272 million children and youth are out of school globally, with 78 million being of primary school age (UNESCO, 2024). The UNESCO & Girls Not Brides published that of the total out-of-school population, 119 million are girls. Beyond access, a learning crisis persists: globally, 617 million children and adolescents are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, with 387 million primary school-age children (56%) and 230 million adolescents (61%) unable to reach these basic standards (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2018). Alarmingly, two-thirds of non-learning children are actually in school, indicating severe quality deficits (UNESCO, 2018). Among adults, nearly two-thirds of the 781 million illiterate people worldwide are women (National Literacy Institute, 2024). Sub-Saharan Africa hosts more than half of all out-of-school children globally, with nearly nine out of ten children aged 6-14 in the region not meeting minimum reading and mathematics proficiency (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2018). Primary dropout reasons include poverty, child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and school-related gender-based violence (World Bank, 2024).
While national enrollment in Ghana reaches 87%, there are some stark disparities that exist. Among children aged 7-14, 79% lack foundational reading skills and 84% lack foundational numeracy skills (UNICEF, 2020). Rural disadvantages are severe: almost one in four rural children have never attended school compared to only 13.2% of urban children (Ghana Statistical Service, 2021). According to UNICEF Ghana publication, the poorest rural girls aged 20-24 attain only four years of education on average, compared to 13 years for girls from affluent urban homes. Rural literacy stands at 55.2% compared to 80.6% in urban areas, with females (34.4%) more affected than males (25.9%) (Ghana Statistical Service, 2021). Children from the poorest quintile account for the majority of out-of-school children despite representing only 20% of the population (UNESCO, 2020). Rural education suffers from low enrollment, inadequate professionally trained teachers, poor infrastructure, and insufficient teaching materials. At Chesed Diary ,we believe Education is a fundamental human right and the key to breaking cycles of poverty .Yet without urgent action,countless children will be denied the chance to fulfill their potential. Join us in building a world where every child has access to quality education