Empowering girls and women through Second Chance Education

DanChurchAid in Bangladesh

The project provides basic education to Rohingya and Host Community adolescent girls, and women aged 15 and above living in Cox’s Bazar who have either dropped out, or never had the chance to attend school. DCA believes that access to education is the is the key for women and girls to determine their own future, no matter their age – some of our learners are in their 60’s. The approach taken by DCA aims to create pathways from the acquisition of foundational cognitive skills to livelihoods trainings, which will allow women and girls to build skills that will enable them to live equally in their communities, support their families, and enhance their self-reliance. 

DCA provides basic education, ICT and computer literacy training to learners as well as practical skills development training sessions. Through the participation in the expertly designed skills development modules, women and girls will obtain skills through ‘learning by doing’. 

Additionally, DCA in Bangladesh has developed a curriculum for 15- 24-year-old women and girls which entails literacy, numeracy (Bengali, English and Myanmar language), and life skills components. This curriculum is aligned to Education Sector standards, the INEE Minimum Standards, and IASC Standards for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies. DCA has remarkable experience working with low-cost material and producing quality teaching and learning resources. This design engages with a 6-month learning programme, for 5 days per week.  

Due to COVID-19, despite the closure of all learning facilities, DCA reached learners through an autonomous learning approach in the refugee camps through the distribution and monitoring of DCA-designed Self-Learning materials. In the Host community. DCA provided remote teacher professional development throughout the prolonged lockdown using just WhatsApp and Zoom. DCA developed a Facilitation Guide for this approach that has been shared across multiple education responses around the world.  

Learning and knowledge materials: Remote TiCC Facilitation Guide, DCA/UN Women  Needs Assessment.