Female educators face heavy societal demands, balancing overlapping teaching responsibilities alongside childcare, household.

Teachers in Garissa and Turkana counties are navigating distinct family-related pressures that significantly impact their personal and professional lives, according to findings from the Teacher Well-being in Refugee Camp & Host Community Schools Report 2026 by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and partners.

Additionally, they encounter maternity-related discrimination and receive limited workload adjustments, while also dealing with family separation and exclusion from key decisions.

Male teachers experience primary pressure rooted in the expectation to serve as the main financial provider for their households.

Societal expectations regarding emotional restraint further compound these challenges, often inhibiting male educators from seeking necessary support when needed.

Meanwhile, teachers living with disabilities face critical resource gaps. Inadequate institutional accommodation forces many of these educators to pay out-of-pocket for their own support to manage daily work and domestic demands.

The research underscores the complex social and systemic factors shaping the everyday realities of teachers working across refugee camp and host community settings in northern Kenya.