Equalising education

To almost every child in the developed world, education has an unquestionable presence in their lives. The thought of reaching adulthood and not having a degree of basic literacy and numeracy that will enable them to work and provide for themselves at some level is inconceivable.

Yet despite significant improvements in the numbers of children who are attending and completing primary and secondary to many children who come from poor and developing nations, education becomes far less of a right and far more of a privilege. School fees remain the number one barrier to a world where every child attends primary school up to the age of 11, if not beyond to complete their education with a high school qualification. Some children never begin any form of education, while others leave their classrooms prematurely as other economic and social pressures are found in their families. Nowhere is this truer than in the education of girls and a clear divide is frequently witnessed in the literacy rates of boys and girls.

Equalising education is not just about closing the education and skills gap between developed and developing countries but also about ensuring that regardless of gender, everyone has the right to a good education.

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