12 Issues Facing Education

5. The exclusion of children with disabilities

A visually impaired student reads braille in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016.
Image: Silvia Izquierdo/AP
Despite the fact that education is a universal human right, being denied access to school is common for the world’s 93 to 150 million children with disabilities. In some of the world’s poorest countries, up to 95% of children with disabilities are out of school.
Students with disabilities have lower attendance rates and are more likely to be out of school or leave school before completing primary education. They are suspended or expelled at a rate more than double the rate of their non-special education peers.
A combination of discrimination, lack of training in inclusive teaching methods among teachers, and a lack of accessible schools leave this group uniquely vulnerable to being denied their right to education.
Read More: 72 Guidelines for Students With Disabilities Have Been Rescinded by the US Dept. of Education

6. Being the ‘wrong’ gender

A Pakistani girl lines up among boys for their morning assembly where they sing the national anthem at a school in Islamabad, Pakistan on Oct. 11, 2013. In Pakistan, the Taliban stops more than 25 million children from going to school.
Image: Anja Niedringhaus/AP
Put simply, gender is one of the biggest reasons why children are denied an education. Despite recent advances in girls’ education, a generation of young women has been left behind. Over 130 million young women around the world are not currently enrolled in school. One in 3 girls in the developing world marries before the age of 18, and usually leaves school if they do.
Read More: World Leaders Warn Failure to Educate Girls Will Cause 'Catastrophes'
Keeping girls in school benefits them and their families, but poverty forces many families to choose which of their children to send to school. Girls often miss out due to belief that there’s less value in educating a girl than a boy. Instead, they are sent to work, forced into marriage, or made to stay at home to look after siblings and work on household chores. Girls also miss days of school every year or are too embarrassed to participate in class, because they don’t have appropriate menstrual hygiene education or toilet facilities at their school to manage their period.