What We Do
Education
PROTECT
STRENGTHEN
EMPOWER
Education is a basic human right and yet:
- 48% of all school age refugee children are out of school.
- One in three refugee children fail to complete their primary education.
- Just 3% of refugee students are currently enrolled in higher education.
Why is education so important?
- Education protects refugee children and youth from forced recruitment into armed groups, child labour, sexual exploitation and child marriage.
- Education strengthens community resilience.
- Education empowers by giving refugees the knowledge and skills to live productive, fulfilling and independent lives. (UNHCR)
Refugees
A refugee is a person who is seeking a safe haven after being forced to flee violence, persecution or war.
Refugees have a right to international protection.
According to UNHCR, at the end of 2019 there were:
- 5 million displaced persons worldwide, of whom an estimated 30-34 million were below 18 years of age
- 26 million refugees and 4 million asylum-seekers worldwide
- 133,094 refugees in the UK, equivalent to roughly 0.2% of the total population
In the UK
In the UK we provide activities designed to help refugee children settle quickly into their new environment and to access formal education successfully. Our programme includes:
- English language tuition
- Life skills
- Team sports
- Holiday activity clubs
- Mentoring
Our sessions are led by appropriately qualified volunteers who are subject to DBS and all other checks outlined in “Keeping Children Safe in Education” (2020)
Overseas
Overseas, we support UK-registered partner charities to provide educational opportunities to refugee children, by funding the travel expenses of volunteer teachers. Volunteer teachers overseas provide refugee children with activities that include:
- Whole class literacy and numeracy tuition
- Art and crafts
- Individual and small group scholarship tuition
- Catch-up classes
- After school club
- Football coaching
- Mentoring
- Remote learning
- Leadership skills
- Sporting and educational field trips
