ABSTRACT
Title: Contribution of Education to Building Resilience of Regugee Learners: A case of Primary Schools in Nakivale Settlement, Isingiro District, Western Uganda
Education contributes to resilience of refugee learners as emphasized by Uganda Education Refugee Response Plan (2018). However, current education provided to refugee learners appears inadequately contributing to resilience Nanyunja et al (2021).This is evidenced by 90% of refugee learners dropping out of school (UNHCR Reports, 2016,2019 and 2020).
The purpose of this study was to improve on the contribution of education to building resilience of refugee learners by focusing on primary schools in Nakivale settlement, Isingiro District in Western Uganda. The study was guided by three specific objectives: To assess the contribution of the curriculum to building resilience of refugee learners; To examine the role of teachers in building resilience of refugee learners and; To examine the role of the school leadership in building resilience of refugee learners. The study adopted a single case study design and used a qualitative approach to collect data from thirty-five purposively sampled participants (refugee learners, teachers, head teachers, School Management Committees, Parents Teachers Associations, the District Education Officer and development partners) in three primary schools of Kashojwa, Nyarugugu and Nakivale in Nakivale refugee settlement, Isingiro District – Western Uganda.
Findings of the study revealed that the curriculum was not adequately contributing to the resilience of refugee learners since its objectives not well defined, content was inappropriate, and evaluation was ineffective; furthermore, the study findings revealed that the teachers did not adequately contribute to the resilience of refugee learners as they largely focused on teaching for grades, made limited efforts in creative arts/extracurricular activities and psycho-social support; and lastly it was revealed that that the role of the school leadership was ineffective as none of the schools made policy towards learners’ progress, prepared school improvement plans (SIPs), 5 year strategic plans and all only scantly monitored the school operations. It was therefore concluded that if the curriculum objectives are well defined, its content responsive to the needs of refugee learners and effective curriculum evaluation, its contribution to the resilience of refugee learners will be higher; if teachers focus on creative arts /extracurricular activities and psycho-social support, resilience of refugee learners will largely improve and; as long as the school leadership plays its policy roles, develop SIPs, and provide oversight role, resilience of refugee learners will be built. Given the above conclusions, the researcher recommended that the Ministry of Education and Sports should spearhead the development of a Significant Blended Curriculum that will provide significant education for refugee learners to build resilience; a teacher-management framework be designed by the MoES to enhance teachers’ roles in the building of resilience of refugee learners; and the MoES should develop an integrated refugee school leadership framework that will promote and ensure cohesion and collaboration between the three structures of PTA, SMC and school administration. A conceptual model for building resilience of primary school refugee learners was developed by the researcher based on this study’s findings.
Supervisors:
Dr. Nicholas Itaaga
Dr. Wycliffe Scot Wafula
