A Nairobi School Warms Up To Refugee Children

Margaret Njayakio, Associate Education Officer UNCHR interacting with the students of Murema Primary School during desk donation exercise in Ruiru
© NAIROBI SCHOOL WARMS UP TO REFUGEE CHILDREN

NAIROBI, Kenya, 8th July 2015 (UNHCR) – UNHCR and partner Xavier Project staff visited Murema Primary School after the completion of training for teachers on better discipline practices and refugee issues. The Training is currently being conducted by Xavier Project in schools around Nairobi to benefit both the locals and refugee students. The visit saw the teachers being awarded with certificates of completion after successful training.

There is something very unique about Murema Primary School, with about 70 refugee students, which led to the donation of desks by UNHCR together with Xavier Project. Murema Primary School has a new stream, Class 5 Blue, which has both refugee and local students, with the majority being refugees. The stream was started after parents of refugee children approached the school requesting for the admission of their children.

The school got one class from the pre-school to accommodate the “Blue” stream. The school has emulated the devolved system of governance to have Senators instead of class prefects.

The school boasts of another uniqueness whereby the students teach each other French, Kiswahili and their first languages such as Nyamulenge. It is very hard to differentiate between the Kenyan and refugees students which is very commendable.

According to the class teacher, Mrs. Kimani, 5 Blue has recorded very good performance with some students scoring 100% in Mathematics.

The School’s Senior Teacher informed us that there are plans to maintain Stream Blue up to Class 8 and admit more refugees with the support of UNHCR and its partners.

By Margaret Njayakio, Associate Education Officer – Nairobi

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