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A
Practical Guide to Education
Chapter 1
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Assessment of Needs, Resources, and Available Facilities
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One of the most important elements
in developing educational programs is surveying and assessing local educational
conditions, needs, priorities, and resources. Whoever makes a needs assessment
and how the assessment is made can considerably influence the selection
of priority topics and the setting of educational goals. In order to be
responsive to the local needs, and to the needs of the disempowered and
marginalized in particular, it is important to ensure that those who actually
do the teaching (teachers) and the learning (pupils), those who directly
or indirectly finance the schooling (parents and government), and those
who will benefit more generally from education (community) are involved
in the process of educational diagnoses (Shaeffer, 1994). Encouraging participation
of different community members in the process of educational needs assessment
will help you, the teacher, to better understand the population's own perceptions,
priorities, and capacities regarding educational activities. Particularly,
it will enable you: |
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l to
make a more accurate needs assessment |
l to identify relevant educational goals
and objectives
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l to
increase the motivation of the learners, parents, and the community to participate
in educational programs |
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This section discusses several issues
that are important to take into consideration when gathering information
necessary for starting educational programs in emergency situations. It
will help you: |
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l to
identify the main effects of emergencies on education |
l to
assess available human resources |
l to
assess existing education facilities and services |
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Teachers can play a special role
in educational needs assessment, but they cannot do it alone. In addition
to providing personal suggestions for program development and implementation,
teachers may be particularly able to encourage parent and community participation
in assessment of educational needs, resources, and available facilities.
This can be facilitated in the following ways: |
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1. Seeking parent and community opinion.
Special emphasis could be placed on collecting the opinions of parents and
other community members concerned about education - both in general and
on more specific issues, such as the location of new schools or the kinds
of skills children should obtain in school. In-depth individual and group
interviews can help in this regard. |
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2. Forum for the synthesis of data
and the setting of educational priorities. School/parent/community associations
become especially important as a mechanism or forum for the analysis of
the data collected and the identification of priorities among these needs.
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Section
I: EFFECTS OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION ON EDUCATION |
Please check the appropriate: |
Community members do not demand education
___ |
Community members are not organized
to support education ___ |
Parents are not interested in education
___ |
Children do not attend school because
of other duties (work, etc.) ___ |
If you checked most of the above
statements, it means that one of the causes for the prevailing situation
is a lack of community and parent motivation to support education. Please
review Chapter 2: How to work in conditions of change and instability. This
chapter will provide some suggestions on how to promote community involvement
and participation in education. |
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Lack of teachers ___ |
Lack of educated adults to replace
teachers ___ |
Lack of financial support for teachers
___ |
Lack of institutional support for
teachers ___ |
If you checked most of the above
statements, please complete section II of the questionnaire (ASSESSMENT
OF AVAILABLE HUMAN RESOURCES) and then proceed to Chapter
2: What to do when there are not enough teachers. This chapter will help
you to think about different ways of increasing teacher motivation and using
parents and community members as teaching aids. |
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School facilities have been damaged/are
unusable ___ |
Water on school premises is unsafe/not
available ___ |
Instructional materials are not available
___ |
Lack of funds for equipment/materials
___ |
Lack of funds for teacher remuneration
___ |
If you checked most of the above
statements, please complete section III of the questionnaire (ASSESSMENT
OF FACILITIES AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATION) and then continue
with Chapter 3: How to deal with a lack of resources. This chapter will
provide practical suggestions on how to utilize the available environment
for teaching and learning, obtain information about potential funding sources,
and generate income. |
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Children in need of primary education
represent: |
different age groups______ |
different race & ethnic backgrounds______ |
different gender composition _______
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different education levels _______
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If most of the above statements are
marked, please review Chapter 4: How children learn and Chapter 5: How to
teach in a variety of situations. These chapters provide information regarding
different teaching techniques and methods, which can be used for teaching
children of different age, race, ethnicity, and gender. |
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Section
II. ASSESSMENT OF AVAILABLE HUMAN RESOURCES
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Who
is available to teach children? |
Trained teachers |
Professionals from other fields (e.g.,
medical) |
Older children |
Community members |
NGO members |
Volunteers |
Other (specify) |
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Who
is available to support teachers? |
Professionals from other field (e.g.
medical) |
Older children |
Community members |
NGO members |
Volunteers |
Other (specify) |
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Functioning
institutions and organizations that can provide financial support. Please
indicate a few names: |
Community committees |
Education ministry |
Religious groups |
Domestic NGOs active in education |
Teacher training institutes |
International NGOs active in education |
UN agencies |
Other (specify) |
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Section
III. ASSESSMENT OF FACILITIES AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATION |
Are
some schools still functioning? Yes ____ No ____ |
If yes, please indicate: |
Location(s) |
Number of children attending |
What
locations can be used for classes? |
Number of children that can be accommodated:
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School/ Classrooms |
Rehabilitation Center |
Shelter |
Outdoors |
House |
Religious buildings |
Clinics, health centers |
Other (specify) |
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Are
the following facilities easily accessible? (specify)
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Water Source |
Lavatories |
Showers |
Toilets |
Medical facilities |
Facilities for the disabled |
Electricity |
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How
far would children have to travel to attend classes? |
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