Uno-Bildungsreport: More than half of the refugee children can not go to school

Flight and displacement also have devastating consequences for education worldwide: more than half of all refugee children do not have the opportunity to attend school. This is shown by the annual educational report of the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR), which will be published this Friday. Of the 7.1 million children who had to leave their homes, 3.7 million have no access to education.

The girls and boys also have no chance to get out of their misery, as UNO refugee commissioner Filuppo Grandi criticized: "We refuse to refugees if we do not give them the opportunity to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills necessary for their future are important."

Grandi appealed to the countries where the refugees are currently living to take on the task - in their own interest: "We must invest in the education of refugees, or we pay the price: a generation of children who are doomed to do so to be dependent on one's later life, to be unable to find work and to be able to enrich their fellowship. "

The gap is getting bigger

According to the report, the chances of education are significantly lower for refugee children than for others - whereby the gap in continuing institutions is getting bigger:

• Accordingly, 91% of all primary school children worldwide go to school, compared to only 63% of refugees.
• After that, the odds are even worse: while 84 percent of the children attend a secondary school altogether , it is with refugees only 24 percent .
• Only three percent of all refugees have the prospect of higher education - compared to 37 percent worldwide.

Most of the affected children, 2.9 million girls and boys, live in five countries, according to the report: Uganda, Sudan, Turkey, Pakistan and Lebanon.

The authors also refer to progress and achievements. Uganda, Chad, Kenya or Ethiopia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Mexico are making great efforts to integrate refugee children into school life.

Turkey, home to some 3.7 refugees, including one million school-aged children, has launched a Turkish language program, produced new school materials and hired other teachers to take the children to regular school.

Compared to the previous year's report, the number of refugee children who do not attend school has declined slightly - as has the number of total refugee children.

"Creative solutions are needed"

Dominik Bartsch, UNHCR representative in Germany, said: "The situation in Germany is indeed very good and the successes in the integration are obvious. It is important, however, to get all children quickly to the point that they could attend classes normally. "Creative solutions are needed."

"Everyone, no matter how political he or she is, has to consider school as a worthwhile investment, especially for refugee children," said Bartsch. Grandi urged governments, business, educational organizations and individuals to support a new initiative for continuing education for refugees.

The mandate of the UNHCR covers about 20 million refugees worldwide. Internally displaced persons displaced within their home country are not included, although their situation is often similarly precarious. In total, nearly 70 million people worldwide are on the run.