Improving the Participation of Syrian Refugees in Education through Online Study Courses
- Dr Amine Moussa, Paeradigms Switzerland
- Dr. Clemens Wollny, Paeradigms Switzerland
- Carol Switzer, Paeradigms Switzerland
Flexible learning pathways, such as online education, offer substantial promise for development cooperation initiatives as they can improve access to higher education for vulnerable populations who are not able to attend in-person, scheduled classes. However, online learning poses significant challenges ranging from student-faculty interactions to students’ feelings of loneliness. For refugees, these factors are more pronounced due to their difficult living situations, often in camps and with unreliable connectivity. Significant barriers include a persistent negative perception of online education and the fact that governments of host countries do not fully recognise online degrees, which restricts employment opportunities for graduates, particularly in the public sector.
This study examines the success factors and challenges of learning online for refugees while considering region-specific conditions, such as language and culture, and the implications they have for successfully implementing online studies for selected target groups. Information is derived from a mid-term review of a pilot project developed under a grant agreement between the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the University of People to improve access to higher education for Syrian refugees, as well as empirical evidence from development cooperation initiatives. Ultimately, the study responds to the question of whether this project can be transferred to other refugee populations. The study concludes that the project has been successful in providing Syrian refugees the opportunity to improve their employability options and gain an identity other than “refugee” – that of a student – which greatly improves their sense of self-worth and mental health. It also provides policy recommendations for the various stakeholders involved.
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Event Notes
Paeradigms is a social enterprise and NGO founded by a diverse group of development experts from academia and practice. Its mission is to support development actors and policymakers, higher education, research and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions in their quest for capacity development and excellence across teaching, research, and contribution to society (the so-called third mission) and improve access to the labour market. The organisation has its own projects but also provides technical support in developing projects and programmes, MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning), private-public partnerships, employability, curriculum development and review, innovation and entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, as well as outreach and stakeholder engagement. The focus lies on projects that have the potential to lead to lasting transformational outcomes, social change, and sustainable economic impact. Paeradigms emphasises a transdisciplinary approach with participation, consensus, and ownership. It has built a global network of researchers involved in sustainable economic development and sharpened its core expertise by carrying out complex projects across diverse geographies and disciplines. This expertise is complemented by experience in project implementation with academic institutions and development actors such as DG-INTPA (EU), ILO, the Green Climate Fund, GIZ, Norad, DFID, Enabel, VLIR–UOS, the African Union and the Union for the Mediterranean). www.paeradigms.org
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Dr Amine Moussa is a higher education expert, faculty (part-time), and leadership consultant educated in the UK and Lebanon. In 2013, he joined Notre Dame University (Lebanon) as the Head of the Library Information Systems Department, where he has been involved in e-learning and digital transformation processes. He also teaches Human Resource Management at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. In addition to his roles, Amine is a business adviser and instructor with Paeradigms Switzerland in the areas of Higher Education Management, Leadership, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange. In March 2023, Amine acquired his Doctorate of Business Administration in Higher Education Management from the University of Bath. His doctoral dissertation was on ethical leadership in higher education and its implications for employee knowledge sharing behaviour. His dissertation won the prestigious Richard Mawditt Award for outstanding doctoral thesis and was commended for its “recommendations around universities internalising ethical values in their work culture through creating and maintaining a solid ethical climate are crucial in working towards promoting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and in the attempts of universities to become more sustainable in all environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) dimensions.” In 2023, Amine was certified as an accredited leadership consultant with Resilient Leaders Elements, UK. From 2009 to 2019, he taught part-time at the Arab Open University (HEI partner of the Open University UK).
Dr. Clemens Wollny is German born and was educated in Germany. He is a higher education expert (evaluation of programs and specific curricula; functional reviews) having international management experience in the public and private (industry) sector. He has teaching and research experience in developing countries in the broad field of agriculture and related disciplines. Clemens is familiar with the Higher Education sector in developing countries and its challenges such as quality assurance and management of institutions, capacity building, employability of graduates, private sector cooperation, international university and research cooperation programs. He has more than 25 years professional experience to work with partners in Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and was resident in African countries for more than 10 years. Recently he finished his second term as Dean of Faculty Life Sciences and Engineering; he holds a professorship at the Technical University of Applied Science Bingen, Germany; main responsibilities were the strategic development and operational management of the faculty and its study programs such as Climate Change and Adaption; Agriculture and Environment; Biotechnology, Biomedical Sciences, Process Engineering. Supervised student research projects address the nexus climate change-biodiversity-agriculture. After retirement he works as a freelance consultant with focus on capacity building and higher education in developing countries in Africa and Near East. He continues to serve as a coordinator and advisor to the Rwanda and State of Rhineland Palatinate, Germany cooperation.
Carol Switzer is an Italian citizen based in Switzerland and senior partner at Paeradigms, focussed on tactical support and quality assurance across all projects. She has over 20 years of experience across Europe, Africa, and the MENA region. Her experience in training extends from capacity development in international cooperation to teaching in a transversal skills series at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland and providing professional skills training for executive education. She holds an MBA and is a process-oriented and strategic problem solver with experience across a variety of sectors, including academia, development, humanitarian operations, information technology, biotech, telecommunications, entertainment, banking, and manufacturing. She has long-standing experience working with data to create evidence-based support for research, interpretive analysis, and reporting. She has expertise in team leadership, operations, knowledge management, pedagogy, supervising and conducting research, and has extensive experience in report and grant writing. Carol is co-author and was the project manager on the GIZ toolkit on “skills for the green transformation” for the EU-VET Toolbox (completed in January 2023 for DG-INTPA (link to the Toolkit PDF and all knowledge products on the VET Toolbox platform). She developed content for the Toolkit and related knowledge products, including a “turn-key training concept” on green skills with a curated literature review and training materials, as well as serving on the production team for the Green Climate Fund Sectoral Guide Series (within the UN Framework Convention). She also co-authored the UfM handbook Reinforcing the Innovation- Employability Nexus in the Mediterranean – A Handbook for Academia, Industry and Policymakers. Barcelona: Union for the Mediterranean in 2020 (Link to Handbook), and oversees project management and quality assurance for ongoing projects for Paeradigms.
