Post-primary Education Can Give Us A Voice

Hibist Kassa is an Ethiopian refugee residing in Ghana and studying Political Science at the University of Ghana.

What does post-primary education offer a young person? This question means a lot in my life because I know the difference it can make. In most countries in the ‘developing world’, a life is more than a life. It is linked to an extended family and, ultimately, a community of people. Where states fail, these are the support networks people rely on. So why does a young person need to know more than how to read or write? A basic understanding of algebra should be enough, right? To the contrary, this only offers a person with what they need to interact in a very limited way in the social, political and economic life of their respective countries. How does a young person acquire the skills to develop informed opinions or views on the hardship that refugees and IDPs face daily? How does the community find its voice? Education gives a person a voice. Young people want education so that their voices can be heard. Education lays the basis for social and economic freedom to be achieved. As a young person this only means, we want to be free!

Almost every day, I meet a young woman or man who has the drive and potential to pursue higher education. Sadly, as the cost of tertiary education rises annually, more young people lose their access to education at the tertiary level. It’s even more complicated when refugees deal with this general state of crisis. I have had the opportunity to pursue higher education. But this has not been without struggle.

For example, when I gained admission into the University of Ghana, I was mistakenly identified as a foreign student. Compared with the fees ‘local’ students were to pay, my fees were enormous. Most of the refugees I knew could not afford to cover the payment for the application form. This means that even if they were admitted as ‘local’ students, they would not be able to afford to pay the fees. At that time, I was bewildered by my large tuition bill. Confounded, I was in despair. But by a stroke of luck and the initiative of the then program officer of the Albert Einstein German Academic Fund for Refugees Initiative (DAFI), I applied for a scholarship. I was awarded a full scholarship and was given an opportunity I have been appreciative of ever since.