WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania — Adolescents are more than twice as likely to be out of school than children of primary school age, according to a new joint report by UNESCO and UNICEF. The report, entitled “Fixing the Broken Promise of Education for All: Findings from the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children,” was released on January 19, during the Education World Forum.
According to the report, 121 million adolescents have either never started school or have dropped out—data show that this number has remained defiantly stagnant since 2007, despite promises from the international community to achieve Education for All by 2015.
While the global net enrollment rate for primary education rose from 88 percent in 1990 to 90 percent in 2012, there is mounting concern that gains in access to education could deflate, barring a major shift in policy.
What is the problem?
According to the report, around 63 million adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 are being denied the right to an education—chief among them are children living in conflict, child laborers and children facing discrimination based ethnicity, disability and gender.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova believes “business as usual” must yield to a more focused approach:
“We need targeted interventions to reach the families displaced by conflict, the girls forced to stay home, the children with disabilities and the millions obliged to work. But these policies come at a cost. This report serves as wake-up call to mobilize the resources needed to guarantee basic education for every child, once and for all.”
UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake shared Bokova’s sentiments: “To realize the promise of universal education for every child, we need a global commitment to invest in three areas: getting more children into primary school; helping more children – especially girls – stay in school through the secondary level; and improving the quality of the learning they receive throughout their schooling.”
Poverty remains a significant barrier in the effort to get children and adolescents in school, as they are often forced to work in order to supplement their families’ income. According to the report, two-thirds of the poorest children in Nigeria were not in school, as compared to only five percent of Nigeria’s wealthiest children.
Both UNESCO and UNICEF recommended that new policies focus on providing education for the world’s most marginalized children, who have heretofore been overlooked.
While a shift in policy represents one means towards remedying the global education crisis, a recent report published by the Varkey Foundation suggests that the private sector must also re-evaluate its approach. According to the report, the top 500 global firms allocate only 13 percent of their social responsibility budgets to education, with less than half of this education spending going to high priority areas like sub-Saharan Africa.
“The world’s business leaders need to take a fresh look at their philanthropic spend,” said Varkey Foundation CEO Vikas Pota.
UNESCO’s Bokova agreed, saying that the Varkey Foundation report, published as part of a campaign to encourage businesses to allocate 20 percent of their philanthropic spending towards education by 2020, demonstrates the enormous potential of corporate investment in global education.
“There is no more powerful link than that between an educated, skilled workforce and sustainable economic development. It is an investment that makes sense now for business, for youth and for building more equitable and prosperous societies.”
– Parker Carroll
Photo: BBC, The Guardian, UNICEF
Photo: Cloud Front