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Quality Education

SDG 4

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. In addition to improving quality of life, access to inclusive education can help equip locals with the tools required to develop innovative solutions to the world's greatest problems.

Over 265 million children are currently out of school and 22% of them are of primary school age. Additionally, even the children who are attending schools are lacking basic skills in reading and math. In the past decade, major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrollment rates in schools particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals.
For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education.

The reasons for lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building and improvement of water and electricity access to schools.

Facts and Figures

91%
Enrollment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 percent.
57 million
Still, 57 million primary-aged children remain out of school, more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
1 in 4
In developing countries, one in four girls is not in school.
50%
About half of all out-of-school children of primary school age live in conflict-affected areas.
103 million
103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 percent of them are women.
6 of 10
6 out of 10 children and adolescents are not achieving a minimum level of proficiency in reading and math.

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