The international network for education in emergencies (INEE) has released an open source training pack for primary school teachers. The material is freely available on the INEE website for anyone to use.

The training package is meant to prepare, support and assist teachers who are called to work in emergency settings. The package was developed by the Teachers in Crisis Contexts Working Group where Finn Church Aid is one of seven members alongside International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, Teachers College-Columbia University, UNHCR and UNICEF.

This pack answers to a critical need for competency-based teacher training materials in disaster contexts where particular knowledge and skills are required from teachers, but teacher training is often limited.

“This is a complete package for teacher training, but it has also been designed to be flexible and allow for the use of selected modules, for example modules relating to child protection in school contexts.  The material may also be tailored for youth education”, says Minna Peltola, FCA Senior Thematic Advisor on Education.

The pack consists of modules covering topics such as teacher’s role and wellbeing, child protection and curriculum planning. The modules have been developed around a set of 28 teacher competencies and the training pack has already been field-tested in Iraq and Kenya.

FCA has used the material for a pilot project at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where FCA East-African Regional Education Specialist Mary Tangelder has worked on providing teachers support through the use of mobile technology.

“Now, FCA is developing guidelines for long-term teacher mentoring. A condensed quick training version of the package is also being developed for situations where the disaster circumstances don’t allow for the use of the entire package”, Peltola says.

Materials within the pack may serve as refresher training for qualified teachers or build basic teaching competencies for under-qualified ones. The purpose is to provide these teachers with tools that can help them manage the difficult circumstances often related to education in disaster or displaced refugee settings.

More information on the package and the package itself can be found on the INEE website here.

Brochure of the training pack: