More than half of the school-age refugee children have no school to go to: UN report

The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Thursday released a report showing that refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than the global average.

According to the new report, 3.7 million, or more than half of the six million school-aged children under the UN mandate have no school to go to, with 1.75 million refugee children not in primary school and 1.95 million refugee adolescents not in secondary school.

"This represents a crisis for millions of refugee children," said Filippo Grandi, UN high commissioner for refugees.

The report showed that only 50 percent of refugee children have access to primary education, compared with a global average of more than 90 percent.

And as these children become older, the gap becomes a chasm, with only 22 percent of refugee adolescents attending secondary school compared to a global average of 84 percent.

At the higher education level, just one percent of refugees attend university, compared to a global average of 34 percent, the report showed.

"As the international community considers how best to deal with the refugee crisis, it is essential that we think beyond basic survival," said Grandi, adding that education enabled refugees to positively shape the future of both their countries of asylum and their home countries when they one day return. Endit