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Session Submission Summary

Scaling and Sustaining Arts and Multimedia Distance Education in Fragile Contexts

Sun, March 29, 2:45 to 4:00pm, Hilton, Floor: Fourth Floor - Tower 3, Union Square 20

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, sustaining access to education remains one of the most urgent challenges. Afghanistan presents one of the starkest cases: since August 2021, millions of adolescent girls have been banned from attending secondary school. Yet challenges of reaching the most marginalized learners in low-resource settings are global. In such settings, education interventions must navigate not only severe resource constraints and security challenges, but also questions of equity, inclusion, sustainability, and scalability.

Alongside innovations in broadcast and digital distance learning, creative and arts-based education initiatives have emerged as important tools, not only for supporting academic outcomes, but also for fostering reconciliation, inclusion, social emotional learning, and cross-cultural understanding. At the same time, mobile-based and interactive voice technologies have shown promise for expanding access to early childhood development and caregiver support in humanitarian crises. Together these diverse approaches raise the following questions, Which interventions are not only effective but sustainable in low-resource settings? What drives continued engagement with distance education tools, beyond initial take-up? Whether and how digital distance learning benefits some students more than others? And how do we account for broader peacebuilding and social cohesion outcomes alongside test scores?

This panel brings together evidence from fragile contexts to explore strategies for scaling up and sustaining arts and multimedia distance education. Contributions include:

- Insights from arts-based education in fragile contexts, combining findings from a case study of arts-based peacebuilding in Afghanistan and a global study of arts education across 55 countries.


- Evidence from a study of education in Afghanistan, which tests scalable, low-cost broadcast and digital interventions (SMS, WhatsApp tutoring) and their effects on learning and engagement.

- Evidence that seeks to understand the moderators of access and learning in distance education to know who benefit most and/or least from broadcast and digital education interventions.

- Findings from a pilot IVR and SMS early childhood education program in conflict-affected Ethiopia, which examines how low-cost, adaptive mobile technologies can sustain caregiver engagement, strengthen resilience, and contribute to peacebuilding.

By juxtaposing broadcast, digital, IVR, and arts-based approaches, this panel broadens the conversation about distance and non-formal education in fragile settings. It seeks to advance both scholarly debates and policy discussions on how education—whether through media, technology, or the arts—can contribute to sustainable peace, equity, and justice in some of the world’s most challenging contexts.

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