UNB, Dhaka :Access to secondary education is very limited for refugees in many countries, including Bangladesh, said a new global policy paper.In Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan less than 5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 were enrolled in secondary education, according to the report. The new policy paper, ‘No more excuses’ jointly released by the UNESCOGlobal Education Monitoring (GEM) Report and UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit on May 23-24 revealed new data showing that only 50 percent of refugee children are in primary school and 25 percent of refugee adolescents are in secondary school.Enrolment in early childhood education also remains very limited in some countries, reaching only 7 percent in Turkey in 2015. Stateless persons often figure highly among refugee populations, as is the case in Bangladesh and Malaysia where the refugee population comes largely from the Rohingya community, Kate Redman, Communications and Advocacy Specialist, GEM Report, Unesco, told UNB quoting the report.The enrolment of children in Kutapalong and Nayapara, two government-run camps near Cox’s Bazar, has worsened from 2004/5 – 2013/15, Redman said adding while 74 percent were enrolled in 2004, 62 percent were enrolled in 2014. This places refugees at a double disadvantage, with many children and young people unable to enroll in school, register for exams or receive certification, she said.Yet in many countries, these groups face institutional barriers that can directly and indirectly harm these children’s prospects of receiving an education. Bangladesh and Malaysia, for instance, Redman said, are not parties to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, so they lack administrative and legislative frameworks to deal with refugees, and refugee children are excluded from formal education.The paper called for countries and their humanitarian and development partners to urgently ensure that those forcibly displaced are included in national education plans and to collect better data to monitor their education status and progress. “There’re unprecedented numbers of forcibly displaced populations, putting huge pressure on education systems.
