Access, learning spaces and teachers

1Temporary learning spaces

When schools are destroyed, occupied or too far away, temporary learning spaces (TLS) are opened: tents, semi-permanent wood and tarpaulin structures, rehabilitated community buildings. The site is chosen with the community and the technical services: safe land (outside flood-prone areas, away from armed positions and busy roads), reasonable walking distance, written land agreement.

• Space: a common benchmark is at least 1 m² per learner, adapted to national standards; ensure ventilation, light and shade.
• Water and sanitation (Sphere benchmarks for schools): 3 litres of water per pupil per day for drinking and handwashing; one latrine per 30 girls and one per 60 boys, separate, lit, lockable from the inside, with at least one accessible.
• Equipment: "school-in-a-box" kits or teacher and student kits, blackboards, recreation kits, early childhood development kits.

If attendance exceeds capacity, organise double shifts (morning and afternoon) rather than classes of 100 pupils. A TLS remains a transitional solution: from the outset, plan the rehabilitation of schools and the relocation of collective shelters to other sites, in liaison with the Shelter and CCCM clusters.

2Access and retention of girls and children with disabilities

Enrolling a child is not enough: they must stay and learn. For girls, the measures that work in the field are well known: recruiting female teachers or classroom assistants, separate latrines and menstrual hygiene kits, accompanied or group journeys to school, timetables compatible with household chores, cash transfers conditional or not on school attendance, work with families and religious leaders against early marriage, and welcoming young mothers and pregnant girls.

For children with disabilities, the approach is inclusive education: ramps, wide doors, accessible latrines, adapted seating near the blackboard, large-print materials, assistive devices (glasses, hearing aids) through health and rehabilitation partners, and teachers trained in differentiated teaching. Avoid creating separate classes by default. Organisations of persons with disabilities and parents are involved in identification and follow-up.

Monitor retention with attendance registers: a pupil absent for several consecutive days triggers a visit from the parent committee or a community worker.

3Recruiting and paying teachers

Teachers are the response's most important resource. Recruitment is transparent, with written criteria, a committee that includes the community and attention to gender balance and to the languages spoken by pupils. Qualified teachers among the displaced or the host community are mobilised first, then volunteers with a sufficient level of education, who are supervised and trained.

Teacher incentives are a sensitive issue: amounts that are too high draw public-sector teachers out of schools; amounts that are too low cause drop-out and absenteeism. Partners agree within the cluster on a harmonised scale, aligned as far as possible with national policy, and plan from the outset the transition to payment by the State. Payments are regular, traceable and made to the individual, preferably by electronic or mobile transfer.

4Training, supporting and protecting: the code of conduct

Short initial training (often 5 to 10 days) covers active learning, non-violent classroom management, basic psychosocial support, inclusive education, life-saving messages (hygiene, explosive ordnance risk) and referral of children at risk. It is followed by continuous professional support: peer learning circles, classroom visits, coaching by pedagogical advisers. The INEE "Teachers in Crisis Contexts" training pack is a reference.

Every teacher and staff member signs a code of conduct: prohibition of corporal punishment and humiliation, absolute prohibition of any sexual exploitation and abuse, prohibition of asking for money or favours in exchange for grades, and a duty to report. The code is backed by a complaints mechanism accessible to children and parents, investigation procedures and sanctions. Teachers also need support: many are going through the same losses as their pupils.

5Opening a temporary learning space: a step-by-step 45-day method

Opening a temporary learning space (TLS) is not just a matter of pitching a tent. It requires a safe site that is legally available, an engaged community, recruited and trained teachers, water and latrines, materials, a timetable and a monitoring system. The timeline below is realistic for an NGO already present in the area; it takes longer if the organisation first has to set up.

Days 1 to 7: site selection and community mobilisation

• Community meeting with IDP committees, host community leaders, women and youth representatives: objectives, site criteria, the expected role of the future management committee.
• Visit to 2 or 3 candidate sites with a technician (shelter or civil engineering), a security manager and, if possible, a protection focal point. Criteria: well-drained ground not prone to flooding, walking distance of under 30 minutes for most children, away from armed positions, busy roads and areas suspected of explosive ordnance contamination, close to a water point, accessible for children with disabilities.
• Written land agreement signed by the owner or the customary authority and countersigned by the local authority, specifying the duration, whether use is free or rented, and rehabilitation of the site at the end. Land disputes are one of the leading causes of TLS closures.

Days 5 to 20: teacher recruitment and initial training

Vacancy posted in the local language, a selection panel including the ministry or the school inspectorate where possible and a community member, a simple written test (reading, numeracy, writing), an interview, reference checks. Initial training of 5 to 10 days (see below). Signature of the code of conduct before any contact with children.

Days 7 to 30: construction and equipment

• Structures: school tents (set up in one day, lifespan of 6 to 12 months) or semi-permanent structures in timber or metal with tarpaulins (2 to 3 weeks, lifespan of 2 to 3 years). The latter cost more upfront but less per year of use.
• Water and sanitation: together with the WASH partner, a water point or tank, handwashing facilities, sex-segregated latrines that are lit and lockable from the inside, with at least one accessible latrine and a bin for sanitary materials in the girls' latrines.
• Equipment: mats or benches, blackboards, teacher kits, student kits, recreation kits, early childhood development kits if a pre-primary group is planned.

Days 20 to 45: enrolment, opening and first adjustments

• Door-to-door enrolment campaign and outreach through committees, with particular attention to children with disabilities, adolescent girls and unaccompanied children.
• Enrolment without requiring civil documentation; registers disaggregated by sex, age, disability and status (IDP or host).
• Rapid assessment of reading and numeracy levels during the first two weeks, followed by grouping of learners.
• Establishment of the management committee (at least 40% women is a commonly used target) and of the complaints mechanism.

A TLS is designed from the outset as temporary: every opening file includes an exit assumption (rehabilitation of the nearby public school, integration of learners, conversion into a semi-permanent structure handed over to the authorities) and a review date.

6Full worked example: sizing the TLS at the Kalbé site

Fictional context: the Kalbé IDP site has been hosting 14,200 people for five weeks. The site census, conducted by the site manager, counts 3,120 children aged 6 to 14 (49% girls). The Child Functioning Module, applied during a household survey, shows that 9% of children have a functional difficulty. The nearby public school operates with 11 classrooms and 960 pupils, i.e. 87 pupils per class. The NGO has six months of funding and a 2,400 m² plot granted by the customary authority.

Step 1: estimate actual demand

Not all children will enrol immediately. Based on experience in the area, the team uses a projected enrolment rate of 75% in the first year, i.e. 2,340 pupils, with a target of 85% by month six. It sizes the facility for 2,650 pupils (85%) so as not to have to rebuild.

Step 2: choose the teaching arrangement

The national cluster has adopted a benchmark of no more than 50 pupils per class in TLS, aligned with the national primary standard, and a minimum of 1 m² per pupil. With double shifts (morning and afternoon), each classroom hosts two groups.

Decision: 22 classrooms on the Kalbé site (44 groups, 2,200 pupils) and 5 additional classrooms built within the grounds of the nearby public school (10 groups, 500 pupils, mixed IDP and host), which also relieves pressure on the host school and prepares future integration.

Step 3: teachers

One teacher per group and per shift: 54 groups in total, i.e. 54 posts. A teacher can cover two shifts, but workload and burnout increase; the rule adopted is one shift per teacher, plus 10% substitutes: 60 teachers. The IDPs include 23 qualified teachers (6 of them women); 37 volunteers are recruited, with priority given to women who have completed lower secondary school. Target: 45% women in the team, compared with 10% at the outset. Add 6 inclusion assistants for children with disabilities and 3 pedagogical advisers (one per 20 teachers).

Step 4: water and sanitation

Latrines are sized on the number of pupils present at the same time (one shift), which halves the requirement compared with a calculation based on total enrolment: this is a further argument in favour of double shifts, provided that maintenance and cleaning between shifts are organised and budgeted.

Step 5: inclusion

Out of 2,650 pupils, approximately 240 children (9%) have a functional difficulty. Budgeted measures: ramps and 90 cm doors for all classrooms, reserved seats near the blackboard, vision and hearing screening with the health partner, 6 inclusion assistants, two-day training for all teachers in differentiated instruction, and a partnership with an organisation of persons with disabilities to identify children who are not enrolled.

Step 6: indicative six-month budget

Direct cost per pupil over six months: approximately USD 75, of which nearly 60% is capital investment (classrooms, latrines) reusable the following year. It is this reasoning, and not the total figure alone, that should be presented to the donor: start-up cost, monthly running cost, cost per pupil at 6 and at 12 months.

7Managing the teaching workforce: incentive scale, payroll, transition

Teacher incentives often represent 30 to 50% of the budget of an education in emergencies programme lasting more than a year, and they concentrate a large share of the risks: departures, strikes, fraud, labour market distortion, dependency. The INEE guidance on teacher compensation in fragile states, situations of displacement and post-crisis recovery remains the reference.

Building a cluster-harmonised scale

1. Map existing practices: amounts paid by each partner, by teacher category, frequency and payment method.
2. Refer to the public salary: an entry-level civil servant teacher earns, for example, USD 160 per month. An incentive should not exceed this level for a full-time qualified teacher, otherwise it will draw civil servants away.
3. Take the cost of living into account: the minimum expenditure basket (MEB) calculated by the cash working group.
4. Define categories: qualified teacher, trained volunteer teacher, classroom assistant, and possibly a hardship supplement for difficult areas.
5. Have it validated by the ministry and all partners, record the scale in a cluster document and plan for its annual review.

Payroll controls

• A named list validated each month by the head teacher, the management committee and the NGO supervisor, cross-checked against teacher attendance registers.
• Individual payment by mobile money or bank transfer; cash only if no other option exists, with two signatories, a signed payment list and spot checks.
• Identity verification at engagement, and checks for duplicates across partners (a shared anonymised database at cluster level where the context allows).
• Deductions for unjustified absence according to a written and known rule, never arbitrary.
• Payment on a fixed date: a two-month delay causes more departures than a slightly lower incentive.

Planning the transition

A transition roadmap includes: an inventory of volunteer teachers and their qualification levels; a qualification pathway recognised by the ministry (in-service training, examinations); a timetable for integration into the public payroll, aligned with the State budget; a gradual reduction of the share paid by NGOs; and joint advocacy by the cluster and development donors. Without this roadmap, the end of humanitarian funding closes classrooms.

What auditors look at: consistency between payrolls, attendance registers and proof of payment; compliance with the cluster scale; and segregation of duties between those who draw up the list and those who pay.

8Training and supporting teachers: from initial training to in-class coaching

Evaluations of education in emergencies programmes converge: a stand-alone initial training, however good, does little to change classroom practice. What changes practice is continuous support that is close to the classroom, regular and focused on a few competencies. INEE's Teachers in Crisis Contexts (TiCC) Training Pack, designed for teachers with little or no qualification, is organised into modules (teacher's role and well-being, child protection and inclusion, pedagogy, curriculum and planning) and recommends precisely this model combining training, peer learning circles and coaching.

Eight-day initial training plan (example)

The monthly support cycle

1. Classroom visit by the pedagogical adviser (at least one per teacher per month, two at the start of the programme), using a short observation tool focused on 5 to 8 practices.
2. Feedback session the same day: two strengths, one area for improvement, one concrete action for the following week. Never criticise in front of pupils.
3. Peer learning circle (two hours every two weeks, 8 to 12 teachers): sharing difficulties, preparing lessons together, demonstration by a colleague.
4. Refresher training of one or two days per term, built around the difficulties observed.

Classroom observation tool (extract)

Score out of 14, tracked over time per teacher (for coaching) and aggregated per school (for programme monitoring). The tool is not a disciplinary instrument: if it is used to withhold incentives, teachers will "game" the visit and the tool will lose its value.

Teacher well-being

Many teachers are themselves displaced, bereaved and sometimes threatened. Concrete measures: time to talk in peer circles, supportive supervision, access to existing mental health and psychosocial support services, a reasonable workload (a single shift), regular payment, and public recognition of their role. An exhausted teacher cannot offer pupils a safe and predictable environment.

9Code of conduct, PSEA and complaints mechanism: the procedure that works

A code of conduct is only worth something if it is known, understood, applied and backed by consequences. The six core principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) relating to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) apply to all staff, including volunteer teachers paid by an NGO: sexual exploitation and abuse constitute gross misconduct; any sexual activity with a child (under 18) is prohibited regardless of the local age of majority; exchanging money, employment, goods or services for sexual favours is prohibited; sexual relationships with beneficiaries are strongly discouraged; staff have an obligation to report; and managers have an obligation to create and maintain an environment that prevents such abuse.

Before engagement

• Reference checks and, where possible and lawful, background checks; use of the inter-agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (led by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response) where the organisation takes part in it.
• Training on the code of conduct in the teacher's language, with concrete examples of prohibited behaviour (corporal punishment, humiliation, demanding money for grades, private contact with pupils, phone messages).
• Individual signature of the code, kept on file.

A child-friendly complaints mechanism

• Multiple channels: a locked suggestion box opened by two people; a female and a male focal point known to pupils; a telephone line; the management committee; a child protection officer. Children must be able to complain without going through their teacher.
• Informing pupils in simple terms, with illustrated posters and classroom sessions: what can be reported, to whom, and what happens next.
• Separating the streams: routine feedback (lack of chalk, timetables) is handled by the programme team; allegations of abuse, exploitation or fraud are passed on within 24 hours to the designated focal point (child safeguarding or PSEA) and are never investigated by the field team.

Procedure in the event of an allegation

1. Receive: listen, do not investigate yourself, do not promise absolute confidentiality, record the facts in the person's own words.
2. Protect: ensure the child's immediate safety; refer to services (health, psychosocial support, child protection case management, gender-based violence response) with the child's agreement and that of a parent if this does not put the child at risk.
3. Report within 24 hours to the organisation's designated focal point, who informs the donor in line with contractual obligations.
4. Precautionary measures: suspension or temporary removal from the classroom of the teacher concerned, without prejudging the outcome.
5. Investigation by trained investigators independent of the team concerned, following principles of confidentiality, a survivor-centred approach and respect for the rights of the subject of the complaint.
6. Decision and follow-up: a proportionate sanction, informing the complainant, and analysis of gaps in the system.

Access and retention measures: what costs and what works

Common mistakes

• Having the code of conduct signed without training, in a language the teacher does not master well.
• A complaints box opened by the head teacher, who may be the subject of a complaint.
• Settling an allegation "amicably" with the family or simply by transferring the teacher.
• Measuring girls' access through enrolment only, without monitoring attendance and dropout by age.

Variations by context

• Sudden-onset emergency: initial training reduced to 3 days (protection, code of conduct, psychosocial support, structured activities), with the rest spread over the first weeks.
• Urban setting: support to existing public schools (additional classrooms, double shifts, fees covered) rather than creating TLS.
• Remote management: coaching by telephone, peer circles led by lead teachers, classroom observations carried out by ministry supervisors or a third party, enhanced verification of payrolls.
• Local partner with limited capacity: support in setting up its own child safeguarding policy and complaints mechanism, training of its focal point, a dedicated budget.

The test of a complaints mechanism: ask five randomly chosen pupils whom they would talk to if an adult at school made them feel uncomfortable. If they cannot answer, the mechanism does not exist.

10Interview questions and key references

Questions and elements of a good answer

1. "You need to open learning spaces for 2,000 children in an IDP site within a month. How do you go about it?" Community mobilisation, site selection with safety criteria and a written land agreement, sizing (pupils per class, double shifts, floor areas), teacher recruitment and training in parallel with construction, water and latrines according to Sphere benchmarks, inclusion, a realistic timeline, an exit strategy.
2. "Two partners pay different incentives in the same area. What do you do as coordinator?" Mapping of practices, reference to the public salary and the cost of living, a harmonised scale validated by the ministry and partners, an alignment timeline, a transition plan. The candidate mentions the risk of emptying public schools.
3. "How do you improve teaching quality with poorly qualified volunteer teachers?" Initial training focused on a few competencies, monthly support through classroom visits and feedback, peer circles, structured materials (scripted lessons), formative assessment, a qualification pathway.
4. "A parent tells you that a teacher is sending messages to a 14-year-old pupil. What do you do?" Receive the information without investigating, ensure the pupil's safety, report within 24 hours to the focal point, precautionary measures, referral, confidentiality, investigation by trained people. The candidate proposes neither an amicable settlement nor a confrontation.
5. "What measures would you put in place so that children with disabilities can access your classes and learn in them?" Identification using the Child Functioning Module and organisations of persons with disabilities, physical accessibility, assistive devices, differentiated instruction, inclusion assistants, individual follow-up; no separate class by default.
6. "How do you prevent fraud in teacher payroll?" Lists validated by several people, cross-checking against attendance, individual electronic payment, segregation of duties, spot checks, duplicate detection.

Key references

• INEE, Teachers in Crisis Contexts Training Pack (training pack for teachers in crisis contexts) and related resources on peer support.
• INEE, Guidance Notes on Teacher Compensation in Fragile States, Situations of Displacement and Post-Crisis Recovery.
• INEE, Guidance Notes on Safer School Construction.
• Sphere Association, The Sphere Handbook (2018), WASH standards and benchmarks for schools.
• Global Education Cluster, guidance on temporary learning spaces and on harmonising teacher incentives.
• IASC, Six Core Principles Relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and guidance on community-based complaints mechanisms.
• Keeping Children Safe, International Child Safeguarding Standards for organisations.
• Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (2019).
• Washington Group and UNICEF, Child Functioning Module; INEE, Pocket Guide to Supporting Learners with Disabilities.
• Global Education Cluster and CALP Network, resources on cash and voucher assistance for education in emergencies.