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Four poor excuses for neglecting children’s education in crises – and what to do about it

Susan Nicolai

Nepal’s devastating earthquake in May this year destroyed or damaged 50,000 classrooms, affecting more than a million children. Last year, Ebola wreaked havoc on already fragile school systems in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, disrupting education for 8.5 million children.

And right now, the Syrian conflict has led to 2.6 million children out of school in Syria and neighbouring countries.

Emergencies and protracted crises cause some of the most shocking violations of the right to education worldwide. Neglecting the education of these children and youth jeopardises not only their future, but also the future of their societies.

This week, the Oslo Summit on Education for Development is bringing together global figures like Ban Ki-moon and Malala Yousafzai to help reverse the negative trend in international support for education and reach the millions – including those affected by emergencies – who are still being denied their right to education.

New ODI research prepared for the summit found that a shocking 65 million children and youth worldwide are out of school or at risk of disruption in crisis countries. To reach them, there is a shortfall of $4.8 billion annually, meaning that we could begin to ensure education for a mere $74 per child.

Yet too often, education is not seen as urgent, and emergencies decimate already fragile systems with little response because funding is inadequate.

So why the neglect? Here are a few reasons some poor excuses.

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