Teacher management in refugee settings: Uganda

Teacher management in refugee contexts: a programme of research for EDT and IIEP-UNESCO 

In 2018, Education Development Trust and IIEP-UNESCO jointly published a literature review relating to teacher management in refugee contexts, which concluded realising their legal rights, where afforded, can be challenging for displaced populations when international frameworks have not been ratified or adapted into national legal frameworks. We also noted that it can be equally difficult when legal frameworks are poorly integrated into social service policies, plans and strategies (for example, within national education sector plans).  

Our review also concluded that much of the literature indicates that teachers from the refugee community are best placed to teach refugee children or should – at the very least – play a part in their education. Many host countries are aware of this and are utilising refugees to support national teachers (this is the case to some extent in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda), but nevertheless, in most contexts, national teachers are increasingly teaching refugees in host countries, with very limited support for doing so. Fragmented information on refugee teachers, coupled with a lack of information on the host teachers charged with refugee students’ education, pointed to a need for more research.   

Following the review’s conclusions, EDT and IIEP-UNESCO embarked on a series of country studies. This report, on Uganda, is the final one in the series, following the publication of equivalent reports on Kenya, Ethiopia, and Jordan, published between 2020 and 2023.

Uganda country study 

Uganda has a long history of hosting refugees and is currently home to the largest refugee populations in Africa. According to UNHCR data1, as of November 2023. Uganda hosted 1.6 million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, around 80% of whom were women and children. Instead of creating camps, the Government of Uganda supports a settlement approach, where refugees live in areas together with the local population and without restrictions on freedom of movement. Over 90% of refugees live in these settlements, with the remainder living mainly around the capital city, Kampala.  

The Refugee Act of 2006 gives refugees the right to government-funded free education, and most refugee children attend one of two types of schools: government schools and private schools. These schools are located in and around the settlement areas and are open to both refugees and Ugandan nationals. Whilst refugees are able to register and find employment as teachers in Uganda, many lack the documentation and/or qualifications to do so, and so most teachers are Ugandan nationals, with refugees mainly working as teaching assistants.  

This study identifies promising policies and implementation strategies that exist for the management of primary-level teachers in refugee hosting regions and reveals potential areas for further development of policies and successful implementation.