Celebrating Refugee Teachers: Championing their Voices
This World Teachers’ Day 2024 is an opportunity to spotlight a group of educators whose exceptional contributions to their communities often go unrecognised: refugee teachers. Having already experienced displacement themselves, these teachers are at the forefront of the global effort to ensure that children in refugee camps and hosting communities can experience a quality education and build a brighter future.
It is a critical effort. Around the world, nearly half of refugee children are still out of school. These children deserve more than just a place in a classroom—they deserve an education that prepares them for a future full of possibility. At the heart of this mission are refugee teachers, who support these children every day, not only as educators, but responding to a myriad of needs.
The Role of Refugee Teachers in Education
Currently, many refugee teachers in low- and middle-income countries operate within a parallel education system, teaching in refugee schools run by NGOs or UN agencies rather than the host country government. In this context, there are frequent limitations on how they can be engaged as teachers, limiting their ability to earn a liveable salary and relying on precarious short-term contracts. Refugee educators also have few opportunities to train and qualify as accredited teachers, or to have their prior teaching qualifications recognised.
Without proper integration into national education systems, these dedicated teachers struggle to improve the quality of instruction, and are not adequately equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to help children to learn, thrive and feel supported.
But this situation is beginning to shift.
The Global Compact on Refugees and the 2023 Global Refugee Forum’s mega pledge on education inclusion signal a transformative change. Commitments by both host countries and donors under these initiatives are paving the way for the inclusion of refugee teachers into national systems. This is more than just a policy change—it's a promise to refugees that they are valued, and their contributions matter. What is needed now is persistent progress towards qualification, recognition, and fair compensation for refugee teachers, and the sustainable, predictable and long-term financial support from donors to enable host countries to provide this.
Working together
Amongst Save the Children’s pledges at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, we committed to strengthening national frameworks to include refugee teachers in the national education workforce and promoting their participation in all stages of decision- and policy-making processes affecting them and their work. We also committed to strengthening the enabling policy environment required for refugee teacher integration, such as advocating for formal pathways for their certification, accreditation and continuous professional development.
This year, Save the Children have launched advocacy work to promote this enabling environment in Kenya, with the support of the LEGO Foundation under the TeachWell Voices project. For the next five years, we will be advocating for changes in policy, participation, and funding, to improve the quality of instruction and wellbeing of teachers in refugee hosting communities in Kenya and to support an inclusive and holistic education for children.
Refugee Teachers' Wellbeing
Global policies must recognise refugee teachers as valuable assets to the education system. Inclusion of refugee teachers within national systems must start with access to training and equitable employment terms. To do this, refugee teachers must be empowered to be part of the long-term solution to education for displaced children.
Moreover, fair compensation and involvement in decision-making are critical to improving teacher morale and the overall quality of education. Teaching is a demanding profession, and refugee teachers, in particular, face additional pressures related to displacement, trauma, and navigating unfamiliar systems. Without support for their mental health and overall wellbeing, the risk of burnout and attrition is high.
That’s why this World Teacher’s Day is particularly important. Given the theme of Valuing Teachers’ Voices , we are calling for host country governments, donors and civil society working on refugee education to seek out more ways to include refugee teachers in identifying solutions. By creating opportunities for refugee teachers to engage in decision-making about their own futures and their students’ futures, we can empower them to take an active role in shaping education policy at both national and international levels.
In Kenya, we are commemorating the day by gathering representatives from teachers’ associations and the national education coalition, alongside education policy-makers to discuss issues of importance to refugee teachers.
The Future our Educators need
As we celebrate World Teachers’ Day 2024, let us not forget the resilience, dedication, and courage of refugee teachers. Their commitment to educating the next generation—often in the most challenging circumstances—deserves our recognition and support. By working together to create policies, provide sustainable funding, and champion the rights of refugee teachers, we can ensure that they are not only included in our education systems but empowered to shape their classrooms, schools and communities. We therefore call for a coordinated policy frameworks and international collaboration to support refugee teachers by creating pathways to attain recognized qualifications and continuous professional development.
In doing so, we will build a future where refugee children have access to the quality education they deserve—and where refugee teachers are recognised as the true champions of education that they are. Let’s honour their contribution, not just today, but every day, and make meaningful steps towards greater inclusion and opportunities for refugee teachers.
