ensure that more girls and women have the opportunity to learn,” says Susan Durston, UNICEF’s Associate Director of Education. “We have ample evidence that investing in girls’ education yields high returns.”

Girls with access to education not only vastly improve their own lives but also bring change to their families, economies, and societies. Providing girls and women with a quality education is a highly effective tool to address poverty and fight disease.

A woman is more likely to get a job and earn a higher wage if she has a basic education: one percentage point increase in female education raises the average level of GDP by 0.37 percentage points. Every additional year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 – 20 per cent, and an extra year of secondary school by 15 – 25 per cent.

Access to education has increased over the last two decades. Today, more children, and girls in particular are in school than ever before. The number of out-of-school children has decreased from 115 million to 67 million between 1999 and 2008, with notable increases in enrolment in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Countries such as Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nepal, Tanzania and Yemen have combined rapid increases in enrolment with improved gender equality. As a result, between 1999 and 2008 the gender gap in the out-of-school population narrowed from 57 per cent to 53 per cent globally.

UNICEF and its partners are working to overcome barriers preventing access to education through Back to School campaigns, school fee abolition, child-friendly schools, and early childhood education. The Back on Track programme works to bring educational opportunities during and after crises, including by establishing child-friendly spaces, which create an environment where children are protected from sexual exploitation and other kinds of abuse.

“Getting girls into school demands concerted action and political leadership. In addition, the rights and needs of girls also have to be addressed to ensure that they stay in school and receive a quality education,” Durston said. “Bolder steps must be taken on all fronts to ensure the successful transition from primary to secondary education and to make sure that girls can complete a full course of learning.”

Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Claude Heller (left), UN Special Representative Radhika Coomaraswamy, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sign ‘red hands’ petition.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0105/Markisz

NEW YORK, USA, 13 February 2009 – Children from 101 countries have appealed to international leaders to take stronger action to end the use of child soldiers.

Red Hand Day, 12 February, marks the anniversary of the signing of a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that forbids the use of children in conflict.

But despite the existence of this protocol, more than 250,000 children are still being forced into conflict in at least 17 countries – including some that have ratified the treaty.

Secretary-General receives petition

To try and end this abuse, children circulated a petition and collected more than 250,000 painted ‘red hands’. In a ceremony at UNICEF House in New York yesterday, former child soldiers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia – along with youth activists from Germany and the United States – presented them to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from left) stands with youth delegates from the Red Hand Day campaign. From left: Julia Price from the US, Madeleine from DR Congo, Yina Paola from Colombia and Anne Maria Anders from Germany. 
"The issue will remain a high priority for the United Nations," he said.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman leant her full support to the petition, noting that entire generations of children have known nothing but war.

Veneman, the Secretary-General, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Claude Heller and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, also added their signatures and ‘red hands’ to the petition. 

‘Recruitment violates international law’

The young people appealed for urgent action.

"Former child soldiers like me are encouraged to have youth from all over the world standing up for our rights," said Yina Paola Moreno Soto, 20, from Colombia. "We hope that world leaders and commanders using child soldiers will pay attention."

Ban added: "This is a truly impressive effort to engage children around the world in one of the most appalling human rights abuses…. Recruitment violates international law and human decency. I am determined to stamp out such abuse."

Watch the UNICEF YouTube Channel Video

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StQ_3g32Rg4 300 246]

Watch the Video in RealMedia

Click here to watch the Red Hand Day Video

© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1016/Christine Nesbitt
Children in a classroom are visible through a hole in the wall at Kinkole Primary school near Kinshasa

GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11 March 2008 – Moka, 13, was hiding at home with his family when the mortar landed. “It killed my grandfather and my younger brother,” he says. “We saw them dead, blown up, burnt.”

Last September, as fighting between rebels and government troops engulfed their village, Moka and his family fled, joining the nearly half-million Congolese from North Kivu province who have been displaced from their homes in the last year. But even in flight, the violence followed Moka’s family.

“I saw people with their insides opened up by bullets,” he remembers. “They killed people right in front of us. One time, they came to where we were and fired into the crowd on purpose, killing people. When I think of it, I always cry.”

Today, Moka lives in one of the many camps for displaced Congolese just outside Goma, the capital of North Kivu. His family left everything behind in their rush to escape. Moka’s only shirt – purple and short-sleeved – is covered in black dirt; his olive shorts are torn at the pockets.

‘Each one has a story’

But recently, Moka’s life has taken a turn for the better. Each morning, Moka joins some 650 other displaced children at the Nyabyunyu Primary School in a nearby village. “School is what helps me forget,” he says.

Psychosocial counsellor Evelyne Kimema looks after the 650 displaced students at Nyabyunyu Primary School.
Due to the influx of displaced students, the Nyabyunyu school to run two sessions per day. Its teachers have had to learn how to deal with hundreds of children who have lived through violent conflict and are often deeply affected by that experience.

“More than 600 children – more than 600 stories,” says Evelyne Kimema, a psychosocial counsellor who is based at Moka’s school with the Congolese non-governmental organization Alpha Ujuvi.

Signs of stress

Each day, Ms. Kimema watches the students for signs of stress. “We notice it most during recess, because they’re supposed to be moving,” she says. “There will be a child who’s in the corner, who’s not playing with the others. Others will be sleeping, another won’t talk, another will be sweating, although he won’t be running around at all.”

Ms. Kimema takes these children aside one by one to talk to them about their problems. “It’s difficult – they don’t change quickly,” she says. “But little by little, the more you approach a child, the more you talk to him, the change will come.”

The counsellor has seen Moka blossom since he started at the school. He says the memories of all that he has seen still haunt him, but his teachers and the new friends he has made at school – most of whom have stories just like his – help him forget.

Moka, 13, who lost a brother and grandfather to the violence in DR Congo, now attends the Nyabyunyu school.
UNICEF supports similar counselling programmes in more than 50 schools throughout North Kivu, where only about half the child population currently attends school.

Counselling essential for education

In spite of a recent peace accord, fighting continues in North Kivu, and displaced Congolese have been hesitant to return home, making children’s education a major concern for UNICEF and its partners.

UNICEF Education Specialist Sayo Aoki says psychosocial counselling is essential for children who have experienced conflict.

“The violence, the poverty, the culture – there are many reasons why children are not going to school,” says Ms. Aoki. And even when the children do go to school, she adds, “a child cannot focus because of the psychosocial stress.”

Helping children through their trauma “is a very slow process,” notes Ms. Aoki. “But I think this is something we have to do for the next years to come so that we can provide a more peaceful environment for children to study.”

Listen to the Audio in MP3 Format

Listen to the Audio in RealMedia Format

In DR Congo, counselling and education heal the invisible wounds of war