KBAR is a not for profit organization providing a literacy program for young migrants and refugees in early primary school who have arrived from non-English speaking countries. Whilst the focus of the program is on reading, there is also a critical socialization aspect in which the mentor plays a role as an interested adult outside the family who continues to take time to spend with the child. The program aims to increase the child’s sense of belongingness, foster a sense of community, and assist with the retention and success of refugee children through the reading program.

In response to the brief we were required to ‘create and present a proposal based on a social or community issue aimed at an Australian perspective. The selected issue I chose was why do refugee children disengage from school at such an early age?

Whilst Australia’s standard of education is high compared globally there is an increasing number of refugee students who start to fall behind and eventually drop out of schools at an early age. The contributing factors are due to disrupted schooling, a lack of formal education, rejection from peers and the largest factor being lack of parental involvement or support. Refugee parents are usually unable to help their children with homework due to language barriers and often fail to understand the concept of parent and teacher meetings or being a part of a child’s education may lack due to pre-existing cultural beliefs.

The KBAR program is aimed at a target market of well-educated professionals (21-40) who volunteer their time to read with refugee children in early primary school (Years 2 and 3) from non-English speaking families. The objective of the program is to provide a relaxed approach to improving the literacy, language skills and socialization of these refugee children. We hope to unite individuals, communities and organizations from many different backgrounds behind a common cause.