Mariam Rashid and Benjamin Scherrer, doctoral students associated with CIE, presented at the UKFIET 2019 conference on “Inclusive Education Systems: Futures, fallacies and finance” in September, 2019 in Oxford, England.

They reported on their exploratory study examining the benefits of refugee integration and inclusion within local education systems.  Their research is based at Kalobeyei, an integrated refugee settlement project in Kenya's Turkana County that began in 2015. Their study employs qualitative research methods: conducting interviews with key stakeholders such as community members, refugees, teachers, and students.

In their presentation they argue that despite the global anti-immigration rhetoric that emphasizes the perceived burdens refugees place on countries of asylum, refugee populations can promote community development and increase the quality of local education systems, specifically in places limited by resources and economic activities.