Camp life erodes young refugees’ thirst for learning

Insecurity, poor infrastructure and isolation are taking a toll on the will to learn of youngsters at refugee camps, according to educators. 

“We try to motivate them to carry on but keep stumbling on the failings of the system,” says Elena Karagianni, a teacher and one of the education coordinators at the camp in Schisto, near Piraeus. “There are families that have been here for six or seven years and don’t know what tomorrow will bring as they wait for an answer from the Asylum Service. This sense of resignation affects the entire family.”

Pepi Papadimitriou, the coordinator at Ritsona, often sees pupils on the side of the road walking the 20 kilometers to and from the school in Halkida. “The isolation [of the camp] is one of the biggest problems, since there’s no public transportation,” she says. “School is their only opportunity for an outing and now that the year will end, they will literally have nothing to do.”