Pursuant to Article 37(1) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) Constitution, everyone, including refugees, have the right to bring a justiciable matter to a court of law or any other competent body with judicial power. Further, the Refugees Proclamation, under article 30(1), states that refugees are entitled to the same treatment as nationals with regard to bringing any justiciable matter to the court or any other competent body with judicial power. 

However, according to the Constitution, article 41, the obligation of the State regarding education is to allocate ever increasing resource to provide the service. Further, the Constitution, under article 90, puts education as the social objective of the government where it shall aim to provide all Ethiopians access to education to the extent the country’s resource permits. Such constitutional stipulations suggest that education is a social aspiration that a State should provide citizens as resource permits which may not be claimed by citizens or refugees as a justiciable matter to be invoked for judicial remedies. 

The Refugees Proclamation regarding pre-primary and primary education, under article 24 (1) entitles refugees the same treatment as nationals. With respect to access to secondary education, higher education, technical and vocation education and training, and adult and non-formal education, as per article 24 (2), refugees may access such services within available resources an subject to education policy of Ethiopia. Hence, like nationals, refugees are not entitled to legally claim the right to education. Therefore we can conclude that refugees may not have recourse to judicial remedies taking right to education as a justiciable matter because education is not recognized by the Constitution or the refugee laws as a right of refugees.

However, refugees are entitled to seek administrative remedies in case of denial of education services by RRS or partners, as per article 5(1) of the Refugees and Returnees Grievances and Appeals Handling Directive, Directive No. 03/2019. The Refugees also may lodge a complaint to the institution of the ombudsman for maladministration in case of denial of education service by RRS or the relevant government authority in charge of administration of education, as per Articles 22(1) and 24 of the Institution of the Ombudsman Proclamation No.211/2000.