By Grace Isimbi, RLRH Research Assistant
When refugee children arrive in a new country, returning to school is rarely straightforward. Different countries take different approaches to refugee education. Tanzania, for example, requires refugee students to follow home-country curricula, aiming to quickly repatriate learners. Kenya takes the opposite approach: it mandates refugee students in both camp and urban areas to follow Kenya’s curriculum–different from their countries of origin–to build “social cohesion that goes beyond the classroom”.
This piece explores transitional challenges faced by urban refugee students from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) living in Nairobi, Kenya – both recent arrivals and those who have lived in the country for more than a decade. These challenges fall under four categories: economic, bureaucratic, academic, and linguistic. I also offer four key recommendations for government bodies and schools in Kenya.
I draw these insights from my observations as a Congolese refugee living in Nairobi, and from conversations with refugee students, neighbours, and friends who have transitioned into Kenyan schools. The challenges I describe may not be universal to all DRC school-going refugees, but they are common among those I spoke to informally. Names marked with an asterisk (*) are pseudonyms.
Economic constraints
Some refugee students struggle to return to school due to economic constraints. Many need to work to support their families, and even with informal jobs, parents often can’t earn enough to cover all expenses. Fabrice* who has lived in Kenya for almost a decade, had to stop his education when he arrived in order to support his parents. He worked in a barbershop and used part of his salary to help with costs they couldn’t cover.
Bureaucratic challenges
For DRC students who do manage to rejoin school, documentation challenges often delay the transition. Some arrive without certificates, either because they had not completed primary school, or because documents were lost in transit.
Without official documents, schools require refugee students to take a placement test to determine which class they’ll enter. However, there is no standard placement test at the national level as these vary from school to school, resulting in inconsistent tests and placement criteria.
Even when DRC students can produce certificates and transcripts, most are in French, creating a slew of convoluted and unclear bureaucratic hurdles.
First, documents must be translated through a Kenya-recognised agency such as Alliance Française, Longhorn Language Services, Kenya Translation services, and the Language School in Kenya, among others. These organisations translate documents for official use, and provide cost estimates upon request.
After this comes the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), which validates foreign qualifications using the Kenyan National Qualifications Framework (KNQF). KNQA validates qualifications, and recognises prior learning for foreigners and Kenyans who have studied in different systems to those in Kenya. Nonetheless, the KNQA website states that the services offered are for Kenyans and foreigners without explicit mention of refugees’ inclusion to access those services. This multi-step process, on top of the lack of explicit refugee-inclusive language, creates an information gap over KNQA’s existence and the services it provides, as well as the process to validate their certifications.
Academic challenges
Class repetition – the need to repeat a grade – may also lead to over-age dropouts. Based on placement test results, some students must repeat classes or take lower grade classes because they do not speak English, the language of instruction in Kenya.
Trésor* had already started secondary school in the DRC, but was placed in class five when he arrived in Kenya, setting him back three years. He accepted being held back and learned English without worrying about catching up with peers.
Mutoni*, faced a similar situation. She had also started secondary school back in the DRC, but upon arriving in Kenya, she was held back by 2 years. She finished primary school and started secondary school. She eventually lost motivation and dropped out in the second year.
Linguistic challenges
The lack of language support makes transitioning from a French-speaking curriculum to an English curriculum particularly difficult. Adapting to instruction in a new language takes time, and without tutoring, many students only have interactions with classmates, teachers, and neighbors to learn from.
Unable to speak English or Swahili fluently, Beza* juggled both the need to catch up with her studies to pass her exams and the need to learn both languages to catch up on her studies and her peers. She struggled mostly with English, which is used in a majority of lessons, and would have benefited greatly from targeted language lessons.
Recommendations
To the Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Education: Offer flexible schedules and modes of study for refugee students. For working refugee students unable to attend school during scheduled hours, a flexible online mode of study would allow them to continue their studies. With flexible classes in place, students can choose study times that align with their schedules while also fulfilling other responsibilities. The flexibility that comes with online learning also removes the difficulties such as the possibility and cost to attend in-person classes.
To the Government of Kenya’s Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA): Provide clear guidelines on how refugees can validate and accredit documents. While the KNQA is responsible for accrediting and validating qualifications, the process is unclear for refugees, as the website does not explicitly state whether refugees can also access the services and receive support. The KNQA should clarify the eligibility of refugees to access its services, and provide clear step-by-step guidelines and timelines of the entire process on their website. This would provide clear direction and help refugees put together all the necessary documents before starting the process.
To the Government of Kenya’s Ministry of Education: Adopt Accelerated Education Programmes (AEP), which have been implemented by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Kakuma and Dadaab camps. These programmes could reduce the risk of students dropping out due to class repetition.
AEPs are “a flexible, age-appropriate programme, run in an accelerated time frame”. Their target group include “disadvantaged, over-age, out-of-school children and youth particularly those who missed out on, or had their education interrupted due to poverty, marginalisation, conflict and crisis”. There are several AEP centers in Kakuma and Dadaab where students must take a placement test to determine the AEP level they will be placed into. In the programme, the students are grouped according to their abilities, allowing learners at the same level to study together. The programme condenses two to three years of formal curriculum into one level, and students receive personalised support based on areas of struggle. At the end of the programme, students sit for national exams and receive certificates usable to transition into the formal education system.
A similar model could be applied in urban settings. For example, in Nairobi, AEP centers could be established within or near existing schools where students would be placed in a fitting AEP level after taking the placement test. They would study alongside peers, learn at their own pace and receive targeted support from teachers to promote a space for growth to reduce the risk of student drop outs. The students would join the formal education system when they are ready using the certificate earned after completing the programme.
To schools hosting a large number of refugee students: Provide English and Swahili tutoring for refugee students. Transitioning to an English curriculum for French speaking refugee students is a challenge because of the absence of language support. Targeted sessions providing English and Swahili lessons would fill the language gap and help the students to adjust to the new system more rapidly. Students would also perform better because they would not be held back by language difficulties to understand what they are taught in school.
