The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has said that more than 3.5 million refugee children aged 5 to 17 did not have the chance to attend school in the last academic year.

In a report released today, UNHCR said that these include some 1.5 million refugee children missing out on primary school, while 2 million refugee adolescents are not in secondary school.

"Of the 17.2 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, half are children," said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "The education of these young people is crucial to the peaceful and sustainable development of the countries that have welcomed them, and to their homes when they are able to return. Yet compared to other children and adolescents around the world, the gap in opportunity for refugees is growing ever wider."

The report, "Left Behind: Refugee Education in Crisis", compares UNHCR sources and statistics on refugee education with data from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, on school enrolment around the world. Globally, 91 percent of children attend primary school. For refugees, that figure is far lower at only 61 percent, and in low-income countries, it is less than 50 percent.

The report calls for education to be considered fundamental to the response to refugee emergencies, and for it to be supported by long-term planning and reliable funding. It urges governments to include refugees in their national education systems as the most effective, equitable and sustainable response, and highlights some of the notable efforts made towards implementing such a policy, even in countries where resources are already stretched.