( CNN ) They may just have fled a war zone , but Syrian children on recess at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan are n't so different from kids elsewhere . Boys run around , wrestle and laugh outside a school comprised of tidy portable buildings on flat , rocky desert . Nearby , girls dressed in pink with bows in their hair hold hands and huddle around a book . Kids are resilient wherever they are . Unfortunately , even with the hardships of living in a camp , these kids are still some of the lucky ones . After all , at least half of Syrian refugee children are n't even in school . Indeed , if Syrian refugees were a country , they would have the lowest rate of educational enrollment in the world . And , without access to quality education , children here are at risk of not having the skills they need as adults . All this means that Syria is facing a lost generation . Why is all this happening ? Because the civil war is destroying Syrian society . The United Nations announced earlier this month that Syrians are now the largest refugee population in the world -- more than 7.5 million Syrians are displaced internally , while another 3.2 million are registered refugees in neighboring countries . That 's nearly half of Syria 's total population . And while Lebanon , Turkey , Jordan , Iraq and Egypt have been remarkably generous hosts , the influx is so large that it 's changing some countries ' demographics , with refugees comprising at least 20 % of Lebanon 's population , 10 % of Jordan 's , and 10 to 20 % of border areas in Turkey , according to the State Department and U.N . Meanwhile , more than 80 % of the refugees reside in urban areas , not camps , and so rely on urban services , placing high demands on schools . All this is leaving education in crisis across the host countries . While each country officially allows Syrian children access to the public education system , barriers remain , including school space shortages , having to learn new languages , transportation , the need for children to work for their family 's survival , and bullying . In addition , many are putting off school in the belief that their return to Syria is imminent . This creates very real risks to the quality of education for both host country nationals and Syrian children . The presence of refugees has meant crowded classrooms and constrained budgets , and it leaves teachers managing students who are at different levels . Continuous investment in these countries ' education systems is therefore important so that the quality of education does n't fall backwards . Sadly , there 's no end in sight for Syria 's civil war . And even when peace is re-established it will take years before many Syrians can return to their homes , given the destroyed infrastructure and residual tensions within society . This is n't unique to the current situation : In protracted refugee crises around the world , the average time until refugees can return home is 17 years , according to the United Nations . The responsibility for providing formal K-12 education for refugees lies primarily with the host governments , some of which are taking loans to cover the deficits . But while much of the international assistance response has so far been humanitarian , responding to urgent needs , what 's needed now is a transition toward development planning , in which longer-term , sustainable solutions for education and other sectors are planned and resourced . This means investing in building capacities of host country governments to provide education to these additional people in the future . Donor funding will dry up over time , and the host governments will need systems to manage the additional children they must educate . Moving forward , host countries and the international aid community should prioritize investment in access to quality education , with additional attention to building infrastructure to expand school spaces , understanding and addressing other barriers to access , developing transportation options , improving data systems , expanding school monitoring and support , and providing teacher training about refugee needs in the classroom . This will also constitute an investment in the longer-term education development needs of the host countries , meaning they 'll benefit , too . The suffering that has taken place in Syria since the civil war started in 2011 has been almost unimaginable . But by investing in the country 's future in this way , the international community can help ensure education is n't another casualty of the war . And perhaps help lay the foundations for a brighter future .
She says : At least half of Syrian refugee kids not in school . Education is in crisis across the host countries , she says .