Building an Inclusive and Equitable Early Childhood Education for Refugee Children: Framework for Action

Studies on refugee ECE in the Global South are limited. Geographically, most studies are conducted in Anglo-Celtic countries with extensive resettlement programmes such as United States, Australia, Canada. Most of the studies have small sample sizes and have not been replicated and current findings are not organised to align with theoretical models. Because of this, studies on refugee ECE in the Global South need to forge their own research to obtain valid and reliable findings. Starting with young children gives refugees and governments the greatest boost to human capital development.

In Malaysia, there is currently no cohesive and systematic approach in place to support refugee education. UNHCR is the main stakeholder. Despite progress in enrolling more refugee children in schools, child refugees are still lagging behind their peers in Malaysia. To improve retention after enrolment and access of child refugees to ECE, deliberate efforts must be taken to understand the barriers faced by families in accessing ECE. At the same time, it is equally crucial to appreciate the challenges encountered by teachers in delivering ECE in order to support them in terms of training, development and quality improvement.

Dr Kimberly Kong is Co-Investigator at the Universiti of Sains Malaysia.

 

Study Aims
General

To promote equitable education for refugee children aged 4-6 in Malaysia by:

  1. Enabling access to ECE and improve participation for girl and boy child refugees
  2. Improving the existing ECE provision for child refugees by addressing the process and structural quality aspects of ECE delivery and engagement with parents/home
Specific
  1. Studying the impact of ECE (and lack of) provision on child refugees 4-6
  2. Understanding the barriers and challenges faced by parents of refugees in accessing ECE
  3. Understanding difficulties and challenges faced by ECE and primary staff in their practice
  4. Discovering the individual characteristics of ECE centres found to be most effective and to capture this practice
  5. Disseminating the findings to policy makers, practitioners, parents, Government and NGOs
Research Outputs
Reports

31-07-2023

Building an Inclusive and Equitable Early Childhood Education for Refugee Children: Framework for Action (Final Report)

Authors: Iram Siraj, Kimberley Kong, Katharina Ereky-Stevens

Read the full report

08-02-2022

Review of the Research Evidence on Early Childhood Education and Care in Refugee Contexts in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Authors: Katharina Ereky-Stevens, Iram Siraj, Kimberley Kong

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Read Executive Summary

Papers

Ereky-Stevens, K.E., Siraj, I. & Kong, K. (2023). A critical review of the research evidence on early childhood education and care in refugee contexts in low- and middle-income countries. International Journal of Child Care and Educational Policy 17(7), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-023-00109-4.

 

Presentations

Kong, K., Ereky-Stevens, K., Siraj, I. (2023, Aug 30 – Sept 2). Fostering independence, empowerment, and engagement in Learning: A case study of refugee preschool children in Malaysia [Conference presentation]. 31st EECERA Annual Conference, Children’s Curiosity, Agency and Participation: 

Challenges for Professional Action and Development, Lisbon, Portugal. 

 

Ereky-Stevens, K., Kong, K., Siraj, I. (2023, July 7-9). Challenges of providing early education for refugee children in low-resource settings: Insights form Malaysia [Conference presentation]. 23rd PECERA Annual Conference, Strengthening Resilience in Children during Time of Change, Bali, Indonesia. 

 

Kong, K., Ereky-Stevens, K., Siraj, I. (2023, July 7-9). Refugee education disruptions and school readiness in Malaysia during the COVID-19: Implications for sustainable development [Conference presentation]. 23rd PECERA Annual Conference, Strengthening Resilience in Children during Time of Change, Bali, Indonesia. 

 

Kong, K., Siraj, I., Ereky-Stevens, K.  (2023, March 11). School readiness of refugee children in Northern States of Malaysia [Event keynote]. Teacher Appreciation Event 2023. Penang, Malaysia.

 

Ereky-Stevens, K., Siraj, I., Kong, K. (2022, July 8-10). A critical review of the research evidence on the benefits of ECEC in refugee contexts in low-and middle-income countries [Conference presentation]. 22nd PECERA Annual Conference, Transforming Early Childhood – From Policy to Practice, Hong Kong. 

 

Kong, K., Siraj, I., Ereky-Stevens, K.  (2022, July 8-10). School readiness of refugee children in Malaysia [Poster presentation]. 22nd PECERA Annual Conference, [Conference presentation]. 22nd PECERA Annual Conference, Transforming Early Childhood – From Policy to Practice, Hong Kong.  

Kong, K., Siraj, I., Ereky-Stevens, K.  (2021, July 2-4). Building a framework for equitable early childhood education for refugee children in Malaysia [Conference presentation]. 21st PECERA Annual Conference, Visionary navigators: Advocating for children, families and early childhood education, Wellington, New Zealand.