For Immediate Release
April 11, 2017
Contact: Andrew Crook
www.aft.org
Syrian Refugee Crisis Promoting Surge in Education
Privatization
Education International report shows private actors from
global north investing in disaster
WASHINGTON—The plight of education for refugee
children and the involvement of private actors with mixed motives are explored
in a new
report commissioned by Education International.
The Syrian conflict has caused an
education crisis among migrants of breathtaking scale: In Jordan, Lebanon and
Turkey combined, 900,000 Syrian children have no access to education. This has
triggered a flood of aid offers from the private sector, the size and intention
of which are explored in the report “Investing
in the Crisis: Private Participation in the Education of Syrian Refugees,”
by University of Massachusetts assistant professors Francine Menashy and Zeena
Zakharia.
The study shows how 61 of the 144
organizations and other non-state participants working in education in Jordan,
Lebanon and Turkey are “private actors”—46 businesses and 15 foundations.
Three-quarters of these are from the “global north,” and almost two-thirds (61
percent) do not have education as their core business.
Together, these interventions
represent a new form of aid: “philanthrocapitalism.” This study unveils a
growing tension between humanitarian assistance and the profit-driven motives
of private actors in education where the Middle East region is seem as a large
and growing market. Syria alone is home to a highly educated middle-class
population: Before the conflict, 94 percent of K-12 Syrian children were
enrolled in school.
The study also highlights how much of
the work by private entities on the ground lacks organization and coordination
with other stakeholders. There is frequent duplication or failure to meet
urgent needs by proposing solutions unsuited to the refugee situation.
The report concludes that, in the face
of declining aid budgets and one of the biggest refugee movements in living
memory, money and support from businesses and foundations are desperately
needed. But that comes with serious challenges, including the limited capacity
of the private sector to understand and work within rapidly evolving
humanitarian contexts.
States must fulfill their obligations
with respect to the rights of Syrian refugee children, including the provision
of free, high-quality public education.
The report also states that
interventions must be well-coordinated and contextualized, with a focus on
equity and grounded within a commitment to refugees’ educational rights. The
ethical tensions between the humanitarian and profit motivations of businesses
to invest in the crisis reinforce the need for the state to regulate their
involvement by establishing legal frameworks for private actor engagement.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said:
“Every child has the right to free, high-quality public education. At a moment
when Syrian children are in our hearts and minds—given the atrocities of last
week—we need to make sure that when they do get safe passage, they are supported,
not exploited. Civil society, businesses and foundations can play an important
role, but refugee children should never be used as profit centers. I commend
the authors for highlighting this tension and pointing to a solution: that
states fulfill their obligation to provide free public education for Syrian
refugees and real accountability for non-state actors.”
Follow
AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
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