The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported today that some 263 million children and youth, equivalent to about a quarter of the population of Europe, are out of school from primary to upper secondary levels with sub-Saharan Africa having the highest rates of exclusion. 
"Countries have promised to provide every child with a primary and secondary education by 2030. These new findings show the hard work ahead if we are to reach this goal," said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. 
"Our focus must be on inclusion from the earliest age and right through the learning cycle, on policies that address the barriers at every stage, with special attention to girls who still face the greatest disadvantage." UNESCO's Institute for Statistics and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report finds that the total number includes about 61 million children of primary school age (6-11 years), 60 million of lower secondary age (12-14 years), and about 142 million of upper secondary school age (15-17 years). This is the first-ever study to estimate of those at the secondary school age. 
Sub-Saharan Africa, with the lowest numbers, had over a fifth of children of primary school age, followed by a third of youths in the lower secondary age, and almost 60% of youths in the upper secondary age out of schools. 
Persistent disparities in education participation linked to sex, location and wealth, as well as armed conflict were noted in the paper as major barriers to education. Globally, 35% (22 million) of all out-of-school children of primary education age, 25% of all adolescents of lower secondary age (15 million), and 18% (26 million) of all out-of-school youths of upper secondary age live in areas affected by conflict.

Source: QNA