SEATTLE — According to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the average time spent in exile for a refugee is 20 years. Therefore, it is essential that the international community provides quality education for refugees. However, systemic issues prevent that from happening.

Within the UNHCR’s mandate, 3.7 million out of 6 million primary and secondary school-aged refugees have no access to schools. This means refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than non-refugee children. That gap only worsens as refugee children get older. Half of refugees only have access to primary education. Just 22 percent attend lower secondary school and only 1 percent of the global refugee population attends a university.

The issue of access to education for refugees stems from the management of the refugee crisis in general. Refugees are cared for under the emergency provisions of their host countries. There are few long-term plans for handling the tens or hundreds of thousands of newcomers each year.

Additionally, 86 percent of refugees live in developing countries that often struggle to educate their own native populace. Since refugee status is an emergency condition, education for refugees is not provided by the local education sector. This means that records of attendance for refugee children are often missing or incomplete.

“Refugee children and youth are not only disadvantaged, but their educational needs and achievements remain largely invisible,” says Grandi. “The obstacles to full participation in formal education are considerable.”

In Lebanon alone, almost a quarter of the entire population are now refugees. Since governments already struggle with education in general, education for refugees further strains schools and teachers. To limit that strain, schools have maximum age limits. Because most refugees are not legally allowed to work, everyone in the family works low-paid jobs. This then causes students with access to a school to stop going. If they later attempt to re-enroll, they may find it impossible.

With the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals target dates approaching, world leaders are turning their attention to education for refugees. In May 2016, the World Humanitarian Summit established the Education Cannot Wait Fund. The ECWF represents a collaborative approach to promoting continuous access to education.

In September 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Girls’ Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. As of this writing, the bill awaits Senate approval. If instated, it would revamp U.S. foreign assistance policies supporting the education of displaced children. According to Congress, “only 2 percent of global emergency aid was directed toward educational services in 2016.” As the U.S. shifts to make this issue a top priority, other nations may follow suit.

Assuming they are successful in establishing access to education for refugees, studies show that these students will require specific forms of support to be successful. When refugees can attend school, the culture of those schools can often be prohibitive. Students report bullying from their peers and sometimes teachers. They often do not speak the language of instruction. It is common that these students have gaps in their instruction, or no instructional background at all. Furthermore, refugee children typically suffer trauma from violent experiences in their past.

To meet these challenges, school systems must create an intentional refugee curriculum. Education for refugees deserves to be culturally inclusive. Sometimes called Culturally Responsive Curriculum, this model trains educators to recognize the cultural bias of their instructional approaches. When teachers deliver information, they often use metaphors, anecdotes and idioms. It is possible to assist teachers in developing strategies that incorporate the background knowledge of their refugee children.

Undergirding a culturally inclusive curriculum is the understanding that all cultures possess inherent value. This creates a learning environment capable of celebrating diverse cultural traditions. In turn, that learning environment gives refugee children a sense of self-worth and identity.

Education for refugees must also include bilingual educational support. To help create a sustainable culturally inclusive curriculum, governments should put teachers in exile back to work. In Pakistan, Afghani refugee and former teacher Aqeela Asifi was disheartened by the quality of life for children in her village. She began going door to door asking to tutor local children. Today, she has a solid brick school with 159 children, some of whom are native to Pakistan. In 2015, she was awarded the Nansen Refugee Award. Her dedication shows that within the refugee community there are untapped resources that would greatly benefit concerted efforts to improve education for refugees.

Another major issue facing education for refugees is a lack of socio-emotional support. A culturally inclusive curriculum creates the opportunity for students to have self-worth, but to truly overcome the trauma of living in exile, schools must create a broader sense of community.

According to the American Institutes for Research, creating family involvement in education is critical to the success of academic programs. Limited language proficiency and cultural perceptions restrict refugee families from engagement. Therefore, refugee schools must create culturally appropriate outreach programs. These programs often help enable families to seek mental health treatment.

In Chicago, Latino immigrants use cultural arts and performance to instigate outreach. Salud: Healing Through the Arts hosts theatrical performances, webcasts and community events to talk about parent-youth relationships. They also promote sound health and life decisions and make public service announcements. While the immigrant and refugee communities are distinct, this model could be adapted for use in refugee-hosting countries.

– Brandon J. White

Photo: Flickr