people and planet

4
“
Refugee children and adolescents are five times
more likely to be out of school than others
”
Refugees are a huge challenge
for education systems
Almost 60 million people were in forced displacement
in 2015, the highest number since 1945 (UNHCR, 2015).
They include internally displaced people (IDPs), asylum
seekers and refugees, a small percentage of whom are
resettled. Moreover, people are spending longer and
longer time in displacement and refuge, compromising
prospects of durable solutions and reinforcing the
urgency of a sustainable, comprehensive response by
the international community.
Data remain limited for many refugee situations, but
the most recent data from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees estimate that, worldwide, 50%
of primary school-age refugee children are out of school
and 75% of adolescent refugees at secondary level are out
FIGURE 4.2:
Education conditions for refugee children vary widely
Primary and secondary enrolment rates, selected refugee sites in
selected countries, 2014
Enrolment rates (%)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Kenya
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Chad
Malaysia
Sudan
Uganda
Ethiopia
Rwanda
South Sudan
Iran, Isl. Rep
Primary
Secondary
Source: GEM Report team analysis (2016) based on 2014 UNHCR data.
Yemen
Egypt
of school. Refugee children and adolescents are five times
more likely to be out of school than their non-refugee peers.
However, this average obscures significant differences
across countries. Primary enrolment rates among the
displaced are 80% in Egypt and Yemen but 40% at refugee
sites in Pakistan. Enrolment rates are substantially lower
at the secondary level: only 4% of 12- to 17-year-old refugees
were enrolled in school in Kenya and Pakistan (Figure 4.2).
The provision and quality of education in some refugee
settings are limited, with shortages of qualified teachers
proficient in an appropriate language, pupil/teacher
ratios as high as 70:1 and high proportions of unqualified
teachers. Official learning validation and certification,
which are important for the effective education of refugee
children, are often ignored (UNESCO and UNHCR, 2016).
EDUCATION CAN HELP BUILD SOCIETIES
AFTER CONFLICT
Segregation is a common legacy of conflict. Institutional
environments play an important role in reintegrating
post-conflict communities and can address differences
between ethnic and religious groups (Alexander and
Christia, 2011). On the other hand, where schools
maintain the status quo, they can predispose young
people towards segregation and engrain discriminatory
attitudes, leading them to believe intolerance is socially
acceptable (Ramirez-Barat and Duthie, 2015).
Integrated schools have been found to positively
influence minority group identity, prevailing attitudes
towards inclusion and exclusion, and a sense of
forgiveness, with the potential to heal division and
promote less sectarian perspectives (McGlynn, 2004).
Members of communities educated together may
develop more tolerance (Hansson et al., 2013).
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, schools have been
segregated along linguistic and ethnic lines since the
end of the war in 1996. In some cases, students from
different ethnic groups attend the same school but are
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CHAPTER 4 | PEACE: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, PEACE AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE