[refugee-rights] Secondary education for refugees cannot be ignored, say experts

GENEVA, September 19 (UNHCR) – Lamenting the lack of adequate post–primary 
schooling for refugees, UN refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers has called for 
more efforts to bridge the gap between emergency and development aid to 
ensure education for more than 1.5 million refugees of secondary school age.

"We must overcome the gap between emergency and development aid," said 
Lubbers on Wednesday, in a speech delivered on his behalf by the Deputy UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees, Mary Anne Wyrsch, at the opening of a 
symposium in Geneva on post–primary education for refugees. "At present 
post–primary education for refugees is a casualty of this gap. We must find 
a solution for this."

In the two-day symposium organised by the Refugee Education Trust (RET), 
more than 80 education specialists from 18 different countries met to 
discuss ways of expanding secondary schooling for more than 1.5 million 
teenage refugees. RET was set up in May 2001 by former UNHCR chief Sadako 
Ogata to improve post-primary education for refugees as a legacy of the 
refugee agency's 50th anniversary.

According to RET, some 50,000 teenage refugees are in secondary school – a 
mere three per cent of the 1.5 million refugees of secondary school–going age.

"We know that education gives refugees self–esteem and dignity, and the 
chance to solve their own problems, defend their rights and become 
self–reliant school," noted Lubbers in his statement. "But because of 
limited funding and competing needs, UNHCR offices often find themselves 
unable to dedicate adequate funds to education."

This year, the UN refugee agency has set aside $38 million for education. 
But most of its efforts and resources go to primary education.

In a written message to participants of the symposium, Ogata, Founding 
President of RET, said that she was saddened by the fact that UNHCR had too 
little funds to guarantee secondary education for many refugees. At the 
same time, she appreciated the need for refugees to continue their 
education beyond primary level.

"During my time as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, I visited many 
refugee camps all over the world," said the brief message from Ogata. "I 
could see that the refugees themselves placed a very high value on 
education because they invariably asked me to help their children go to 
school. I was saddened by the fact that UNHCR had too little funds to 
guarantee secondary education for many refugees."

Explaining the raison d'ętre of RET, she added, "Consultations within and 
outside UNHCR made it clear that there was an urgent need for an 
independent organisation that would focus on quality post–primary education 
to the largest number of refugee children."

At present, more than 22,000 refugees in Pakistan, Tanzania, Guinea, Sierra 
Leone and Uganda are in secondary school with RET sponsorship. The trust 
has constructed and furnished school buildings, provided educational 
materials, trained and paid teachers, promoted health education, encouraged 
girls' participation and provided vocational skills training.

In her statement at the opening of the symposium, Her Royal Highness 
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, a member of the RET board, 
said that post–primary education is not a question of "Can we afford to do 
it?" but rather one of "Can we afford not to do it?"

She said developing countries had limited resources for the specialisation 
required in secondary schools. While these problems exist in regular 
schools, she added, they are substantially more serious among refugees 
seeking secondary education.

"The high degree of specialisation required at this level means that 
recruiting and retaining qualified teachers in specialised fields such as 
computers, mathematics, science, technology and languages is very 
difficult," she said. Curricula, laboratories, appropriate facilities and 
up–to–date teaching materials are both rare and expensive, she added.

What seems to be a successful model in deprived areas, noted Princess Maha 
Chakri Sirindhorn, is the delivery of post–primary education together with 
vocational training, which she said could be achieved to a considerable 
degree despite all the obstacles.

Representatives from the governments of Burundi, Canada, Colombia, the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Tanzania, 
Thailand, Mexico and the United States also attended the symposium that 
ended on Thursday.

Story date: 19 Sep 2002
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