UNHCR warns 5.8 million refugee children remain out of school amid funding cuts | Report

Nearly 6 million refugee children were out of school worldwide in 2025, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned on October 2, 2026, as deepening funding cuts threaten to shut millions more out of classrooms and reverse years of progress in refugee education, according to a press release. The warning was issued from Geneva alongside UNHCR’s latest annual education report, Pathways to the Future: Education, Opportunity and Self-Reliance. The report 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. The agency called on international partners to safeguard education financing. The findings underline the fragility of hard-won gains in refugee learning.

The transition from primary to secondary education remains one of the biggest challenges for refugee learners. In 2025, 65 per cent of refugee children of primary-school age were enrolled in primary education, while only 32 per cent were enrolled in secondary education. For refugee girls, the transition to secondary school is close to breaking point. Although girls and boys attend primary school at broadly similar rates, the gap widens sharply at the secondary level. Poverty, protection risks, early marriage and other pressures push increasing numbers of adolescent girls out of school.

Against this backdrop, 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. More than 450,000 refugees were 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. This is being pursued through expanded access to universities, vocational training, connected learning opportunities, scholarships and third-country education pathways.

However, 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.

“Education is protection. But it is also a pathway to opportunity and self-reliance,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, warning that cuts risk reversing decades of collective investment and closing opportunities for a generation of young people.

UNHCR is urging international communities and development partners to safeguard education funding and invest in the national systems of refugee-hosting countries. Investing in refugee education also means strengthening the national education systems that serve refugees and host communities. Schools need enough teachers, classrooms, learning materials and financing to make inclusion work in practice.

“Our ambition must go beyond keeping children in classrooms. Displacement should not determine the limits of a child’s life,” Salih added.