“We live in harmony”: Eritrean refugees join Ethiopian schools and universities

Eritrean refugees are now studying alongside locals in Ethiopian schools and universities. This, as changes in integration policies and legislation in Ethiopia gave thousands of Eritrean children and youths the opportunity to continue their formal education.

On 17 January 2019, the Ethiopian parliament amended existing legislation to grant more rights to refugees, including the right to study in public schools, and to live, work and travel outside of refugee camps.

The UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) representative in Ethiopia, Clementine Awu Nkweta-Salami, praised the decision to pass the new legislation, saying: “Ethiopia not only serves as a role model for countries in Africa, but for countries across the world.”

Based on UNHCR reports, at least 7-in-10 primary school-age refugee children in Ethiopia between 2017 and 2018 had already enrolled in formal education. One of the many schools in the country to have integrated Eritrean refugees is the Mai-Aini Secondary School.

A UNHCR reporter spoke to Mike, an Eritrean pupil at the school, about his experience of studying alongside local classmates. He said: “We play, study and live side by side. Some are refugees, some are not. It doesn’t matter. We live in harmony.”

He added: “I am happy to be getting an education because it will help me achieve my dreams.”

The Mai-Aini Secondary School provides free education to 235 refugee students and 383 students from the host community. Students are also given free materials, including books and stationary.

Older refugees are also benefitting from the education system in Ethiopia. Thanks to various scholarship programmes, more than 3,100 refugees enrolled in different universities in Ethiopia between 2017 and 2019.

Nkweta-Salami urged relevant actors to continue to work to improve the integration of more than 900,000 refugees living in Ethiopia.

She said: “In order to make the implementation of the new comprehensive refugee response a success, additional resources from the private sector and from development actors are needed, to make new investments and create opportunities for employment to the benefit of both refugees and host communities.”

TMP – 19/04/2019

Photo credit: Andrzej Kubik / Shutterstock

Photo caption: A young girl in class at a school in Aksum, northern Ethiopia. 22 March 2019.