The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that fewer than 1 percent of refugees globally are enrolled in higher education programs.

According to UNHCR and UNICEF, of the 16.1 million refugees worldwide under the mandate of UNHCR, in 2015, only 50% of refugee children were in primary school and just 22% of refugee adolescents were in secondary school. Primary school-aged refugees numbered 3.5 million in 2015, and secondary school-aged refugees numbered 2.5 million. Of the 2.5 million secondary school aged adolescent refugees,2 million were not enrolled in secondary school.

In spite of the right to education for refugees being enshrined under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its accompanying 1967 Protocol, access to good quality education has not materialized for many refugee children.

Barriers to refugee children’s education include:

• Prejudices and policies perpetuated by the government that legally prevent refugees from accessing an equivalent education to the ones their citizens enjoy.
• The economically unstable situation of the parents and the language of instruction, as most do not speak the local language, nor do they speak the language of instruction at home.
• The exclusion of refugees in the national selection and placement for secondary school and university levels
• Lack of access to government subsidies, because they are non-citizens.
• Urban refugee children do not have access to the national public education system and therefore have to attend expensive private schools