Burundi : alarming school conditions for refugees in Kavumu Camp

The Kavumu refugee camp located in the district and province of Cankuzo in eastern Burundi and home to more than 18,000 refugees, sees the education of children seriously compromised. Parents are asking the UNHCR and NGOs in charge of education and child protection in this site to find a solution to this problem.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

With nearly eight thousand children in nursery, primary and secondary school, learning conditions in this camp are alarming and worrying.

Testimonies from parents of pupils, representatives of parents’ committee and representatives of refugees highlight the deplorable reality in which these children are forced to study.

Children are forced to learn in overcrowded classrooms, often without desks or blackboards.

A parent with two children in kindergarten school says, “Imagine a kindergarten schoolchild sitting on the floor, especially during this rainy season. Some urinate on the floor. Our children are studying in conditions that are more like animals than decent schoolchildren.”

“What are these humanitarian organizations doing? If the UNHCR and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) don’t see the problem, doesn’t Save the Children see the problem either?”, asks another parent.

Classrooms are overcrowded, with more schoolchildren than they can accommodate. In a single classroom, you can find up to 80 children.

Children in a nursery school in Kavumu refugee camp in eastern Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)

A mother of three secondary school teenagers shares her despair : “It is unacceptable that my children can study without a blackboard and sitting on the floor.”

Her concern goes beyond physical conditions. She also talks about health risks her children are exposed to.

A member of the parents’ committee interviewed about these problems stresses with frustration : “Every time we have synergy meetings with the UNHCR and its educational partner, the Jesuit Refugee Service, we draw their attention to these problems. We show them that our children are facing an unbearable learning environment, but no reaction is seen”.

A refugee representative in the camp contacted says, “At every meeting with partners, we explain conditions our children are facing. We ask them to improve the existing infrastructure and build a new school, because the camp is very crowded and one school is not enough. But so far, there has been no willingness to address these concerns.”

Calls for help are increasing. Relevant authorities and partners are not responding, thousands of children continue to study in precarious conditions.

Save the Children is responsible for child protection in Kavumu camp, while Jesuit Refugee Service is responsible for the education component.

Burundi has more than 90,000 Congolese refugees. Half of them are young people, according to refugees’ representatives.

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An inner courtyard in Kavumu camp in eastern Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)