Alternative Education in Emergencies – Module 5C (Training and Professional Development: Capacity- Building for Education in Emergencies)

The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) recognizes several alternative programs or strategies to provide education to students for whom the traditional mode of delivery is not possible, available, or effective.

Alternative education options are implemented in response to a variety of challenges, such as overcrowding, teacher shortages, lack of instructional materials, and remoteness or inaccessibility of schools. In the aftermath of a calamity, communities may suffer from any or all the above, which points to the potential of such programs to sustain learning. Indeed, teachers are often forced to innovate the way they organize learning after a calamity, even if they are not formally trained in using a particular alternative education program.

In the time of the COVID-19 health crisis, thousands of schools around the world have physically shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. Education sectors globally have resorted to different alternative education options to ensure that education will continue amidst the pandemic.

The Alternative Education in Emergencies Resource Kit is an 11-module knowledge product that provides guidance for teachers and school administrators on how alternative and flexible learning options can help sustain quality learning after a disaster, and how they can be adapted to suit a range of contexts and evolving needs as communities gradually recover to normalcy.

The fifth module of the Alternative Education in Emergencies Resource Kit is divided into three parts. Module 5C recommends features of capacity-building programs that will help equip stakeholders in identifying appropriate learning solutions and implementing them for EiE. The module covers target participants, training objectives, topics to include, sample schedules, and ways to assess the efficacy of EiE training programs. It also describes complementary capacity-building strategies such as mentoring, coaching and professional networking, among others.