Today, education remains an inaccessible right for millions of children around the world. More than 72 million primary school children are out of school, and 759 million adults are illiterate and lack the information they need to improve their own and their children’s lives.
The causes of illiteracy are
Marginalization and poverty
For many children who still do not have access to education, this is visible because of persistent inequality and marginalization.
In both developing and developed countries, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that stem from gender, health and cultural identity (ethnicity, language, religion). These children find themselves on the margins of the education system and do not benefit from learning, which is vital for their intellectual and social development.
Factors related to poverty, such as unemployment, illness and illiteracy of parents, double the risk of out-of-school and dropout.
Undoubtedly, many children from disadvantaged families are forced to drop out of school because of health problems related to malnutrition or in order to work and support their families.
Financial deficit of developing countries
Universal primary education is a serious problem for many states.
Many developing countries do not allocate the financial resources needed to build schools, provide school materials, and hire and train teachers. The funds pledged by the international community are generally insufficient to enable countries to establish an education system for all children.
Similarly, the lack of financial resources affects the quality of teaching. Teachers do not benefit from basic teacher training, and schools that are understaffed have excessive class sizes.
This overcrowding leads to classrooms where many different educational levels are forced together, preventing each individual child from benefiting from an education tailored to their needs and abilities. As a result, dropout and failure rates remain high.
Overview of the right to education around the world
The most affected regions.
As a result of poverty and marginalization, more than 72 million children worldwide are out of school.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected area, with more than 32 million primary school-age children out of school. Central and East Asia as well as the Pacific region are also severely affected by this problem, with more than 27 million children out of school.
In addition, these regions also have to address persistent problems of educational poverty (a child is in school for less than 4 years) and extreme educational poverty (a child is in school for less than 2 years).
This is mainly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half of children receive less than 4 years of education. In some countries, such as Somalia and Burkina Faso, more than 50% of children receive less than 2 years of education.
Lack of schooling and poor education have a negative impact on the population and the country. Children leave school without having received the basics, which significantly hinders the socio-economic development of these countries.
Inequality between girls and boys: girls’ education under threat
Today, girls have the least access to education. They make up more than 54% of the world’s out-of-school population.
This problem is most common in the Arab States, Central Asia and South and West Asia, and is mainly due to cultural and traditional privileging of men. Girls are expected to work in the family, while boys have the right to education.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 12 million girls are at risk of never receiving an education. In Yemen, more than 80% of girls will never have the opportunity to go to school. Even more alarming is that some countries, such as Afghanistan or Somalia, are not making efforts to close the gap between girls and boys in education.
While many developing countries can rejoice in the dramatic reduction of inequality between girls and boys in education, much work still needs to be done to achieve universal primary education.