258 million school-age children and adolescents around the world are being deprived of full access to education due to armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. This was stated in a new report by the Education Cannot Wait fund, which specializes in supporting education in crisis situations under the UN.
According to the document, 93 million of these children do not attend school at all. The most severe situation falls on just 20 countries. Nearly 80 percent of out-of-school children live in these countries.
The report's authors emphasize that the problem is not limited to not attending educational institutions. In crisis-affected regions, many children are unable to acquire even the most basic skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. This exacerbates knowledge gaps starting from primary grades and increases the risk of later dropping out of school entirely.
The greatest educational losses are observed in countries where armed conflicts continue. In such countries, by the sixth grade, only 30 percent of students achieve age-appropriate reading literacy levels. In countries experiencing socio-economic crises, this figure stands at 47 percent, and in countries affected by natural disasters, it is 63 percent.
According to experts, the education crisis is deepening every year. Its consequences are not the same for everyone. Where a child lives, whether they are forcibly displaced, have a disability, or belong to a socially vulnerable group directly affects their access to education.
Experts stress that merely bringing children back to school is not enough to solve the problem. Creating the necessary conditions for them to receive quality education, absorb knowledge, and successfully transition to subsequent stages remains an urgent task.
