Keeping in school reignites hope for refugee children

Dorcus Bagalwa is a 16-year-old Congolese refugee living in Kyaka II refugee settlement.

She came to Uganda in 2019 to escape the conflict in DR Congo in which her parents were also abducted. Recently, Bagalwa was one of the hundreds of refugees who completed primary seven examinations in 2022.

She got aggregate 9. She was studying from Bukere AEP Centre under the Accelerated Education Program (AEP) funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).

The hardship and lack of money for school fees had forced her to drop out of school and she spent years without education.

With support of Finn Church Aid (FCA), she was enrolled in school under the AEP Program. FCA implements a condensed curriculum that allows refugee and host community children who have not been able to attend school for long periods to catch up with their studies and return to school.

Bagalwa states that life was good when her parents were still alive while in DR Congo but everything changed when the parents were abducted. Together with her siblings they managed to come to Uganda to seek refuge. Being the eldest of four girls, Bagalwa was forced to care for the other younger siblings and play the parenting role. They lost touch with their elder sister while fleeing Congo.

So, Bagalwa was relieved when she enrolled in the AEP program in Bukere Primary School to catch up on her lost years.

“I was very happy when I was allowed to return. I appreciate ECHO and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) that supported me complete primary cycle through AEP. Ihadlosthopeineducation, but this has been reignited. ECHO paid for my education and bought me scholastic materials.” she says.

She attributes her success to God, being active and attentive in class, consulting teachers and the availability of textbooks provided by ECHO through Finn Church Aid. She is grateful to her teachers and the school administration, colleagues and family that helped her to achieve first grade.

Bagalwa has been enrolled at Bukere secondary school to further her studies. Last year, she was reunited with her sister who now takes care of the family. Bagalwa dreams of becoming a doctor.

ABOUT AEP

According to Filbert Idha, the FCA Education technical lead, about 1,415 other learners came back to school through the AEP Primary and 330 learners through AEP secondary levels in Kyaka II, Rwamwanja and Imvepi refugee settlements where FCA implements this project. Another 26,083 learners in primary schools benefited through the support to their schools.

AEP is an integral part of the INCLUDE (Innovative and Inclusive Accelerated Education) project managed by the Education Consortium Unit consisting of Finn Church Aid, Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council, War Child Holland and Humanity and Inclusion in the refugee settlements of Kyaka, Kyangwali, Nakivale, Imvepi, Rhino and Omugo.

The programme uses a specially designed and condensed version of the Ugandan curriculum. By covering two to three grades of primary education in one year and using teaching methods appropriate for different age groups, learners who have lost many school years can transition into the formal schooling system.