January 21, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

On January 20, a new report, entitled “Addressing the learning crisis: An urgent need to better finance education for the poorest children,” was published from the UN Children’s Fund of UNICEF. The UNICEF report was released as representatives of education systems from 120 countries gathered for the Education World Forum, an annual international conference, in London exchanging ideas about improving schools and using technology.

The UNICEF report indicated that a third of adolescent girls from the poorest households have never been to school. The study also stated education budgets often heavily focused on wealthier households. In particular, UNICEF identified South Sudan spent the least among East African countries on public education in 2019. There were more than 2.2 million children in South Sudan without receiving a quality education.

According to the UNICEF report, one-third of the world's poorest girls, aged between 10 and 18, were denied access to going to school. They have never been to school for proper education that is a common factor in female illiteracy. UNICEF pointed out the obstacles such as poverty, discrimination due to gender, disability, ethnic origin or language of instruction, physical distance from schools and poor infrastructure continued to prevent the poorest children from accessing quality education.

In conclusion, UNICEF called on governments and key stakeholders around the world to urgently address equity in education funding and take specific actions to achieve equitable quality education for every child.

Photo:Webshot.