Global education

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations have issued 17 ambitious goals to try and build a better, fairer, and more sustainable future for the world.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure all children have access to good quality education.

Access to quality education is essential to allowing people and societies to lift themselves out of poverty and lead fulfilling lives. While progress has been made, there are still huge numbers of children who do not have access to good, regular education.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Find out why access to education is still an issue for large parts of the world.

Impact of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on education all around the world. By April 2016 over 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school as a result. (Source: )

Barriers to education

There are many issues that can prevent children accessing education. Many are a result of inequality:

lack of funding - Poorer countries can't afford to pay for schools and teachers
poverty - poorer families might not be able to pay compulsory fees, or might need children to work and earn an income.
lack of access - There may not be a school or teacher nearby, or transport available to travel to another school
disability - Discrimination, lack of accessible facilities and a lack of suitably trained teachers mean that children with disabilites are less likely to attend school.
gender - In some countries, girls' education is seen as less important. Girls may be expected to contribute at home rather than going to school.
hunger - Lack of adequate food and nutrition can prevent children attending school, prevent them concentrating in class, and can directly impact brain development.
war and conflict - Education systems break down in times of conflict. Schools may be destroyed or damaged and travelling for education may be seen as too dangerous.