Standard 1: Participation

Education authorities and other education stakeholders should make sure that a range of community members participate in EiE activities so that education is delivered safely, effectively, and equitably. Any member of the affected community should be able to participate meaningfully, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, social class, religion, sexual orientation, disability, displacement status, civil documentation, political affiliation, HIV status, health status, or other factors. In the early stages of an acute response, participation might only be possible with a limited number of the people affected. There should be more opportunities over time for more people and groups to become involved in decision-making.

No group of people should be excluded from participating because they are difficult to reach or need assistance. Different forms of participation should be available, based on age, ability, language, and culture. Education actors should pay special attention to accessibility issues, security conditions, or other local circumstances that can affect the participation of marginalized or vulnerable groups. Local community groups, such as women’s and men’s organizations, elders and community leaders, faith leaders and organizations, refugee-led organizations, youth-led organizations, and OPDs can help to identify and remove barriers that may prevent vulnerable community members from participating in decision-making (for more guidance, see Sphere Handbook, Commitment 4; Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities, education inclusion standard 3; and INEE Guidance Note on Gender).

Community members’ knowledge is key to identifying appropriate and protective education services. It should guide education authorities and other education stakeholders when identifying the following:

• The education needs and economic barriers to education access for all children and young people, and the preferred modality of assistance to address these (CVA, in-kind, and direct service delivery)
• The financial, material, and human resources that are available locally
• Existing and changing gender relations
• Power dynamics in the community, including between dominant groups and marginalized groups
• Security issues, risks, threats, and ways of protecting education institutions, staff members, and learners
• Protection concerns in the learning environment, including SRGBV
• Local hazards, safe and accessible locations for schools and other learning spaces, and approaches to DRR
• Ways of including life-saving and conflict sensitive messages into the education response, including messages about major health issues in the community
• Strategies to promote social cohesion, build peace, and address the root causes of conflict and disasters

Education authorities and other education stakeholders should work with local stakeholders to strengthen or develop links between families, the community, schools, universities, or other learning environments in a participatory, inclusive, and consultative way.

External stakeholders should promote community participation in EiE activities in a transparent and equitable way to avoid contributing to existing inequalities or conflicts. This requires a thorough understanding of community dynamics. Education actors should conduct a community-level context analysis to help determine the most relevant and appropriate ways to promote community ownership of education activities.

Understanding the dynamics within a community is key to taking a “do no harm” approach. Where multiple communities are present in the same geographic location, it is important to understand and work with the network of communities. For example, in situations of displacement, the community members may include refugees or migrants who are living in a host community.

Make sure that participating in EiE activities does not harm any person or group, especially vulnerable groups or those most at risk of discrimination, such as women and girls, people who are LGBTQIA+, or ethnic and linguistic minorities. Identify who is at risk of discrimination or exclusion and why, and determine how to include them safely.

Community members must be clear about what is involved in participating and why particular groups are asked to be represented in planning and decision-making. Education actors must make it clear to communities and individuals how the information they gather will be used and if there will be any follow-up actions. People should understand that they can share information freely and confidentially, but also that they do not have to participate. If participating will expose people to risks or inconveniences, that must be made clear to all (for more guidance, see INEE Guidance Note on Conflict Sensitive Education; Minimum Standards for Child Protection, Standard 17; Sphere Handbook, Commitment 3).

Local communities and groups are important partners in understanding barriers to participation in education. Analyzing educational activities is an essential way for the community to participate in education planning and problem-solving.

Social audits are community-based evaluations of an education program. They can help to do the following:

• Work out which people, funding, and materials are available
• Identify gaps in services
• Monitor how effective a program is

It may not always be possible to carry out social audits at the beginning or in the middle of an emergency. However, in protracted or chronic crises or in the early recovery stages, social audits can help communities improve their ability to monitor education programs and keep a record of rights violations. Participating in social audits is particularly important for young people, especially girls, learners with disabilities, and learners who are not participating in formal or non-formal education. Education actors should share the results of social audits with all community members and the relevant authorities (for more guidance, see A Practical Guide to Social Audit as a Participatory Tool to Strengthen Democratic Governance, Transparency, and Accountability).

Capacity sharing is a key part of community participation that involves respecting and building on the knowledge and expertise already present in a community. Community members can help to identify education experts, including teachers and other education personnel, who can share their cultural and contextual knowledge with external stakeholders. Their diverse knowledge and strengths should guide the planning and implementation of programs. If contextual expertise cannot be found, or if people are not able or willing to support the (re)establishment of the education system, community members and external stakeholders should then work together to develop capacity sharing activities.

Assessments should look at the different capacities, needs, and responses of children, young people, and adults in the community. This includes vulnerable groups such as girls, gender diverse children and young people, and persons with disabilities. External stakeholders also should assess their own capacities and gaps to identify where the expertise of local actors and communities can guide them. Capacity sharing activities among education personnel and community members should focus on roles and responsibilities for the long term. These activities should promote the community’s ownership of the education program, help to maintain it, and promote coordination with other sectors. Capacity sharing activities may cover areas such as resource mobilization and management, facility maintenance, disability awareness, and special measures taken to ensure the participation of children and young people. External stakeholders should prioritize using contextually relevant training resources, and working with institutions within the community that can provide recognized credentials for those who are participating in training.

Communities organize themselves in a variety of ways. One forum for community participation is a community education committee, which refers to a group of community members who identify and try to meet the education needs and rights of all learners in a community. This includes learners in non-formal education. These committees may also be called parent-teacher associations and school management committees. In some contexts, they may be formally recognized in national laws as part of school governance structures. A community education committee or similar group is key to making sure that education approaches come from and are led by the community. External stakeholders should support existing community education committees. If one does not exist, external stakeholders should encourage the community to form one, in collaboration with education authorities and the inter-agency coordination mechanism.

The community education committee should represent all groups in the community, which may include:

• Teachers, head teachers, and other education personnel
• Parents and caregivers
• Children and young people
• Representatives from tertiary education, including learners, faculty, and staff members from higher education and TVET programs
• Representatives from local NGOs, CSOs, and CBOs
• Representatives from local and indigenous communities
• Cultural, religious, and community leaders
• Staff members from other sectors, including health, protection, etc.

It is essential to include representatives of all marginalized and vulnerable groups. Formally recognized groups may need to add members to be truly representative. Community education committee members should be chosen through a participatory process that is locally accepted and allows all community members to participate equitably.

During complex crises, where distinctions like ethnicity, tribe, religion, and race can be divisive, the community education committee should work with all parties in a way that does not risk harming any person or group. The committee members’ aim should be for everyone in the community to receive an education that is safe, impartial, and appropriate. They should have firsthand knowledge of changes in the socioeconomic, political, and safety and security context and share this with decision-makers at all levels.

The roles and responsibilities of community education committee members should be clearly defined and aligned with national and sub-national education systems, where they exist. The roles and responsibilities may include:

Communicating with local and national education authorities and the duty bearers who are responsible for providing access to quality education

• Defining the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of humanitarian actors in community-led education activities
• Negotiating education approaches that consider age, gender, language, ability, and culture so that education programs respect learners’ needs and rights; examples include flexible school calendars and age-appropriate curricula
• Organizing financial and in-kind contributions from communities
• Identifying what is needed for capacity sharing and helping to design these activities
• Monitoring who is and is not participating in learning opportunities, and the quality of teaching and learning
• Strengthening the safety and security of staff members and learners going to and from school
• Including DRR, conflict sensitivity, and climate risk management in the provision of education, including disaster preparedness plans that are disability-inclusive

A community-based education action plan should build on the education sector plan (ESP), if there is one. It should have a framework for improving formal and non-formal education programs that are in line with the country’s education policies, strategies, and plans. It should reflect the needs, rights, concerns, and values of the affected community, particularly those who belong to vulnerable groups, so it should be developed in a participatory manner. Community-based education plans can be developed through the community education committee with support from local education authorities and humanitarian partners.

An education action plan focuses on ensuring continuity of education. It may have several objectives, including the following:

• Developing a shared vision of what the teaching and learning environment might become
• Adapting curricula to the context, which may include conflict sensitivity, gender-responsiveness, DRR, and climate risk management
• Agreeing on how to recruit, supervise, train, compensate, and support teachers and other education personnel, if there is not already a national system
• Taking a human rights-based approach to reduce discrimination and promote a shared understanding that education must be inclusive and equitable
• Reaching agreement on how to develop a safe and supportive learning environment and committing to do it, including protecting education from attack and SRGBV
• Outlining tasks and responsibilities for the education authorities who are legally responsible for protecting the right to education, and other education stakeholders; this can include organizing resource mobilization, maintaining and developing infrastructure, and coordinating with outside agencies and other sectors, including protection, food security, health, nutrition, and WASH

Action plans should include regular community monitoring and assessment of EiE activities to maintain broad community participation in the response.

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that all children and young people have a right to express their views on issues that affect them. This gives children and young people the right to participate in all stages of the education response and to take part in decision-making around the development and management of the education system. Stakeholders should support children’s and young people’s participation in activities and discussions in a safe, secure, and welcoming environment that encourages constructive dialogue. Child-friendly engagement strategies should be used to help children and young people express themselves in ways that acknowledge and respect their age and culture, such as through art, music, and drama. Children and young people are experts in their own lives, and understanding their specific needs and experiences is essential to providing a quality education response. Education authorities and humanitarian actors should consult them when designing and conducting assessments. Young people in particular should meaningfully participate at all stages of data collection and analysis, monitoring, and evaluation. This will also give them an opportunity to learn skills such as data collection, communication, and evidence-based advocacy for themselves and their communities. Participation should be inclusive of gender, ability, and language to ensure that a diverse range of needs and voices are heard. It should be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of individual children and young people (for more guidance, see INEE Guidance Note on Gender; Humanitarian inclusion standards for older people and people with disabilities, education inclusion standard 3).

Involving children and young people in any type of process should serve the best interests of the child, adhere to the principle of do no harm, and follow the basic requirements for children’s effective and ethical participation, as outlined in General Comment No. 12 (2009) The right of the child to be heard. Actors who work with children and young people must have safeguarding and referral mechanisms in place to address child protection concerns and any MHPSS needs that may arise. This is a standard requirement for anyone working with children, and important when working with vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as young women, gender diverse learners, learners with disabilities, and ethnic minorities (for more guidance, see Minimum Standards for Child Protection, Principles 3 and 4;  Supporting Integrated Child Protection and Education Programming in Humanitarian Action).

Education actors should encourage children and young people to participate in co-curricular activities and programs that teach them ways to protect and support their own and their community’s physical, emotional, social, and cognitive wellbeing. Participation in these activities gives young people positive alternatives to becoming involved in armed groups or criminal gangs or other negative coping mechanisms. It also promotes personal development and enables the participating young people to develop useful skills, self-efficacy, and good interpersonal relationships. Such programs also encourage the community to appreciate the contributions their children and young people make.

Involving children and young people in the planning, monitoring, and evaluation of their education programs, especially skills and livelihoods training, makes it more likely that the programs will meet their current and future needs. Youth-led organizations can help identify ways to engage young people in creating positive change, including peacebuilding, social cohesion, addressing the root causes of conflicts and disasters, and becoming part of climate change solutions. Opportunities for young people to participate can include the following:

• Participating in structured volunteer activities and civic engagement
• Engaging in peer mentoring, peer mediation, or conflict resolution
• Helping to develop comprehensive school safety plans or age-appropriate learning activities on relevant topics such as climate change

(For more guidance, see Minimum Economic Recovery Standards, Enterprise and Market Systems Development Standards and Employment Standards.)