@phdthesis{discovery10204348,
          school = {UCL (University College London)},
            note = {Copyright {\copyright} The Author 2025.  Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).  Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms.  Access may initially be restricted at the author's request.},
           title = {Non-Governmental Organisations' Role in Shaping Refugee Youth Education:A Case Study of NGOs working with Syrian Refugee Youth in Jordan, 2019-2020},
            year = {2025},
           month = {February},
           pages = {1--204},
        abstract = {The challenges of forced displacement have grown in scope, scale, and complexity, with
the COVID-19 pandemic, new and intractable conflicts, and the climate crisis
disproportionately affecting the world's most disadvantaged. Education is crucial for
providing a sense of hope and, where possible, integrating refugee populations into their
host societies and preventing permanent deficits in human development. Jordan, host to
one of the largest populations of Syrian refugees since the onset of the Syrian crisis in
2011, has made concerted efforts to provide inclusive education where Syrian children and
youth attend Jordanian schools. Yet, significant challenges remain, including overcrowded
classrooms, resource shortages, and economic pressures on families that lead to high
dropout rates among Syrian refugees.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering
educational programmes aimed at refugee youth in Jordan. More than 179 youth
programmes were implemented by NGOs in partnership with the Ministry of Education in
2022. However, the complex socio-political and policy environment of the refugee context
in Jordan including fluctuating donor priorities, calls for further integration of refugees in to
host country schools, and limited resources results in competing demands for different
conceptualisations of the goal of refugee youth education. NGO staff are required to
balance these competing demands, leading to disparate forms of refugee youth
programmes that may not align with the preferences of refugees or international and
national policy. This study explores how NGOs working with Syrian refugee youth in Jordan
have conceptualised the goals of refugee youth education programmes for Syrian refugee
youth in Jordan and the power dynamics that drive these conceptualisations, aiming to
better inform our understanding of the role of education in refugee contexts.
Drawing on 30 semi-structured interviews with NGO staff in Jordan across 7
international and national NGOs in Jordan conducted between 2019 and 2020, this
research examines how NGO staff working with Syrian refugee youth in Jordan navigate the
complex interplay of international and national policies, organisational mandates, in-
country relationships, and the nuanced needs of refugee communities. The study provides
insights into the role of NGOs in the formation of the conceptualisations of the goals of
refugee youth education programmes in Jordan.
The findings suggest that many NGO staff act as ambassadors for refugees, often
engaging in acts of resistance against agendas they perceive as misaligned with a holistic
approach to refugee education. Many NGO staff integrate multiple conceptualisations they
believe better serve the complex and evolving needs of refugee youth often in ways that
do not align with the agendas or mandates of others. The research highlights the processes
through which NGO staff form their conceptualisations of the goals of refugee youth
education, influenced by personal beliefs, experiences, and the broader socio-political
3
context, underscoring the potential challenges in relying on NGO staff as ambassadors. The
findings suggest that NGOs have the potential to significantly influence refugee education
policies and practices, highlighting their critical role and limits as advocates and change
agents in refugee settings. The research highlights the importance of supporting NGO staff
in pursuit of education approaches aligned with the preferences of refugee communities
and calls for a deeper understanding of the potential impacts and limits of NGOs as agents
of change in the context of refugee education.},
          author = {Magee, Arran},
             url = {https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204348/}
}