The Right to Education of Refugees in Tsore Camp, Benishangul Gumuz Region of Ethiopia

Abstract

The right to education is recognized in various international and national laws. Accordingly, the general human rights standards like the UDHR, ICESCR, CRC make primary education compulsory and free, whereas secondary and higher education accessible based on individual‟s merit and available state resources. 1 Besides, the Refugee Convention and the new Ethiopian refugee law specifically governing refugee guarantees „equal treatment of refugees with nationals‟ in terms of primary education, and the same laws warrant „most favorable treatment than other aliens‟ concerning secondary and higher education. 2 However, there is a problem of noncompliance in the Tsore refugee camp at all levels. As regards elementary education, the classrooms are overcrowded and most of the teachers are unqualified. Moreover, the curriculum and teaching method are not friendly for refugees, and they are not again adequately accessible to them. Conversely, in the elementary school built for Ethiopians, it is far better than the case of Tsore camp elementary school in all aspects. Regarding secondary education, there is no school in a refugee camp. As a result, they attend their education outside of the camp with the host community in an overcrowded situation even worse than the situation in elementary school. Furthermore, alike the case of elementary education the curriculum and teaching methods are not acceptable for refugees. And their foreign documents are not recognized. At a higher level, the education opportunity is rare and they are not also awarded a scholarship. And like the case of secondary level, refugees' foreign documents are not recognized. Thus, there is a serious violation of refugees‟ right to education in Tsore camp at all levels of education: primary, secondary, and territory levels.