Education in Developing Countries

Around the world, some 75 million children more than half of them girls have no opportunity to attend primary
school. One in three children in Africa that are enrolled in school drop out of primary education. For socially
disadvantaged groups such as rural or indigenous communities, poor urban dwellers, AIDS orphans or the disabled,
access to education is especially difficult. Four out of five children who do not go to school live in rural regions.
In many countries, traditional role patterns stop parents enrolling girls in school. The stronger the cultural preference
for boys in a particular country or region, the greater the gender disparities in the educational sector, for instance in
sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and in South and West Asia.
In addition, many children are prevented from going to school on account of crises and wars. The majority of people
who are forced to flee armed conflicts are women and children. In many countries where civil war is raging, the
majority of schools have been destroyed.

Inadequate budgets
In most developing countries, the budgets allocated for primary education are too low to meet requirements and to
achieve the goal of universal compulsory school attendance. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), developing countries spend an average of 4.4 per cent of their national
income on education. The United States and countries in western Europe invest 5.5 per cent on average, some
countries even invest more than 8 per cent on education. In the period between 1999 and 2006, 40 countries
reduced their education expenditure and that figure does not even include many countries that did not supply
statistics.
If the primary school system is to keep pace with the growth in the number of school-age children, which is still
strong, considerably more money will have to be invested and the least developed countries (LDCs) at any rate do
not have the necessary resources at their disposal. Bad governance, high staff turnover, inefficient use of funding,
corruption and lack of management and organisational skills are other obstacles to the universal provision of
education.
Lack of schools and teaching staff
Rural regions in particular but also poor urban districts often lack a comprehensive primary school network. Children
in rural regions often have to walk extremely long distances to school. Many girls are not allowed to attend schools
some distance away as parents are concerned about their safety.
Many schools are poorly equipped. They lack textbooks and teaching materials, and when these are available, they
are often as outdated as the furnishings. Many schools have no funding to cover overheads such as water,
electricity or transport for pupils.
Teachers' working conditions are unacceptable in many developing countries: many teachers have to teach two or
three shifts a day in classes with very high student numbers and on poor pay. Many teachers are also poorly
trained and ill-prepared for what awaits them in schools. Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa also face a health
problem: in some regions so many teachers have contracted AIDS that schools are forced to remain closed.
Many developing countries face the problem of low-quality teaching. The curricula are overloaded with subjects and
do not meet the learning needs of the children, and convey distorted or stereotypical images of female and male
social role models. Too little account is taken of cultural and regional factors. Teaching times and curricula are too
little geared to the children's actual day-to-day reality. Group work, independent learning, critical thought and
problem-solving, the use of new technologies and the promotion of life skills are not sufficiently promoted.
Costs of attending school
Many people in developing countries cannot afford to pay school fees or for learning materials, school uniforms and
transport to school. In countries in which school fees have been abolished enrolment rates have risen markedly.
Numerous families rely on the income their children contribute. According to estimates done by the International
Labour Organization (ILO), some 166 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years have to work often up to
16 hours a day. One in four children in sub-Saharan Africa and one in five children in Asia have to work.
High illiteracy rates
Based on estimates, the lack of access to, and often poor quality of, the education systems in developing countries
means that some 30 to 50 per cent of those who leave school after four to six years of primary education are neither
literate nor numerate. Around 11 per cent of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are classed as illiterate.
Worldwide, around 776 million adults and young people over the age of 15 cannot read or write just under two
thirds of them women.
Between 1970 and 2006, illiteracy rates dropped from 37 to 16 per cent worldwide, but on account of population
growth the absolute number of those who cannot read or write has continued to rise in many regions. Ninety-eight
per cent of those who cannot read or write live in developing countries.
Failing vocational training and higher education systems
Sustainable economic development is not possible without qualified experts. But most developing countries lack
well-trained specialists. Many countries only have a rudimentary vocational training system, or one that is not
integrated into the education and employment system. The courses are usually too theoretical and not geared to the
needs of the labour market.
Universities and colleges in developing countries are poorly equipped and lack the necessary funding. Only few are
able to sufficiently fulfil their research and teaching responsibilities. However, universities and colleges are important
for the entire educational system, when it comes to training specialists and managers, and for tackling development-
related tasks at private-sector, government and social level.








11 Facts About Education Around the Worl
1. 1. As of 2012, 31 million primary-school pupils worldwide dropped out of school. An additional 32 million repeated a
grade.
2. 2. In the sub-Saharan, 11.07 million children leave school before completing their primary education. In South and West
Asia, that number reaches 13.54 million.
3. 3. While girls are less likely to begin school, boys are more likely to repeat grades or drop out altogether.
4. 4. According to UNESCO, 61 million primary school-age children were not enrolled in school in 2010. Of these children,
47% were never expected to enter school, 26% attended school but left, and the remaining 27% are expected to attend
school in the future.
5. 5. Children living in a rural environment are twice as likely to be out of school than urban children. Additionally, children
from the wealthiest 20% of the population are 4 times more likely to be in school than the poorest 20%.
6. 6. In developing, low-income countries, every additional year of education can increase a persons future income by an
average of 10%.
7. 7. Children who are born to educated mothers are less likely to be stunted or malnourished. Each additional year of
maternal education also reduces the child mortality rate by 2%.
8. 8. Women with a primary school education are 13% more likely to know that condoms can reduce their risk of contracting
HIV/AIDS. An education can help decrease the spreading of this virus by promoting safer sexual practices.
9. 9. 53% of the worlds out-of-school children are girls and 2/3 of the illiterate people in the world are women.
10. 10. Education empowers women to make healthy decisions about their lives. For example, women in Mali with a
secondary level education or higher have an average of 3 children, while those with no education have an average of 7.
11. 11. The youth literacy rates in South America and Europe are among the highest with 90-100% literacy. The African
continent, however, has areas with less than 50% literacy among children ages 18 and under.

Right to Education
Situation of childrens right to education worldwide
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 and 759 million adults are illiterate and do not have the
awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of their children.

Causes of lack of education
Marginalisation and poverty
For many children who still do not have access to education, it is notably because of persisting inequality and
marginalization.
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 (ethnic origin, language, religion). These children find themselves on the
margins of the education system and do not benefit from learning that is vital to their intellectual and social development.
Factors linked to poverty such as unemployment, illness and the illiteracy of parents, multiply the risk of non-schooling
and the drop-out rate of a child by 2.
Undeniably, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds are forced to abandon their education due to health
problems related to malnutrition or in order to work and provide support for the family.
Financial deficit of developing countries
Universal primary education is a major issue and a sizeable problem for many states.
Many emerging countries do not appropriate the financial resources necessary to create schools, provide schooling
materials, nor recruit and train teachers. Funds pledged by the international community are generally not sufficient enough
to allow countries to establish an education system for all children.
Equally, a lack of financial resources has an effect on the quality of teaching. Teachers do not benefit from basic teacher
training and schools, of which there are not enough, have oversized classes.
This overflow leads to classes where many different educational levels are forced together which does not allow each
individual child to benefit from an education adapted to their needs and abilities. As a result, the drop-out rate and
education failure remains high.
Overview of the right to education worldwide
Most affected regions.
As a result of poverty and marginalization, more than 72 million children around the world remain unschooled.
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.

Additionally, these regions must also solve continuing problems of educational poverty (a child in education for less than 4
years) and extreme educational poverty (a child in education for less than 2 years). .
Essentially this concerns Sub-Saharan Africa where more than half of children receive an education for less than 4 years.
In certain countries, such as Somalia and Burkina Faso, more than 50% of children receive an education for a period less
than 2 years. .
The lack of schooling and poor education have negative effects on the population and country. The children leave school
without having acquired the basics, which greatly impedes the social and economic development of these countries.
Inequality between girls and boys: the education of girls in jeopardy
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.
This problem occurs most frequently in Arab States, in central Asia and in Southern and Western Asia and is principally
explained by the cultural and traditional privileged treatment given to males. Girls are destined to work in the family home,
whereas boys are entitled to receive an education.
In sub-Saharan Africa, over 12 million girls are at risk of never receiving an education. In Yemen, it is more than 80% of
girls who will never have the opportunity to go to school. Even more alarming, certain countries such as Afghanistan or
Somalia make no effort to reduce the gap between girls and boys with regard to education.
Although many developing countries may congratulate themselves on dramatically reducing inequality between girls and
boys in education, a lot of effort is still needed in order to achieve universal primary education.