The Italian Cooperation interventions in the Education sector aims to icrease access, quality and inclusiveness of education services, providing formal and non-formal education support, rehabilitating infrastructures and helping teachers to strengthen their skills.
AICS has supported initiatives in response to the Syrian crisis, focused on the renovation of school infrastructures to enhance access to education, and on the improvement of the educational system to strengthen its quality and inclusiveness. In the framework of the 2017-2019 MoU, the parties agreed on an Italian contribution to the implementation of the “National strategy for human resources development 2016-2025” through an 85 million Euro sector budget support programme (in the form of soft loan), currently in the stage of negotiation. The initiative targets Early-Childhood Education and Development, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training, with a specific focus on the development of competencies related to responsible and sustainable tourism and the conservation and valorisation of cultural heritage and natural resources, sectors in which Italy has significant expertise.
As in all humanitarian interventions supported by AICS, education programmes incorporate protection mainstreaming principles to promote meaningful access, safety and dignity for the children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The provision of psycho-social support in schools addresses the need to prevent, mitigate and respond to protection threats by ensuring the fundamental protection principles, countering the impact of traumatisation on children which can manifest in depression, shame, withdrawal and aggression, increasing the the risk of school drop-out. In this regard, teachers and other care-workers are the main means through which this kind of support can be provided, making it easier to return to a normal “routine”.
