Lack of education has many reasons
Worldwide, more than 258 million school-age children and adolescents do not go to school. The majority of them live in Africa and in South and West Asia. There are many reasons for this: lack of infrastructure, poverty, displacement and social inequalities.
Girls and children with disabilities are particularly disadvantaged. Many schools are not equipped for the disabled and there is a lack of sanitary facilities. Many girls are therefore unable to go to school during their periods or have to risk infections, as they often do not have access to hygiene articles such as sanitary pads, tampons or menstrual cups.
Often children cannot go to school because they have to help their parents in the household or with field work during the day. Instead of reading, writing or doing arithmetic, they have to fetch water, cook or do the laundry so that the family can be adequately provided for. Here, too, girls are among the most disadvantaged children.
One of the most common reasons why so many children worldwide do not receive a school education is the lack of space for education. In rural regions, there are usually only a few schools, partly because the pay for teachers is significantly lower than in big cities. In addition, schools are destroyed time and again, for example by natural disasters or wars. In crisis situations, schools are often used as emergency accommodation for refugees, so that no lessons can take place.
