Education experts have urged the Government to develop new policies to solve education-related problems affecting the refugees.

The experts say refugees find challenges in enrolling into tertiary institutions, equating academic papers, failure to comprehend the English language, examination formats and high tuition costs.

(L-R) Simon Marot Touloung Team Leader African Youth Action Network and Hamda Awil Raabi from Clark International University during 6th Regional Conference on forced migration.

Dr Rovincer Najjuma, an educationist from Makerere University, said there is a need for structured policies to guide and regulate the cost of education and equate academic papers to increase refugee access to tertiary learning.

Najjuma made the remarks while addressing the media on Tuesday, October 4, during the 6th meeting on refugee education at Protea hotel, in Kampala.

 "University is the most central place for civic education and at least, everyone would want to go through it. We should not exempt the refugees," she said.

Karin Boven (right) Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda during 6th Regional Conference on forced migration.

Najjuma added that the new education policies would ease the process of resettlement and also prepare refugees for possible futures to leverage access and participation in government programmes.

 Uganda has about 1.38 million refugees according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

 "The Government, through the education ministry, needs to craft workable policies that clarify and direct institutions on the fees refugee pay to access education," Najjuma said.

 The Government had in 2018 designed the national Education Response Plan (ERP) to ensure that all refugee and host community children and adolescents across the country have access to quality education at all levels. The plan sought to benefit over 675,000 children per year.

Godfrey Onyait, the Senior Higher Education at National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) during 6th Regional Conference on forced migration.

 The plan, which was a product of the concerted efforts of various stakeholders, including the education ministry, donors, civil society organisations and UN organisations, through the contribution of financial support, technical expertise and practical input, has since then attracted criticism, especially at the level of implementation.

 However, according to Dr Boven Karin, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Uganda, refugee education is a critical link between learning and earning, while allowing them to thrive as it also boosts their confidence and self-esteem.

 "Policies will in turn support the transition from humanitarian to development-centred assistance leading to an improvement in the socio-economic situation for refugees and vulnerable host communities," Karin said.

 Dr Godfrey Onyait, the senior higher education officer at the National Council for Higher Education, said equating academic papers comes at a cost of shs200,000 which he said becomes expensive for some refugee students.

 "Some students end up giving up because they lack money and information. If the policies are formulated, many shall benefit," Onyait said.

 Inferiority complex

Simon Marot, the team leader of African Youth Action Network, said refugee students suffer inferiority complexes which he said greatly affects their performance.

"The process of fitting within the new learning environment is always hard for many learners," Marot said.

 According to Hamda Awil, a student from Clarke International University, a mentorship programme needs to be introduced to help orient learners on how academic business is conducted.

 "It takes a serious student to catch up with the current system of learning because it involves the local language," Awil said.

 According to statistics, for the refugee enrolment data, only 43% (about 267,000) of refugee children enrol in any kind of education services. 

Gross enrolment rate stands at 39% for early child development (ECD), 58% for primary level and 11% for secondary school.

 Among these, females represent approximately half of all the children enrolled in Early Child Development (ECD) programmes and primary schools.

However, only a third of the children enrolled in secondary schools are female.