Alike the Sphereproject for other sectors, the INEE has formulated minimum standards for education in emergencies which comply and relate to guidelines of Sphere.

Facilitating educational activities are an important part of relief work as they provide structure of everyday life, offering the affected population a sense of return to normalcy, of stability, of life moving forward and of hope and development for the future.

Access

Education is targeted according to age; the teaching of children and youth is to be prioritized. Access to education needs to be offered without any discrimination of nationality, ethnicity, race, gender or religion. The existence of educational institutions provide an opportunity to demonstrate and promote equality. The UN hosts the UNGEI Girls Education Initiative focused especially on the schooling of girls.

School grounds are planned into the camp layout, to ensure easy and safe to access and provide a secure learning space. School feeding has the advantages of ensuring that children have the physical energy for learning, of offering an additional reason to regularly attend school and also of convincing parents to send their children to school. Primary education should be obligatory and free for all children. Secondary education is voluntary but available and accessible for all. Additionally, educational offers should be accessible for those who didn’t finish primary education.

Contents

Contents of the curriculum should cover core competencies like literacy, numeracy and basic common knowledge that provides students with the basic tools for further learning. The second component of the curriculum is education related to the specific situation of the displaced person, such as, disaster preparedness, mine awareness, peace and civic education, health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, human rights, environment and life skills. Educating adults can be vital in order to enable them to provide a living for themselves and their families under new circumstances.