Geneva, 2 October 2026 – Nearly six million refugee children were out of school worldwide in 2025, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned today, as deepening funding cuts threaten to shut millions more out of classrooms and reverse years of progress in refugee education. UNHCR’s latest annual education report, Pathways to the Future: Education, Opportunity and Self-Reliance, estimates that 5.8 million, or 44 per cent of the world’s 13.1 million school-aged refugee children, were out of school last year. “Looking back on my own years as a refugee, I understand the importance of education. It gave me opportunities that displacement might otherwise have denied me. It helped me rebuild my life and shape my own future,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih. “Education is protection. But it is also a pathway to opportunity and self-reliance. At a time of severe pressure on humanitarian and development financing, cuts to education risk reversing decades of collective investment and closing opportunities for a generation of young people.” The transition to secondary education remains one of the biggest challenges for refugee learners. While 65 per cent of refugee children of primary-school age were enrolled in primary education in 2025, only 32 per cent were enrolled in secondary education. For refugee girls, the transition to secondary school is close to breaking point. While girls and boys attend primary school at broadly similar rates, the gap widens sharply in secondary education, as poverty, protection risks, early marriage and other pressures push increasing numbers of adolescent girls out of school. Against this backdrop, progress in higher education shows what sustained investment can achieve. Refugee tertiary enrolment reached a record 11 per cent in 2025, up from 9 per cent in 2024, with more than 450,000 refugees enrolled in higher education for the first time, the highest level recorded to date. The increase keeps UNHCR and partners on track towards the goal of reaching 15 per cent refugee enrolment in higher education by 2030, through expanded access to universities, vocational training, connected learning opportunities, scholarships and third-country education pathways. Higher education can be particularly transformative for refugee women and girls, giving them access to skills, qualifications, employment and, potentially, much greater economic independence. But access remains deeply unequal. In more than 80 per cent of reporting countries, refugee enrolment in higher education remained below the national average last year. In low-income and conflict-affected countries, just 2 per cent of refugees were enrolled in higher education, compared to 13 per cent of nationals. Investing in refugee education also means strengthening the national education systems that serve refugees and host communities. As more refugees learn alongside children from their host communities, schools need enough teachers, classrooms, learning materials and financing to make inclusion work in practice. UNHCR is urging international communities and development partners to safeguard education funding and invest in the national systems of refugee-hosting countries. “Our ambition must go beyond keeping children in classrooms. Displacement should not determine the limits of a child’s life,” Salih said. “A child who can learn today is better equipped to contribute and support themselves tomorrow, whether they eventually return home, build their future in the country that has given them refuge or pursue opportunities elsewhere. Our responsibility is to make sure they have that chance.” Report link Read the Press Release For more information on this topic, please contact: In Geneva, Eujin Byun, byun@unhcr.org, +41 79 747 8719 |
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