--- title: "We made it!" description: "Conflict is crushing many children’s dreams about an education, and after years out of school, it’s difficult to get back in. Still, 15-year-old Jasmin has made it." url: "https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/december/we-made-it" language: "en" published: "2017-12-13T08:00:00Z" modified: "2017-12-11T13:25:59Z" --- Jasmin, 15, has graduated from NRC's accelerated learning programme in Dékoa, Central African Republic, and can now jump straight into third grade at primary school. Photo: Tiril Skarstein/NRC # We made it! Tiril Skarstrein|Published 13. Dec 2017 [Central African Republic](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=38) [Education](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=145) This article was first published more than 8 years ago Conflict is crushing many children’s dreams about an education, and after years out of school, it’s difficult to get back in. Still, 15-year-old Jasmin has made it. “The armed groups were fighting in the area and we fled into the bush,” says Jasmin. “The war lasted very long. So my parents were not able to enrol me at school.” She’s explaining why, at the age of 15, she is now attending the third grade at a primary school in Dékoa, in the Central African Republic. “Yes, I’m lagging a bit behind,” she admits, but with no shyness. The girl is very proud to be back in school. “We made it!” she is chanting together with the other students in her class. They are somewhere between eight and 15 years old. Many of them have had their education interrupted by years of violence and conflict. The conflict in the Central African Republic has been escalating in the east and the north during 2017, and has again forced an increasing number of families to flee their homes. Around 350 schools are currently closed due to the conflict, costing 400,000 children their education. Marie Josée Ngaloa is a teacher at NRC's accelerated learning centre in Dékoa, Central African Republic. Many of her students have missed years of their education, others never had the opportunity to go to school. Photo: Tiril Skarstein/NRC ### Catching up “The war is depriving too many children of their right to an education,” explains education coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Fiston Koyamoussa. “And after years out of school, it is difficult to get back in.” NRC has started an accelerated learning programme for students who have been out of school for a long period of time, or who never had a chance to start. “It’s a programme where we pay more attention to the students, so that we can allow these children to catch up on the years they have lost,” says Koyamoussa. After about seven months of an accelerated learning programme, the students may jump straight into the third grade, like Jasmin has just done. Koyamoussa adds: “By ensuring that they do not have to start at a too low level, we increase their chance of actually being able to finish primary school.” NRC's Eduction Coordinator Fiston Koyamoussa at our Accelerated Learning Centre in Dékoa. Koyamoussa explains that the teacher's pay more attention to the students, helping them to increase their chance of being able to finish primary school. Photo: NRC/Tiril Skarstein ### Special support Just some metres away from the overcrowded public school in Dékoa, around 100 children are starting the accelerated learning programme. They are divided into three classes, and each class has two teachers guiding them through a well of new information. Many have never attended school before. Some have difficulties concentrating. “Many of these children have experienced things children should never have to experience,” says one of the teachers, Marie Josée Ngaloa. “As a teacher we need to approach these children and ask them a lot of questions, so that the children can feel safe to share their thoughts and worries.” She is patiently repeating the name of the different colours in the Central African Republic’s flag, while the kids are drawing the flag on their individual blackboards. Another teacher is sitting down with some of the students who need some extra help. > Many of these children have experienced things children should never have to experience. > > Marie Josée Ngaloa, teacher at NRC's education programme in CAR. Dela Vendredi, 12, fled to Dékoa when the conflict in CAR escalated in 2013 and fled to Dékoa. Last year he was enrolled in NRC’s accelerated learning programme and was able to start school for the first time. Photo: Tiril Skarstein/NRC ### The next professor? Twelve-year-old Dela Vendredi is one of the children just enrolled into one of the new catch-up classes. He’s been living with his grandparents in Dékoa since his father and brother were killed in the conflict. He and his older sisters were forced to flee their home. “My grandparents were not able to get me into school until now,” he explains. The boy wants get into primary school, but for him to reach his ambitions there’s no time for him to start the first grade with a bunch of six year olds. “I hope to become a professor,” he says with a smile. At the primary school next door, Jasmin is dreaming about a job as a functionary. “I have been able to get into the formal school system because the teachers at the accelerated learning centre teach so well. That is what made me smart and helped me to where I am now,” she says. We made it! These students have graduated from NRC's accelerated learning programme and can now enter the formal education system. Photo: NRC/Tiril Skarstein **NRC’s accelerated learning programme in the Central African Republic** - 101 students have attended the NRC’s accelerated learning programme in Dékoa, in a pilot project sponsored by UNICEF. - The accelerated learning programme will now be offered to another 600 students in several parts of the Central African Republic, thanks to funding from Education Cannot Wait. - The small classes allow the teachers to provide individual assistance to the students. Teachers are also trained to identify traumatised children and to refer these students to places where they can receive appropriate support. - The programme normally lasts for seven months, but is always adapted to ensure that the children can get into the formal school system at the beginning of a new school year.