Educating Refugee Children Final Business Plan

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Educating Refugee Children Authored by: Jackie Abramian & Yasamin Enshaeian

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Table of Contents:

1.

THE PROBLEM

2.

Refugee Crisis A Global Issue

OUR SOLUTION

Children Demographics

Our Solution

Educational Needs

Infrastructure & Needs Inside of Refugee Camps

Current Educational Facilities

Transitioning to a New Country

3.

OUR BUSINESS Executive Summary

4.

Business Model

OUR IMPACT

First Year Annual Budget and Expenditures

Long-term & Short-term Impact on Children

PR & Marketing Plan Funding & Resources About Us

5.

OUR FUTURE Future Plans & Growth Expectations

The Problem

1

Refugee Crisis A Global Problem

The refugee crisis that dominated the news in 2015 to 2016 is far from over.

According to UNHCR report by the end of 2018 close to 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide. Countries like Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia are among the top countries with displaced populations in the world, making this crisis a global issue rather than a regional one.

According to the report, more than 85% of refugees are being hosted by other countries before getting resettled into their new homes. With decreased rate of immigration acceptance in EU, the burden of providing for basic necessities falls under mostly developing countries. An average refugee spends about 15-18 years in a refugee camp before getting resettled into their new country, making this transition being far away from temporary.

Children Demographics The global refugee crisis leaves children in a daunting situation. This crisis has created 7.4 million displaced population of children with 4 million lacking access to school and education. Primarily, the most disturbing data is that millions of refugees have been in exile for 20 years or more, which robs refugee children of their future opportunities.

As refugee children get older, however, the obstacles only increase: just 23% of refugee adolescents are enrolled in secondary school, compared to 84% globally. In low-income countries, which host 28% of the world’s refugees, the number in secondary education is disturbingly low, at a mere 9%.

As for tertiary education the data is even more disappointing. Across the world, enrollment in tertiary education stands at 36%, up 2 percentage points from the previous year. For refugees, despite big improvements in overall numbers thanks to investment in scholarships and other programmes, the percentage remains stuck at 1 per cent.

61% of refugee children attend primary school compared to 92% globally.

Only 23% of refugee children are enrolled in secondary schools.

Only 1% of refugees attend university, compared to 37% globally.

Educational Needs Refugee children’s educational needs don’t end at providing books and pencils, it starts with quality education, which many host countries lack in providing. Lack of access to resources and financial means, language barriers and the language of displacement, lack of sympathy in schools and resource gaps are only some of the visible problems.

For instance, refugee children living in Lebanon are eligible to enroll in public school, and hundreds of thousands have. Challenges posed by space limitations and resource constraints are obvious but these students face a more fundamental problem when it comes to learning: they don’t speak the language unless they are from other Arab speaking countries.

Current Educational Facilities Educational facilities in refugee camps are not much better. With lack of volunteers and resources, overcrowded classrooms are setup to host from small children who have never held a pencil to older children with previous experience in schools.

With classrooms congested, class time minimal, and schools far from home, many refugee parents don’t see the point. Some take their daughters out of school to marry them off or to help around the house. More often, though, families pull their children out of class to labor on local farms. Unfortunately, education becomes difficult to justify when a family can’t afford to heat its own tent.

In some other cases, education cannot even be trusted. Some educational facilities have been known to fuel extremists’ ideologies inside of classrooms in refugee camps.

Inside or outside of camps, refugee children have constantly been failed in receiving the quality education and sympathy they deserve.

Our Solution

2

Our Solution

Our solution for the global education problem in regards to refugee children is to bring the education to them. As stated by the UNHCR : Education is a basic human right, enshrined in the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Education protects refugee children and youth from forced recruitment into armed groups, child labour, sexual exploitation and child marriage. Education also strengthens community resilience.

Education empowers by giving refugees the knowledge and skills to live productive, fulfilling and independent lives.

Education enlightens refugees, enabling them to learn about themselves and the world around them, while striving to rebuild their lives and communities.

The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants pinpoints education as a critical element of the international refugee response. Furthermore, UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to deliver “inclusive and quality education for all and to promote lifelong learning�.

Quality education can be provided by experts in the field not only to those who are living at the comfort of their home, but to the displaced. An eLearning platform can be an education equalizer regardless of socioeconomic status - for both displaced/ refugee children and those in developing countries

Infrastructure & Needs Inside of Refugee Camps We hope to integrate e-Learning platforms into the current refugee facilities to provide a more consistent and better-quality education to refugees whether they are living in refugee camps or studying in schools in their host countries. E-learning platforms can be provided for Kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) as education equalizers. Although it is understandable that not many educational facilities within the refugee camps and outside schools have resources such as large screens or a reliable Internet connection, but many of them have the basic infrastructure.

We rely on teachers and relief workers inside the camps or schools to provide these resources to students. By scheduling and directing the program, facilities’ educators can have a better control over their classroom and the age demographics of their students. This ensures a more consistent base education and level for all students inside or outside the camps.

The eLearning modules can include but are not limited to basic language education, sciences, behavioral education, and opportunities to help children deal with the trauma they have experienced because of their displacement.

Integrated into existing tools & resources available to refugee children living in camps or host country schools via an Internet connection and a large screen Impact group or individual learning - adult supervisors/ relief workers can connect the e-learning platform via the internet, and deploy the learning modules in English ( or translated into local languages) Topics can include: basic English language, science, math, environmental protection, fire safety, co-existence & etc.

Transitioning to a New Country Schools are a stabilizing feature in the unsettled lives of refugee students. They provide safe spaces for new encounters, interactions and learning opportunities. They also deliver literacy, the key to educational success, post-school options, life choices, social participation and settlement. How can we make sure education provided to refugee students in their post-settlement stage is parallel to the education native students receive in the same schools?

Partnering with e-learning platform providers we hope to make the transition from refugee to a resident in a host country, easier. E-learning modules can not only target the basic knowledge in sciences and math, but provide educational modules focused on post-displacement conditions, social and cultural norms of the new countries and a more global view on education.

By providing these resources to refugee children, we hope to equalize their preparedness for choosing better future opportunities for themselves.

Newly settled Syrian refugee children in Surrey, BC

Our Business

3

Executive Summary

“Educating Refugee Children” social enterprise aims to link eLearning/EdTech developers and international relief aid organizations and/or education ministries to expedite the delivery of quality, basic education to 7.4 million displaced children, specifically the 4 million lacking access to schools. Our value proposition is becoming an education equalizer - providing eLearning/EdTech resources to millions of education-deprived children who are direct victims of political conflicts and falling behind their peers in literacy levels - and as future productive citizens of our world.

Registered as a “sole proprietor” we will use Market Intermediary business model to work as an intermediary between eLearning/EdTech companies and the international relief agencies to expedite accessibility of quality education for refugee/displaced children. Our social enterprise is in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals - SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Tech innovation) and SGD1 (equal access to quality education). By launching a pilot program, we will determine the specific needs of our target population and how to tailor future programs to better meet the children’s needs.

Our founders have already established scalable connections between eLearning/ EdTech developers and international relief agencies and are currently negotiating contracts. Our revenue stream will be generated from a 20% profit sharing when we finalize a contractual agreement between eLearning developers and international relief organizations/or education ministries. We hope to raise an initial $10,000 from private investors to cover: operational expenses for research and outreach to international relief organizations and eLearning/EdTech developers, meetings coordination, and time/efforts needed to finalize contracts. If we are not able to raise the initial funds, our founders will each commit $5,000 to kick-start the social enterprise.

Business Model Registered as a “sole proprietor� we will use Market Intermediary business model to work as an intermediary between eLearning/EdTech companies and the international relief agencies to expedite accessibility of quality education for refugee/displaced children. We will do so by direct sales and pitch to our partners at e-learning platforms & international relief agencies. A 20% commission income from eLearning developers after finalizing a contract to deploy the E-Learning platform by an organization/school district for the refugee children, will compensate for our efforts.

Our aim for 1st year is to finalize a contract with 1 EdTech/eLearning developer to penetrate at least 3 different countries or schools. During the first year we hope to reach at least 100,000 children and add an additional 50,000 children each year. If we assume a 20% student loss per year, our student numbers will continue to increase by 30% annually with conservative calculations.

Key Partners

Key Resources

- United Nations & Other relief agencies & international organizations

Founders to negotiate with e-learning platforms and international organizations

Value Proposition

Costumer Relationship

Costumer Segment

Making education available to Refugee Children

Direct sales and pitch to e-learning platforms & international refugee assisting organization

- Refugee camp organizers

- eLearning developers

Cost Structure Compensate for time of the volunteers and future expansion

- Refugee children in camps -Education ministries

Revenue Stream A 20% contractual agreement of contractual agreement between refugee assisting programs and eLearning platforms

From our tangible ROI/revenue stream, we will re-invest 10% to ensure the success of our project. These social impact investments may include: the purchase of a satellite to provide Internet connection, TV monitors to enable children take full advantage of the eLearning resources, ensuring our partners reach broader market segment and sponsoring of research/ collaboration with related universities to gain insight on best practices for delivering quality education to refugee/displaced children.

First Year Annual Budget and Expenditures Expenses PR and Marketing Campaign Expenses

$4,000

Research hours for compiling a list of EdTech developers and International Organizations focused/providing services To displaced/refugee children

$2,000

Phone, email, Skype communications

$1,000

Compiling/developing collaterals for Use in meetings, or conferences to better Publicize and present our Social Enterprise

$1,000

Possible travel/miscellaneous

$2,000

Income First Year Projected Income

$30,000 - $40,000

Social Impact Investing Re-investing 10% of our income to improve/ Purchase necessary items for the refugee children

$3,000 - $4,000

PR & Marketing Plan Our PR and Marketing strategy will include an integrated communications plan with media relations, social media campaign as well as direct marketing.

Our initial PR/Marketing and Social Media activities will include: 路

Social Media site - our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RefugeeChildEdu/ has already been created and will be utilized for further outreach to our target partners: eLearning/ EdTech developers, International organizations and education-focused associations working with displaced/refugee children. We will involve friends, family and colleagues to Follow/Like/ Share our posts to multiply the reach of our posts as well as utilize strategic keywords and hashtags to target/multiply audience reach.

路

Press Release Distribution - once we finalize our first contract, we will issue a press release for wire distribution, to announce the launch of our social enterprise, the activities and the social impact of EdTech/eLearning sources in the lives of displaced/refugee children. We will link the press release to our FB page for additional reach. We hope that the worldwide distribution of the press release will bring more attention to our enterprise and generate inquiries from interested parties wanting to get involved with our mission.

路

Media Relations - we will develop and pitch our story to media sites and reporters/editors worldwide with education-focused beats to generate articles and interviews and media coverage about our SE as well as EdTech/international partners to establish our impact. We will further publicize the gained media coverage via our FB page - and establish social relations with additional media contacts.

路

Direct Marketing - we will create an eNewsletter to be distributed to our partners, donors and supporters - to inform them of our progress while hoping to capture more support and involvement by our followers in our future projects.

We hope to devote $4,000 of our first year budget for PR and Marketing campaign activities.

Funding & Resources As funding sources we will conduct an outreach to: · · ·

Individual donors Friends Family and angel investors

In the event that we are not successful in gaining monetary support from funders, founders are prepared to each invest $5,000 to kick-start the launch.

The initial funding source will go toward: · ·

Investments on our marketing efforts to attract potential partners.

This will include, but not be limited to PR, Marketing and Social Media efforts.

Scheduling and meeting with potential eLearning and relief organizations

About Us Jackie Abramian is a multi-lingual, PR and Social Media Marketing executive and consultant to many social enterprises working to empower refugees and impoverished communities globally. She has established private/public sector partnership and has existing contracts with eLearning platforms. Her international contacts are vault of valuable resources to expand this social enterprise

Yasamin Enshaeian is a designer in Perkins+Will NC, an architectural company that strives on designing civic and cultural spaces that are socially responsible. Her experience in branding design as well as platform user experiences is the differential in assuring a good end user experience.

Our Impact

4

Long-term & Short-term Impact on Children

The immediate, short-term impact of our social enterprise will be measured by the overall increase of literacy levels amongst the first group of children with access to eLearning resources. This can easily be measured in a monthly scorecard on how the children actually learn and retain the information provided. This will help us adjust and tailor the services provided by the e-learning platforms and to accommodate different needs and cultural differences.

The long-term impact will be measured by a broader understanding of our social enterprise’s affects in the lives of children who enjoyed access to the eLearning sources for at least 2 years. The ultimate impact we hope to have is close the education divide, help at least 50% of the students reach higher academic knowledge base, become change agents within their communities due directly to knowledge gained exposure to eLearning education resources provided - and set higher education goals. Ultimately, the real impact can be measured by the number of children participating and taking advantage of the eLearning tools we were instrumental in providing- and the percentage of those children who continue their learning journey.

Monetizing the SROI would be the value we create (monetized) calculated by the number of children participating in the learning process and the cost of eLearning education resource per child - divided by the initial investment of our $10,000.

If we reach 100,000 children, at $2 cost per student/per year it would be $200,000 the first year. Of this, our social enterprise will earn 20% commission - which will result in a profit of $40,000 in our first year.

Our Future

5

Future Plans & Growth Expectations

Our future plans are conservative growth year-over-year as a slow growth will help us tweak and revise our approach to meet the needs of our target audiences.

If we are able to reach our 1st-year goal to impact at least 50,000 children, by providing eLearning/EdTech education platform to elevate their knowledge base, we hope to double the number of children impacted each year.

Whereas we haven’t really achieved the full operations of the social enterprise whereby EdTech and eLearning software developers and international organizations or school systems contract to deploy the platforms to equalize the field of learning - it’s premature to plan growth at this time. Our replication model will most likely be focused on specialization to help lower the cost of delivery to minimum. Organic Growth will most likely be our best growth model.

Part of our future plan is to contribute as much as possible to the research and study on the affects of displacement on the learning abilities of refugee children.

We will partner with researchers in areas of study like psychology and education to analyze the patterns of refugee children as it relates to their education. Since there are many moving factors like culture, geographical region, displacement conditions and the past educational background affecting the ability of children to learn and function in the classroom, having eLearning platforms that can track students progress can be very helpful to researchers. This way researchers and educators can understand and custom fit educational modules that are tailored to the children’s strengths and weaknesses not only as it relates to their education but their mental health. Then our greater impact will be on the future learning process of refugee children as they transition into adulthood.