AVSI’s view
of education
Index
1. About AVSI 2. General framework 2.1 The right to education 2.2 Education providers and free
education 3. AVSI interventions in the educational field 3.1 Education as “full development of the person”
3.2 AVSI’s methodology 3.3 Quality education and the education system 4. AVSI’s educational
interventions and figures 5. Policy recommendations 6. Conclusions 7. References
Abstract
Education is at the top of the international community’s agenda and is considered a cross cutting topic: healthcare,
sustainable development, and employment are all deeply connected with education. It is an essential right of every
child and adult, as recognized in several international statements. It is increasingly recognized that education intended
as “schooling” is not enough. Instead, a more holistic approach is crucial to face this matter in its breadth. As an
example of this understanding, some international organizations have changed their vocabulary, shifting from
“education” to “learning” in articulating the scope of their goals. Given the breadth of the challenges in the
educational field, partnerships among all sectors of society, including public‐private partnerships, are needed to
enhance education service delivery thanks to the union of different sets of knowledge, skills and resources. From
AVSI’s point of view, the biggest challenge is to define the idea of “education” in itself and, consequently, the concept
of quality education. The educator, family, and community are all fundamental actors along any child’s educational
path, and the role of each should be properly understood. Some examples and figures related to AVSI’s method and
experience in education are presented within, followed by policy recommendations.
After a wide consultation with AVSI’s offices around the world and some partners, AVSI Knowledge Center
AVSI’s view of education
produced this document in order to give a contribution to the international debate on education in
developing countries. July 2012.
For any comment or contribution, please contact: [email protected]
1. ABOUT AVSI
AVSI Foundation is a global non‐governmental organisation based in Italy. Its mission is to support human
development in developing countries according to the social teaching of the Catholic Church: every person,
as a unique being, and every community represent a resource regardless of their vulnerability and should
not be reduced to a number within anonymous categories like “the poor”, “the sick”, or “the disabled”.
AVSI works to help people become aware of their own value and dignity.
AVSI is engaged in more than 100 cooperation projects in 38 developing countries worldwide in Africa,
Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia. AVSI's main activity areas are
education and social development, urban development, healthcare, employment, agriculture, food security
and water, energy and environment, humanitarian emergency and migration. AVSI reaches more than
4.000.000 direct beneficiaries each year.
The personnel implementing these activities include around 1.450 people (100 expatriate staff, 1.300 local
staff and 50 at headquarters). More than 1.250 volunteers support AVSI each year in Italy conducting
awareness and fund raising initiatives.
In 2011, AVSI received contributions for a total amount of around 28 million euro (or 35 million euro
within the AVSI network worldwide), both from institutional and private donors. Among its major
institutional donors and partners are the Italian Government, the European Union, USAID, FAO, UNICEF,
the World Bank, and ILO. AVSI is an accredited participant of the ECOSOC and the UN Global Compact.
AVSI partners with over 700 firms and organizations, including NGOs, public and local institutions, CBOs,
informal groups, and enterprises. More than 60 organizations are incorporated into an informal “AVSI
network”, which works systematically on the implementation of projects, sharing methods and
experiences, discussing development issues, and facilitating capacity building. From the initial group of
27 founding members, it has become “network bound by an operative friendship.”
With this paper, AVSI Foundation would like to contribute some comments and recommendations on the
topic of education, sharing what we have been learning in terms of how to improve the quality of
education, augment sustainability of interventions and reach satisfactory learning outcomes.
2. GENERAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 The right to education
Education is an essential right of every child and adult as recognized in several international statements.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 declares that “Everyone has the right to
education” stressing that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality
1
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly , New York, 10 December 1948.
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and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups (…)”. The Convention
on the Rights of the Child2, at Article 29 affirms that “Children’s education should develop each child’s
personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to respect others, human
rights and their own and other cultures”.
In the year 2000, 147 heads of State and Government, and 189 nations pledged to halve extreme poverty
by the year 2015. They identified eight Millennium Development Goals3 (MDGs), which should be reached
by 2015. Such notable objectives are widely valued as essential components of social, economic, and
political development of any society.
The second MDG regards “Universal Access to Primary Education”. In recent years, the international
community and single countries have spent and continue to spend much effort and resources in providing
inputs and quantifying progress made or not made in terms of access, enrolment, retention, gender parity,
quality and equality in primary education in order to reach the MDG.
Even if the goal of universal access will most likely not be reached at global scale by 2015, it was reported that
“the number of out‐of‐school children of primary school age fell from 106 million in 1999 to 68 million in 2008.
Even in the poorest countries, average enrollment rates at the primary level have surged above 80 percent and
completion rates, above 60 percent4”. These figures illustrate that much has been accomplished.
However, education cannot be limited to just “schooling”. The World Bank in its recent “Education Strategy
2020” recognized that “the overarching goal is not just schooling, but learning”. Consequently, the new WB
strategy name is “Learning for All” and adopts a so called “inclusive approach”: “The term ‘education
system’ typically refers to the public schools, universities, and training programs that provide education
services. In this strategy, ‘education system’ includes the full range of learning opportunities available in a
country, whether they are provided or financed by the public or private sector (including religious,
nonprofit, and for‐profit organizations). It includes formal and non‐formal programs, plus the full range of
beneficiaries of and stakeholders in these programs ‐ teachers, trainers, administrators, employees,
students and their families, and employers. It also includes the rules, policies, and accountability
mechanisms that bind an education system together, as well as the resources and financing mechanisms
that sustain it”. Moreover, “Learning for All means ensuring that all children and youth can not only go to
school, but also acquire the knowledge and skills that they need to lead healthy, productive lives and
secure meaningful employment5”.
This shift in the discourse of the international debate over education towards a more inclusive and holistic
approach is in line with what AVSI’s experience has shown. In fact, “holistic” can be considered a key word
being used today to describe an ideal education: “Today’s education system must be conceived holistically”
and “education is a precondition for reducing poverty, improving health and building more peaceful, just
and sustainable society6”.
2
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Adopted by General Assembly resolution 44/25, 20 November 1989.
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
4
Learning for All. Investing in People’s knowledge and Skills to promote development, World Bank Group Education Strategy 2020,
The World Bank, 2011, p.2. See also The hidden crisis: armed conflict and education. EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2011. UNESCO.
5
Ivi, p.5
6
Programme and Budget 36C/5, UNESCO General Conference, 2012‐2013.
3
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AVSI’s experience confirms the need to further develop this concept in order to reach a more
comprehensive approach to education.
2.2 Education providers and the most vulnerable
Private non‐profit providers of educational services (NGOs and faith‐based schools) are a crucial part of the
educational arena, especially in developing countries. Their long‐lasting presence and capacity in this field
are rooted in the effort to respond to a basic human need. Their capacity to deliver education in special
contexts reflects their flexibility to adapt services to the target: “International human rights law demands
substitution of the previous requirement upon children to adapt themselves to whatever education was
available by adapting education to the best interests of each child7”.
Increasingly, the international community and country ministries of education are recognizing with greater
clarity the essential role of private schools of all types in responding to the vast and diverse needs of the
youth. Private schools with a social mission offer many strengths, and are particularly well suited to
respond to complex, difficult situations. Common characteristics include:
‐ knowledge of local social resources, context and local traditions;
‐ deeply rooted, which means permanent and more sustainable, with local involvement;
‐ motivated, which means more resilient.
Recognizing the importance of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and their activities in the educational field,
AVSI, in line with the Dakar Declaration8, supports their stronger participation at all level of decision‐making in
order to contribute to planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of education services.
This introduces a crucial aspect in dealing with education in low‐income countries and developing urban
areas: how governments can work together with private education providers to ensure universal access of
all children to quality education. Public‐Private Partnerships (PPP) in education have been the subject of a
recent World Bank publication entitled, “Emerging evidence on vouchers and faith‐based providers in
education9”. In this report, the World Bank stresses that PPPs and the private sector in itself are critical in
developing the education systems in low‐income countries as well as in developed ones.
•
As an example, concerning the Sierra Leone case study10, the World Bank report affirms that “the
role of private schools appears to be especially important in a context in which, despite the clear
commitment of governments and international agencies to the education sector, efficient and
equitable access to education still proves elusive to many”. Moreover, in this country more than
7
Economic, social and cultural rights. The right to education. Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur, Katarina , Tomasevski, to the
Commission on Human Rights. Point 45. UN. 15 January 2004. E/CN.4/2004/45.
8
Dakar Declaration. World Education Forum. Dakar, Senegal, 26‐28 April 2000. Point 54: “Civil society has much experience and a crucial
role to play in identifying barriers to EFA goals, and developing policies and strategies to remove them. Such participation, especially at the
local level through partnerships between schools and communities, should not only be limited to endorsing decisions of, or financing
programmes designed by, the state. Rather, at all levels of decision‐making governments must put in place regular mechanisms for
dialogue that will enable citizens and civil society organizations to contribute to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of basic education”.
9
Emerging Evidence on vouchers and faith‐based Providers in Education. Case studies from Africa, Latin America and Asia, Felipe‐Barrera‐
Osorio, Harry Antony Patrinos and Quentin Wodon, editors, The World Bank, 2009.
10
Emerging evidence…, p. 108.
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50% of education service is provided by faith‐based and private purveyors11. From the data
collected, the World Bank points out that the pupils who attend faith‐based schools have better
performance than those who attend public ones: “Attending a faith‐based school increases
performance, with the impact strongly statistically significant for numeracy and marginally
significant for reading English. Using the results from our estimations, one can predict the increase
in the probability of numeracy and ability to read English for a child obtained from shifting from a
non‐faith‐based school to a faith‐based school. For numeracy, the probability of being able to
compute increases from 39.1 percent to 46.6 percent. For the ability to read English, the probability
increases from 20.4 percent to 24.3 percent”.
Public and private partnerships can be a sustainable and scalable strategy to providing educational services
in fragile and vulnerable contexts. Through the integration of the public and private sector, it should be
possible to value the different features and resources of each, including the availability of human and
economic resources and the planning of legislative reforms from the government side and the know‐how
about education and local contexts from the side of private providers. UNESCO also clearly points out that
“In order to give new impetus to efforts towards the achievement of Education for All” it is necessary to
strengthen the “partnership with a wide range of stakeholders (…) including with private companies and
civil society groups as well as innovative financing modalities12”.
Governments can chose among a wide range of options to support partnerships in education: vouchers,
grants, user fees, and charter schools.
• A good example of voucher use regards the Colombia government which through the “Programa
de Cobertura de la Eduacation Secundaria” launched a program to give poor families vouchers to
attend any participating private school and thus expand private provision of public services. In
1996, the Government decided that the voucher could be spent only in the non‐profit/faith‐based
schools. Among the results, it is interesting to highlight that the overall benefit of this program
was a substantial economic return to high school graduation in Colombia.
• Charter schools, present particularly in USA, are mainly publicly financed (80%) and privately
managed by non‐profit organizations, families, groups or companies. These schools have to prove
their positive results to the government as well as to users. This allows a high degree of flexibility in
these schools which, consequently, respond to different needs. Generally, although the majority of
charter schools operate with vulnerable youth, their results are excellent. Flexibility and results have
brought them to spread in several countries, where they are part of the public education system.
3. AVSI’s INTERVENTIONS IN THE EDUCATIONAL FIELD
3.1 Education and the “full development of the person”
From AVSI’s point of view, the biggest challenge in the field of education is to define the idea of
“education” in itself and, consequently, the meaning of a “high‐quality” education. According to Josef
11
“As a result of historical factors (schools have long been established by missionaries and more recently by Muslim groups) as well
as a weak state due to civil conflict, more than half of all students today attend faith‐based schools.” Emerging evidence…, p. 101.
12
Programme and Budget 36C/5, UNESCO General Conference, 2012-2013.
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Jungmann’s definition13, AVSI believes that “Education is an introduction to total reality” in which the
word “total” means both “all‐inclusive” and “to full maturity.14” Starting from this point of view, families,
communities, educators, governments as well as the international community, have the duty to educate
children both on the basis of universally recognized human rights, but also because it is the essential
condition for everyone to grow in awareness of his/her dignity.
3.2 AVSI’s methodology
The human being, intended as a single person with all of his/her talents and needs, is the core of any
development, which means that the person must be at the center of any intervention. Starting from this
idea, AVSI’s methodology in the area of education takes into account the following essential elements.
•
•
•
Tradition, intended as “the structure of values and meanings into which a child is born15”, is the
starting point for any educational process.
The master (educators, teachers and important adults). A proposal is not based only on rules and
assumptions, but it passes through an individual who lives it personally.
The freedom of the child. Every human being is unique and unrepeatable, endowed with reason
through which he/she critically evaluates what is received and transforms it.
Furthermore, a child’s family has a critical role to play as well. Education of children necessarily involves
parents, families, and communities who have the primary responsibility. The school, regardless of the
provider, should support the parents and community in this essential role. AVSI’s experience shows that
where families are involved and present, children participate more, learn more and develop more
completely. Moreover, if children and their families acquire awareness of their dignity, it will improve the
quality of community life as a whole.
Within this framework, AVSI adopts a “family centered” approach which implies first of all gaining a
fundamental understanding of a child’s background and needs since a child’s home environment and the
characteristics of his/her parents or caretakers deeply affect his/her development. AVSI’s experience
demonstrates in many ways this “family effect”. For instance, one of the most important aims of AVSI’s
OVC project16 in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Ivory Coast, has been to build up the responsibility and
capacity of families and communities to take care of their children and to support their growth. The
evaluation of this project demonstrated the strong link between family characteristics and the child’s well‐
being. The same effect has been noted in the evaluation of the PATS17 urban upgrading project in Brazil (in
13
Christus als Mittelpunkt religioser, Josef Jungmann Erziehung, Freiburg i.B. 1939, p.20. In The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani,
Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1995. English edition, The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2001.
14
The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1995. English edition, The Crossroad Publishing
Company, New York, 2001: “to develop all the structures of an individual until they are complete, while at the same time affirming
all the possible active links those structures have to reality”.
15
The Risk of Education, ibidem.
16
AVSI OVC Project. Final evaluation. AVSI and Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà. Printed by Arti Grafiche Fiorin, Mian, September 2011.
17
Analise de un programa de desenvolvimento urbano integrado, na perspectiva de seus baneficiários, através de uma abordagem
qualitativa. Ana Cecília de Sousa Bastos, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Istituto de Saúde Coletiva, 2003.
Plano de Desenvolvimento Social e Ambiental do Programa Ribeira Azul. Produced by University of Trento, Italy, 2003. Data from
the Projeto de Apoio Técnico e Social na Area do Ribeira Azul. AVSI, Cities Alliance, The World Bank, Italian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs ‐ Directorate General for Development Cooperation, Government of Bahia.
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which AVSI is a partner with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the World Bank and The State of Bahia,
Brazil) and in the results of an education program in Gulu and Kitgum districts of northern Uganda18.
Overall, AVSI’s implementation method focuses on the person within his/her family and community, valuing
his/her personal legacy (resilience) and the resources of the community by structuring interventions through
and with local associations and institutions which foster helping relations and networks of social support.
3.3 Quality education and the education system
AVSI can attest that achieving change through education is not simply a matter of enrollment rates and size
of education budgets. Nor, in AVSI’s vision and experience, is quality education the automatic sum of many
parts including adequate infrastructure, books and learning resources, and even teachers with minimum
certification. In other words, material and financial inputs—measured in terms of budgets and achievement
scores in math and language only—are not the only factors for a strong and effective education system.
Quality refers to the learning experience of a student who is invited to explore and know the world around
him/her, starting from the solid reference point of himself/herself, hi/hers experience and tradition, and
accompanied by an adult who is also actively engaged, at a personal level, in this process of exploration
motivated by wonder and the desire for truth and meaning.
Quality of education can exist in an environment in which learners are introduced to the discovery of
themselves, the absolute and unique value of their existence, the meaning of reality and also the capacity
to use their freedom to act and make decisions. Only such an educative environment shapes “responsible
adults”: people capable of standing in front of the whole of reality and facing its challenges not simply by
repeating defined schemes, but by expressing their self‐awareness and acting in accordance to it with total
responsibility and creativity.
The learning process becomes a fascinating experience that stems from the encounter between the master
and the child; relevant knowledge, skills, and values become means to help the learner in the process of
discovering and developing his potential. The attention to the child leads to an attention to each and every
aspect of the reality that can help the educational experience:
- In the process of education, parents and teachers work hand in hand for a coherent and balanced education;
- The content taught in school is reflected in relevant curricula and creative learning materials and tools;
- The teachers use child‐centered teaching approaches to facilitate learning and increase the attention
given to each and every child; and
- Environments should be healthy, safe, and provide adequate resources and facilities that help the child
to discover the love for beauty and order.
As a result, the concept of “quality” cannot be reduced to the ability of the educators to master the best or
latest techniques or tools, but rests more on their capacity to relate to the children and engage them in the
active discovery of reality. Similarly, “quality” cannot be reduced to learning outcomes as measured by
tests and evaluations, though these will certainly play an important role in assessing the quality of a
learning environment and the effectiveness of a teacher. Instead, assessment of quality of an educational
environment must reflect the scope of the educative task.
Evidence of a quality educational environment would include:
18
Impact Evaluation of AVSI education program. Report. AVSI, Fondazione de Agostini, Fondazioni 4 Africa, 2011.
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-
-
-
All students feel well cared for, safe and happy at school;
Parents feel that they are an important part of their children’s education and know how they are able
and expected to be engaged in the life of the school community;
Teachers are motivated by the intrinsic value in their role as educators and take seriously their responsibilities,
demonstrated in responsible commitment to teaching (presence and preparation in the classroom);
There is unity in the use of the tools of the education system and the proposals of the school: student
reports, tests and scores, discipline, extracurricular proposals, school holidays and celebrations are
used for their educative value rather than as means of control or incentive;
Test scores and learning outcomes reflect a commitment to the achievement of all students, and the
teachers and staff respond to the particular learning needs of students; and
Students, especially the older ones, are engaged in the life of the school community and demonstrate a
maturity in front of the problems and challenges of life.
Likewise, there is growing recognition that learning cannot stop after basic education is completed;
education activities must be oriented within a systems approach, considering the educational system as a
whole. Given the complexity of today’s world and the fact that large segments of the youth and adult
populations around the world have not been able to acquire basic skills, continuing education is an
essential service which must become a higher priority for governments and the international community.
Continuing education can take the form of non‐formal schools, technical and vocational training, as well as
adult literacy and numeracy programs. In this frame, vocational training must have a crucial place in any
educational system. In particular, the connection between vocational training and the job market should
be strengthened. PPPs can play a fundamental role in furthering this objective.
4. AVSI’s educational interventions and figures
AVSI’s activities in the educational field include early childhood education and development, primary and
secondary education, non‐formal education, educational quality interventions, strengthening of civil society
organizations, schools and solidarity networks, and special attention to people with disabilities.
About 70% of all AVSI’s projects globally are focused on the area of social development and education.
Overall, AVSI reaches around 90.000 children per year and their families through its educational projects.
Across other sectors, AVSI’s educational focus is evident; rather than taking a simple charity approach of
handouts or delivering of services, AVSI values engagement of the person and the personal process of
learning from past experiences and becoming ambitious in front of his/her life and future.
a. Early Childhood Education
AVSI’s educational interventions in the area of early childhood education rest on the conviction that a
suitable development from birth allows for the balanced growth of a child, socially, physically and in terms
of habits and cognitive skills. Important elements of early childhood education are exposure to beauty,
order and hygiene, personal interaction with caring adults, physical movement, and exposure to music,
vocabulary, and group dynamics. The role of parents and particularly mothers is fundamental in these early
years and is featured in a significant way in AVSI’s programs; parents receive practical training and benefit
from the support of families groups to enhance their understanding of comprehensive child care. AVSI
estimates that 7.000 children are involved in its early childhood educational projects.
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For example, AVSI supports a network of nursery schools in Brazil, involving about 4.000 children. In
Ecuador, the Prescolar en la Casa (Pelca) program serves 500 preschool‐aged children and their families. In
addition, local early childhood development initiatives and nursery schools are supported by AVSI and local
partners in Argentina, Venezuela, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.
b. Non‐formal Education
Non‐formal education encompasses all those actions necessary for the holistic development of children
and young people aged 6‐18 years. According to AVSI’s method, non‐formal education provides
opportunities for personal guidance for children and young people, including in the family context, and a
specific complementary attention to sustaining their formal educational path.
Some examples of such activities include after‐school academic support (e.g. Uganda, Mexico, Kenya),
recreational activities (e.g. Albania, Ecuador, Ivory Coast), including sports and art activities (e.g. Haiti,
Brazil, Argentina). AVSI estimates that about 20.000 young people are involved in its non‐formal
educational programs in different countries each year.
c. School
AVSI promotes school attendance and achievement of children and young people in different ways,
depending on the context and opportunities. AVSI’s support can take the form of student sponsorships or
block grants, infrastructure and material investments, teacher training and development support, and even
direct school management.
In Democratic Republic of Congo and in Haiti, AVSI has helped in the rebuilding of school facilities which
offer a public service to children and young people, above all to those from the poorest areas. It’s
estimated that the impact of these projects carried out during recent years concerns at least 15.000
children and youth. In both countries, AVSI is a partner of UNICEF’s “Back to school” campaign. In Eastern
Equatoria State, South Sudan, AVSI is co‐leading in the cluster on education led by UNICEF; this is an
important recognition of the efficacy of AVSI’s method and interventions. AVSI supports some primary and
secondary formal schools by paying teachers and management support (Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone,
Paraguay, Nigeria). In these schools about 5.000 children and youth are involved. In some countries, where
free education has not been introduced yet, AVSI carries out a distance support project that allows the
poorest children to pay school fees. This project involves at least 5.000 children and youth aged 7‐18. In
Haiti, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda, AVSI deals more specifically with the schooling of children
who are particularly vulnerable (Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Restavecks, street children, drop‐outs).
AVSI estimates involving about 8.000 vulnerable children. In the Middle East, AVSI supports several schools
in Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon helping vulnerable children to continue their school careers.
d. Vocational training and youth work
Vocational training is in many cases a necessary instrument to involve young people in the reality of work.
AVSI’s vocational training always connects the teaching of technical skills with a more holistic approach to
the participants, who are mainly youth. Brazil, Argentina, Romania, Uganda and Kenya are the main
contexts where AVSI and its partners carry out vocational training programs, where over 5.000 young
people per year are involved.
For instance, in Kenya AVSI created and manages the St. Kizito Technical Institute at Githurai, a suburb of
Nairobi. Since 1994, this school has given professional qualification to 350 girls and boys per year. In 2010,
a second location of the professional training school was opened in Kibera, one of the major African slums.
In Brazil, AVSI has gained wide experience in this field, also involving private enterprises though their
Corporate Social Responsibility programs such as in the AVSI‐FIAT partnership known as the “Arvore da
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Vida” project for youth education and employment. In Jordan and in partnership with the UN Development
Program, AVSI set up 11 centers for training on communication and information technologies specifically
adapted for youth and adults with physical disabilities.
e. Training for educators
All of AVSI’s educational projects include regular activities for teacher training and professional
development. A handbook titled “The Risk of Education” is available in 5 languages on the AVSI website,
and is mainly used during training sessions. To date, it has already been used to train more than 18.000
educators, teachers and social workers.
In Uganda, the Permanent Centre for Education (PCE) of Kampala (www.pceuganda.org), was created as a
local resource center which provides continuing education courses for educators and social workers in the
service sectors of education, social work and health care. The PCE conducted more than 400 trainings for
an estimated 20.000 beneficiaries from 2002 to 2011 in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Rwanda,
Burundi, Thailand, Palestine, South Sudan and Mozambique. The feedback from trained teachers is very
positive as regards the impact on their teaching method, motivation and the learning environment. As a
result, these positive conditions are expected to lead to multiplier effects, including reduced teacher
absenteeism and turn‐over, reduced drop‐out rates, increased enrollment and ultimately improved
learning. Another example of training for educators was carried out over the last years in Brazil (Salvador
Bahia, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, San Paulo, Brasilia, Manaus, Macapà) through a distance education
platform, in partnership with more than 20 local partners and involving over 100 educators from the early
childhood education sector.
In 2004 SHIS (http://www.shisalbania.org), AVSI’s partner in Albania, created a training center for educators
known as “Kardinal Mikel Koliqi” in partnership with AVSI and the Spanish NGO CESAL (www.cesal.org). In
November 2011, the center was recognized by the Ministry of Education in Albania and its training courses
allow teachers and educators to obtain a better qualification and chance for career advancement.
f. Education in emergency
In emergency and conflict situations, affected children first of all need adults who will guide them to re‐
discover their inner value as human beings, instilling hope and catalyzing development and a desire for
peace. Consequently, as AVSI’s projects in Rwanda, Northern Uganda,19, Democratic Republic of Congo
and Kenya (Somali refugee camps in Dadaab) show, this is also the first and most important level of
protection. Psychosocial support must be an integral part of formal and non‐formal education if the
general aim is to achieve quality education in emergencies and improve the sustainability of investments. In
this way, the school can truly become the first line of protection for children: not simply with the school as
a place of refuge, but rather as a place where these children can meet a person (an adult) who looks at
them for what they really are, that is, for their irreducible uniqueness and dignity.
g. Environmental education and sustainable development
In a number of cases, AVSI has begun to support environmental education activities in the schools it
supports. For example, in partnership with BRAMA, an Italian association, AVSI has introduced its project
“Re‐discovering nature” in some schools in the Palestinian Territories, with the goal of teaching boys and
girls their value through the discovery of the environment as a place where they live and develop, and their
19
Education in Emergencies as a Catalyst to Peace and Development: The Essential Role of a Community of Adults. A UKFIET
Conference paper by The Permanent Centre for Education, Uganda. September 2011.
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relationship with it. In Uganda, AVSI supports Junior Farmer Field Schools and schools gardens as a means
of education to the value of agriculture and the tradition of caring for natural resources.
5. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
a. Community based initiatives are a resource for development, but their involvement has to be
supported and sponsored by policies. Governments and the international community should
support what already exists, such as private sector interventions in the educational field. Through a
wide range of actions – economic and human resources, vouchers, grants, user fees, and above all,
legislative reforms – they are called to recognize and support private sector services as means of
reaching their goals of universal access to high quality basic services, developing Private‐Public
Partnerships wherever possible.
b. The private sector should also be supported and incentivized to promote the linkage between
vocational training programs and enterprises. Public authorities should reform the legislative
system in order to attract Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives which target vulnerable youth.
As without work there cannot be real development, any educational initiative and policy should
seek solutions to introduce educated youth into the job market.
c. Any stakeholder and actor active in improving the level of education around the world, particularly
Civil Society Organizations, should be more involved in the definition terms and indicators related
to the quality of education. This is fundamental in order to better define the tools which can best
describe the real situation and consequently inform the design of policies and interventions.
d. Attention to early childhood education should be included as an integrated part of any policy on
education, and the direct engagement of parents in this area should be highlighted.
e. In order to improve the quality education, the continuing training for educators should be
strengthened and broadened in terms of opportunities, scope of content and relevance.
6. CONCLUSIONS
AVSI’s experience indicates that to educate is not simply to train or impart knowledge but to bring out of
the person his/her full potential. This dynamic process not only engages the learner but also the educator,
the family and the community.
All the elements pointed out in this paper are essential to creating the so called “enabling environment” in order
that civil society organizations, such as AVSI, may be able to effectively act in any context in which they operate.
AVSI believes that the active presence of such organizations and groups is crucial to reaching the single
person who is not only characterized by his/her needs but mainly by his/her value as a human being.
CSOs can be described as going the “last mile”, which means that they are those actors who, filling the gap
between the complex social infrastructure and the single person, increase the level of development.
From AVSI’s experience, it can be seen that the first and most important basis for development is an
increasing awareness of one’s own value and desire.
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AVSI’s view of education
Vulnerable and poor people who are educated within a holistic and inclusive approach become a fundamental
resource for development which positively impacts not only their own community but the entire world.
Finally, AVSI recognizes as the key aspect of any educational process the need to start from reality and the
relationship between the educator and the youth. The result of such an approach can be summarized as
follows: “Shortly, in a process that only with great attention has been traced and supervised without delays
or excessive constraints, the educator will gradually detach himself from his pupil. He will spur him on to
make increasingly personal commitments and judgments; he will have introduced him to the totality of the
real; and he will have given him a keen sense of his dependence on reality and its ultimate meaning. It is
now the youth’s turn to continue the search without skepticism, convinced that there is something positive
in all things and an explanation for them20”.
7. REFERENCES
Analise de un programa de desenvolvimento urbano integrado, na perspectiva de seus baneficiários,
através de uma abordagem qualitativa. Ana Cecília de Sousa Bastos, Universidade Federal da Bahia,
Istituto de Saúde Coletiva, 2003.
AVSI OVC Project. Final evaluation. AVSI and Fondazione per la Sussidiarietà. Printed by Arti Grafiche
Fiorin, Milan, September 2011.
Christus als Mittelpunkt religioser Erziehung. Josef Jungmann, Freiburg, 1939.
Convention on the Rights of the Child. Adopted by General Assembly resolution 44/25, 20 November 1989.
Dakar Declaration. World Education Forum. Dakar, Senegal, 26‐28 April 2000.
Economic, social and cultural rights. The right to education. Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur,
Katarina , Tomasevski, to the Commission on Human Rights UN. 15 Jenuary 2004. E/CN.4/2004/45.
Education in Emergencies as a Catalyst to Peace and Development: The Essential Role of a Community of
Adults. A UKFIET Conference paper by The Permanent Centre for Education, Uganda. September 2011.
Impact Evaluation of AVSI education program. Report. AVSI, Fondazione de Agostini, Fondazioni 4 Africa, 2011.
Learning for All. Investing in People’s knowledge and Skills to promote development, World Bank Group
Education Strategy 2020, The World Bank, 2011.
Plano de Desenvolvimento Social e Ambiental do Programa Ribeira Azul. Produced by University of
Trento, Italy, 2003. Data from the Projeto de Apoio Técnico e Social na Area do Ribeira Azul. AVSI, Cities
Alliance, The World Bank, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‐ Directorate General for Development
Cooperation, Government of Bahia.
20
The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1995. English edition, The Crossroad
Publishing Company, New York, 2001.
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AVSI’s view of education
Programme and Budget 36C/5, UNESCO General Conference, 2012‐2013
The hidden crisis: armed conflict and education. EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2011. UNESCO.
The Risk of Education, Luigi Giussani, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino, 1995. English edition, The
Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2001.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly, New York, 10 December 1948.
LINK
http://www.unicef.org/
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
http://www.worldbank.org/
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