Challenges to the relational integration of urban refugee children into the national education system of Mozambique

Abstract

This article draws from a qualitative case study, focussing on the educational experiences of urban refugee children in Mozambique. The fieldwork conducted in Maputo and Nampula during 2018–2020 found that urban refugee children fail to relationally integrate into Mozambican schools as they are subjected to stereotypes, bullying and discrimination at schools and its surroundings. This is critical since effective integration entails more than sharing education structures. Therefore, the government of Mozambique must implement policies that maintain social cohesion and belonging among refugees and their native peers. Only then will refugee education in Mozambique provide urban refugee children with security, stability and protection.

Keywords:

• Children
• education
• integration
• refugee
• urban area

Acknowledgements

I express my gratitude to the members of refugee communities who gave up their time to share their perspectives and experiences with me. Without them, I simply could not have accomplished this research. This gratitude is extended to all other research participants and those whose assistance was essential in data collection. I also thank Professor Jessica for her careful direction and patience, as well as the reviewers and editors of the Third World Quarterly journal.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 While there are several definitions of bullying, Al-Ali and Shattnawi (2018, 48) asserts that bullying comprises acts ‘repeated over time, intent to inflict harm, an imbalance in power, and all highlight the chronicity of bullying’. Bullying can take three forms: physical, verbal, and relational. Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or who differ from their peers may be harassed, hit, have their belongings damaged, be insulted or socially excluded, or have rumours spread against them (Al-Ali and Shattnawi 2018, 47). This may lead to the emergence of mental and psychological disorders or illnesses, such as depression and nightmares. Academic failure, school abandonment and absenteeism are additional effects of peer harassment (Al-Ali and Shattnawi 2018, 49). These acts may take place in schools, but they may also start outside of those structures, with their roots in regional or local structural issues like violence and poverty (Chopra and Dryden-Peterson 2020, 13; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] and France Ministère de l’éducation nationale, de la jeunesse et des sports 2020, 2). Due to their status as refugees or asylum seekers, their inability to speak the dominant language fluently, and discriminatory legal and policy frameworks, refugee children have been shown by current policy and academic research to be the targets of bullying both inside and outside of schools, perpetrated by both their peers and their teachers. Bullying must therefore be addressed by involving all parties involved in children’s education, including parents, national education ministries and school administration, as it has the potential to hinder urban refugee children’s assimilation into public schools (UNHCR 2012). To facilitate interactions between all parties involved in the education of refugees, including both native and refugee parents, school management is required to take the lead in this process by ensuring schools have a caring environment and student-centred pedagogical approaches (Dryden-Peterson et al. 2018, 12). Teachers must be trained in inclusive educational strategies to counteract bullying (Dryden-Peterson et al. 2018, 12; UNHCR 2012). Another strategy for supporting the promotion of inclusion in schools is curriculum content that addresses the histories, identities and aspirations of both native-born people and refugees (UNHCR 2012).

2 ‘Waa nhu’ is a derogatory term that conveys contempt, disregard and discouragement to the person, according to Nampula AEREMO member 01 (Interview, 23 April 2019). It could be interpreted as ‘You Congolese, we already know what you want to say. We are uninterested in it. What you are going to say to us is useless’.

Additional information

Funding

The PhD Scholarship awarded by Universidade Joaquim Chissano funded the fieldwork that led to these findings.

Notes on contributors

Dério Anselmo Lourenço Chirindza

Dério Anselmo Lourenço Chirindza holds a PhD in International Relations from Op. Jindal Global University. His research interests include forced migration, the role of international organisations, foreign policy, geopolitics, and Africa’s international relations. He teaches inter-African relations and geopolitics at the Universidade Joaquim Chissano (UJC) in Maputo, Mozambique. Among his most recent publications are: Chirindza, D., 2022, ‘Resenha da Obra – “The End of Asylum? The Changing Nature of Refugee Policies in Africa” by Bonaventure Rutinwa’, Revista Moçambicana de Estudos Internacionais, 4(2), 155–163 and Chirindza, D., 2022., ‘Livelihood-Related Migratory Practices of Refugee Families’, Jindal Journal of International Affairs, 10(1), 1–19, https://doi.org/10.54945/jjia.v1i6.48.