The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era

Over six million Iraqis were displaced during the war with Daesh, and although many have returned to their communities, there are approximately 1.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) scattered across the country. Many IDP children in Iraq, whether in camps or in host communities, face chall...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mariam Hassoun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The International Education Studies Association 2022-12-01
Series:Educational Futures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=19017
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849708822109618176
author Mariam Hassoun
author_facet Mariam Hassoun
author_sort Mariam Hassoun
collection DOAJ
description Over six million Iraqis were displaced during the war with Daesh, and although many have returned to their communities, there are approximately 1.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) scattered across the country. Many IDP children in Iraq, whether in camps or in host communities, face challenges related to poor infrastructure, documentation, economic insecurity, trauma, and health shocks that make it difficult to access schooling. These shocks were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to nine months of nationwide school closures supported by some temporary use of online educational alternatives. However, distance learning is not accessible to the 50% of Iraq’s population without in-home internet access (ACAPS, 2020). This qualitative study explores how IDP parents of the Iraq-Daesh War describe the impacts of COVID-19 on their ward’s educational access, particularly ramifications of the digital divide and repeated iterations of extended educational interruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic has essentially halted all progress towards educational access in the IDP community in Iraq due to lack of facilities appropriate for social distancing and inadequate access to internet and technology necessary for distance learning. The findings call into question the predominant recommendation of e-learning in fragile context and raises concerns about the worsening of educational inequality under a reinforced digital divide. The research also indicates future opportunity to identify potential emergency education interventions through study of grassroots initiatives established by IDPs.
format Article
id doaj-art-2dad737e2d8b4fe588cdf32725b5bc51
institution DOAJ
issn 1758-2199
language English
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher The International Education Studies Association
record_format Article
series Educational Futures
spelling doaj-art-2dad737e2d8b4fe588cdf32725b5bc512025-08-20T03:15:31ZengThe International Education Studies AssociationEducational Futures1758-21992022-12-011323557The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 EraMariam Hassoun0University of Oxford (student)Over six million Iraqis were displaced during the war with Daesh, and although many have returned to their communities, there are approximately 1.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) scattered across the country. Many IDP children in Iraq, whether in camps or in host communities, face challenges related to poor infrastructure, documentation, economic insecurity, trauma, and health shocks that make it difficult to access schooling. These shocks were compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to nine months of nationwide school closures supported by some temporary use of online educational alternatives. However, distance learning is not accessible to the 50% of Iraq’s population without in-home internet access (ACAPS, 2020). This qualitative study explores how IDP parents of the Iraq-Daesh War describe the impacts of COVID-19 on their ward’s educational access, particularly ramifications of the digital divide and repeated iterations of extended educational interruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic has essentially halted all progress towards educational access in the IDP community in Iraq due to lack of facilities appropriate for social distancing and inadequate access to internet and technology necessary for distance learning. The findings call into question the predominant recommendation of e-learning in fragile context and raises concerns about the worsening of educational inequality under a reinforced digital divide. The research also indicates future opportunity to identify potential emergency education interventions through study of grassroots initiatives established by IDPs.https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=19017barriers to educationcovid-19educationeducation in emergencieseducational navigationethnographyforced migrationinternal displacementiraqpost-conflict education
spellingShingle Mariam Hassoun
The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
Educational Futures
barriers to education
covid-19
education
education in emergencies
educational navigation
ethnography
forced migration
internal displacement
iraq
post-conflict education
title The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
title_full The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
title_fullStr The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
title_full_unstemmed The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
title_short The disconnect about displacement: Parental perspectives on IDP access to education in Iraq in the COVID-19 Era
title_sort disconnect about displacement parental perspectives on idp access to education in iraq in the covid 19 era
topic barriers to education
covid-19
education
education in emergencies
educational navigation
ethnography
forced migration
internal displacement
iraq
post-conflict education
url https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=19017
work_keys_str_mv AT mariamhassoun thedisconnectaboutdisplacementparentalperspectivesonidpaccesstoeducationiniraqinthecovid19era
AT mariamhassoun disconnectaboutdisplacementparentalperspectivesonidpaccesstoeducationiniraqinthecovid19era