Student Refugee Program

Student Refugee Program provides young refugees with life-changing opportunities to continue their education on Canadian campuses and build a better future for themselves and their families.

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High-level roundtable on post-secondary response to the Syrian refugee crisis highlights need to prioritize education in Canada’s integration efforts

June 10, 2016

high-level-round-table-wusc
Leaders in Canada’s post-secondary response to the Syrian refugee crisis gathered this week to discuss the role of higher education in ongoing resettlement and integration efforts.

Convened by WUSC, the high-level roundtable brought together actors from diverse sectors to identify opportunities for greater collaboration and to scale the response. Participants included Canadian university, college, and CEGEP presidents, professors, and students; representatives from UNHCR Canada, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, and Global Affairs Canada; Canadian non-profit organizations working on refugee issues; and other leaders in Canada’s post-secondary community, such as Universities Canada and Colleges and Institutes Canada.

As Canada now shifts its focus toward sustainable support for the 25,000 newly arrived Syrians, the roundtable offered a timely opportunity to discuss the role education will play in providing an important pathway to integration, particularly higher education, in addition to the role it will continue to play in future resettlement efforts.

During the event, participants highlighted some of the challenges they have faced in supporting refugee students. They also shared new research, ideas, and opportunities to exchange best practices and identify sustainable, scalable solutions. Emphasis was placed on the need to further adapt student refugee sponsorship models to college and CEGEP contexts, leveraging the unique resources and roles that they play in communities across Canada, far beyond teaching and research.

Discussions highlighted how the sector can further build upon WUSC’s longstanding Student Refugee Program (SRP), including how the program may be expanded and exported to other countries around the world. The event also showcased other innovative programs, such as the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law Refugee Sponsorship Support Program which offers legal support to sponsoring groups. Participants also shared pilot initiatives that are expanding higher education opportunities within refugee camps and contexts through remote learning.

The event also offered an opportunity to identify key priorities for the sector moving forward. Participants highlighted the need to ensure continued support to broader global refugee populations, including displaced youth in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. They also recognized the need to increase support to the hundreds of students and individuals on campuses across the country who are the driving force behind much of the post-secondary response in Canada.

Filed Under: SRP

Kuir Garang’s poems inspired by the refugee life

May 21, 2016

kuir garang

This article was originally published by the Calgary Herald.

Kuir Garang was a teenager in a refugee camp in northwest Kenya when he began writing poetry.

While the other kids played at recess, he would sit under a tree “in the cold breeze or in the dust and look at things, describe the landscape, describe the people.”

Read the full story here.

Filed Under: SRP

UOIT’s first refugee student prepares for convocation

May 19, 2016

Jean Nsanzeryaka SRP

This article was originally published by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

More than two thousand students will cross the stage at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) 2016 Convocation ceremonies. Each graduate will celebrate a very personal academic journey, reflect upon how far they’ve come, and ponder what lies ahead in the next chapter of their lives.

When his name is called out in June, Jean Bertrand Alestide Nsanzeryaka will receive his Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences, specializing in Life Sciences)…

Read the full story here.

Filed Under: SRP

Helping sponsored students thrive at Bishop’s

May 17, 2016

Aamir Aman SRP

This article was originally published by Bishop University.

Aamir Aman’s journey is not typical. Before graduating from Cegep, he spent his high school years in a religious monastery, where he came to enjoy the small and intimate atmosphere. So when it came time to choose a university, he wanted a place where he felt he could belong.

“I googled ‘English universities in Quebec’ and found Bishop’s. I thought, ‘I’m definitely going here!’,” says Aamir.

Read the full story here.

Filed Under: SRP

A NEW LIFE: ‘I think we have the resources to help people in need, so why not?’

May 16, 2016

Shannon St. John

This article was originally published by SooToday.

A Rwandan woman who has lived in a refugee camp since 2000 is one of the refugee students who will attend Algoma University for the 2016-2017 school year, says the president of the student-led World University Service of Canada (WUSC) committee.

Shannon St. John, president of Algoma University’s WSUC chapter, picked Blandine Mulera up from the airport Wednesday after her long trip from Malawi…

Read the full story here.

Filed Under: SRP

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