“I was born here”: Children’s participation and refugee education in Pakistan

Over the last four decades, there have been several waves of movement across the borders due to recurring conflict in Afghanistan, as well as internal displacement within the country due to conflict and natural disaster. Pakistan remains one of the five largest refugee-hosting countries in the world; as of June 2022, an estimated 1.3 million registered refugees live in Pakistan, 99% of whom are from Afghanistan. Including undocumented individuals and those of other status, estimates go up to 3.3 million people of Afghan origin. Almost half of refugees in Pakistan are children. The purpose of the research project was to explore how children with a history of forced mobility and urban poverty respond to educational programmes that enable meaningful participation, and engage them as agents of change in their communities. We looked, in particular, at the experiences of children of Afghan origin who participated in a Child to Child programme during COVID-19. Through this, older children aged 10-14 were trained to deliver playful early learning sessions to younger children aged 3-6 in safe ways within their communities, to offset the impact of school closures. The programme aimed to preserve a link with learning while boosting resilience and agency for children during COVID-19. It was seen that while the participatory programme did indeed bring gains in terms of socio-emotional learning, sense of agency and motivation to stay in school, longer term retention and performance were linked to structural factors beyond the control of the individual child. The primary research questions guiding the project were: How does the experience of mobility affect the educational trajectory of children in Pakistan? How can participatory programmes have an impact on children’s sense of agency and their wider socioemotional skills? This report includes findings and policy implications.