Globally, there are 70.8 million forcibly displaced persons, the highest number since the Second World War. Among these are 25.9 million refugees, over half of whom are children. This unprecedented displacement poses challenges for the world’s education systems.
In fact, Goal 4 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which seeks to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, remains far out of reach for many of the world’s refugees. According to a recent report from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) refugees are largely excluded from SDG-related data collection, monitoring frameworks, and national reporting and development plans. As of 2018, only 63% and 24% of refugees had access to primary and secondary schooling respectively. There is therefore an urgent need to improve the equitable provision of quality education that is inclusive of refugees.
Effective teacher management is key to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education. Research has shown that the quality of the teaching workforce is the most important factor affecting student learning among those that are open to policy influence. In crisis and displacement situations, the role of teachers is particularly significant; they are the ‘key to successful inclusion’ and are sometimes the only resource available to students.