VOA SE - 2 - 2012/7/25

Under international law, refugees are the only displaced people with a guaranteed right to education. But that guarantee often means little. Schools in refugee camps often have limited money for teachers and supplies.

Last year, Pauline Rose visited the Dadaab camps in northern Kenya. Those camps shelter more than 250,000 refugees from Somalia.

So you have half of children without any access to school. You have sort of classes of over 300 children, and I mean just the conditions getting worse and worse.

What if conflict states in sub-Saharan Africa moved just 10% of the military spending to education? UNESCO says they could educate more than one-fourth of their out-of-school population. And in Pakistan, it says 20% of the military budget could provide primary education for all children.

But one country has been a real success story. For years, Botswana has used its wealth from diamond exports to finance universal primary education and to create a skills base for its growing economy.

That's the VOA special English education report.I'm Jame Teddy.