“Rising refugee number affecting education system” CS Amina

Education CS Amina Mohammed now says the rising number of refugee children in the Country is affecting the already overwhelmed national education system.

Amina who led celebrations of the international children’s day, in Nairobi called on war-tone countries to heighten peace-building initiatives so as to ease the burden of refugees.

Refugee children who are yet to be integrated into national education systems rarely access education according to a global report by UNESCO.

The 2019 Global Education Monitoring report shows the number of refugee children has risen by 26% even as it faulted host countries for failing to put in place laws to guarantee inclusion of refugee children into their education systems.

The 2019 Global Education Monitoring report released on Tuesday reveals little progress in integrating refugee children into the national education systems of host countries.

It shows a worrying trend in the increase of the number of refugee school-age children which has grown by 26% in the past 18 years.

This comes at a time many countries still lack enough resources to cater for the growing demand for education by refugees.

With radicalization being one of the major causes of war and terrorism, Deng Deng  Hoi Yai from the ministry of education in South Sudan, urged countries to invest more in education of the youth.

UNESCO Assistant Director General Stefania Giannini challenged Kenya to ensure full inclusion of refugee learners who are still living in refugee camps.

The 2019 GEM report calls for policy changes to bridge the gap if access to education for all is to be achieved as part of the SDG’s.