Does Teacher Training for Refugees Contribute to Post-Conflict Reconstruction of Educational Systems?
Evidence from West Africa
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) ran a successful refugee education program in Guinea for 17 years, serving Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees. One aspect of that program included training thousands of refugees as teachers, school administrators, and classroom assistants. This report describes the research project carried out in early 2009 to trace those former refugee teachers and interview them about the influence of the trainings on their lives today, and to find out whether they are currently contributing to the reconstruction of the postwar education systems in their home countries.
The aim was to discover the perspective of former refugee teachers on the long term effects of their training, as well as the challenges they faced reintegrating in their country of origin. A 7-person research team from Sierra Leone and Liberia used snowball sampling, informal networks, and mobile phones to trace respondents and collect 640 interviews over a period of several months. The research team used quantitative data, qualitative data, and personal vignettes to investigate the reasons why people chose to continue teaching or to stop teaching. About two-thirds of the sample respondents are still working as teachers. Those who have stayed in the teaching field describe their love of the work, their desire to contribute to the development of their communities and nation, and the lack of other options. Some have found better-paying work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or are working in other professions by choice.
Overall, the people we interviewed appreciated the training they received from the IRC in Guinea, and they pointed to multiple ways in which they made use of the trainings after their repatriation. The bad news is that some have left the teaching field in disgust. They describe the low pay and poor conditions of service, and they also complain about the difficulty of getting onto the teaching payrolls, even with the right certification and even in the face of supposed teacher shortages.