‘I haven’t lost my dream’: Refugee education funding cuts threaten millions

“When we left Sudan, I was worried that my education would stop,” said Jamila Mostafa, 19, one of an estimated 13.1 million school-age refugee children worldwide in 2025.

But nearly half – 5.8 million – are still out of school as funding cuts threaten years of progress in educating children and young people forced to leave their homelands because of war, conflict, violence or persecution.

A generation at risk

The warning came in a new form report by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

“At a time of enormous pressure on humanitarian and development funding, cuts to education budgets risk reversing decades of collective investment and closing opportunities for young people,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, a former refugee from Iraq.

The transition to secondary education remains one of the biggest challenges for refugee children, according to the report. Only 32 percent will be enrolled in high school in 2025, compared with 65 percent at the elementary school level.

However, many young refugees arrive at primary school unprepared. Two out of three people lack the foundational learning that prepares them for the classroom.

Gender gap, enrollment goals

Although as many refugees attend primary school as boys, the gap in secondary education is growing. Increasing numbers of adolescent girls are dropping out of school due to poverty, early marriage, security problems and other pressures.

Meanwhile, advances in higher education emphasize the importance of sustainable investment. Refugee enrollment at the tertiary level reached a record 11 percent in 2025, with more than 450,000 students attending universities or undertaking technical and vocational training.

This means UNHCR and its partners are on track to ensure that 15 percent of young refugees can access higher education by the end of the decade, known as promise 15×30.

Faiza Qudrati from Afghanistan grew up in Kazakhstan and studied medicine before switching to psychology.

“For me, higher education gives me the opportunity to grow, learn, and someday help others in the same way that support was once provided to me,” he said.

Unequal access

Although higher education can significantly improve the lives of refugee women and girls, giving them access to skills, qualifications, employment and greater financial independence, access remains highly unequal.

Refugee enrollment remains below the national average in more than 80 percent of reporting countries. In low-income and conflict-affected countries, only two percent of refugees are enrolled in higher education, compared with 13 percent of their citizens.

UNHCR emphasizes that improving refugee education also means strengthening national education systems by investing more in teachers, classrooms, learning materials and funding to benefit refugees and host communities.

Shaping their own future

UNHCR calls on the international community and development partners to maintain education funding and invest in the national systems of countries hosting refugees.

“Education gives young people the tools to shape their own future,” said Mr Salih. “Our responsibility is to make sure they have that opportunity.”

Jamila, a young Sudanese woman in Egypt, continues her high school education through UNHCR-supported support. He has a particular interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can help address social and economic challenges. He hopes to study technology at university.

“School gave me confidence,” he said. “It reminds me that even though I lost my home because of the war, I didn’t lose my dreams.”