Determinants of Refugee Students’ Access to Secondary Education in Kakuma Camps and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement, Kenya

Ensuring that refugees in camps receive a high-quality education is essential to ensuring both social and economic growth in the host nations after repatriation and resettlement. There have long been barriers to student enrollment at the Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement, despite tenacious efforts by state and non-state actors at the international and national levels as well as stakeholders like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, among others. Several refugee students at Kakuma Camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement do not enroll in secondary education. The purpose of this study is to investigate the selected factors influencing refugee students’ access to secondary education in Kakuma camp and the Kalobeyei integrated settlement. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effects of cultural practices on refugee students’ access to secondary education; establish the effects of psychological health on refugee students’ access to secondary education; determine the effects of the language of instruction on refugee students’ access to secondary education; and establish the effects of curriculum relevance on refugee students’ access to secondary education. In order to identify the barriers preventing refugee students in Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement from accessing secondary school, the research used an ex post facto design. The study was guided by the social justice theory, which emphasizes the necessity of addressing systemic injustices and empowering marginalized groups in educational contexts. Nine (9) principals and 180 teachers from nine (9) refugee schools were the target population. The study employed census sampling to determine a sample size of 189, which were made up of 9 principals and 180 teachers. Questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to gather data. Validity and reliability of the tools were established through a pilot study that employed the test-retest methodology. A regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The study established that the cultural practices, psychological health, language of instruction, and curriculum relevance have statistically significant effects on refugee students’ access to secondary education in the Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement in Kenya. Therefore, the study recommended that government and non-governmental organizations should cultivate ways of enhancing refugee students’ access to secondary education in the Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement.