Keeping Learning Going When Everything Else Stops

When a drought, a flood, or a sudden displacement hits a community, children are the most affected and the least able to recover on their own.

Schools close. Families move. Learning stops. The longer a child is out of school during an emergency, the less likely she is to return. A child who misses a term may catch up. A child who misses a year is likely to fall so far behind that returning becomes harder than staying away. The work of supporting children in emergencies is therefore not only about responding to the immediate crisis. It is about making sure that when the emergency ends, children return to school rather than falling out of the system altogether.

Our work begins with keeping learning going. When a school is closed, the children who attended it are not simply on holiday. They are losing the routine, the structure, and the instruction that keep them on track. We work with communities, teachers, and local authorities to establish temporary learning spaces where children can continue to receive instruction while the school is closed or while the family is displaced. The spaces may be in a community hall, a church, a mosque, or under a tree. What matters is that there is a place where children can gather, a person who can teach them, and materials that allow them to continue learning.

Our Approach

Enrolling displaced children in school

Enrolling Displaced Children and Providing Materials

How it works:

  • We work with families who have been displaced to enrol their children in the schools closest to where they have settled. A family that has moved because of drought or conflict may not know where the nearest school is, whether the school will accept their child, or what the school requires.
  • We work with these families to identify the schools that can receive their children, to address the obstacles that stand in the way of enrolment, and to make sure the child is registered and attending. Where the school requires documents the family does not have, we work with the school to find a way.
  • We provide children who have lost their materials with what they need. A child whose home has been destroyed, or who has fled with only what the family could carry, may have lost everything she used for school. We provide the materials that children need in order to return to the classroom, and we replace what has been lost.

From the perspective of a child, an emergency is the moment when everything she depends on becomes uncertain. Her home, her family, her friends, her school, and her routine are all disrupted at once. The work of supporting children in emergencies is the work of giving her something that remains stable in the middle of that disruption. It is not the same as the education she would have had if the emergency had not happened. It is what makes it possible for her to continue her education when the emergency is over. And for many children, continuing after the emergency is the hardest part of all.

Children at a temporary learning space after displacement

Supporting children in emergencies means keeping learning going, supporting children who have been separated from their families, addressing the risks that emergencies create, and making sure that children return to school when the emergency ends.

Our commitment

When a drought, a flood, or a sudden displacement hits a community, children are the most affected and the least able to recover on their own. We work to keep learning going when everything else stops.

Join us in supporting children in emergencies

Help us keep learning going during crises and make sure that children return to school when the emergency ends. Support our campaign, volunteer your time, or partner with us to support children in emergencies.

Every action counts—only a willingness to act is required.

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Children in a temporary learning space

Keeping learning going

When a drought, a flood, or a sudden displacement hits a community, children are the most affected and the least able to recover on their own.