In a published report this Thursday the unesco warns of the “significant” risk that men find it increasingly difficult to finish their higher education because of child labor and poverty.
The study Leaving no child behind: Global report on boys dropping out of school affirms that, despite the fact that girls find it more difficult to access education and are the majority among minors who do not go to school, boys make up the group of those who have the greatest difficulties in completing their education, according to a report from Eph.
2 BILLION HOURS ⏰
of face-to-face school lost due to the closure of schools due to the #COVID19.?Students in more than 4 out of 5 countries have fallen behind in their learning.
New report: https://t.co/wOXzxtDMHq#EducationContinues pic.twitter.com/q3mWB1rVPc
— UNESCO in Spanish ?️#Education #Science #Culture (@UNESCO_es) April 5, 2022
The data extracted from the report shows that for every 100 women enrolled in higher education worldwide there are 88 men. UNESCO attributes these data to child labor and poverty, among other factors that prevent men from dedicating themselves fully to learning. These factors contribute to grade repetition and school dropout. Of the 160 million children who worked in 2020, 97 million were boys, according to the report cited by the Spanish agency Eph.
According Ephof the 146 countries that provided data, only 55 have a minimum employment age in line with the end of the years of compulsory education in each country and above 15 years, while 31% have a minimum employment age less than 15 years old or does not clearly define it.
“Poverty and child labor can drive children out of school,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. “To avoid this, it is urgent that the States align the minimum age of employment with the end of compulsory education.”
In 57 countries, 10-year-old boys perform worse than girls in proficiency in reading, and adolescent boys continue to lag behind girls in secondary school reading skills. The trend is seen in East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Arab States, where there is one of the highest risks of boys dropping out of school.
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UNESCO warns that only a few programs and initiatives address the phenomenon of disengagement of children from education. Therefore, it proposes to make learning safe and inclusive, invest in better data and evidence, build and finance equitable education systems, and promote integrated and coordinated approaches to improve education for all students.
With information from Eph.