Preliminary Investigation of Educational Opportunities for Refugee Children in Egypt
Author(s): W. Afifi
The intent of this report is to provide more information about current educational opportunities for refugee children in Cairo. This study focuses on the administrative procedures to access and enrol into public and private schools. In order to understand the situation of refugee children in Egypt, the report provides an overview of the current challenges facing the Egyptian public school system and the administrative obstacles in the admission process. The report demonstrates that despite Egypt having ratified the 1989 Convention for the Rights of the Child, the implementation of the right to education has been minimal, especially in the case of refugees. The failure of the Egyptian educational system, e.g. overcrowded classrooms, inappropriate curriculum and extremely poor facilities has inevitably an impact on the number of refugee children to be able to enrol to public school. Contrary, the private sector clearly offers greater resources than the public educational system, although inability to provide scholarships creates other obstacles for refugee children. The report concludes that further research should be done in order to understand the ways to overcome problems that are faced by refugee children within the Egyptian educational system and to include the psychological aspects of schooling, for example how do living conditions, economic insecurity, and temporary accommodation affect child refugees to enrol in schools and maintain regular attendance.