ADDIS ABABA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said that some 196,350 refugee students are currently enrolled in different levels of education across Ethiopia.
According to figures from the UNHCR, the total number of refugee students include 55,735 refugee children in early childhood care and education, 126,383 in primary education, close to 11,120 in secondary education, as well as 3,109 refugees in tertiary education.
The UN refugee agency, however, stressed that gaps still remain in the provision of education to refugee children who are currently staying in the East African country, as the country welcomes refugees from its neighboring countries that are encountering conflicts and natural disasters.
"Gaps in the provision of education include inadequate school infrastructure across all camps and host community, a high number of untrained teachers and limited teaching and learning materials," a statement from the UNHCR read.
The UNHCR has registered 915,073 refugees as of Aug. 31, 2018 in Ethiopia, most of whom are housed in refugee camps in six regional states across Ethiopia.
On Monday, UNHCR disclosed that it has only received 14 percent of the 346.5 million U.S. dollars it requires to meet the needs of refugees in Ethiopia.
The UNHCR, in a press statement sent to Xinhua on Monday, said that 346.5 million dollars are needed to meet the basic nutritional, educational, health, clean water, sanitation, and shelter needs of refugees in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, which is home to the second largest refugee population in Africa, next to Uganda, has a growing number of refugees that primarily come from its neighbors Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, according to the UNHCR.
Conflict and drought in neighboring countries continues to force people to seek refuge in Ethiopia, which has a long tradition of hosting refugees.
Ethiopia has also in recent years hosted an increasing number of refugees fleeing conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
In February this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, had commended Ethiopia for its open-door policy towards refugees that are arriving from neighboring countries.
Grandi, during his four-day visit to Ethiopia in February this year, praised the Ethiopian government's "openness to new and innovative approaches to improve the lives of more than 900,000 refugees and host communities."
