Natural disasters, violent conflicts, epidemics, and pandemics all have the potential to disrupt and permanently damage the course of human development – including education. We have unfortunately seen these crises emerge locally, regionally, and globally with increasing frequency and lead to migration, destruction of infrastructure, and disuse of existing infrastructure. In the education sector, these emergencies can put severe pressure on education systems, disrupting education services, and resulting in learning loss.
Policymakers around the world are looking for ways to prevent and contain the impact of crises on education outcomes. Literature provides useful recommendations and frameworks to manage continuity and return to “normalcy” and to use crises as an opportunity to improve the system’s functioning. However, in practice, implementing these recommendations can be extremely challenging – particularly during the peak of a crisis. Despite the limited availability of studies particularly in low- and middle-income countries, evidence around what works can help to implement an agile and flexible response and bridge the gap between politicians and bureaucrats.
DeliverEd’s third policy brief provides a general framework for crises and highlights the contribution of delivery approaches.
Read DeliverEd’s first policy brief on the challenge of delivering for learning, and the second policy brief on design choices for delivery approaches in education.
DeliverEd is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Education Commission and the Blavatnik School of Government, with support from the University of Toronto, are leading this initiative. Other partners include IDEAS, Georgetown University’s gui2de, the World Bank, and IEPA.
For questions or requests for collaborating and participating in our Community of Engagement, please contact deliver.ed@educationcommission.org