Sarah: the refugee camp head teacher delivering quality education
Sarah is the head teacher of the primary school in the refugee camp where she lives. Overcoming the enrolment challenges that displacement causes, Sarah and the 11 teachers she works with are providing inclusive quality education to 366 students.
“My name is Sarah. I was born 32 years ago in a peaceful and beautiful town called Geneina in Sudan. I am the second born in a family of 4 children, all girls. I used to live in my parents’ house. I had a very normal life in Sudan, going to school until I graduated from secondary school to university. I liked science courses very much: mathematics, physics and economics.
I started volunteering to give home and weekend classes to children in my neighbourhood. I continued doing this when I went to university. When I graduated, I got a job as a civil servant in a ministry in Sudan. I have been a civil servant for more than 10 years now. I never stopped volunteering even when I had my job. I have been a volunteer teacher for more than 18 years. I suddenly had to stop and flee because of the bombings and killings in my home town.
I arrived in Chad on 15 June 2023. My family and I walked for about 20 hours. We left early in the morning and arrived late at night. After spending a few weeks in the transit centre, I was transferred to the refugee camp on 21 July 2023.
There was no school when I arrived. Plan International and the Ministry of Education identified the school site and built this beautiful school for us. They then started recruiting teachers and I was selected. In January 2024, they held a written test to recruit a head teacher. I was the best. Today I am the head teacher of the primary school.”
The challenges of enrollment
“Being a head teacher is not an easy job. I had to work hard to get the children registered. The process began with coaching sessions with the departmental education inspectors. They first worked with the 12 selected teachers. This was followed by community meetings with parents from the 5 blocks and 6 host communities eligible for enrolment.”
“I like this job because I love children. I also love the fact that teaching can bring someone from darkness to light.”
Sarah
Ensuring student safety and delivering quality education
“The location is important to avoid students having to walk long distances, which could lead to protection issues on their way to school. With the support of the 12 teachers and block leaders, we also carried out door-to-door awareness raising to encourage children to enrol. In this way, we were able to enrol the 366 students we currently have.
My daily schedule is not easy either. I am the first to arrive at the school and the last to leave. I arrive before the teachers and students every day because I have to check the cleanliness of the classrooms and supervise the arrival of the teachers. I also check the day’s lessons for all the classes to make sure the teachers are well prepared. Then I check the attendance book to see how many students are in school; I check absences and report them to the president of the school’s teachers’ association so that he can check why the students are absent.
I like this job because I love children. Children teach us about life. I also love the fact that teaching can bring someone from darkness to light. I want to give to the children what I have received.”
About the project
Since 2003, Chad has played host to the Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in their country. More than 600,000 Sudanese refugees have been registered in Eastern Chad since April 2023. The new arrivals, mostly women and children, arrive in poor health, often with only the clothes on their backs, traumatised and suffering from physical or gender-based violence.
The refugee camps in Eastern Chad, have been set up to accommodate the large influx of refugees fleeing violence and conflict in Sudan. The makeshift settlements, little more than collections of tarpaulin tents, mainly shelter women and children. Access to clean water, food, and sanitation is severely limited and it’s a daily struggle for those who have left almost everything behind.
Plan International has been working with local partner Agence de Développement Economique et Social since October 2023 to deliver education and child protection services to children and their families living in refugee camps in Chad. In Sarah’s refugee camp, we have constructed a school which has 6 classrooms, 4 gender segregated toilets, water facilities and an administrative block.
The school has 12 teachers (6 female, 6 male), with Sarah being the head teacher. In terms of attendance, the school has a total of 366 pupils, including 297 girls and 69 boys.
Education, Emergencies, Education in emergencies
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