Twice as many girls as boys will never start primary school, if current trends continue, according to a report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS).
Despite progress made over the past 20 years, the report finds that girls are still more likely than boys to be denied the right to education, a trend that suggests additional efforts will be needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
2 March 2016: Twice as many girls as boys will never start primary school, if current trends continue, according to a report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS). Despite progress made over the past 20 years, the report finds that girls are still more likely than boys to be denied the right to education, a trend that suggests additional efforts will be needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UNESCO released the ‘eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Education’ in advance of International Women’s Day, which is commemorated each year on 8 March. The report provides data on the number of out-of-school children and their likelihood of starting school in the future. It analyzes gender gaps from primary to tertiary education in over 200 countries and territories.
The Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia are the regions with the highest gender disparities, according to the report. In South and West Asia, four million girls of school age will never enter formal education, compared to under one million boys. In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 9.5 million girls in will never enter a classroom, compared to five million boys. The report also notes that numbers for the Arab region may be underestimated, because of the current conflicts in the region.
“We will never achieve any of the SDGs without overcoming the discrimination and poverty that stunt the lives of girls and women from one generation to the next,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. She called for “work at all levels, from grassroots to global leaders, to put equity and inclusion at the heart of every policy so that all girls, whatever their circumstances, go to school, stay in school and become empowered citizens.”
The report finds that girls who do begin primary school and then attend secondary school tend to continue their studies and outperform their male peers. [UN Press Release] [UNESCO Press Release] [Publication: UNESCO eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Education]