Cameroon: Including refugee and internally displaced children in education
Story highlights
- Cameroon has an increasing number of refugees from the Central African Republic and Nigeria as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) from conflict-affected regions, many of whom are school-age children.
- The government is committed to ensuring equitable access to quality education for all children in communities hosting refugees and IDPs.
- A GPE-funded program is helping improve the quality of education in 300 host-community schools welcoming refugees and 200 host-community schools with internally displaced children.
This story was written in collaboration with World Bank Cameroon.
On a sunny morning in Mandjou, a small town in the East region of Cameroon, grade 1 teacher Florence Obossok Hend and her students at Public Primary School Mandjou 1A have a full day of learning ahead of them.
There are not enough textbooks for all 129 students, so five students share one book, but Florence is accustomed to having the children work in groups.
A more complex challenge is that almost 20% of her students are refugees. Prior to attending school in Cameroon, many of the refugee students had been out of school for an extended period, as they and their families fled conflict in the Central African Republic.
The average grade 1 student is 6 years old, but some of Florence’s refugee students are 7 or 8, many have forgotten what they learned at their previous school, some have never attended school, and most do not speak French, which is the language of instruction at Mandjou 1A. “It’s always difficult as a teacher to work with children who, because of the language barrier, don’t understand what is expected from them”.
Families of students at Mandjou 1A cite additional challenges their children face as refugee students, such as difficulties integrating, trauma and lack of required documentation.
“The main challenges for my children are not having birth certificates [which they need to pursue lower secondary education], my lack of resources, which means my children go to school on an empty stomach, and trauma. My children have witnessed war and the killing of their father. We had to flee our country on foot, and we have had to stay in a refugee camp.”
“The main challenges at school for my grandchildren were the stress of being in a new environment and having to learn and sing the national anthem of a foreign country.”
“The main challenges for my children are not having birth certificates [which they need to pursue lower secondary education], the difficulty of integration into a new school, and the trauma of experiencing war, having to flee our country and stay in a refugee camp.”
Refugees and displaced persons in Cameroon
In addition to refugees fleeing conflict and insecurity in the Central African Republic, an influx of refugees from Nigeria due to the Boko Haram crisis has led to a humanitarian crisis in the East, Far North, North and Adamawa regions of Cameroon.
Clashes between government security forces and armed groups in the North-West and South-West regions have further compromised peace, stability and service delivery in the country.
According to UNHCR–the UN Refugee Agency–as of August 2023, Cameroon had over 473,000 refugees and 1 million internally displaced persons, many of whom are school-aged children.
GPE is working with the government of Cameroon to strengthen education delivery in crisis-affected areas.
A grant of US$53.8 million for the period 2021-2027, implemented by the World Bank, has been helping improve the learning environment and quality of education in 300 host-community schools with refugees and 200 host-community schools with IDPs.
Support for host-community schools
“I participated in a psychosocial training to better understand how I should work with vulnerable children. This training helped me a lot, and now I know how to pay special attention to them in class.”
As part of the GPE-funded program, the government drafted an emergency response plan and a teacher’s guide for teaching in an emergency context.
Additionally, 1,650 teachers, 150 pedagogical staff and 350 members from local communities have participated in training on how to provide psychosocial support to refugee and IDP children.
Eligible schools hosting refugees and IDPs have received grants to complement government allocations or parents’ contributions; these help cover school improvement costs, such as increasing access to potable water, installing a security fence and purchasing textbooks.
To date, 222 primary schools hosting refugees and 175 primary schools hosting IDPs have received grant funding from GPE.
“Our school has 1,033 students this school year, and 902 of them are refugees.”
The Government Primary School of Bindia, located in the East region of Cameroon, welcomes refugee children and waives their school fees.
The school’s director, Josiane Nnanga, does a lot of outreach to refugee parents to make sure they are aware of the education opportunities available to their children.
The school has created a small NGO called Mother-Daughter that encourages mothers to send their girls to school.
The school also provides administrative support to the parents of refugee children who do not have a birth certificate, especially those in grades 5 and 6, as this document is required to pursue lower secondary education in Cameroon.
Government English Primary School Ndogpassi 3A, located in Douala in the Littoral region, has 530 students, and 138 are IDPs from the North West and South West regions.
“The main challenges I face with my IDP students is that most of them come to school in the morning with an empty stomach; some are traumatized by the loss of a parent or a sibling, who they may have seen die in front of them; and they have difficulty reading. The training helped me understand that I should not shout; I should include them in group activities and encourage them to participate in class.”
At the Government English Primary School Bonamatoumbe in Douala, Littoral region, more than one quarter of the students are IDPs.
Teacher Samuel Orang Ntow has 53 students in his grade 6 class and 32 are IDPs. Most need to catch up on lost learning and struggle with concentration in class.
“The training taught me awareness techniques and activities to engage with the children. I have also learned how to identify trauma and use acting and play to provide counselling.”
Equitable access to education
In addition to supporting refugee and IDP host communities, the GPE-funded program is helping Cameroon improve equitable access to basic education in other disadvantaged areas of the country.
The government has identified priority zones–regions and parts of large cities–with low levels of school participation and learning outcomes lagging behind the rest of the country.
National-level interventions include teacher recruitment and training, more textbooks and better education data management; local-level interventions address specific school and community needs.
Cameroon, in partnership with GPE and the World Bank, is ensuring Cameroonian and refugee students alike continue learning throughout an evolving crisis.
December 2023
More country journeys
