CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO EDUCATION FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED CHILDREN

In our last article, we looked at education in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps and how displacement affects education. If you have not, you should check it out here.?

Now, we are going to look at the educational challenges faced in IDP camps

·???????Language barrier: in IDP camps, you will find people from all parts of the country, with different backgrounds, cultures and languages. In a situation where a majority of the children speak Hausa and the language of instruction is English. There may be some friction. The children have to learn English before they can learn other subjects or be taught in the language they understand.

·???????Not enough teachers: The reason why unqualified teachers end up doing the teaching is that there are not enough teachers available and as a result, anyone who is available, qualified or not, ends up doing the teaching.

·???????No recognition of prior learning: Classes may not be properly segmented as there are not enough resources and infrastructure to have all the necessary classes and departments, as a result, children at different learning stages are grouped together, learning the same thing. ?

·???????Lack of infrastructure: setting up proper educational structures for the children may take months and sometimes even years. The learning environment in some camps may not be conducive and can discourage children from learning.

Learning Solutions

·???????Workbooks

?Our workbooks including numeracy, literacy, basic science etc. are an effective way to measure students’ learning progress, it is a helpful tool. Using workbooks, the teacher is able to measure the learning stages and progress of the children.

·???????Online learning

Through partnerships and collaborations with the government, network providers, educational bodies and institutions, online learning solutions can be provided for children. For instance, the major language spoken in the IDP camps in Abuja is Hausa and Learnxplore provides subjects such as English and mathematics in Hausa. Giving the children access to such quality educational content will be beneficial to them.

·???????Volunteers: with the help of qualified and willing teachers, quality education can be delivered to children. One could also offer trainings to teachers or support the building of infrastructure.

A lot has been done to provide education for internally displaced children but there is still work to be done. The work should not be left to the government alone, individuals, philanthropists, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)., and companies should make an effort to help in their own way.

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