Cameroon: Including refugee and internally displaced children in education

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.