Power and (in)coherence: political economy analyses of education systems in conflict and crisis

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

For children affected by conflict and crisis, education is a key source of opportunity and hope for secure livelihoods. However, the majority of conflict-affected children do not have access to quality education, effectively leading to a lack of meaningful capabilities to improve their life chances. The lack of continuous access to quality education in protracted conflict and crisis settings is heavily influenced by political processes. To explore this underlying reality of education policy decisions, contestation, and processes systematically, researchers often use a political economy analysis (PEA) approach. The advantage of PEAs is in moving beyond the description of a learning crisis and explaining why formal and informal rules, resources, and power dynamics limit the landscape of policy solutions. A key limitation of more traditional research that PEAs aim to overcome is that structures and power relations often stay unexamined. This absence of critical reflection on power relations leads to variable and often fragmented policy recommendations, with many studies placing disproportionate responsibility on the national governments and technical solutions.

To address this limitation, this panel brings together insights from three different contexts affected by conflict and protracted crisis: North East Nigeria, affected by Boko Haram insurgency and climate-induced farmer-herder clashes; Jordan, hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees; and Bangladesh, hosting near a million of Rohingya refugees who fled the genocide Myanmar.

Paper 1 will set the stage by illustrating why we need more critical and theoretically informed political analysis approaches when researching education systems in conflict and crisis-affected contexts. Building on a critical review of 500 English and 90 Arabic peer-reviewed contributions on education for refugees in the past twenty years, the paper finds that there is a pronounced schism between the global north and south, reminiscent of colonizer-colonized dynamics. The paper further finds a general lack of theoretical exploration within the field and a lack of macro-level inquiries, with most research focusing on micro and meso-levels analysis. Bringing these findings together, the paper discusses the implications of the political economy analysis insights on the current calls for decolonizing refugee education research.

Speaking to the issues raised during the first presentation, Papers 2 and 3 will present findings and lessons learned from conducting macro-level and theoretically innovative political economy analyses of education systems in conflict-affected regions of Nigeria and Bangladesh. In keeping with this year’s conference theme, these papers will showcase how entire communities get disadvantaged and excluded within education systems because of political contestations about what is ‘right’ and ‘just’ in terms of providing education in protracted crisis settings.
Paper 2 will present a conceptual framework of the political economy of ‘education system coherence’ designed to provide a blueprint for analyzing non-technical barriers and opportunities for improving the quality of education in conflict and crisis settings. The framework is developed on an in-depth examination of (in)coherence and power imbalances between humanitarian, development, and public actors operating in Syria, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. It focuses on how formal education system structures, formal and informal rules, resources, and power dynamics among key stakeholders shape the practical landscape of policy solutions. Following the presentation of the conceptual framework, the paper will provide an example of its application in the case study of the education system in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Paper 3 showcases the application of the ‘education system coherence’ framework to the case of North East Nigeria affected by a 12-year insurgency. The paper demonstrates the benefits of studying the interactions of various actors - including government, humanitarian, development, and non-state providers - within the same time and space, as opposed to solely focusing on government leadership or the coherence among external actors. The paper shows the unique contribution of this conceptual framework is its ability to identify horizontal and vertical (in)coherences between what is expected and what is observed in practice among different actors in each layer of education system functions, including norms, capacities, and operations.

Continuing the discussion on education in Nigeria, Paper 4 will dive further into the challenges of the Nigerian education system by exploring the politics of implementing the Universal Basic Education Act. The paper shines the light on factors that limit access to basic education for specific vulnerable sub-groups of conflict-affected children, including girls, children experiencing acute material deprivation, and children with disabilities.

The last paper applies PEA systems thinking to Jordan’s public school system, which since 2011 has struggled to provide education for both its citizens and more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees, most of whom reside in host communities and attend public schools. Despite international aid, the Jordanian education system still suffers from limited resources, a lack of decentralization and accountability, and a constant churn of education ministers. Findings show that education quality is undermined by confusion and tension surrounding the evaluator roles, lack of disciplinary mechanisms, and the misalignment of teacher hiring practices and field realities.

Papers 2, 3, 4, and 5 presented in this panel are part of an ongoing multi-country multi-year research initiative aimed to deliver and maximize the uptake of scientifically rigorous and operationally relevant evidence on improving the quality of education in conflict and protracted crisis contexts. Together, the five papers presented in this panel will contribute to building a politically sensitive and actionable evidence base that matters for local advocates and promotes children’s continuous access to quality education.

Sub Unit

• Education in Conflict and Emergencies SIG

Organizer

• Olha Homonchuk, ODI Global

Chair

• Mario Novelli, University of Sussex

Individual Presentations

• Political economy and (in)coherence of education systems in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh - Olha Homonchuk, ODI Global

• The Politics of Implementing Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education Act in Adamawa State, Nigeria - Oladele Akogun, International Rescue Committee; Sani Njobdi, Common Heritage Foundation; Adedoyin Oluleye Adesina, Common Heritage Foundation

• Politics, incoherence and inequalities of Jordan teacher management system - Emilee Rauschenberger, Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development

• Decolonizing refugee education research: a political economy of knowledge production - Maha shuayb, Centre for Lebanese Studies; Cathrine Brun, Centre for Lebanese Studies

Discussant

• Susan Nicolai, Save the Children