Humanitarian and Executive Director for @Windle International #Kenya Dr. Marangu Njogu, was be awarded an honorary degree yesterday @YorkUEducation’s spring convocation on June 20th. http://bit.ly/2Xcqhkx #Dadaab #refugeeeducation #Kenya
From Dadaab point of view, we are so happy and congratulate, Doc Marangu for his achievements and we hope to see many sorts of development related to refugees soon, it was Marangu who brought the idea of higher educations to the camps( Dadaab). we appreciate the honors given to him by York University and we hope to take his footsteps to help many young children get educations and make changes for their respective society. it was him who was able to move and share the needs of the refugees in the camps and through him York University reached us and we are proud to share our congratulations to Dr. Marangu.
as cited from
Innovation in Education:
Borderless Higher Education for Refugees
ALLISON MAGPAYO* under the publications of (An e-publication of the New Scholars Network
www.refugeereview.wordpress.com
Volume 1, September 2013)
Dr. Marangu Njogu and how he came up with the BHER Program.
The BHER team is comprised of a global consortium of NGOs and academic institutions committed to improving the quality and accessibility of education for refugees. At present, they administer education initiatives with refugees along the Thai-Burma border and are developing a program within the Dadaab refugee camps. The impetus behind the Dadaab branch of BHER came from Dr. Marangu Njogu of Windle Trust Kenya, the NGO responsible for running secondary schools in the Dadaab refugee camps. Long frustrated by the limited education in the camps, Njogu envisioned a new program that would provide teacher training for primary and secondary school teachers in order to improve the overall quality of education in Dadaab. In 2008, the pursuit of this vision leads him to Philip Landon, African director of the World University Service of Canada, an organization is best known for offering scholarships for refugees to study at Canadian universities.
As Giles shares, “WUSC was also interested in expanding what they could do beyond individual scholarships. Scholarships tend to be more of a drop in the bucket- there are not many for the number of refugees that need them.” So, in 2008, Landon and Njogu traveled to York University in Toronto, a WUSC partnership university with a specialized research center focused on refugee issues. It was there they met with Professor Giles and Professor Dippo, both of the Centre for Refugee Studies. Giles and Dippo were excited about Njogu’s ideas on improving teacher training in Dadaab but realized the potential for installing a program that went beyond just teacher certification. In fact, Giles had recently concluded a study with York University Professor Jennifer Hyndman on the Globalization of Protracted Refugee Situations, which looked at the living situations in long-standing refugee camps like Dadaab.
She was struck by the lack of schooling options available to refugees, noting that, “beyond secondary education, most refugees all around the world in refugee camps have practically no access to higher education.” The inconsistency or unavailability of quality education for refugees stems largely from the fact that education is not prioritized within the array of emergency responses in refugee situations. Funding from NGOs and international agencies tend to go toward the most basic survival needs like food rations, shelter, and emergency health care. This problem is exponentially compounded, however, by the increasing lengths of refugee situations.
BHER MANDATES
(1) Improve the equitable
delivery of quality education
in refugee camps and local
communities through
accredited university
programs, to prepare a new
generation of male and female
teachers and professionals
(2) Create targeted, continuing
opportunities for young men
and women in university
programs that will enhance
their employability through
portable certificates, diplomas
and degrees;
(3) Build the capacity of Kenyan
academic institutions that
already offer onsite/online
university degree programs to
vulnerable and marginalized
groups.
TODAY WE CONGRATULATE THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATIONS OF THE DR. AND HOW HE SUPPORTED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE REFUGEE CAMPS.
WE WISH SUCCESS IN HIS LIFE