Education continues to be an elusive privilege for millions of children around the world today.
More than 72 million primary school-age children are not in school and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the ability to improve their own living conditions or those of their children.
For many children who still do not have access to education, inequality and marginalization persist.
Because of disparities that exist in gender, health and cultural identity (ethnic origin, culture, religion), children have no access to basic education in both developing and developed countries.
Such children are on the periphery of the system of education and do not benefit from the schooling required for their intellectual and social growth.
Poverty-related factors such as unemployment, disease and parent illiteracy double a child’s risk of non-schooling and dropping out.
Most children from disadvantaged backgrounds are forced to give up their education because of malnutrition-related health problems or out of a need to work and support their family.
Free primary education is a major issue for many nations.
Most emerging countries do not have adequate financial resources to create schools, provide educational materials, or hire and train teachers.
In particular, funds promised by the international community are not sufficient to allow countries to set up an education system for all children. Likewise, a lack of financial resources has an impact on teaching quality.
Teachers are not properly trained, and over-sized classes are not efficiently handled.
This influx leads to classrooms where many different levels of learning are mixed, which ultimately does not allow each student to benefit from an education tailored to their needs and abilities.
As a result, the levels of dropout and failure in these educational environments remain high.
Due to poverty and marginalization, more than 72 million children are still unschooled around the world.
More than 32 million children of primary school age are uneducated in the sub-Saharan Africa, which is the most affected area.
Over 27 million children in Central, Eastern, and Pacific Asia are also severely affected.
Both regions need to tackle ongoing issues of educational deprivation (a child in education for less than four years) and severe educational poverty (a child in school for less than two years).
Educational deprivation and severe educational poverty are most visible in sub-Saharan Africa where less than half of the children have more than four years of schooling.
In some nations, such as Somalia and Burkina Faso, less than half of the children receive up to two years of schooling.
This lack of education has negative effects on the people and the country.
The children leave school without acquiring basics skills, which then greatly hinders these countries’ social and economic development.
Today, women have the least access to education. They make up over 54 percent of the world’s non-school population.
This problem occurs most often in the Arab States, Central Asia, and South and Western Asia and is clarified mainly by the male’s social and conventional preferential treatment.
In many cultures, females are destined to work in the home of the family, while males are entitled to an education.
More than 12 million girls are at risk of never receiving an education in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 80 percent of girls in Yemen will never have the chance to go to school.
Even more alarming, some countries like Afghanistan and Somalia are making no effort to reduce the academic disparity between girls and boys.
Although there many developing countries that welcome the dramatic reduction of inequality in education between girls and boys, there is still a need for universal primary education.
Education is a fundamental human right and everyone needs to make the most of their lives.
Having an education helps people access all the other human rights that they are entitled to.
Education increases an individual’s opportunities and helps to tackle poverty.
The international community should understand that it takes time and resources to reach the full extent of the right to education.
Governments should put plans in place to meet the minimum standard for free, mandatory primary education and then take steps to expand every child’s right to education.
Without discrimination, the right to education is part of the minimum standard and must be created immediately.
It is very necessary for policymakers to continue working toward the full right to education and not allow plans to stopped or postponed.
