Ensuring every last refugee child receives an education Summary Over half of the world’s registered refugees of school age, some 3.6 million children, are not in school. In fact, refugee children are five times less likely to attend school than other children. But even for those who can access education, the quality is often very poor. The international community can and must do better to ensure refugee children’s right to a quality education. The High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants on September 19 and the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees on September 20 offer concrete opportunities for Governments to commit to closing the refugee education gap. Save the Children is calling on Governments to ensure every last refugee child has access to a quality education by: 1.
Making a political commitment that no refugee child be out of education for more than 30 days in the outcome of the September 19 High-Level Meeting. This level of ambition is both critical to closing the education gap for millions of refugee children who are out of school and can be achieved through a combination of investments and policy change. Such a commitment will drive both the inclusion of education in emergency preparedness and contingency planning and will help ensure the provision of refugee education, not as a peripheral standalone activity but as a core component of the services, protection and durable solutions to which refugees are entitled. Providing education within 30 days of a child crossing an international border when fleeing conflict, violence or persecution means: - A reduction in the loss of children’s learning time; - Improved chances of getting children back into school; - Enhanced protection; - Access to other lifesaving services; - Improved health, nutrition and livelihoods; - Better resilience and social cohesion; and - Reduction in the financial costs of lost education. It will also meet the need for education which refugee children consistently say is among their top priorities.
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Recognizing refugee education action plans as an essential element of the Global Compact on Responsibility-Sharing for Refugees.
3.
Offering tangible support for refugee education action plans in specific countries, where refugee-hosting governments identify how they will scale up quality education for refugees and donor Governments commit to fully fund credible plans, to be agreed at the September 20 Leaders’ Summit on Refugees and beyond.
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