On Monday, 11 May, members of the Education Sector Working Group met both online and in-person at the offices of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Amman, Jordan.
The Working Group, which is chaired by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Norwegian Refugee Council, and the Queen Rania Foundation, was established in 2008 and aims to:
- Be a forum for coordination and information-sharing for relevant organizations and institutions to support the access and equity of education for children, adolescents, and youth
- Plan and monitor, in close coordination with the Jordanian Ministry of Education, the enhancement of the education system’s capacity, by planning, implementing, and monitoring educational interventions
- To generate relevant data and research evidence, and to share it in a timely manner
- To ensure that evidence and data that is collected is used to advocate for equitable access to education for children, adolescents, and youth in Jordan; and
- To act as a knowledge-sharing platform to reflect members’ technical experiences.
Tshepo Tlhacoane represented the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) at the meeting, whose agenda comprised of general updates by the co-chairs, a presentation by Darsel, the newest member of the Working Group, a discussion on the results of a survey conducted by the Education Development Partner Group and the Education Sector Working Group, and a discussion on the school fees implications on unregistered refugees.
Regarding the latter, ACHRS is concerned about the possibility that children may be denied enrolment or be taken out of school due to their inability to pay school fees. This compounds the injury to an already vulnerable group of people due to education’s close relationship with the enjoyment of other civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. We will work with all available and relevant stakeholders to help preserve this right.
