SDG Goals

© UN Photo/Mark Garten

Education enables up socioeconomic mobility and is a key to escaping poverty. Still, millions of children are however out of school, and not all who practise attend are learning. More one-half of all children and adolescents worldwide are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics. Disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes are constitute beyond regions, and sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Fundamental and Southern asia lag behind. Equally a result, many students are not fully prepared to participate in a highly complex global economy. That gap should provide the incentive for policymakers to refocus their efforts to ensure that the quality of education is improved, and that more than people of all ages tin access it.

Shockingly low proficiency rates in reading and mathematics signal a global learning crisis

Globally, an estimated 617 million children and adolescents of principal and lower secondary school age—more than 55 per cent of the global total—lacked minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics in 2015. One third of those children and adolescents were out of schoolhouse and urgently needed access to education. About two thirds of them attended schoolhouse but did not become practiced, either because they dropped out or because they did not learn basic skills. Despite years of steady growth in enrolment rates, non‑proficiency rates remain disturbingly loftier. They are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where 88 per cent of children (202 million) of primary and lower secondary school age were not proficient in reading, and 84 per cent (193 meg) were not skilful in mathematics in 2015. Central and Southern Asia was non faring significantly better. In that location, 81 per cent of children (241 meg) were not proficient in reading, and 76 per cent (228 million) lacked basic mathematical skills.

Girls are more likely than boys to learn how to read. Globally, for every 100 boys who accomplished minimum proficiency in reading in 2015, 105 girls of primary school age and 109 boyish women of lower secondary school age met at least the minimum standard.

The learning crisis not only threatens an individual's power to climb out of poverty, it as well jeopardizes the economic hereafter of unabridged nations as they struggle to compete in a global market with less-than-skilled human being resources. The side by side decade provides an important window of opportunity for policymakers to ensure that all children are skilful in basic literacy and numeracy.

Percentage of children and adolescents not achieving minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics, 2015 (per centum)


Early childhood teaching offers a head beginning in school, only one tertiary of the earth's children are beingness left behind

Evidence shows that skillful quality early childhood education is ane of the best investments a club can make in its children—i that builds a stiff foundation for learning in later years. In fact, early childhood didactics has been constitute to be i of the strongest determinants of a child's readiness for school, in both high-income and depression-income countries. Participation in organized learning 1 year before the official entry age for primary school has risen steadily over the by years. At the global level, the participation charge per unit in early on childhood instruction was 69 per cent in 2017, up from 63 per cent in 2010. Notwithstanding, considerable disparities were institute among countries, with rates ranging from 7 per cent to virtually 100 per cent. The early babyhood education participation rate was merely 43 per cent in least developed countries.

Participation rate in organized learning one yr before the official entry historic period for primary school, 2017 (percentage)
* Based on 2016 data.

Progress has stalled in reaching out-of-school children

Despite considerable progress in educational admission and participation, 262 million children and adolescents (6 to 17 years former) were withal out of school in 2017. That represented nearly 1 5th of the global population in that historic period group. Of that number, 64 million were children of chief school historic period (about 6 to 11 years old), 61 meg were adolescents of lower secondary school historic period (12 to 14 years erstwhile), and 138 million were youth of upper secondary school age (fifteen to 17 years old).

Girls nonetheless face barriers to teaching in virtually regions, peculiarly in Central Asia, Northern Africa and Western asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. In those regions, girls of every age are more likely to be excluded from education than boys. For every 100 boys of primary-school historic period out of schoolhouse in 2017, 127 girls were denied the right to education in Cardinal Asia, 121 in sub-Saharan Africa, and 112 in Northern Africa and Western Asia. At the global level, 118 girls were out of school for every 100 boys. Recent successes in reducing the number of children out of schoolhouse and reducing the gender gap in the out-of-school rate need to be replicated worldwide to ensure all children, everywhere, are attending school.

Number of school-age children out of school worldwide, by level of pedagogy and sex, 2000–2017 (million)

Note: The numbers next to the sexual practice refer to 2017 data.

Too many schools in sub-Saharan Africa lack the bones elements of a skillful quality education: trained teachers and adequate facilities

Adequate infrastructure and teacher training play a disquisitional role in the quality of education. Of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa faces the biggest challenges in providing schools with bones resources. The state of affairs is farthermost at the principal and lower secondary levels, where less than one half of schools in sub-Saharan Africa have access to drinking h2o, electricity, computers and the Internet. At the upper secondary level, 57 per cent of schools accept electricity, simply merely 25 to 50 per cent have access to drinking water, handwashing facilities, computers and the Internet.

Another important step towards the goal of good quality educational activity for all is getting plenty trained teachers into classrooms. Here once more, sub-Saharan Africa lags behind. In 2017, that region had the lowest percentages of trained teachers in pre-primary (48 per cent), primary (64 per cent) and secondary (50 per cent) instruction.

Proportion of schools with access to bones school resources globally and in sub-Saharan Africa, upper-secondary, 2017 (percentage)


Despite progress, 750 million adults still cannot read and write a elementary argument; 2 thirds of those adults are women

Recent decades take seen improvements in bones reading and writing skills and a steady reduction in gender gaps, with women'southward literacy rates growing faster than men'due south literacy rates in all regions over the past 25 years. However, 750 million adults—two thirds of whom are women—remained illiterate in 2016. Developed literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South asia. Southern asia solitary is home to most half (49 per cent) of the global population who are illiterate.

On a more positive note, youth literacy rates are more often than not higher than those of adults. This reflects increased admission to schooling amid younger generations, although many students with basic reading and writing skills still struggle to meet the higher standard of minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics. The global literacy rate for adults (15 years of historic period and older) was 86 per cent in 2016, compared to 91 per cent for youth (15 to 24 years old). However, youth literacy remains low in several countries, virtually of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Proportion of global population who are illiterate, 15 years and older, 2016 (percentage)