Funding cuts jeopardize education for millions of refugee children worldwide

UNHCR estimates that 13.1 million refugee children were of school‑age in 2025, but 5.8 million were not enrolled in any classroom. Primary‑level attendance reached 65 percent, while only 32 percent progressed to secondary school, indicating a sharp drop as children grow older. Two‑thirds of refugee learners lack the basic literacy and numeracy skills needed for effective classroom participation. Although boys and girls attend primary school at similar rates, the gender gap widens in secondary education, where poverty, early marriage and safety concerns lead many adolescent girls to leave school. UN High Commissioner Barham Salih warned that funding cuts could reverse decades of investment.

In 2025, refugee enrollment in tertiary education rose to a record 11 percent, representing more than 450,000 students in universities or technical‑vocational programmes. UNHCR’s 15x30 pledge aims to enable 15 percent of refugee youth to access higher education by 2030. Nevertheless, refugee participation remains below national averages in over 80 percent of reporting countries. In low‑income and conflict‑affected settings, only 2 percent of refugees were enrolled in higher education compared with 13 percent of host‑country nationals, highlighting persistent inequities. Individual stories, such as a Sudanese teenager continuing high‑school studies in Egypt with UNHCR support, illustrate the potential impact of sustained investment.

The UN refugee agency cautions that shrinking humanitarian and development budgets are already curtailing education programmes for displaced children. UNHCR calls on donors and host governments to safeguard existing education funding and to channel resources into national school systems, including teacher training, classroom infrastructure and learning materials. Strengthening these systems is presented as a way to benefit both refugee learners and host‑community children. The agency emphasizes that without renewed financial commitments, the progress made in expanding access to primary, secondary and tertiary education could be eroded, leaving millions of refugee children without schooling.