by Tasha Raymond

Created on: November 18, 2009   Last Updated: November 21, 2009

When it comes to a crisis, whether political or natural, the refugee camps are quickly flooded with those that have been displaced from their homes. In these situations, numerous children are left without any form of schooling unless something had already been put in place. According to UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org), out of 500,000 Congolese and Burundian refugees in twelve camps, 40% are children. Over 100,000 are of primary school age and roughly 30,000 are pre-school age. With the average stay in a refugee camp being 17 years, this shows the importance of emergency education.

Emergency education is the (not so simple) temporary measure of making sure that students stay up to speed enough that they can hopefully return to school in their home area when they are able to leave the refugee camp. While that sounds simple, it isn't. Keeping the student up to speed means many things in this context. It means keeping them cognitively active. It means keeping them physically active. It means keeping healthy both mentally and physically. It means keeping them aware of what is going on around them. It means keeping them alive. With all that to bear in mind, one can easily see how those who volunteer to work as Teachers Without Borders are considered the modern day heroes.

Education in emergency situations brings out a completely different set of practices than traditional education. Some of the best practices are not necessarily ones that would be considered practices in other areas of the world. However, they do help to provide for the children in the refugee camp.

One of the more traditional practices that are followed in the emergency education programs is one that all education systems work on: providing a safe, supervised environment for the students. For some students at these refugee camps, they are without parental supervision either due to death in the family or separation or other circumstances. By the educators ensuring these students are safe, the students are than more at ease to continue with their learning. This is as important a practice as teaching a student to speak politely.

Engaging students in structural activities is a practice of many teachers in the refugee camps. As with any event that disrupts life, structure is something that needs to be returned to the students as soon as possible. When a child feels that there is structure and control in the hands of the adults taking care of them, it allows them the chance to relax and not to have to

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