Habiba (centre) and her schoolmates are on their way home from school for their lunch break. They come across DRC staff accompanied by assessors a consultant undertaking environmental impact assessment in an area that has been proposed as a site for the construction of a primary school in Hagadera Camp. Habiba, 15 yrs., is a primary school pupil in her 6th year. Asked what her favourite subjects are, “I enjoy English, Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies.”

Habiba and her friends go to a school on the other side of the Hagadera Camp because there is no school near where she lives. “We have to walk a very long distance to our school. It is far away on the other side of the camp,” says Habiba. When she learns that there is a possibility of a school to be constructed closer to her home, she says with a smile, “This will be very good. I will go to this school so that I do not have to walk far to the other school.”

There are still very few schools in the refugee camps to cope with the increasing number of refugees. The population of youth within school going age constitute half the population in Dadaab refugee camp. School attendance is however hampered by inadequate physical facilities. There is serious overcrowding in schools and the learning environment is not conducive. Some of the schools record between 2,000—2,500 students in attendance. The ideal number of students for such a school is 960, however this is not the case in any of the schools in the camps.

DRC in partnership with UNHCR is working to close this gap by constructing additional education facilities in the different camps in Dadaab.

In 2010, DRC constructed a primary and secondary school in Ifo 2.