the facts

The statistics below are purposely kept short because that is how one can grab attention. Once you see an interesting statistic, click on it and it will lead you to the actual source. Listing long information statistics will only bore users, which is why these statistics are mainly short. Of course, there are hundreds of more than the listed ones below, so every time I find a new fact, I update this section accordingly. If you have a fact that you want to share about childhood education, click on the picture to the right to fill out a google form to submit your citation. If the citation is relevant and appropriate, it will be added to this section.

"Today, education remains an inaccessible right for millions of children around the world. More than 72 million children of primary education age are not in school..."

"As of February 18, 2021, nearly 222 million children are out of school worldwide due to nationwide school closures linked to the coronavirus pandemic."

"A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, children across the world have lost an average of 74 days of education each due to school closures and a lack of access to remote learning... an estimated 112 billion days of education have been lost altogether..."

"Two-thirds of the world’s school-age children – or 1.3 billion children aged 3 to 17 years old – do not have internet connection in their homes..."

"As of February 18, 2021, 109 million students from pre-primary through secondary are out of school..."

"In poorer communities, shortages of schools and teachers, the high costs of

education and harmful gender norms keep 129 million girls from education..."

"At the peak of school closures, 1.6 billion learners were out of school, with 810 million in low-income countries..."

"Our results show a 1% increase in education… reduces annual inadequately managed plastic waste by 0.97% and 0.18% respectively..."

"...progressively raising the number of schooling years to 12… would reduce by 44% and 28% respectively the global amount of inadequately managed plastic waste discarded into the global ecosystem in 2050 as compared to 1990..."

"In countries with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) and Education Index (EI), there is a tendency of anthropogenic marine debris abundances to increase…"

"...7–8 of every 10 preschool children did better than the average child in a control or comparison group”

"Years later, the students who were given a high-quality education performed better than the other students in many areas, both academically and socially..."

"The quality of life for a child and the contributions the child makes to society as an adult can be traced back to the first few years of life..."

"Studies have shown that those who are more educated are more likely to live longer, live healthier lives, and are even more likely to help strangers..."

"In developing and developed countries alike, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural identity..." 

“Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected area with over 32 million children of primary school age remaining uneducated..."

“Central and Eastern Asia, as well as the Pacific, are also severely affected by this problem with more than 27 million uneducated children..."

“Today, it is girls who have the least access to education. They make up more than 54% of the non-schooled population in the world..."

“In sub-Saharan Africa, over 12 million girls are at risk of never receiving an education..."

"...girls getting education… increases life expectancy, reduces family size, improved child survival, raises productivity, and enable women to demand a voice in both private and public life..."

“Lack of education limits prospects decreases family income, reduce health, put women and girls at risk of trafficking and exploitation and limits the economic advancement of the entire countries..."

“Parents with higher educational qualifications have more understanding and awareness towards the education of girls than the parents with less educational qualifications..."

"...the occupation of the parents have a great influence on their attitude towards girls education..."

"Education, income, and job of the parents play a great role in the education of girls education..."

"The parents with higher income have more awareness towards the education of girls as financial resources play a great role..."

"...girls getting an education is the single most effective way of tackling poverty."

"Investing in early childhood education can be a powerful way to reduce gaps that often put children with low social and economic status at a disadvantage..."

"The preschool environment allows children to acquire vital skills..."

"...investment in early childhood development yields an extraordinary return, far exceeding most investments, private or public..."

 "Controlling for household income, we can rule out that having a mother who works one hour more per week lowers the probability of high secondary track attendance by more than 0.1%..." 

"Occupation like government employees and businessmen hold more awareness towards girl's education as the job of the parents is also playing a major role in the maintenance their family as well as their girl education..."

"Only 66 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education..."

"Barriers to girls’ education – like poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence – vary among countries and communities. Poor families often favour boys when investing in education..."

"Around the world, 132 million girls are out of school..."

"...the number of out-of-school girls has dropped by 79 million in the last two decades..."

"According to UNESCO, a single year of primary education can increase a girl’s wages later in life by up to 20%. An extra year of secondary school can increase their wages by up to 25%..."

"USAID found that girls with a basic education are generally more aware of safe sex. With a comprehensive sexual health curriculum, they are 3 times less likely to contract HIV/AIDS..."

"According to UNFPA, one in every 3 girls in developing countries is married before the age of 18..."

"The study also showed that educated women tend to have fewer children and have them later in life..."

"In South Sudan, 72% of primary school-aged girls, do not attend school..."

"An estimated 39 million girls and adolescent girls in countries affected by armed conflict or natural disasters lack access to quality education..."

"...there are three times as many attacks on girls’ schools than boys' schools..."

"...in Afghanistan, 70% of the 3.5 million out-of-school children are girls..."

"...1 in 4 girls who experienced sexual violence reported the incident while traveling to or from school..."

"...nearly 17% reported at least one incident occurred at school or on school property..."

"In 2019, 4.7% of U.S. households with children under 18 did not have access to the internet at home..." 

 In our generation, the joke of "women should stay and cook", "go make me a sandwich", and "I wish we were back in the '90s when women stayed home" has become, unfortunately, popular among people. People need to realize that these "jokes" are a reality in most developing countries. Just because children are female, they are stripped of their right to get an education. More than 130 million girls around the world do not get an education for many reasons including, early-childhood marriages, gender-based biases, and poverty. In other words, families are more likely to choose their sons over their daughters when concerning education. Girls as young as 11 years old are getting married off so that families would have one less child to take care of. Especially in poor, developing countries, families tend to have a large number of children so that their children could work and support the family. In most of these developing countries, families may have as many as up to 6 children. Children require a lot of expenses and care; therefore, once girls are of age, even if they are less than 18years old, they are sent off to be married. This results in higher birth rates and dangerous health risks as some girls are giving birth when they are so young. 130 million more children could receive an education, but they are not able to just because of who they were born to be. 

Their official gender of being a female plays a big role in why millions of girls don't get an education, but there are other obstacles: violence. Now you may wonder, how does violence relate to girls receiving an education? Sexual assault, physical harassment, bullying, coercion, discrimination, and so many more are all gender-based violence most girls go through, especially in developing countries, just to get to school. It has been estimated that more than 200 million girls are harassed while walking to school. Because of the dangers associated with a girl simply going to school, most girls have chosen to stick at home instead of endangering their own safety: a huge barrier to childhood education. In addition to gender-based violence, the conflicts surrounding their home country also takes a role. Wars, invasions, disasters, and armed conflict all contribute to the barriers to childhood education. With such a dangerous environment, children won't be able to get to school safely. In fact, around 40 million young girls are prevented from receiving quality education because of the conflicts surrounding them. Let's say that girls still do get to school. There are high chances of their schools getting attacked by armed conflict, as there are three times as many attacks on girls' schools compared to boys' schools. 

With millions and millions of girls who do not have an education, this is one of the biggest barriers to worldwide childhood education. If this barrier wasn't present, millions of girls worldwide would have their lives changed drastically. By receiving childhood education, girls will be able to have a brighter and more successful future as adults. According to a study, it has been proven that receiving childhood education can increase girls' future wages by up to 20%. Additionally, most women would invest almost all of their savings into their family; thus, breaking the poverty cycle and overall increasing the wealth of their countries.