“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.
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.”
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.
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.
