The cost of inadequately educating asylum seekers and refugees
Economic Analysis Norway 32 - 2016
Report | Date: 30/05/2016 | Ministry of Education and Research
This report has calculated the socio-economic cost that will arise if children and young people who arrive in Norway as asylum seekers or refugees were to receive inadequate education at primary and secondary level.
The socio-economic calculations demonstrate that if refugee minors receive inadequate education the average cost to society would be NOK 3.8 million per child at 2015 prices. On top of this, there are numerous non-monetised effects. Were we to change the assumptions on which these calculations are based, our sensitivity analysis shows that the cost in a high estimate scenario would be NOK 4.4 million per individual at 2015 prices, while a low estimate would give costs of NOK 3.25 million per individual at 2015 prices.
From a socio-economic perspective, there is therefore good reason for the government to ensure that the children and young people concerned receive an adequate education, thus equipping them, in the same way as Norwegian children and young people, to take part in education, work and society in general.
Link to the report "The cost of inadequately educating asylum seekers and refugees"