Engola said the government had continued to fulfil its responsibilities towards refugees but was increasingly constrained by declining support from development partners.
More than 200,000 pupils in refugee-hosting districts across Uganda are at risk of failing to complete the academic year following the withdrawal of funding that has supported teachers in refugee schools.
The funding crisis has reportedly resulted in the laying off of more than 1,000 teachers employed with support from major international humanitarian organisations, raising fears that schools could struggle to remain operational as the academic year draws to a close.
The situation has prompted the Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Sam Engola, to convene an emergency meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala to seek ways of preventing further disruption to education in refugee-hosting communities.
Engola said the government had continued to fulfil its responsibilities towards refugees but was increasingly constrained by declining support from development partners.
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He appealed to humanitarian agencies and development partners to urgently intervene and protect the education of children who could otherwise be forced out of school at a critical point in the academic calendar.
“We have played our part as the government of Uganda, but donor support has continued to dwindle,” Engola said, calling for urgent assistance to keep teachers in classrooms.
He warned that children should not bear the consequences of the funding shortfalls affecting the refugee response.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) country representative to Uganda, Margaret Atieno, said Uganda remained a model in refugee management and that all stakeholders needed to work together to address the emerging education crisis.
Atieno said efforts should be made to ensure that refugee and host-community children continue accessing education despite the financial challenges facing the refugee response.
Dr Cleophus Mugenyi, the Commissioner for Basic Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, said retaining teachers in schools was critical to safeguarding the education of the affected children.
He warned that continued teacher withdrawals could undermine learning and disrupt the progress of pupils who are expected to complete the current academic year and transition to the next level.
The crisis comes amid a broader decline in funding for Uganda’s refugee response, which has affected humanitarian programmes in several refugee-hosting areas.
Uganda hosts more than two million refugees and asylum seekers, making it one of Africa’s largest refugee-hosting countries. The country has long relied on support from international partners to provide education, healthcare, food and other essential services to refugees and host communities.
The latest teacher funding crisis has therefore renewed calls for development partners to bridge the funding gap and prevent interruptions to education, particularly for children in some of Uganda’s most vulnerable communities.
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