Navigating the complexity of scaling: Creating approaches to reach out-of-school Syrians in Turkey

• In Event: Conflict sensitivity in ICT for education in crisis and conflict programming

Proposal

Can the very act of scaling an innovative education model to reach more youth in need, also exclude potential future participants? This is the critical question Mercy Corps is asking as the organization is scaling a non-formal blended education technology initiative for out-of-school Syrian youth in Turkey.

In 2017, the humanitarian imperative to provide relevant, quality education for children and youth affected by conflict is ever present (United Nations Children's Fund, 2016), however, the provision of these services is consistently met with dynamic challenges. First is the sheer magnitude of the needed response, which taxes the under-resourced education in emergencies (EiE) sector requiring an increase in scale (Nicolai et al., 2016). Second are the contextual complexities that can only be addressed with sophistication and nuance requiring adaptive programming (McClure & Gray, 2015). In Turkey, Mercy Corps is addressing the latter through the Learning and Empowerment

for Adolescent Refugees in Neighborhoods (LEARN), which offers a new approach to non-formal education, blending face-to-face instruction with digital education via tablets. However, no matter how successful LEARN is, the organization must look for opportunities to reach more youth, addressing the first challenge of scale.

Consultations with recent youth ‘graduates’ of LEARN finds that regardless of the reasons youth have for being out of school, all participants explicitly mentioned the desire to attend into some form of education. However, youth continue to face diverse challenges to accessing forms of education after the program (e.g., financial barriers, protection issues). Thus, the program must prepare youth for multiple pathways after completion including: Turkish formal school, Turkish vocational education, other non-formal education programs, and/or work that builds on and applies the knowledge gained from the LEARN program. To do so, the solution must maintain a flexible implementation design whilst using a curriculum that will prepare youth for these multiple pathways. The very process of explicitly not excluding the most marginalized youth whilst scaling is a ‘conflict sensitive scaling’ approach which the presentation will explore further.

References:

Dayha, N. (2016). Education in conflict and crisis: How can technology make a difference? A landscape review. Bonn and Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

McClure, D. & Gray, I. (2015). Scaling: Innovation’s missing middle. Submitted for the Transformation Through Innovation Theme for the World Humanitarian A Landscape Review 65 Summit. Retrieved online from https://assets.thoughtworks.com/articles/scaling-innovations-missing-middle-dan-mcclure-ian-gray.pdf

Nicolai, S., et. al. (2016). Education Cannot Wait: Proposing a fund for education in emergencies. London, UK: ODI.

United Nations Children’s Fund. (2016). Education Cannot Wait: A fund for education in emergencies. New York, NY: Author.

Authors

• Stephen Richardson, Independent Consultant

• Karen Scriven, Mercy Corps