On 10 September 2025, the Migration and Diaspora Studies (MDS) program launched its Guest Speaker Series for the 2025-2026 academic year. The event welcomed MDS students into a thought-provoking dialogue with , LERRN partner, a distinguished scholar in the political economy of education and Co-Director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Research Studies (CAPRS) at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In this conversation, Dr. Shah invited participants to reflect on the key themes of his draft paper, “The Tangled Web between Refugee Rights, Capitalism, Race, and Education”. Drawing on his extensive research, Dr. Shah encouraged students to critically examine how these forces intersect within education in emergencies, positioning it as a key site for understanding the complex intersectionality of forced migration.

Borders are more than lines鈥攖hey shape who belongs

Dr. Shah began by discussing contemporary bordering and its connection to racialization, highlighting how these practices continue to impact refugee education. He defined bordering as the 鈥減ractices and policies that construct, maintain, and enforce borders,鈥� emphasizing that borders are not only physical but also social and political practices embedded in everyday life. Beyond geographic boundaries, bordering shapes who is included or excluded, and also influences individuals鈥� sense of belonging. Racialization, through groupings, labels, and categories, justifies mobility for some while criminalizing or securitizing movement for others. Furthermore, this racialization determines the levels of protection and access to rights available to different individuals and groups.

Drawing on the work of Nira Yuval-Davis et al. in , Dr. Shah elucidated the concept of 鈥済ray zones鈥� 鈥� spaces where national sovereignty and accountability become blurred in contemporary migration management, leading to the externalization of migration. He argued that the provision of education has itself become a 鈥済ray zone鈥� within this context. Much of contemporary externalization is observed within the Global North, which prioritizes security over human rights, leaving many refugees in an 鈥渦nsettled present and uncertain future.鈥� Dr. Shah presented examples of how non-state actors in the Global North have come to profit from the externalization of mass migration.

Dr. Shah suggested that the work of refugee teachers and learners in and through these gray zones is both necessary and vulnerable to global capitalism. For learners, the primary challenge is accessing education, whilst teachers navigate gray zones by creating opportunities in informal and unrecognized education programs. Due to the unaccredited nature of these programs, learners often struggle to find higher levels of education or navigate their way into the workforce. Refugee teachers often face restrictions that limit their ability to join the workforce due to host country fears of increased unemployment for citizens. Additional barriers include the non-recognition of refugees鈥� credentials and qualifications or, when recognition is possible, a process that is often complex, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate.

Global capitalism profits from exclusion

Dr. Shah and students reflected on the question of why there has been no national political will for enabling refugee teachers to help address the growing teacher shortage. To answer this question, Dr. Shah turned to the work of Nancy Fraser, who argued that global capitalism is fueled by exploitation and expropriation, relying on conditions that are created outside the formal economy, which help sustain and expand its operations. Capitalism thus thrives off emerging spaces outside the traditional realm of commodification and economic activity. Dr. Shah argued that contemporary political and social structures of the Global North are indicative of racialized capitalism.

Dr. Shah concluded by arguing that capitalism鈥檚 dual logic 鈥� expropriation and exploitation 鈥� is enabled by racialized social relations that compel refugees to participate in economic systems that marginalize them and push them to the peripheries of capitalism. Drawing on his work on refugee education, he illustrated how forced migration is not a crisis for global capitalism but rather essential to its survival. As the Global North continues to securitize its borders and profit from the externalization of migration, the global political economy thrives on the precarious conditions imposed on refugees.

What an inspiring start to a year of critical dialogue and new ideas at the Migration and Diaspora Studies Program! Through critical cross-disciplinary scholarship and open dialogue MDS fosters deeper understanding of movement and transnational settlement of people.

To learn more about the program and join the conversation by visiting Migration and Diaspora Studies – 杏吧原创 University

This event was in part supported by LERRN, Local Engagement Refugee Research Network.

Listen Below for the Full Conversation

By Abdi Bishar Bashir, York University, Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) Program

Executive Summary

This research investigates barriers to the implementation and provision of inclusive education for learners with disabilities in Hagadera Primary Schools. Inclusive education is an educational philosophy based on human rights and democratic principles that aim to address educational exclusion faced by learners with disabilities. Its implementation facilitates an education system that fits and responds to the need of all learners particularly, to those living with disabilities. As the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) implementing primary education in Hagadera camp are trying to provide inclusive education for all, overcoming barriers for learners with disabilities remains the most difficult challenge. This research seeks to better understand the barriers that not only hinder the implementation and provision of inclusive education, but specifically those that lead to the exclusion of learners with disabilities, particularly to those with hearing, vision, and physical impairments.

The paper employs a qualitative research design conducting semi-structured interviews for three learners with disabilities and an administrative teacher. The semi-structured questions are guided by the intensive understanding of barriers to the implementation and provision of inclusive education while also addressing some tangible solutions. Findings explore that insufficient teaching and learning resources, exacerbated by the disability-unfriendly environment, ignited the negative attitudes of learners with disabilities and contributed to their discrimination in the classroom and elsewhere. The findings also acknowledged the need to enhance public awareness and sensitization of educational rights of persons with disabilities.

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

DOI

Citation

Bashir, A. B. (2025). Barriers to Inclusive Education For Learners With Disabilities in Primary Schools in Hagadera Refugee Camp. Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).

We are thrilled to share a new research study report published by our partner Center for Lebanese Studies (CLS).

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the knowledge production landscape in the field of refugee education, critically exploring how it continues to be shaped by colonial legacies and dominated by global north (GN) perspectives. Analysing the
English language and Arabic language academic literature on refugee education, the study investigates the power dynamics, economic interests, and ideological influences that sustain the divide between the global north and global south (GS) in this body of research. The findings reveal that the field of refugee education, despite its growth and diversification over the past two decades, remains profoundly unequal in terms of authorship, geographic focus, and the overall epistemological and ontological frameworks that underpin it.

Read the full report .

By Dahabo Abdi Ibrahim

Executive Summary

Education promotes both individual and national development by contributing to increased productivity and a hope for the eradication of poverty, disease, and ignorance (Kigotho et al. 2016). Author, with a lived experience of displacement, offers an exploration of environmental education and women鈥檚 rights, seeking to better understand how women refugees in the Dadaab camp are disproportionately impacted by environmental and climate changes that are of both local and global origins. Paper brings attention to marginalized women鈥檚 voices, including her own, and the distinctive and valuable insights that these perspectives can offer about the gaps and faults in our current environmental and educational systems, policies, and practices.

The four female refugees at the center of this study carry the burden of global and environmental changes, despite being the least responsible for this degradation. Their plight has been inflicted by others around them, both in terms of their displacement and the environmental conditions they exist in. Profound gender inequality exists in roles that women are forced to fill, specifically when they are relegated to living in the shadow of their male counterparts. The impacts of this disparity are widespread, preventing women from accessing environmental resources, being included decision-making spaces, and contributing to solutions to environmental declines.

The research paper focuses on decision-making and action plans. A group of girls and women educators explored ways to promote women鈥檚 rights and climate justice in elementary and secondary schools and developed plans to promote women鈥檚 rights and climate justice in schools.

Read the full paper here:

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

DOI

Citation

Ibrahim, D. A. (2024). Role of Education in Protecting The Environment and Women鈥檚 Rights at Dagahaley Camp Dadaab, Kenya. Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).

Event details and recordings available here.

On Thursday, November 19, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) and the (IDRC) hosted their second webinar in the LERRN-IDRC webinar series to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on refugee education. The webinar attracted over 160 participants and viewers on social media platforms spanning across 18 countries, bringing together scholars, practitioners, and stakeholders from Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

Based on the findings of a recent report, “, written by LERRN partners at the Centre for Lebanese Studies, the webinar drew on the perspectives of researchers and innovators to consider how local solutions can be mobilized in response to current challenges posed by COVID-19 on refugee education.听 The distinguished speakers, , , ,听 , , and , highlighted the significant effects the pandemic has had on students, teachers, and parents throughout East Africa, the Middle East and beyond. The panellists expressed their concerns over the profound negative long-term impact of disruptions to education during the pandemic, including the loss of previous learning and literacy skills, poor learning outcomes, student dropout (especially girls in secondary schools), fewer students continuing to secondary school, and early forced marriages.

Reflecting on the report findings, Mai Abu Moghli and Elaine Chase emphasized the significant impact the pandemic has had on the education of refugees and other marginalized in Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. The combination of lockdowns, weak infrastructure, and gaps in distance learning limited support to teachers in public schools, Moghli stressed, produced “a severe setback of access and quality of teaching and learning for most vulnerable children.” Moreover, parents and teachers face particular challenges as they struggle to manage these new learning realities and the impact on students’ social and psychological well-being.

Elaine Chase, focusing on the role of teachers in the context of mass displacement, emphasized the importance of understanding the needs of local communities and providing needs-informed professional development opportunities for teachers and learners. Drawing on the work of the , a platform that responds to teachers’ professional development needs in Lebanon, Chase offered insights on how online digital resources can be harnessed to transform education in challenging environments. In response to COVID-19 restrictions, the RELIEF Centre rapidly designed an on online teaching, accessible in English and Arabic for teachers across the MENA region. Since the course’s launch in April, 35,000 teachers have benefitted from the training, and an additional Lebanese organization has also engaged refugee students in robotics, helping them form a positive identity on the world stage for their creativity and innovation.

Echoing the challenges and opportunities for distance learning in the MENA region, Marwan Tarazi outlined a series of online experiential learning modules designed by the . With support from the IDRC, the Centre for Continuing Education provides learning modules structured around curriculum topics that students in Lebanon can use independently, incorporated by teachers in their classes, or utilized by trained mentors in refugee communities to help learners.

Abdullahi Mire, drawing attention to how COVID-19 has forced massive shutdowns that disproportionately affect refugee education due to the “digital divide,” highlighted the challenges refugee learners experience in the Dadaab Refugee Camp. With present limits to stable internet connections and delays in developing a public library, Mire described how COVID-19 made already existing challenges that much worse. Before the pandemic, only three percent of student refugees had access to university education.听 The Dadaab Response Association members have already published two working papers on teacher training and exam practices to illuminate these challenges. Another two that address female student dropout rates and corporal punishment in refugee schools are underway.

Jennifer Roberts from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Evelyn Jepkemei from the World University Services Canada (WUSC) also expressed concerns regarding the effects of lockdowns on learners鈥� educational progression, particularly on the gradual learning loss. With many homes unable to access online learning technologies, radio and TV sets, phones, and even books, 90 percent of half the refugees enrolled in schools have been affected by pandemic disruptions. Roberts described how this affects students’ learned skills and erodes their literacy and reading capabilities, with young girls being especially susceptible to dropping out at higher rates and not resuming their education. During the webinar, she stated, “the situation is dire,” and there is “an emergency in refugee education around the world.” Providing insights on the challenges parents face with distance learning, Jepkemei highlighted how language provides an additional barrier for parents when assisting children with learning from home. She also emphasized the need to advocate for refugee education and provide incentives that promote retention of refugee learners, especially measures that encourage refugee girls’ education.

Despite the complexities that COVID-19 presents for refugee education, the panelist concluded that the pandemic offers an opportunity to build back better and implement creative ideas in education, including new ways of learning, training teachers, and distance learning pathways. A key takeaway, they collectively echoed, was the need to support and empower refugee-led and community-led responses. As Jepkemei pointed out, 鈥渢here are always organic solutions that come out of communities.鈥� Some noteworthy initiatives include the , a refugee-led organization in Dadaab that connects high schools within the community with schools in Canada and the United States. The organization has also collected approximately 50,000 books in a for refugee children and is expected to launch Dadaab’s first-ever public library. WUSC in Kenya created short training modules about online teaching to share with teachers in WhatsApp groups, in addition to a weekly WhatsApp meeting.

These vast and innovative initiatives provide valuable lessons for the enhancement of refugee education during and beyond the pandemic.

This report was prepared by Rawan Youssef, LERRN Social Media and Communications Officer, and Rachel McNally, LERRN Project Officer.

The LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement is coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

Refugee education has been a growing global priority in recent years. It was one of the core themes at the where a geographically diverse group of 52 leaders and senior officials, including 32 heads of state or government, pledged to enhance refugees鈥� access to primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Refugee education was also one of the core themes of the where 63 official co-sponsors, including 13 states, pledged about $350 million to improve refugees鈥� access to learning.

Additionally, since 2019, Canada鈥檚 Minister of International Development, Karina Gould, has been to launch a global initiative on refugee education.

Dr. Maha Shuayb鈥檚 powerful piece in openDemocracy sheds light on the negative impacts of Lebanese containment policies on learning outcomes for Syrian refugee children. Based on extensive research Dr. Shuayb demonstrated how Global North countries and the Lebanese government developed an informal agreement where international donors would pay Lebanon politicians for the costs of the Syrian children鈥檚 education program, in order to keep Syrian refugees away from Global North borders.

Through these agreements, Lebanese politicians were able to embezzle millions of dollars鈥� worth of donor funding allocated to the education of Syrian refugee children, which resulted in the exclusion of 40% of Syrian children from educational opportunities.

Given the existing international focus on refugee education, Dr. Shuayb鈥檚 work makes a timely and substantive contribution to these policy discussions to ensure that refugees all over the world have access to quality education and other crucial opportunities.

Read the full piece .

In Jordan, more than 2 million students across public, private, and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools have had their education interrupted since schools closed in mid-March 2020. With the spread of COVID-19, Jordan took the quick decision to implement a lockdown but to continue with education, albeit delivering its content remotely. The Ministry of Education (MoE) developed a quick response plan to provide a sense of normalcy for students as well as prevent the risk of students dropping out due to interruption in learning. This report outlines the MoE response to COVID-19 in Jordan, and builds on this response to visualize a roadmap for important interventions on the short, medium, and long terms. This roadmap is visualized based on emerging global resources during the pandemic and knowledge from education in emergency situations.

This report draws on the results of a larger multi-year study on the trajectories from education to employment for refugees and nationals in Lebanon and Jordan, a collaboration between the Centre for Lebanese Studies at the Lebanese American University in Beirut and the , Oxford Brookes University, with the support of , , and LERRN.

Download the full report: Education in the Time of Covid-19 in Jordan (PDF).

Yasmeen Shahzadeh, McGill University

Executive Summary

Syrian and Jordanian youth in Jordan are experiencing challenges with regards to their access to education, their employment, and the transitions between the two. Amidst rising costs, economic fragility, and political uncertainty, youth in the country are rendered increasingly vulnerable.

In this working paper, LERRN researcher and McGill University Masters student Yasmeen Shahzadeh explores the current circumstances related to youth鈥檚 education and employment in Jordan, and discusses some challenges in linking both phases based on the field work she conducted in Amman, Jordan in the summer of 2019, as well as using听existing academic literature and non-governmental publications.

This paper also introduces several recommendations for research and action that can inform future applied research and discussions of education and employment policy and practice in Jordan and in the region. First, advocacy to work to increase minimum wage for citizens and non-citizens in Jordan is crucial in light of rising costs of living. Second, exploring the possibility of opening professions to Syrians in Jordan is crucial, given the increasingly protracted nature of this conflict 鈥� drawing attention to the opportunity of opening up teaching jobs to Syrians. Third, it advocates for a market-based approach to designing training, education, & employment programs to graduate youth with in-demand qualifications.

Lastly, this paper highlights the importance of further research and a focus on knowledge translation to operationalize research into policy response, donor action, and organizational programming.

View the full LERRN Working Paper Series here:

More about the author

Yasmeen Shahzadeh has a Bachelor鈥檚 degree from McGill University with a major in International Development Studies, and a double minor in Communications Studies and Social Studies of Medicine. Currently, she is in her second year of her Masters in Education and Society at McGill, and has a concentration in Gender and Women鈥檚 Studies.

Watch this video to learn more about Yasmeen’s field work in Jordan.

DOI

Citation

Shahzadeh, Y. (2020). Understanding Syrian and Jordanian Youth Transitions from Education to Employment. Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN).

杏吧原创 Dr. Oroub El-Abed

Photo: Yasmeen Shahzadeh, 2019

August 12 is : a celebration and recognition of the agency and role youth have in the in the world today, and the opportunities they possess in driving change for the future. The theme for this year鈥檚 International Youth Day is 鈥淭ransforming Education鈥�. Aligned with the , as well as the , this year鈥檚 theme aims to address the importance of quality education in youth development, and the role of youth-led organizations and youth initiatives, in cooperation with governments and non-governmental bodies, in creating inclusive and accessible education.

In Amman, youth are already demonstrating the role they can play in transforming education.

The focus of my research placement with LERRN in Amman, the capital of Jordan, examines the trajectories of youth, both locals and refugees, from education to employment and aims to analyze the youth agency and their ability to make a change through their activism and voicing out of their rights. The research aims to give voice to the challenges of youth (both locals and refugees) in the context of the protracted refugee situation, to inform policy and the kinds of future interventions necessary in education, employment, and beyond.

This work prioritizes working closely with youth and the initiatives by youth, so my research has included a mapping exercise of local groups working with youth, for youth, or by youth. Unsurprisingly, there is no shortage of youth-led initiatives, start-ups, and organizations that create more accessible, diverse, and higher quality education for all students, regardless of their age, background, ability, gender, and more.

To celebrate International Youth Day and the theme of transforming education, here are some examples of these initiatives and the amazing work work they do in Jordan.

is a non-governmental organization in Jordan aiming to bridge gaps between youth across Amman and Jordan to create a 鈥渃ivically engaged, aware, diverse, and accepting generation of youth.鈥� One of their programs, called Shabbek Wa Badder (connect and initiate), focuses on partnering geographically and socio-economically different schools and their students to teach them entrepreneurship skills to launch their own initiatives. Another program on citizenship engages students in dialogue on national visions and strategies, human rights, and Jordanian laws, to inspire students to write and present policy papers on topics they are passionate about. Almost one thousand youth from across the Kingdom have benefited from these programs and have been able to gain entrepreneurial and leadership skills that the initiative hopes will allow them to become more engaged politically, socially, and economically for a stronger future in the country.

(or Innovate Go) is a youth initiative created by a Syrian refugee in Jordan. The initiative aims to deliver workshops to youth on innovation and entrepreneurship using technology, to enable them to establish themselves, establish their own sustainable projects, and improve the livelihoods of their local communities. More than 450 students from all backgrounds have participated in workshops led by youth for youth. Following the mission of his own initiative, the founder is currently developing a second project called , an app for deaf children, aiming to increase their literacy skills and provide accessible education.

is another youth-led organization. Since its inception in 2007 and registration in 2013 as a non-profit organization, Hikaya has focused on education through media training, leadership and management skills, and capacity building for youth. Hikaya Center runs several programs for local and refugee youth across the Kingdom, including a pioneering radio station as an open cultural platform for youth to learn, share, and feel empowered. Notably, Hikaya Center runs a mentorship and training program with at-risk youth to re-engage them with their community and allow them to learn skills such as photography and graphic design.

Local youth have responded within Amman not only in initiatives but also in spaces and centers that serve their education and networking purposes. There are several such spaces, including Shams Community, Liwan, and Jadal for Knowledge and Culture, and countless others.

started in 2011 working on community-based solutions to social problems. In 2016, the group opened a space for its activities in Amman, and now hosts regular conversation sessions and workshops. These sessions bring youth of all backgrounds together for meaningful dialogue to discuss a specific topic, and brainstorm solutions or approaches to raise awareness.

is an open center intended to be a safe space for community development, collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The space was founded on the basis of collaboration and participatory action. The space serves as room for opportunities for youth, networking, and support for initiatives. Anyone is allowed to make use of the space in exchange for a contribution: for example, youth can contribute in volunteering hours, in-kind donations, or financial support. The space regularly hosts initiatives, organizations, and individuals interested in providing workshops or trainings on various skills, ranging from Photoshop to project design and even to programming.

is a non-profit initiative for youth. Started in 2012, the initiative creates a space for youth to gather to discuss values, innovations, culture, and more. The center in the heart of Amman has study and caf茅 spaces, but also hosts workshops, art galleries, conversation circles (called Jadal Saloons), and more. Youth are able to attend many workshops free of charge (or at accessible prices), and can attend saloons to share information or learn more about a variety of topics every week.

Many education initiatives and organizations in Jordan focus on entrepreneurship and youth empowerment. Equipping youth with the skills they need to drive sustainable change for the future is important, especially in light of the challenges youth experience in Jordan such as rising unemployment, rising costs of living, and socio-political instability. Youth in Jordan from all backgrounds are attempting to work together to create spaces and initiatives where they can learn, teach, and improve themselves and their communities.

Despite this, unemployment continues to rise and youth continue to struggle socio-economically. Setting up youth initiatives and organizations comes at a high price, and with heavy government bureaucracy, many youth are deterred from this route. Wider outreach and understanding of public participation and community engagement is lacking.

In Amman, youth are redefining traditional education by creating new avenues for learning in new and non-conventional ways. On this International Youth Day, and every day, we should celebrate, facilitate, and amplify the accomplishments led by youth in driving change through dialogue, advocacy, networking, teaching, and beyond.

Yasmeen Shahzadeh is a graduate student at McGill University, Montreal. She is one of seven Canadian graduate students currently undertaking research placements with LERRN partners in the Middle East and East Africa, with the support of funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).