For children! When it’s urgent!
Even when there is conflict or an emergency, education cannot wait. And, with the right supplies, children have a chance to continue to learn despite living in very difficult circumstances.
Education cannot wait for conflicts to end or the rebuilding of schools after a natural disaster.
In the absence of schools, supplies play a critical role in supporting children’s continued access to education. UNICEF and partners have developed several education kits that can support children of all ages. These kits are often tailored to the needs of different age groups and the local language of children. In 2019 alone, UNICEF supplied 148,811 education kits for 57 countries.
Education is key in bringing children affected by conflict or emergencies back to a safe environment, one that brings some sense of normalcy. UNICEF dispatches education supplies to children in conflict zones and emergencies with the hope that education can help them fulfill their dreams and reach their potential. Here’s some of the key items:
Early childhood development kit
The Early Childhood Development Kit contains items such as board books and puppets for storytelling to help caregivers create a safe learning environment for up to 50 young children aged 0–8 years, allowing them to retrieve a sense of normalcy in emergencies and to access early learning opportunities.
School-in-a-Box and School-in-a-Carton kits
The School-in-a-Box and -Carton kits contain materials for a teacher and up to 40 students. They can be used by teachers to establish makeshift classrooms in emergencies or other under-resourced settings. While similar in terms of content, the School-in-a-Box comes in a locked aluminum box whose lid doubles as a blackboard.
Recreation kit
The Recreation kit was developed in recognition of the importance of sports and play in providing therapy during conflicts and disasters. It contains both indoor and outdoor sports equipment, including footballs, handballs, skipping ropes and other supplies to engage children in games.
Mathematics teaching and science teaching kits
The Mathematics Teaching and Science Teaching kits are mainly for teachers’ demonstration and can be used for students’ activities. While the Math Teaching Kit includes geometry sets to support math learning, the Science Teaching kit contains electricity kits and dissecting kits to support children’s science learning.
Disability-friendly education items
Children with visual impairment can learn to read the time using the clock that is included in the School-in-a-Box and -Carton kits, which comes with Braille dots underneath the numbers. They can also access learning material, such as the alphabet and multiplication and numbers tables, which are printed with Braille embossing.
