A 21st century high school curriculum for displaced youth

Utilising technology and a blended learning model, Sky School enables the 78% of displaced youth currently out of secondary education to obtain a high school diploma. Through Sky School’s 21st century curriculum, millions of learners will gain the skills not just to survive, but to thrive.

Our solution 

 Sky School, is a global high school which enables displaced youth to access a 21st century high school curriculum. We do this by providing displaced youth who are between 16 and 24  years old,  with a high quality secondary education that leads to a recognised high school diploma.

Our curriculum, the Sky School Diploma, contains a combination of academic learning and a project-based social entrepreneurship programme. The curriculum is specifically designed  to fit the needs of the 21st century - focusing on the development of skills such as project management, critical thinking, collaboration and tech. The curriculum is designed by secondary school teachers in collaboration with displaced learners, and will be accredited by UWCSEA, one of the largest international schools in the world.

Learning will be delivered through a blended model, whereby teachers record and distribute lessons via our online platform, which students access via their phones. In physical learning hubs, community-based team-leaders will facilitate face-to-face learning and support students. Students without access to learning hubs can study for the diploma online. The programme will be part time and timings will be flexible, to ensure access to students who are working.

We will create opportunities for students to study at university, enrol in training schemes or find employment. While we will actively pursue partnerships with universities and workplaces to create pathways, the long-term aim is that Sky School alumni will be attractive candidates for employers because of the 21st century curriculum they have studied. 

Scaling and impact

Sky School’s innovative model has the potential to reach millions of learners, and if scaled, we believe that the curriculum has the potential to not only prepare learners from disadvantaged backgrounds with the skills and opportunities to thrive in the 21st century, but to impact national and other more traditional education systems.

Refugee youth are particularly disadvantaged at secondary school level: lack of capacity in local schools, language barriers and the need to work are just some of the barriers that result in only 22% of young refugees getting a high school diploma. Secondary education is also more expensive than primary. Many refugee youth do low-paid and illegal work and have few opportunities to re-enter education.

Young refugees are in need of a quality education that allows them to prepare for the future, whether in the country where they have sought refugee, or in their home-country where they are needed for rebuilding.

A survey we have conducted among refugee youth show that young refugees see high quality and accredited education as key to improving their life circumstances and communities. Unfortunately, many remain excluded from educational opportunities in their host countries. UNICEF estimates that the lost earning potential of displaced children who miss out on secondary education is in the tens of millions of dollars. 

The Sky School model is designed to ensure access and flexibility, while being of high quality and of relevance to learners. It can be implemented on a scale that traditional methods of refugee education cannot.

Sky School has three main target outcomes:

1. Increasing access to secondary education for refugee learners aged 16-24 by deploying a blended learning model that is scalable, but does not compromise on quality. Particular focus will be given to students who are out of school.

2. Improving learning outcomes of key 21st century skills, ensuring that students are equipped with creativity, critical thinking and digital skills, as well as are proficient in collaboration, problem solving and entrepreneurship.

3. Increasing opportunities available to refugee youth at post-secondary school level, both in higher education, workplaces and training programmes.

Track downloads of the application and enrolment in the programme

- Increasing access to secondary education - 10,000 people to have downloaded the Aula Education app by 2020

Track the number of students who complete the programme. - 50,000 students to have gained an accredited high school diploma with Sky School by 2025.

Measure learning outcomes of the whole curriculum, with a focus on key skills. We will also develop impact studies to look at the the correlation between our curriculum and the performance and pathways of Sky School alumni.

- Improve learning outcomes of key 21st century skills.

The Sky School curriculum will be available via a low bandwidth mobile app, delivered via our technology partner Aula Education. As displaced youth are much more likely to have access to a mobile phone than a computer, our programme is more accessible than other interventions that are web-based.

Additionally, we will deliver our education via a blended online / offline learning model, ensuring that there is a strong social aspect to learning, which is often neglected by other interventions. Our mobile app also has a strong focus on creating strong communities of learners, which is vital for student retention and success.  

The survey we conducted revealed that many of the prospective students a) had mobile phones b) wanted to be part of a strong learning community and c) needed the learning to be flexible.

The Aula Education platform was chosen based on these needs: engagement on the platform is conversation-led, and the app can be downloaded on a weak internet connection, allowing students to study at any time. When tested in focus-groups by refugees living in Kakuma Camp the reviews were positive. A key aim of the pilot is to assess the appropriateness of the technology and to develop it further.

Studying for a high school diploma with Sky School will always be free for our students, and displaced youth from around the world can access the app, content and online community at any time. Students will also be able to attend lessons that teach key technology skills, helping to bridge the digital divide.

While 86% of refugees have access to a smartphone, we are also working with local community partners and technology providers such as Orange to ensure that all students have access to the platform, even if they do not have their own phone.

During the last eight months, the two co-founders has been working fulltime while also researching and developing the Sky School concept. We have not deemed it feasible to work full-time in another job while  piloting the project, and through our full-time work, we have been able to save up some money to sustain ourselves during this time.

Additionally, we have secured a small amount of funding for the pilot phase which will support both delivery of the project itself, as well as salaries for the two co-founders and our facilitator in Jordan. We will however need some initial grant funding in order to complete the first year of the project. We have a wider team of volunteers, including a Director of Education, who at present, who will not be working full time on the project but who will be able to input with their skills and expertise.  

Our risk assessment has identified three key challenges:

1) Student retention and engagement - 93% of students drop out of online courses. Through our blended learning model, our aim is to ensure 75% retention.

2) Recognition of the diploma in order to create pathways for our students. We are currently working on creating partnerships with workplaces, universities and training places.

3) Access to technology - while access to mobile technology is increasing, there is still not widespread infrastructure in place to support internet access, in particular in camp situations. 

https://www.skyschool.world

https://twitter.com/skyschool_world

https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/03/29/why-we-need-a-global-high-school-for-refugees

In order to effectively change systems there is a need for people with ideas to connect with each other and to collaborate. We are keen to be part of Solve as it creates a platform to do this. We are aware that our idea is bold and ambitious, and we will need to collaborate with a variety of partners for it to succeed. We are keen to draw on the expertise from the Solve community of experts, leaders and changemakers to gain feedback and advice on our project. We hope to find partners and collaborators through Solve.

We are partnering with UWCSEA, one of the largest international schools in the world, as well as Kaospilots, an alternative business / design school in Denmark. Additionally, we are developing partnerships with Action Aid, Kiron, Jusoor, Council of International Schools (CIS) and other international schools in Jordan, Kenya and globally.

Our main competitors are Jamiya Project and Kiron, though both operate at a higher education level.