Around 258 Million Children Worldwide Deprived of Comprehensive Education due to Crises

Nearly 258 million school-age children are missing out on meaningful education due to global crises such as wars, climate change, and forced migration, BelTA reports.

According to a new report from Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN fund for education in crises, 93 million children are entirely out of school. Nearly 80% of these children live in the 20 countries where the situation is most dire. Millions more children are learning in conditions that undermine progress and increase the likelihood that they will eventually drop out.

The report's authors warn that the education crisis is growing. In many crisis-affected regions, children are not acquiring even basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Difficulties in mastering the curriculum in early grades often lead to adolescents dropping out of school altogether.

In countries affected by conflict, only 30% of children achieve the required reading proficiency level by grade 6. In countries experiencing a socio-economic crisis, this figure reaches 47%, and in countries affected by natural disasters - 63%.