Towards a more equitable teacher workforce for refugee learners in Kenya

• In Event: Compounding Crises: Impact of COVID-19 on Teachers and Teaching in Conflict-Affected Settings Part II

Proposal

In the East Africa region, numbers of refugees in the region have nearly tripled to almost five million over the past decade, placing unprecedented pressure on education systems. Research has shown that the quality of the teaching workforce is the most important factor in learner achievement, particularly key in refugee settings where teachers may be the only resource that students have access to. The call set out in the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 is to: ‘ensure that teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well-trained, professionally qualified, motivated and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems.’ However, teachers in refugee settings face a myriad of barriers to becoming skilled educators, including working in challenging conditions, low levels of financial support and limited opportunities for accredited professional development.
For this paper, we present emerging findings from mixed-methods research undertaken in refugee settings in Kenya. This case study, funded by Dubai Cares, formed part of a multi-country study into primary teacher management in refugee settings in four countries. The research objectives for the Kenya case study were to i) understand Kenya’s international, regional and national commitments to the inclusion of refugees into the national education system and their implications on teacher management in refugee camp settings; and ii) identify promising strategies for further development. The research process was underpinned by the goal of ensuring that the evidence generated would be relevant, useful and could be utilised by those involved in teacher management in refugee settings, and was therefore undertaken in close collaboration with UN agencies, the MOE and partners involved in camp education.
As host of a large number of refugees from multiple countries, Kenya has taken steps towards achieving a more inclusive and equitable education system through becoming signatory to a range of global and regional commitments, including the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework and Global Compact on Refugees, Djibouti Declaration and Plan of Action on Refugee Education and Nairobi Declaration. However, teachers in camp schools continue to face a number of challenges, with one key barrier being that the majority of camp teachers are refugees without the requisite formal teaching qualifications. This session will therefore discuss the existing initiatives enabling refugees to gain teaching qualifications and explore the strategies that can be implemented to improve education for refugee learners in Kenya towards a more equitable system for all children.

Authors

• Helen West, Education Development Trust

• Thalia Seguin, UNESCO IIEP