No Right to Read: Regulatory Restrictions on Refugee Rights to Formal Education

Worldwide, only 61% of refugee children attend primary school, as compared to a global average of 91%. Far fewer refugees go on to attend secondary school. One factor that can explain refugee children’s low school attendance is the regulatory framework of the host country in which they are living in exile. In this brief, we present newly collected data on refugee education regulations. Some countries have progressive legal frameworks that actively support formal schooling provision for refugee children, while other countries prohibit or severely limit education provision for refugees living within their borders. Uganda and Bangladesh are two examples of these extremes.