gereresearch – Page 4

A personal account from data collection for Data Point 3

On a scorching hot summer day, labour workers held bricks in their hands in a stiff and stinky atmosphere, under the burning sun, to construct a house in Peshawar. It was the month of July. The wind was silent and motionless. The trees and plants looked stationary beneath the sun. The birds were all gasping for breath. Under this blistering heat, several labourers were working hard.

Muneer (1) continued to work despite the unbearable heat, his face and body covered in sweat, along with other workers. Muneer is 19 years old. He is an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, and aspires to become a doctor as a way to change his future. He recently graduated from school, but despite these twelve years of education, he is working as a labourer in the hot month of July.

Muneer is one of the students participating in the Voices of Refugee Youth research study: a study tracking education transitions to build the evidence base for post-primary education for refugee youth in Pakistan and Rwanda. As an Afghan refugee studying in Pakistan, he is one of over 1000 students who have participated in the research study’s surveys and interviews at several points over the last two year, following his journey through education and employment.

During the third data point of the research study (DP3), I called Muneer twice. On the first occasion, he picked up his phone and said that he is working and cannot speak to me right now. I called him again the next day at the same time: his response was the same. This time I managed to ask him where he was working; he named a place near where I live, and I decided to meet him in person to complete the survey.

When we met, Muneer spoke about his aims and ambitions of becoming a doctor. However, because he is an undocumented refugee in Pakistan, he is unable to get a scholarship to go to university.

There are many more children like Muneer who want to change their future. Instead of being labour workers and holding bricks, they want to hold books and pens. Unfortunately, their future employment aspirations and dreams are being crushed by the cruel hands of destiny. According to the latest statistics by UNHCR, the number of refugees across the world has increased over the last decade. In 2010, it was estimated that 41 million people were forcibly displaced, while the figures rose to 82 million by 2020 (UNHCR Flagship report, 2022).

Pakistan hosts a massive population of refugees, on top of the other challenges it faces. There are 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan (IOM Migration Data Portal, 2021) and, as of 2017 estimations, a further 600,000 to one million undocumented Afghan refugees (UNHCR, 2017). This makes Pakistan host to one of the world’s largest refugee populations. However, there is an urgent need to systematically address the unregistered refugee population in Pakistan. Hundreds of Afghan refugee youth are unregistered and undocumented, which therefore means that they cannot continue on to university. This issue is holding hundreds of youth from continuing their education in their host communities.

“I have a dream of becoming a doctor and treat[ing] people; I wish to hold a stethoscope instead of these bricks.” Despite all these challenges, Muneer is still hopeful. He is not alone among the hundreds of refugees striving for their future and seeking to continue their education. However, documentation remains a key barrier to achieving this dream.

(1) The name has been changed to preserve the anonymity of this refugee.

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My experience of doing research methods training virtually

By Javan Mugenzi

During the COVID-19 outbreak in Rwanda, I had the opportunity to continue learning about research methods for social science, as part of my ongoing engagement in the Voices of Refugee Youth initiative. It was a great experience, despite the challenges of virtual lecturing for Unit 2 and Unit 3 of the training course. COVID-19 has made learning difficult in Rwanda, particularly for students in secondary schools, universities, and primary schools. Several lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions made it impossible to gather as a group, as we did for Unit 1 before the outbreak in Rwanda. As a result, this blog will focus on my experiences as a refugee, living in a refugee camp in Rwanda, while virtually undertaking the research methods training course offered by Jigsaw and REUK.

We transitioned to doing the research methods training course virtually during the pandemic, starting with Unit 2 of the course from April 26th to May 11th, 2021. In Rwanda, this was a time of significant COVID-19 measures. Physical lecturing was not an option at the time because schools, particularly Rwandan universities, had adopted online course delivery methods. The only choice was to continue the course over the internet, because that was the only way to finish Unit 2 and start collecting data for the second data point of the Voices of Refugee Youth research study. But it was a tough educational experience. It was my first time taking a rigorous virtual class for a course that required a high level of concentration and a conducive learning atmosphere.

The main challenge of virtual learning was that I was in the refugee camp all day while taking the research methods course. It was difficult to go online because my laptop’s battery could only last for about an hour, and it was difficult to connect to an electricity supply. However, I could occasionally use the tablet (provided by Jigsaw and REUK for the research study) in order to stay connected after my laptop’s battery died.

The learning mode (using a variety of online platforms) for the research methods training course was a new learning experience. It was my first time using Canvas, which was really new for me. However, I learnt how to use it, and was able to apply it later in the course. The skills I learnt in Unit 2 paved the way for Unit 3, because when I started lectures for Unit 3, I had an idea of what I was going to have to do online. Using Google Drive was troublesome for me as well; whenever I was required to complete an assignment, it had to be shared with all the course facilitators in order for them to mark it. However, the facilitators’ guidance during the virtual sessions gave me the courage to participate in each step, because every facilitator was committed to helping me if I became confused or needed assistance.

Throughout the virtual training for the research methods course, I’ve learned a lot. There are a few things that I believe are essential for anyone who is undergoing virtual learning for any subject. Firstly, a person must be open and honest about what he or she knows or does not know. It is difficult to assess a person’s knowledge and skills through virtual learning, and therefore, because a facilitator does not have access to everyone in person, a student must be sincere about what s/he understands. This can help a facilitator to return to a specific topic to ensure that their teaching on a particular subject is well captured.

I also advise anyone to prepare well and take the learning process seriously, so that his or her mind is prepared to engage with each topic. As a result, the student will achieve a good outcome and a clear understanding throughout the virtual learning process. It is important to be honest with oneself and with a facilitator in order to complete virtual training to a high level of knowledge and skill. Discipline combined with determination can lead anyone to achieve their goals, regardless of the obstacles they face along the way.

To summarise, in the virtual training for the research methods course, I faced numerous problems, including a lack of familiarity with the platform, a challenging learning environment, and the need to develop certain online skills, particularly with Google Sheets. Persevering through all of this, however, resulted in excellent learning and the ability to use Google Drive with either documents or spreadsheets. These are excellent new skills, in addition to the knowledge I gained from Jigsaw and REUK’s virtual research methods training. Above all, virtual learning ought to be taken seriously; otherwise, a learner may risk not being able to benefit from the training.

It was a huge accomplishment to complete the virtual training for Units 2 and 3 of the research methods course. Overall, it was a delight to have such an experience because it helped me to mould my thinking and better grasp research methods and remote learning systems.

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Reflections on the impact of Covid-19 for refugees and education

By Umer Farooq

This blog is on the topic of education and the refugee community, especially those Afghan refugees living in Pakistan who have been affected by Covid-19. During the pandemic, the whole world economy has suffered a lot and the education sector, in particular, has been hit hard. The lives and education of the refugees that have been affected by the pandemic in Pakistan are explored below, drawing on my own experience.

Covid-19 was clearly a big issue for all countries, but was especially hard for those countries that do not have the necessary resources and proper hospital facilities. The government of Pakistan took many steps to control the pandemic, like a ‘smart lockdown’ in some areas and ‘complete lockdown’ in others. Educational and religious institutions were also shut down and the government later made various rules to control the virus. The main challenge facing the policymakers of under-developed countries was how to implement an online education system, because such a pandemic had never happened before and education systems were not prepared. A second challenge was that people who got sick from Covid-19 rarely went to the hospital, thinking it was a minor illness and they could cure it themselves. As a result, the disease spread further due to a lack of awareness among the people. More education was needed to prevent this from happening.

The past two years have been an especially difficult time for the refugee community which has been living in camps in Pakistan for almost forty years. Most of them work as laborers, earning for their children daily to support their children’s stomachs and their education expenses. For those who are educated in the refugee community, there are few formal employment opportunities in Pakistan because this is a poor country where it is very difficult to seek employment.

When Covid-19 started, there were restrictions on movement and leaving the house here. Due to this, educational activities and employment stopped and people became unemployed. In the case of refugee laborers, their employment completely stopped and their livelihood became very difficult. Those in formal employment did not suffer so much, but the process of cutting the salaries of private-sector employees started and a lot of people lost their jobs because the private institutions couldn’t afford their jobs further.

At that time when Covid-19 started, I was working in a private college as a lecturer. Colleges and schools closed, so we also sat at home. Then our college owner told us that the college could not give us a salary. So we started living on the savings we had accumulated.

The quality of education also deteriorated due to Covid-19 and the majority of primary and secondary education was affected. Universities responded to the pandemic by starting online education, but only those university students who live in cities benefited from this because the internet system works there. Rural students, however, were deprived of getting this education because in most of the villages of Pakistan the internet system is not functional.

This blog therefore summarises how Covid-19 has been affecting the lives of refugees and their education in Pakistan. The refugee community has provided help to those very poor members of their community and UNHCR has also given 12,000 rupees of emergency cash assistance to the poorest families.(1) However, due to the economic pressures of the pandemic, many refugees face the risk of never returning to school, undoing years of progress made in education for refugees, in Pakistan and around the world.

(1) UNHCR, 2020. https://www.unhcr.org/pk/6522-most-vulnerable-refugee-families-to-receive-rs-12000-emergency-cash-assistance.html.

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Our analysis of Data Point 1

By Alexandre Irakoze and Emmanuel Ndayikengurukiye

During the survey conducted by Jigsaw Consult at Groupe Scolaire Paysannat L located near the Mahama Refugee Camp in early 2020, some findings emerged in the area of education, especially in post primary education. The survey targeted three hundred final year students (senior six) from different combinations such as Mathematics, Economics and Geography; History, Economics and Geography; Literature in English, Kinyarwanda and French.

The majority of respondents reported that through English clubs their English proficiency has improved and they have easily adapted to the Anglophone system of education used in Rwanda. For example, some of the respondents preferred to be surveyed in their mother tongue, but a great number of them who accepted the survey to be conducted in English from the beginning of the questionnaire to the end. This ability is due to their participation in English clubs and has positively impacted their ability to do their best at secondary school.

At the school that we collected data in, it was interesting to hear from both boys and girls that they wish to continue into higher education after they finish secondary school. They never doubt their success in the national exam, which is considered as the key factor for secondary students to get access to higher education. Many respondents also said that they will face the challenge of getting a scholarship. Many refugee students at Groupe Scolaire Paysannat L believe that UNHCR and NGOs will to support them to access higher education when they finish secondary school. Based on this, we realised that refugee students have regained their future hope and have started to think big compared to their first days of the arrival in the camp.

The school had existed even before the coming of Burundian refugees in Mahama Refugee Camp, but it was widened due to the arrival of Burundian refugee students who were fleeing because of the political conflict. Therefore, many survey respondents said that they have had one interruption to their secondary education caused by forced displacement.

At Groupe Scolaire Paysannat L school a great number of respondents salute the support from UNHCR and the Government of Rwanda. However, the shortage of education resources provided by partners in the education sector is a barrier for their good performance at school. Parents are not able to afford the cost of such resources at the market due to their living conditions.

Regarding the learning process, many students said that the school should link theory with practices by allocating internship time especially for final year students. Respondents want to have a well-equipped computer lab in order to improve their computer skills, because many of them have not used computer at all during their education period. When a student finishes secondary education without any computer skills, it becomes very hard for them to find a job as many jobs require computer skills.

When respondents are asked about the relationship between what they are studying and their future career, many of them reported that it is not easy to find the section or combination of subjects that matches with their future will. For example, at Groupe Scolaire Paysannat L there is no section of biology and chemistry or physics and chemistry, which students need to study if they want to become a nurse or physician and civil engineer. That is why the lack of section diversity forced some refugee students to study subjects that do not match with their future career.

However, despite the challenges outlined above, it was most interesting to hear many students say that they feel safe at school and they are treated the same in their classes as Rwandan students. The lack of any safeguarding concern or any other kind of harm was important to us during this survey. Many of the respondents expect this survey to help them carry their voice as far as possible and find solutions to the highlighted problems. They said that when they arrived in the refugee camp, they were asked questions about their educational background in their interview at the UNHCR registration centre, and the schools were designed based on the information they gave. Therefore, they said that they feel proud to see that they are not walking alone because the world is still thinking about them.

In general, the survey provided objective information not only about how helpful education in refugee camps is, but also about different barriers that block refugee students’ ability to do their best at secondary school.

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