How Can We Best Support Education and Assessment of Refugees?

• In Event: AERA Division D International Committee Invited Session. Overcoming Measurement Challenges: An International Perspective

Abstract

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s vision for education of refugee, displaced, and stateless children is to provide refugee children with “equitable and quality” education in the national education systems to prepare them to be resilient and take part in cohesive societies. The target is to compare pre-primary, primary and secondary education enrolment to be measured at the country level against the official net enrolment in host communities by 2030. The vision and target of UNHCR are noble. However, the efforts of comparing education among refugee children and host community members is farfetched, as most children in refugee camps around the world have none or little access to formal education. Learning assessment is not ubiquitous in education programs for refugee children in host countries. To achieve UNHCR’s target concerning refugee children’s education requires first, providing access to universal formal education to these children (achieved by some countries but mostly neglected by most host countries) ; and second creating suitable learning experiences and assessments for them that facilitate their growth as productive humans, who can take charge of their own futures. This presentation will highlight existing challenges and work on creating quality educational experiences for children, especially in the realm of learning assessment. Drawing from existing work and employing an intersectional lens, several recommendations in using these frameworks are proposed to ensure design and implementation of culturally viable assessments for refugee children and adolescents, especially in (post)-pandemic societies.

Author

• Fatima Zahra, New York University