Flight Experience of South Sudanese Refugee Children and their Primary education Experience in Jewi Refugee Camp, Ethiopia
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Date
2021-09
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AAU
Abstract
This research was conducted to assess the flight experience South Sudanese Refugee Children and
their primary education experience in Jewi Refugee Camp. It is a qualitative case study research
in which interview, direct observation, and document analysis serve as tools for collecting the
primary data. The research was conducted in Jewi Refugee Camp and all the four primary schools
that are found in this camp have been incorporated in this research. Refugee children, teachers,
school principals, officials and experts from various organizations have been included in this study
as respondents. Qualitative data analysis techniques were employed. With this regard, the
recorded voice was transcribed and behaviors that possess a similar feature were collected
together by providing them a code. MaxQda Software version 2018.3 was used for the analysis of
the collected data. The results of the study revealed that the education provided in the researched
schools gives little emphasis for making use of student’s prior educational experience in home
country. Additionally, the research indicated that the education provided gives marginal attention
to the mechanisms thought to be useful to resolve various complications happened to the students
as a result of the crises. Economic, social, and communication problems were also observed to
have an impact on the relevance of the education. The research observed prevalence of a gap on
parental role in the realization of a conducive school environment. Teacher-related, curriculum related, policy-related, and finance-related problems were also observed to have an impact on the
relevance of the education. The education delivered is identified to provide inadequate emphasis
for the future aspiration of the Children. On the other hand, the research result informed that
access to education enables many South Sudanese children to be literate and the educational
opportunity is helping most children to visualize a better future. The commitment of the Ethiopian
government in enhancing the status of the education provided for the refugee children was found
to be appreciable. Additionally, the research result indicated that some refugee hosting schools
have a better facility and resources compared to local schools as well as former schools of the
researched students in South Sudan. As a result, the research concluded that even though the
education provided is found to be relevant for the current need and future aspiration of refugee
children to some degree, there are various challenges that limit its level of relevance. Therefore,
the research proposed two models for resolving the identified challenges and ensuring the
relevance of the education provided for the current and future needs of refugee students. These
models were “The Model of a holistic approach in the education for refugee children” and “The
shield comprehensive parenting strategy”. Both this models demand a collective effort for
improved primary education and the first model is directly related to inhancing primary education
while the second model has an indirect role in improving primary education
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Keywords
; Relevance; Refugee education; Primary School; Refugee Children; Host Country Curriculum;