UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has launched the No Child Left Behind campaign to raise funds for learning materials for 150,000 pre-primary and primary students in Kenya’s refugee camps.
The campaign aims to address access to adequate and quality education for learners in the camps, which is currently threatened by an acute lack of learning materials and classroom facilities. This situation becomes even more serious as the roll out of the new curriculum requires all existing learning materials to be replaced. Apart from learning materials, there is also an urgent need for additional school desks.
Fathiaa Abdalla, UNHCR Representative in Kenya, had this to say, “Education is vital for the future of refugee children and a key priority for UNHCR. The critical deficit of up to date learning materials has resulted in an average of seven refugee students sharing one schoolbook amongst themselves. We believe that the private sector, including individuals, companies, and foundations, can play a large role in ensuring refugee access to education so that no child is left behind.”
The campaign aims to raise funds from Kenya’s private sector to provide refugee students with up to date schoolbooks, school desks, fund teacher training, and improve educational facilities.