Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis

The report, Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis, shows that, despite the efforts of governments, UNHCR and its partners, enrollment of refugee children in school is failing to keep pace with the growing refugee population. By the end of 2017, there were more than 25.4 million refugees around the world, 19.9 million of them under UNHCR’s mandate. More than half – 52 per cent – were children. Among them, 7.4 million were of school age.

It highlights progress made by those committed to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants in enrolling an additional 500,000 formerly out-of-school refugee children in 2017. At the same time, it calls for more to be done to ensure all refugees get the quality education they deserve.

The report urges host countries to enroll refugee children in national systems, with a proper curriculum, all the way through primary and secondary school, to allow for recognized qualifications that can be their springboard to university or higher vocational training.

It further notes that countries in developing regions host 92 per cent of the world’s school-age refugees and need more sustained financial support from the international community.

Finally, the report calls for stronger partnerships with the private sector, humanitarian and development organizations and governments to increase sustainable solutions for refugee education.