Missing Out: Refugee education in crisis

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, released a report today showing that more than half – 3.7 million – of the 6 million school-age children under its mandate have no school to go to.

Some 1.75 million refugee children are not in primary school and 1.95 million refugee adolescents are not in secondary school, the report found. Refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than the global average.

Entitled "Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis", the report compares UNHCR data on refugee education with UNESCO data on global school enrolment. Only 50 per cent of refugee children have access to primary education, compared with a global average of more than 90 per cent. And as these children become older, the gap becomes a chasm: only 22 per cent of refugee adolescents attend secondary school compared to a global average of 84 per cent. At the higher education level, just one per cent of refugees attend university, compared to a global average of 34 per cent.

The report is released in advance of world leaders gathering on September 19-20 at the UN General Assembly’s Summit for Refugees and Migrants and the Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis, hosted by the President of the United States. At both summits UNHCR is calling on governments, donors, humanitarian agencies and development partners as well as private-sector partners to strengthen their commitment to ensuring that every child receives a quality education. Underlining the discussions will be the target of Sustainable Development Goal 4, “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning” an aim that will not be realized by 2030 without meeting the education needs of vulnerable populations, including refugees and other forcibly displaced people.