In Focus: Alebachew Kemisso
Dr. Alebachew Kemisso Haybano is an Assistant Professor and Director for Center for Comparative Education and Policy Studies (CCEPS) at Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia. His research focuses on how national education systems deal with issues of identity development and the integration/inclusion of refugees. We spoke with him about what drew him to the field of refugee education and the challenges and opportunities of bridging research, policy, and action related to the education of refugees in his home country, Ethiopia.
“In our context, we can’t afford keeping our research on the shelves”
Could you tell us a little bit about how your interest in refugee education began?
During my PhD in international and comparative education I started reading about the topic and talking to people and I learned that there is no strong research, particularly in Ethiopia, about refugee education. Research related to refugee education was really not well known, particularly in government contexts. So it’s a combination of these things that pushed me to go deep in this field.
Growing up in Ethiopia were you aware of refugees or the ways in which refugee students might go to school as you yourself went to school?
I grew up outside of Addis Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia's capital city) in a place where there is no refugee camp. So we didn’t have this experience as students in primary and secondary schools. It was only after my brother joined an organization that works with refugees that I started at least understanding about the existence of refugees. The word ‘refugee’ itself has a different meaning in Amharic, a widely spoken language in Ethiopia. When you say it in Amharic it doesn’t necessarily mean the refugees that we are talking about. It means any migrant who moves out from his village and is staying somewhere new and strange, like a guest staying in a new environment. So for any ordinary person like me some years back, the word ‘refugee’ itself has a more generic meaning.
It sounds like connecting research with policy and practice is a core part of your center, and that can be a really hard thing to do. Can you share some examples of how you manage to have your research inform policy?
It is a challenge. We are trying to increase the visibility of this issue in the Ministry of Education. The Minister of Education is a former academic and he has a very strong attachment with our center. In most of the important academic forums we invite him as our colleague and have discussions and in that way become part of the policymaking process. CCEPS is a new center established only in 2014 and International and Comparative Education is also a new field of study for AAU. We are currently setting up infrastructure and mechanisms in CCEPS to promote the nexus between research and policy in Ethiopian Education. In this effort, CCEPS is getting financial support from Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and collaborating with International Universities.
I think we must collaborate more so we can have a formal type of arrangement to take research to policy and practice. Otherwise I think there is no point to do such research. We waste all our time and resources for researching. And in our context we can’t afford keeping our research on the shelves.
In refugee contexts government agencies and other organizations doing this work can sometimes be in flux. What has your approach been to developing partnerships in what can be an uncertain environment?
That’s a real challenge. We have agencies but the individuals moving in and out is the biggest challenge. I have strong connections with agencies with long years of experience and very established existences in Ethiopia, like UNICEF, UNHCR, the Danish Refugee Council, and the Norwegian Refugee Council. So the agencies are there, but the problem is that individuals move out from the agencies. There is very strong turnover, particularly in the government institutions. And that requires another round of creating and establishing new contacts, conversations, relationships, and trust.
It seems like right now is a time of real possibility for refugee education in Ethiopia. What do you see as some of the issues within refugee education that you’re most excited about in this time of opportunity?
What’s happening today is really exciting. But I see the involvement of a number of actors at the same time also as a challenge. New expertise and resources are coming in and improving our practices. At the same time, there is no strong arrangement that defines the roles of all these different actors. You can see some cooperation and also competition. That sometimes retards action while it sometimes promotes action. A memorandum of understanding would be good to lay out a specialized division of roles for all the actors. There must be ways to manage the relationships so we can get the maximum benefit from all of these for refugees and the education of all children in Ethiopia.