EU provides 26 scholarships for refugee youth in Dadaab

Dadaab; Kenya: Today, the European Union and its partners, Africa Education Trust (AET) and Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) launched a scholarships programme for 26 secondary school leavers from Dadaab (Kenya), the world’s largest refugee camp.

The initiative aims at promoting higher education and training opportunities for young people confined to this camp and lacking perspectives.

The scholarship beneficiaries will be enrolled in Mount Kenya University, Thika Campus.

The beneficiaries are pursuing Certificate and Diploma level courses in development related fields like Project Management, Public Relations and Early Childhood Development and Education.

The programme will no doubt contribute to having educated and skilled Somali refugees, capable of rebuilding their country when they eventually return.

 The scholarships initiative is part of the Somalia-Wide Education Synergies (SWES) programme worth 5 million EUR.

The geographical focus of the programme is Somaliland, Puntland and South Central Somalia as well as Dadaab.

It focuses on education issues which are better addressed on Somalia-wide basis such as examinations, curriculum, scholarships and networking between the regions.

The EU also funds a complementary education programme in Dadaab worth 3.5 million EUR. This programme aims at improving the school infrastructure, increasing the number of trained teachers, improving ICT skills of secondary and post-secondary school students, building capacities of school management committees and expanding vocational training opportunities for youth. In addition, the EU provides 240 Dadaab teacher scholarships to acquire either Certificate (120) or Diploma (120) level qualifications.