Education for sustainable development: What can we learn from refugee experiences?

• In Event: Crossing borders: educational journeys, barriers, and intercultural experiences of rural and urban youth

Proposal

UNHCR 2018 figures show that an average of one person every two seconds is forcibly displaced from their homes across the world. As at the end of 2017, this displacement was at a record high of 68.5 million, with 25.4 million being refugees escaping political, economic, social and other instabilities from their countries (UNHCR, 2018). The refugee figure was 2.9 million more than in 2016, the biggest increase witnessed by the Agency in a single year (UNHCR, 2018), making the global refugee trends more concerning than ever (Edwards, 2018).
While the European refugee landscape brings a new perspective to global migration trends in that region, Africa is also experiencing similar migratory patterns. The number of refugees in the Middle East and North Africa was at 2.7 million by end-2017, with the refugee population in sub-Saharan Africa increasing to a total 6.3 million, making the region host almost one-third of the world’s refugee population (UNHCR, 2018: 13). Thus, making migration within the Global South as significant as migration from the global South to the Global North. This intensified migration in Africa was noted earlier by Stewart (2002) to be as a result of political, economic instability in countries such as Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe among others.
At play in this migration landscape is a shift in the gender and age characteristics of migrants and refugees with an increase in the number of women and children (Birchall, 2016). While in 2017 women and men were almost equally represented, in Africa, 51 percent of the refugee population was female, compared to 39 percent in Europe (UNHCR, 2018:60). Furthermore, among those migrating are the youth in search of alternative livelihoods and opportunities in employment, among other factors. In 2017, for children under the age of 18, Africa had the highest proportion with 59 percent of the population (UNHCR, 2018: 60), with many of these children in sub-Saharan Africa. Behind these migration statistics is not only a reflection of a younger population structure within the region, by also lies a number of concerning developmental implications. One of the issues of concern is youths’ access and success in higher education (HE). Thus, any attempts to address human and sustainable development issues should include, as a priority, youths’ education.
Drawing on data from a project looking at the “Lives and educational aspirations of marginalized migrant youth” living in Johannesburg, South Africa conducted between 2014 and 2016, this presentation will provide a human development informed conceptualization of what education for sustainable development in refugee contexts ought to look like. The conceptualization will use first-hand accounts of 12 marginalized Zimbabwean migrant youth who completed their O’level education at an unconventional school in South Africa, the presentation illustrates how an informal schooling system designed specifically for refugee minors created space for the advancement of young migrant’s multiple capabilities. In the same vein, the presentation will demonstrate how education can potentially be used as a tool to address concerns on marginalization and inequalities to promote human and sustainable development. Arguing that education could be used as a poverty reduction tool, the presentation will conclude by highlighting that fostering the marginalised peoples’ educational potential (in form of skills, creativity, innovation and critical thinking) is what is necessary in such a time when of high youth unemployment rates, poverty and other social and economic instabilities; particularly in developing countries. In doing so, the presentation will provoke dialogue on where we can place education in ongoing development discourses and agendas, that is, not only viewing education as an outcome of development but also as a catalyst for addressing inequalities.

Author

• Wadzanai Faith Mkwananzi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of the Free State