Refugee pupils facing material, teacher shortage

The president of the women union at the refugee camp Bredjin in east Chad drew attention to the ‘severe shortage’ of school material and teachers pupils are facing, when speaking to Radio Dabanga on Thursday, 5 December. Hawa Bakheet said that students have limited access to textbooks, brochures, pens and furniture, in addition to an ‘acute shortage’ of teachers. She pointed out that children from the first through the fourth grade are affected. The president told Radio Dabanga that pupils come to school neatly dressed in the morning, but that upon entering their classrooms they cannot sit anywhere and end up ‘spending time sleeping on the ground’. She added the situation makes her sad and that students feel offended and resent coming to school every day. This year, the situation at the camp has worsened as the shortage of teachers led Bakheet to seek help from students who have completed the eighth grade, she pointed out. The president also indicated that the current teachers cannot review or correct the work of 150 students because of their poor salaries. Bakheet appealed to the UN High Commission for Refugees to provide support to the organization responsible for education, as it used to do with the COUR organization in the past years. She explained the UN body used to provide a minimum amount of books, pamphlets and pens so that students could continue their education.See also: Future of Darfuri pupils in Chad at risk (21 October 2012)