When refugees out- learn hosts

The study also found that the duration of a refugee’s stay in the country has an impact on their learning, although this is only up to some point. For instance, refugee children who have been in Uganda over one year are more likely to have P.2 literacy and numeracy skills than those who have been here for less than a year.

Among refugee children who had just settled into Uganda, only 23% were able to read and comprehend a story as well as divide but for the refugee children who had now stayed in Uganda, 39% of them were able to perform much better.

This could mean that when the children have just come, they have language issues, they are getting used to the curriculum and they are also trying to settle in a new environment.

Interestingly, the performance deteriorates when they stay for more than three years. The explanation Nakabugo gives is that it is possible the factors that affect the larger Ugandan population have set in affecting the refugee children in higher classes.

“It is possible these children are more integrated in the Ugandan community but there could be a bit of complacence meaning that they are not working harder,” Nakabugo said.

Home and School conditions

Uwezo’s study found that school conditions and services are generally poor inside the refugee settlements with 61% of non-refugee children living in better permanent houses compared to their counterparts in the refugee camps (22%) while the pupil-teacher ratio, for instance, in refugee settlements is desperately high.

According to the Uwezo study, a teacher handles an average of 107 pupils inside refugee camp schools compared to 57 pupils for every teacher outside the refugee camp schools. In Arua District, the ratio is 190:1 inside the refugee camp compared to 78:1 in the host community schools. In Isingiro District, inside the refugee camp, one teacher handles 83 pupils compared to 28 pupils for every teacher outside the host community schools.

The international standard is about 30 pupils for every teacher.

Unfriendly school conditions

The Uwezo study found appalling school conditions in refugee settlements although in many instances, they are comparable with schools in host communities.

For example, although the government ideal is for a classroom to have at least 40 pupils, in refugee settlements in Arua District, one classroom holds up to 350 pupils compared to 127 pupils per classroom outside the refugee camp. In neighbouring Adjumani, the figures are 139:1 compared to 85:1 outside the camps.

There are also many more pupils per teacher inside refugee settlements compared to schools outside the camps. In Arua there are 190 pupils per teacher inside settlements compared to 78 per teacher outside.

In Yumbe District, in an average classroom inside a refuge settlement there are 233 pupils per classroom compared to 140 outside. In Isingiro, there were 164 pupils per classroom inside the camps compared to 48.

When it comes to access to school facilities, children inside and outside settlements are equally likely to have to sit on the floor (28% do in settlements and 30% do outside); to have exercise books (93% inside, 100% outside) and have pens or pencils (88% inside and 93% outside).

A text book for 50 refugees

It was not surprising that the pupil-textbook ratio was quite high when compared to that outside the settlements. Where as in schools outside the refugee camps, there is a P.2 English language textbook for every two pupils, within the camps, a book is shared by 51 pupils.

Little food, poor housing

The study notes that, refugees are more vulnerable when it comes to food and housing. When it comes to access to food, the study found that 34% of non-refugee children eat at least three meals a day compare to 7% of the refugee children. The World Health Organization (WHO) sets three meals a day for a child to maintain a healthy body.

In all the districts surveyed, only 7% of refugees (compared to 34% of non-refugees) eat three or more meals per day. The majority (77%) of those living in refugee settlements have dwellings made out of mud / stick / polythene.

When it comes to water access, refugees had more piped water than the communities outside the camps; borehole access was almost at par while for trucked water, refugee pupils boasted more access (22%) compared to only 0.2% in host communities.

When it comes to energy access, almost 65% of refugee households had access to solar power, and 67% of electricity compared to 40% and 10% in host communities.

As far as school supplies are concerned, within the refugee settlements, 28% of pupils sit on the floor while outside the camps, 30% of the pupils sit on the floor. Outside the camps, 100% of pupils have exercise books.

Whereas 93% of pupils in the host communities have pens and pencils, 88.4% of pupils have these utilities in the refugee camp schools. Within the refugee camps, only 28% of schools have other supplementary materials (chats and other learning aids) compared to 46% in schools outside the refugee settlements.

Joyce Ayikoru, the settlement manager for Windle Trust, an NGO that supports refugee education in conjunction with UNHCR and the government of Uganda told The Independent on June 25 that in all the 13 refugee settlements in Uganda, refugee children still face overwhelming challenges with few classrooms, latrines, and food.

“Most times when the children go back home, they may not find any food and as a result they fail to come back for afternoon lessons.” she said.

This impacts on overall performance because teachers and pupils struggle.

Nakabugo said there is need for a minimum provision of utilities in schools to enhance learning itself and what conditions are needed for the pupils to learn.

“It is important to find out what is it that the Somali pupils excel more than the other nationalities,” Nakabugo said, “We might actually be looking for solutions very far yet they could be within the communities.”

Rosemary Seninde, the State Minister for Primary Education says the Ministry of Education and Sports has developed a three-year education response plan to ensure that refugee children and adolescents and their counterparts in the host communities have access to good quality education at all levels, irrespective of the country of origin of the refugees and their location in Uganda.