About 78.2 Million Children Have Dropped Out of School Entirely- UN

By Raisa Okwaras

A recent study conducted by the United Nations has revealed that multiple crises, including poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic, have resulted in the disruption of the education of two hundred and twenty-two million children and adolescents globally. As a result, about 78.2 million children have dropped out of school entirely.

The study was done by Education Cannot Wait (ECW)- the UN’s education fund that caters to emergency cases and long-term predicaments.

Founded in 2016, Education Cannot Wait has been attending to millions of children who faced education disruption. For instance, in 2016, about seventy-five million children faced education disruption due to multiple crises.

The Education Cannot Wait (ECW) Director Yasmine Sherif affirmed that the number has since risen to two hundred and twenty-two million children in over forty countries.

“Conflicts are raging around the world…we know that, but they are also more and more protracted. But the growing record-high number of refugees and internally displaced as a result of conflicts and climate-induced disasters, have also contributed to this number, as have, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Yasmine Sherif.

The majority of children living in crisis-prone areas like South Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Chad face permanent school drop-outs. The number of children that have dropped out of school currently stands at about 78.2 million, with education experts revealing that chances of these children resuming their education are low. Consequentially, such exposes them to harmful acts and reduces their income-earning capacity.

“When you do not go to school, you are very exposed to being- if you are a boy- forcibly recruited into armed groups, terrorist groups, militia, and government groups. If you are a girl, you are exposed to becoming part of gender-based violence at home, sexual violence, trafficking, early marriages, and early childbirth,” she added.

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