9 December 2024 PCN

Tanzania: nearly a thousand Burundian refugee students take state exams

These national exams were held in two Burundian refugee camps, Nduta and Nyarugusu located in the Kigoma region in northwestern Tanzania. While students and their parents are completely satisfied, the absences are worrying and result from several reasons.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The national test in Tanzania is called “NECTA”, and is taken by 9th grade students for the end of the basic cycle, general humanities finalists and candidates for Normale IV.

In Nduta, the large camp that houses more than 530 Burundians, more than 530 students and schoolchildren took these tests. Two centers are chosen in zone III: these are the Kasim Majaliwa and Mkombozi schools.

In Nyarugusu camp, the number is relatively lower but exceeds 400, according to local sources.

This impressive number of candidates is linked to the fact that in these camps, two promotions are taking these national exams because in 2023, the state exams for children of Burundian refugees had been suspended.

The tests were done from Tuesday to Friday of this week, these exams being supervised by the Tanzanian Ministry of Education, UNICEF and UNHCR.

These UN agencies and the Tanzanian government took matters into their own hands when Burundi refused to send national tests to the refugee camps. This was in 2016.

A national test facility at Nduta camp in Tanzania, December 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)

However, the refugee camps continue to follow the Burundian educational program. And the test chosen and done in the camps is recognized by Tanzania as well as the resulting diplomas.

No major incidents reported at the end of these tests except absences that caught the attention of the supervisors.

“Nearly half of the expected children did not show up. The reasons are various: some returned to the country, others got married especially for girls, unwanted pregnancies or others left the camp to seek life elsewhere”, say parents and educators.

To properly coordinate activities, ordinary exams in the rising classes were postponed until next week.

Even if the students and schoolchildren are happy to take these tests, they criticize the organizational aspect especially the meal they received.

“[…] When you have an empty stomach, concentration is not total, which could undoubtedly affect your performance”, regret students in Nduta who talked to SOS Médias Burundi.

A plate reserved for candidates for the national tests in Burundian refugee camps in Tanzania, December 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)

“In past years, the meal was really sufficient, with a piece of meat and some fruit to stimulate the concentration of the candidates, which was not the case this year,” added a supervisor.