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Coronavirus a dire threat to refugee education: UNHCR

Staff Correspondent
03 Sep 2020 19:58:25 | Update: 03 Sep 2020 19:59:16
Coronavirus a dire threat to refugee education: UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, predicts that the potential of millions of young refugees living in some of the world's most vulnerable communities will be further threatened unless immediate and bold action is taken by the international community to beat back the catastrophic effects of Covid-19 on refugee education.

The UNHCR made the prediction in a report released on Thursday (September 3), titled "Coming Together for Refugee Education."

The data in the report is based on the gross enrolment figures from the 2019 school cycle.

While children in every country have struggled with the impact of Covid-19 on their education, the report finds that refugee children have been particularly disadvantaged. Before the pandemic, a refugee child was twice as likely to be out of school as a non-refugee child.

This is set to worsen - many may not have opportunities to resume their studies due to school closures, difficulties affording fees, uniforms or books, lack of access to technologies or because they are being required to work to support their families.

"Half of the world's refugee children were already out of school," said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

After everything they have endured, he said, they cannot rob them of their futures by denying them an education today.

"Despite the enormous challenges posed by the pandemic, with greater international support to refugees and their host communities, we can expand innovative ways to protect the critical gains made in refugee education over the past years."

Without greater support, steady, hard-won increases in school, university, and technical and vocational education enrolment could be reversed - in some cases permanently - potentially jeopardizing efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

 

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