New York, September 1, 2016 – The top 10 countries with the highest rates of children out of primary education, nearly 2 in 5 children – 18 million – are from outside the school, announced today the UNICEF.
Liberia displays the highest percentage of children out of school, with almost two-thirds of the children are elementary age, they don’t have access to the school. Following the South Sudan, where 59% of children are deprived of their right to primary education, and where 1 in 3 schools are closed due to the conflict.
Afghanistan (46%), Sudan (45%), Niger (38%) and Nigeria (34%) are also in the top 10 countries with the highest rates of children out of primary education, illustrating clearly the extent to which the emergency situations and protracted crises, forcing the children to leave the school.
The analysis of the data of UNICEF, which comes as millions of children return to school this month, highlights the extent of an educational crisis that is affecting countries already suffering from conflicts, prolonged periods of drought, floods, earthquakes and high rates of extreme poverty.
UNICEF fears that without education, a generation of children living in countries affected by conflicts, natural disasters and extreme poverty, will grow up without the skills they need to contribute to the countries and their economies, exacerbating the already desperate situation for millions of children and their families.
Education is still one of the least funded sectors in humanitarian appeals. In 2015, humanitarian agencies have received only 31% of financial needs for education, decrease compared to 66% a decade ago. Despite a 126% increase in the requirements for education since 2005, the funding increased by only 4%. In addition, educational systems equipped to cope with protracted crises, cannot be built on the foundation of short – and unforeseen – calls.
During the World Humanitarian Summit, which took place in May 2016, a new global platform for funding, Education Cannot Wait (the education can’t wait), was launched to bridge the gap between the humanitarian assistance during crises and the long-term development through predictable financing.
Although it is not one of the 10 countries with the highest rates of children out of primary education, Syria has 2.1 million school-age children (5-17), who didn’t go to school. In addition to 600,000 Syrian children living as refugees in the surrounding area, is also outside the school.
There are no recent, reliable data, either from public sources or from surveys in many countries, including Somalia and Libya, partly because of the ongoing conflict.
“For the conflict-affected countries, the school provides children with the knowledge and skills needed for the reconstruction of their communities when the crisis is over, and in a short period of time provides them the stability and structures required for the treatment of psychological trauma. Schools can also protect children from the trauma and physical risks around them. When children do not attend school, are at increased risk of abuse, exploitation and recruitment into armed groups,” said the Head of the UNICEFγια Education, JoBourne.
Source
UNICEF-Greece: Back to school, but not for all children
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