In 2024, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Vodafone Foundation launched a Life Skills course under the Instant Network Schools programme to support displaced students’ learning. A recent evaluation of the course highlighted a key insight: life skills do not develop in isolation but emerge and are sustained through strong, structured, and inclusive education systems. Life skills—including social, emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal competencies—help learners navigate challenges, build relationships, and make informed decisions. These skills are particularly critical for refugees, as they promote academic achievement, well-being, and resilience in new and often challenging environments.
The Life Skills course, developed in partnership with Digital Awareness UK, demonstrated measurable improvements in learners’ empathy, creativity, problem-solving, participation, and negotiation. However, the evaluation emphasized that these gains were possible largely because the intervention operated within functioning school systems, supported by trained teachers and structured learning environments. This finding reinforces the importance of delivering life skills interventions as part of broader, well-resourced education systems rather than as standalone modules.
Evaluation data from pre–post surveys and scenario-based assessments showed that learners achieved the largest gains in competencies they could practice in realistic contexts. Applied creativity, empathy, participation, negotiation, and resilience improved significantly, while teachers observed increased learner confidence, emotional awareness, and peer interaction. The findings align with research indicating that competencies grow most effectively through participatory practice facilitated by educators, not simply through exposure to content.
Structured teacher training and professional development in the INS programme played a critical role in learner engagement. Over 97% of students found the course materials engaging, particularly animated videos and interactive quizzes, while 94% noted that the Life Skills characters enhanced understanding. Most learners reported applying the skills in real-life situations, illustrating the relevance of classroom-based, digitally supported learning. This aligns with global evidence showing that digital tools are most effective when integrated with structured teaching practices and ongoing teacher mediation.
Teachers were identified as essential brokers of life-skills development, guiding reflection, facilitating discussions, and linking abstract competencies to real-life experiences. The evaluation showed that where teachers provided space for dialogue and consistent scaffolding, learners demonstrated deeper comprehension and stronger application of skills. This echoes broader research in refugee education, which finds that teacher practices and school climate are critical predictors of inclusion, persistence, and meaningful skill development for displaced learners.
The evaluation also underscores the urgency of maintaining strong education systems amid humanitarian funding pressures. Cuts in international aid threaten school operations, teacher development, and service continuity, leaving millions of displaced children without access to education. In contexts such as Chad and Bangladesh, funding reductions have already forced school closures, increasing the vulnerability of refugee learners and limiting opportunities to develop essential life skills.
Overall, the INS Life Skills evaluation demonstrates that life skills develop most effectively when digital content is anchored in formal, inclusive, and well-supported education systems. Sustained teacher facilitation, structured classrooms, curriculum alignment, and stable learning environments are critical for translating learning into real-life competencies. The findings highlight the need to expand refugee-inclusive life-skills programmes within national curricula, invest in teacher development, protect education funding in humanitarian settings, and strengthen system-level monitoring to ensure effective, lasting skills development.
By emphasizing integration within strong education systems, the INS Life Skills programme shows that digital innovation and curriculum content alone are insufficient. Forcibly displaced learners can only fully develop and apply life skills when schools provide continuity, structure, and the resources necessary to foster resilience, agency, and the ability to thrive in complex, uncertain futures.
