executive summary
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a relief and human development agency mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) since 1949, providing assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees in five areas: Operations: Gaza, West Bank including East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan. UNRWA's services to Palestinian refugees include primary and vocational education, primary health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvements, microfinance, and emergency response.
UNRWA is unique in that it is a United Nations agency and the main direct education provider to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation. The agency operates one of the largest school systems in the Middle East, providing free basic education to more than 500,000 Palestinian refugee children and youth across its five areas of operation, as well as secondary education to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. We also offer The agency provides higher education to approximately 10,000 Palestinian refugees across the region through her eight vocational training centers and her two teacher training institutions in the West Bank and Jordan.
This report highlights the Agency's successes and challenges related to the Education 2030 Agenda, based on the SDG4 indicators. UNRWA's education goals and indicators are mapped against his SDG4 goals and UNRWA's performance is assessed against each of these 10 goals (7+3). Where possible, contrast the achievements of the agency as a whole with those within UNRWA's five areas of activity. Where data are available, UNRWA education outcomes are compared to regional and global benchmarks.
UNRWA is unique among United Nations agencies mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to provide education directly to refugees. From the perspective of a system managed by a single agency, UNRWA operates one of the largest school systems in the Middle East, both in terms of the number of staff engaged (70% of all agency staff) and budget allocation. , education is UNRWA's largest program (59 percent of the total regular budget). Furthermore, the majority of UNRWA's 20,000 education staff (approximately 17,000 people, including 2,000 daily paid teachers and 500 vocational trainers) are Palestinian refugees themselves.
The vision of UNRWA's education system is to develop human capital and enable Palestinian refugees to reach their full potential under the difficult circumstances in which they find themselves (MTS 2023-2028). For more than 75 years, UNRWA has built a strong reputation for providing an excellent education that is recognized as equal to, or better than, education in countries hosting Palestinian refugees. UNRWA has produced approximately 132,000 her TVET graduates who have found employment in various employment sectors.
UNRWA's education programs operate within a complex local and global context. Working effectively with the governments of the countries hosting Palestine refugees, the agency also works with regional organizations and the global education community to provide quality educational services to Palestine refugees. Wherever possible, UNRWA aligns the goals and indicators of its 2023-2028 Strategic Plan with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 4: Quality Education.
To date, UNRWA is not a member of a dedicated forum where its achievements and lessons can be shared with the international community, and its data is not well integrated into national systems or incorporated into regional and global reporting on the achievement of SDG 4. It is not. target.
This baseline report will lead to UNRWA's global monitoring of education and will be an opportunity for UNRWA to share its progress and challenges with the international community in relation to achieving the Education 2030 Agenda. The agency's education goals and indicators are mapped based on SDG4 and performance is assessed against each of the 10 goals (7+3). Where possible, contrasts are provided between the five areas of work to ensure that agency-wide performance is not overshadowed by inconsistencies within the system. Again, where possible, UNRWA's education outcomes and regional and global education outcomes as reported by UNESCO's global education monitoring mechanisms (e.g. Global Education Monitoring Report) and other reliable data sources. Comparative analysis is performed with benchmarks. The report reveals that UNRWA has made significant progress towards achieving some of his SDG4 goals.
Target 4.1 (universalization of primary and secondary education): Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities expect to achieve a survival rate of almost 96 percent in basic education in 2022, a cumulative decline of 0.86 percent in primary education and It shows that it is 2.83 percent. Percent in preparation. However, results from learning outcomes assessments call for greater efforts to reverse learning losses, a trend that has been amplified by the pandemic. Less than 30 percent of her 4th grade and 8th grade students achieved a minimum proficiency in Arabic, 22% of her 4th grade students and 16% of her 8th grade students achieved a minimum proficiency in math. Achieved maximum proficiency.
Objective 4.2 (Access to quality early childhood development, care, and pre-school education): UNRWA does not provide early childhood education.
Goal 4.3 (Equal access to technical, vocational and higher education): UNRWA operates eight vocational training centers and two faculties of education (teacher training institutions). In 2022/23, 7,811 refugees were trained in VTCs (45% women) and 2,051 in teacher training institutions.
Goal 4.4 (Skills related to decent work): In 2022, the employment rate for VTC graduates was 79% and 88% for undergraduate graduates.
Goal 4.5 (Gender Equality and Inclusion): In 2022, UNRWA nearly achieved gender parity in terms of basic education completion rates (94 percent for men and 97 percent for women). However, less than 60 percent of students identified as having a disability received support to meet their specific needs (58.6 percent of girls and 53.4 percent of boys). Disparities in achievement under each SDG4 target exist across areas of action, due to the influence of the national and specific context of the host countries in which UNRWA operates.
Target 4.6 (Youth and adult literacy and numeracy): UNRWA does not conduct household-based surveys to measure adult literacy and numeracy levels in the population.
Target 4.7 (Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship): UNRWA's education programs use host country school curricula. Although the organization does not have the authority to change host country governments' curricula or textbooks, it ensures that the curriculum taught in schools adheres to United Nations principles and values ​​and reflects a pedagogical approach of critical thinking and human rights education. We have introduced a strong screening system to ensure that
Objective 4.a (Effective Learning Environment): UNRWA facilities are suffering from lack of resources and increasing demographic pressures. In some areas, conflict has caused further deterioration. UNRWA uses rented facilities and operates schools in two or three shifts across five business areas.
Across government agencies, more than half of schools (54%) will operate in two or three shifts with wide disparities between sectors in 2023 (Jordan 83%, Gaza 71%, Syria 57%). , Syria 2%), West Bank 3%, Lebanon 3%). Over 50% of her classes have over 40 of her students. This percentage has remained stable since 2019.
Objective 4.b (Scholarships): Support for scholarships through the UNRWA General Fund has been discontinued since 1997. Current scholarships have been provided by donors since 2000, but are not sufficient to absorb the needs of the increasing number of students who require financial support to continue their studies. .
Objective 4.c (Teachers and Educators): UNRWA provides training opportunities for teachers in the two departments and conducts continuing professional development programs, especially for newly recruited teachers. Of the 18,000 teachers, only 113 (0.6 percent) do not have a degree, and this number will fall to zero next year. Additionally, as of 2022, 1,319 teachers have yet to complete an accredited entry-level training program (724 women and 595 men), which is a requirement for employment in accordance with agency policy. That means her 7 percent of the teacher workforce is qualified but untrained.
The report identifies strengthening EiE data for digital transformation and crisis planning as one of UNRWA's strategic priorities to accelerate progress towards achieving SDG 4 by 2030.
By sharing UNRWA's successes and challenges on SDG4, it is hoped that this report will contribute valuable knowledge to the global education community and guide future cooperation.