CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES Faced by Liberian Refugee Children and Youths as they enter the formal Educational Systems at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana TIEN KEAH BORTU A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Comparative and International Education INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, FACULTY OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITETET I OSLO SPRING 2009 2 ABSTRACT This study addresses the challenges that Liberian refugee children and youths living at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana face in accessing education. Over 40,000 Liberian refugees (adult and children) settle at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana where the UNHCR and other relief agencies withdrew their educational support to the refugees in 2000. The UNHCR’s three proposed solutions to the problems of refugees is viewed from different angles by the refugees thus providing room for their own arguments and preferment. This attitude has invariably an effect on the educational system at the camp since administrators/teachers, parents and the children are involved. Amidst the quest for education by children, thousands of them at the Buduburam Refugee Camp are denied the opportunity of attending schools or prefer other means at their disposure rather than the classrooms. In exploring on the educational challenges facing these children, a qualitative research design using Library Research and Documentation, Semi Structured Interviews and Observation was employed. There were two research questions and a total of 26 respondents including children, parents, camp leaders, educational consultants and humanitarian organizations participated in the study. From their responses and analyses of major themes and research findings, poverty (87%), the dreams of resettlement (77%), lack of motivation (46%) and social life at the camp (73%) are major setbacks for refugee children and youths not being able to access education at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am very grateful to the almighty God who first and foremost must be hailed for the provision of life that enables me take on the task of indulging into this thesis work. I will like to say from the depth of my heart, a big thank you to all of my hosts and special contacts in persons of Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Momo Cassell, Mr. Alexander Ramble and Mr. Abraham Attoh of Accra, Ghana. They were very instrumental in negotiating all the pre-contacts before I arrived in Ghana. While in Accra, Mr. Abraham Attoh managed to organized series of tours for me during my free time. Areas toured included: The Elmina Castle and the Cape Coast University, Kumasi, Afloa, Lome, the capital city of Togo, Tema and The Greater Accra Region. To these people I owed them a lot and words are inadequate to expressed for such gratitude. I am also deeply indebted to all of the respondents that participated in the study. They include: UNHCR, The Ghana Refugee Board, The Ghana Education Service, The Buduburam Central Education Board, The Liberian Refugee Welfare Council, Refuge Baptist School, Fundamental Baptist School and the United Methodist School. Others include: The Buduburam Refugee Community School, Saint Gregory Catholic School, Children Better Way Organization and School, Abandoned Refugee Children Home, (Local NGO), New Testament School, Faith Foundation School, Help Save a Life, (a local NGO) and parents of children. I can say without hesitation that their contributions mean a lot to this study and without their input; this work would have been incomplete. A special commendation goes to Mr. Peter Zuagar, Mr. J. Omikee Saydee and Mr. Moses Bah for their immense contribution and provision of reading materials that guided me through my thesis. Special thanks go to Fidel Dole, Eric Kun, and Cleopatra Kamara who were very instrumental in helping me while I conducted the interviews at the Buduburam Camp. I say to them felicitation. In Norway, I would extend special compliments to all my professors and instructors including my classmates (class of 2006-2008) at the Institute for Educational Research for the intellectual exchange of knowledge. I cherished the idea and will miss such a wonderful experience. I owed an indelible debt to my mentor and energetic advisor, Kendra Dupuy for her patience, advice and considerations. I owed her for the experience, unflinching support and constructive criticisms, without which this thesis could have been an ordinary fairytale. I owed gratitude to the Save the Children (Reddbarna) Norwegian office for their support in providing me a research grant to travel to Ghana, Africa in order to carry on and complete my fieldwork. It was quite a gesture in the right direction towards the exposure of some of the educational problems children faced in a refugee setting, especially at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. Lastly, I must be grateful to pay homage to my wife, Cecilia and Kids (Theodocia, Dauda, Philip, Ticelia and Bill-Frank) for supporting me in my educational endeavours. I spent millions of seconds away from them doing field work in Ghana and library research in Norway and could not be with them at times when they needed me most. To those who I forget to mention, thanks once again for your kind considerations and concerns. May God richly bless all those that helped made my dreams a reality in completing this thesis. 4 DEDICATION This work is a special dedication to all children and youths living in internally displaced camps and those living as refugees in foreign borders and finding themselves in protracted situations. Their educational concerns are as important in as much as they find themselves experiencing the difficulties of trying to sustain themselves. It is my ardent hope and desire that all governments in both developed and developing countries work towards the compulsory education ideology of all children as envisaged by the United Nations’ dream for 2015. 5 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figur 1: Map of the study area ............................................................................................... 30 Figur 2. Ghana and Liberia on a West Africa map ................................................................ 30 Tabell 1. Interview List............................................................................................. 66 Tabell 2. Details on respondents .............................................................................. 68 Tabell 3. 2004/2005 BECE Results, Buduburam ................................................... 85 Tabell 4. 2005/2006 BECE Resukts, Buduburam .................................................. 85 Tabell 5. BECE Results, 2004/2005 Ghanian Junior High Schools ..................... 85 Tabell 6. BECE Results, 2005/2006 Ghanian Junior High Schools .................... 86 Tabell 7. SSSCE for Buduburam Secodary School 1998-2001............................. 87 Tabell 8. SSSCE Results for Ghanian Schools 2005/2006..................................... 88 Tabell 9.SSSCE Results for Ghanaian Schools 2006/2007.................................... 88 Tabell 10. Pupil/Teacher Ratio for 2005/2006 (Ghanaian Schools) ..................... 89 Tabell 11. Student/Teacher ratio in Senior Secondary Schools ........................... 89 Tabell 12. Enrollment Buduburam Schools 2007/2008 Semester one ................. 96 6 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AATU All African Teachers Union ACS American Colonization Society AIDS Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome AOR Affidavit of Relationships ARCH Abandoned Refugee Children Home AGREDS Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services AHEAD Agency for Holistic Evangelism and Development AU African Union BRCS Buduburam Refugee Secondary School BECE Basic Education Certificate Examinations BCEB Buduburam Central Educational Board CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CBW Children Better Way CRS Catholic Relief Services CWA College of West Africa DAFI Deutsche Akademische Fluchtling Initiative DED Deferred Enforcement Departure DEO District Education Office DHS Department of Homeland Security DR Congo Democratic Republic of Congo ECOMOG Economic Community Monitoring Group ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States EFA Education for All EUC European Union Currency FCUBE Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education GES Ghana Education Services GCC Christian Council of Ghana GDP Gross Domestic Product GRB Ghana Refugee Board HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HSAL Help Save A Life IDP’s Internally Displaced Persons IEL Improved Efficiency of learning LAMCO Liberia American-Swedish Materials Company LAP Liberia Action Party LPC Liberia Peace Council LRWC Liberia Refugee Welfare Council LURD Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy MODEL Movement for Democratic Elections in Liberia NDPL National Democratic Party of Liberia NERP New Educational Reform Programme NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia NWT Neighbourhood Watch Teams NGO Non-Governmental Organization 7 NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia NTGL National Transitional Government of Liberia NPRAG National Patriotic Reconstructural Assembly Government NSCE New Structure and Content of Education OAU Organization of African Unity PNDC Provisional National Defence Council OHCHR Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights PNDC Provisional National Defence Council SGBV Sexual & Gender Based Violence SSSCE Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam