In the United States, children are fortunate to have many educational opportunities. Every student is entitled to a free education. Parents also have the option of private school, charter school, and homeschooling; however, children in other countries are not this fortunate. Throughout the world, more than 125 million children are not in school and over 800 million people are illiterate. Every child deserves to receive a free, quality education, but it is not just about getting them in the classroom, it is making sure students receive a quality education to help and teach them about opportunities in their future. Education is a key need, along with other basics, in today’s world for anyone, anywhere to have a good quality of life. Lack of education is a major global issue that affects millions of people throughout the world.
This lack has affected children and adults for many generations, and as populations continue to increase, it will continue to be a problem. Illiteracy is an issue on several continents including Latin America, Asia and primarily, Africa. In Latin America, progress has been made in their education system, but they are still behind the top educated countries: the United States, China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Finland and Ireland. In Latin America, almost all children now attend primary schools and complete two more grades than their parent’s generation, but tremendous numbers of students are not finishing school completely. According to the Inter-American Development Bank barely 40 percent are graduating from secondary level education. Economist.com said that “Last year the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) published the first results from a 32-country study, measuring 15-year-olds' abilities in math, science and their native language. Brazil and Mexico, the only two Latin American countries in the first batch of results, lagged a long way behind the other participants.” This shows that not just some children are behind in schooling but the country as a whole is.
Countries in Asia are other regions that are struggling in their education system. Japan and China are known for their enthusiasm and academic excellence, but there is another side to Asia’s education system. The countries with the worst education in Asia are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. In Afghanistan, enrollment in schools has increased greatly since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. According to npr.org there are 10 million children enrolled in school, when under the Taliban, there were only 1 million. Smaller countries in the area suffer because of the poor farming, rural areas, and within these countries, 26 million children still do not attend school.
The continent most impacted by lack of education is Africa. From a very young age Africans are disadvantaged when it comes to being educated. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) only 56% of African children attend school and only about a third of that number actually finishes grade school. For the fortunate children who are able to attend a school, life is astonishingly harder than any American student would know. Schools have very little equipment, having a chalkboard is considered a privilege, and most schools do not have desks, but rather cold, dirt floors for their students to sit on. Space is another concern. Schools are exceedingly overpopulated; some are so congested that the students cannot spread their books out.
Poor education does not just affect the children; it also affects their parents, future children and all the generations after them. By not attending school, children are more likely to become involved in activities that they otherwise would not have. Without education, people do not have the awareness necessary to improve both their living conditions and those of their children. This leads to