UNESCO report praises Ghana for including refugee children in education system, but…
A new UNESCO report that looks into how countries are including migrants and refugees in their education systems praises Ghana for giving unrestricted access to all children regardless of documentation, noting the fact that some schools in Ghana take steps to welcome migrants, but indicates that in practice, there is no support in the education system for migrant children.
The 2019 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report on migration and displacement released today November 20, 2018, documents the progress and challenges in educating refugees around the world.
According to the report copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, sub-Saharan Africa houses almost a third of all refugees in the world, along with millions of internally displaced people, both of which the report shows are putting huge strains on already struggling education systems.
The report entitled Building bridges, not walls, also celebrates the political will for change as outlined in the Horn of Africa’s Djibouti Declaration and highlights numerous pioneering initiatives in some countries. The report cites Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which together are housing over half of the region’s refugees and 12 per cent of the world’s refugees, and these countries are acknowledged in particular for their positive approach to support the education of forcibly displaced children and youth.
“They join countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan in their ambitions to sit refugees side-by-side by nationals in school,” the report said.
On Ghana however, while taking note of the education system’s openness to migrants and refugees, the report also points out that stereotypes are pervasive inside and outside the classroom, and states that teachers perpetuate these stereotypes
“Bullying and xenophobia are widespread,” the report added.
The report makes the following recommendation for Ghana: teacher training on diversity; more support for teachers who currently complain of having to devote excessive classroom time to migrants; language preparation to entering Ghanaian schools is critical; introductory classes must be provided to ease transition into public schools for migrants; migrants should not be obliged to sit exams to determine academic level on their first day in Ghanaian schools; this leads to them being placed in classes with children younger than them.
According to the report, countries need to improve training for refugees on the language of instruction, without which students can end up placed in lower grades, putting pressure on teachers and overcrowding classrooms as seen among Burundian refugees in Rwanda.
The report acknowledged how linguistic differences also make friendships more difficult and can lead to discrimination, resulting in school-drop out and children joining gangs, as found among adolescent Congolese and Somali refugees in Uganda.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report said: “Large movements of people have huge implications for education systems.
Many sub-Saharan African countries are leading the way globally for managing this challenge. Yet others are struggling and require international support to cope with the strain. Regional efforts to share positive examples are also needed to help those falling behind to catch up”.
The report recognizes the fact that globally, only a third of the funding gap for refugee education has been filled, noting that in sub-Saharan Africa, only 4 per cent of the education humanitarian appeal is currently funded in Burundi, 3 per cent in Chad, 6 per cent in Cameroon, and 10 per cent in both the Central African Republic and Ethiopia.
It emphasizes that humanitarian aid alone will never fill the gap and points to Uganda as a blueprint for best practice by bringing humanitarian and development partners together to fund its education plan, including refugees.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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