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In Zaba, Central African Republic (CAR), a series of crises has led to the closure of several schools during the 2023/24 academic year. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is working with local education authorities to support the resumption of classes in three affected schools.
In November 2023, severe flooding prevented children from attending school, disrupting the school year for the first time. Military operations related to the conflict have also had an impact on learning since March 2024. In April, insecurity forced more than 800 families to relocate, forcing more children to drop out of school.
“For students, it’s a risk of missing a year of school,” said Jean-Michel Mawando, whose children attend Ouambé Croisement school. “Parents are not only living in misery because of the insecurity, but also because the closure of schools affects the academic future of their children.”
Children who are unable to attend school are forced to stay at home. This not only affects their learning, but also increases their exposure to protection risks such as recruitment by armed groups, child labour, sexual violence and forced marriage.
Quick response
Faced with this critical situation, the Zagba School Department turned to the NRC for help. We responded quickly in collaboration with the Lower Kotto school authorities, with support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation.
This allowed schools to resume classes, thus avoiding a year-long closure, and improved the well-being of children through psychosocial support activities to help them overcome the stress of the traumatic events they had experienced.
The responses included:
Distribution of learning materials and entertainment kits
Train teachers on how to better meet children’s mental health needs
Establish a referral system
As a result, 938 children were able to return to school on June 10, 2024.
Nearly 10,000 students are extremely vulnerable
However, despite these encouraging results, education needs in Zaba remain acute. Ten of the 50 schools in the area, with a total of 10,401 students and 121 teachers, were closed following the crisis. Of these 10 schools, only three benefited from this emergency education assistance, leaving 9,463 children out of school and in an extremely vulnerable situation.
The programme must be expanded to all schools in the region to ensure every child has access to a safe, quality education. Additional resources and partners must be mobilized to ensure all children can benefit from their fundamental right to education, building a better, more secure future.
Source: Norwegian Refugee Council.
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