Issues that Sudanese born Immigrants face in the Australian Education System
Lack of formal education
South Sudan has the lowest access to education in the world with children attending school less than 30% of the time. Even these students who attend school receive poor quality education. Only 10% of buildings are permanent and 80% of school children attend classes with no seats. The training level of the teachers is also very poor with only roughly 6% of them receiving formal qualifications. Only 2% of children in South Sudan finish primary school obviously leading to low numbers of children going onto secondary school with wars and unrest to blame in large part for disturbing the children’s education.
- Of an estimated 1.4 million school age children (7-14 years) in Southern Sudan, less than 400,000 were enrolled in school at the end of 2003
- About 500,000 girls (82% of all school-age girls) were out of school and less than 1% of girls completed primary education.
- High drop out rates meant that only 2% of students completed primary school
- Only 6% of teachers had been formally trained and 45% had received limited in-service training.
- Adult literacy in Southern Sudan was only 24%, adult female literacy was 12% (adult literacy in Australia is 99.8%).
- Only 48% of schools had access to safe drinking water and 68% of schools had no toilet facilities.
The approach that classroom teachers in Australia take is vastly different to what they would of seen in Sudan. They would be unfamiliar with an approach which encourages independent thinking and questioning and may force them to become withdrawn from learning. This is because students in Sudan are more use to an instructional approach with strict discipline.
Students may also lack formal learning skills when placed in an Australian classroom, there fine motor skills and writing skills will be behind that of their peers and they will find themselves unfamiliar with classroom activities and equipment. Transitioning these students into our classrooms will be a challenge and an accepting classroom environment with regular class routines will aid this transition to be successful.
Poor English Profiency
Sudanese born refugees will face massive challenges in the Australian Education system. English is not in the top 6 languages spoken in their homeland which will make things extremely challenging for both the teacher and students. Majority of Sudanese people, a staggering 79% who came to Australia described their English proficiency as either “nil” or “poor”.
Negative Effects of their Refugee Experience
Refugee children and young people from Southern Sudan have been exposed to traumatic circumstances as a result of their forced displacement. War and other forms of violence have forced them to undertake unplanned and dangerous journeys to seek safety. Feelings of profound loss due to the death or separation from parents and other family members are common. Many have spent protracted periods in refugee camps or in slum-like conditions in towns, deprived of adequate food, shelter, health and education.
Students may suffer specific effects as a result of their refugee experiences including:
· Anxiety
· Fear
· Distrust
· Sleeplessness
· Low confidence and self esteem
· Sensitivity to failure
· Hypervigilance
· Withdrawal
These will affect their capacity for learning and integration with the school. Strategies for teachers to address the impact of trauma and promote recovery are provided here http://www.foundationhouse.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Schools_In_Resource_01_Beaut_Buddies_a_transition_program.pdf
South Sudan has the lowest access to education in the world with children attending school less than 30% of the time. Even these students who attend school receive poor quality education. Only 10% of buildings are permanent and 80% of school children attend classes with no seats. The training level of the teachers is also very poor with only roughly 6% of them receiving formal qualifications. Only 2% of children in South Sudan finish primary school obviously leading to low numbers of children going onto secondary school with wars and unrest to blame in large part for disturbing the children’s education.
- Of an estimated 1.4 million school age children (7-14 years) in Southern Sudan, less than 400,000 were enrolled in school at the end of 2003
- About 500,000 girls (82% of all school-age girls) were out of school and less than 1% of girls completed primary education.
- High drop out rates meant that only 2% of students completed primary school
- Only 6% of teachers had been formally trained and 45% had received limited in-service training.
- Adult literacy in Southern Sudan was only 24%, adult female literacy was 12% (adult literacy in Australia is 99.8%).
- Only 48% of schools had access to safe drinking water and 68% of schools had no toilet facilities.
The approach that classroom teachers in Australia take is vastly different to what they would of seen in Sudan. They would be unfamiliar with an approach which encourages independent thinking and questioning and may force them to become withdrawn from learning. This is because students in Sudan are more use to an instructional approach with strict discipline.
Students may also lack formal learning skills when placed in an Australian classroom, there fine motor skills and writing skills will be behind that of their peers and they will find themselves unfamiliar with classroom activities and equipment. Transitioning these students into our classrooms will be a challenge and an accepting classroom environment with regular class routines will aid this transition to be successful.
Poor English Profiency
Sudanese born refugees will face massive challenges in the Australian Education system. English is not in the top 6 languages spoken in their homeland which will make things extremely challenging for both the teacher and students. Majority of Sudanese people, a staggering 79% who came to Australia described their English proficiency as either “nil” or “poor”.
Negative Effects of their Refugee Experience
Refugee children and young people from Southern Sudan have been exposed to traumatic circumstances as a result of their forced displacement. War and other forms of violence have forced them to undertake unplanned and dangerous journeys to seek safety. Feelings of profound loss due to the death or separation from parents and other family members are common. Many have spent protracted periods in refugee camps or in slum-like conditions in towns, deprived of adequate food, shelter, health and education.
Students may suffer specific effects as a result of their refugee experiences including:
· Anxiety
· Fear
· Distrust
· Sleeplessness
· Low confidence and self esteem
· Sensitivity to failure
· Hypervigilance
· Withdrawal
These will affect their capacity for learning and integration with the school. Strategies for teachers to address the impact of trauma and promote recovery are provided here http://www.foundationhouse.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Schools_In_Resource_01_Beaut_Buddies_a_transition_program.pdf