Causes · Education

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Millions of children are out of school, and many who attend for years still can't read a simple sentence. This page looks at why children miss out and what keeps them learning, why teaching at a child's actual level works, what happens to schooling in war and displacement, and second chances for adults who missed out the first time.

By Global Relief Group · Last updated: October 9, 2026

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273 million out of school

UNESCO counts 273 million children and young people out of school, about one in six of school age (2026).

About 70% can’t read

An estimated 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries can’t read and understand a simple text (2022 estimate).

44 million teachers short

UNESCO estimates the world needs 44 million more teachers by 2030, about 15 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

Why children miss out, and what helps

Children leave school, or never start, for practical reasons. Each one has a fix with evidence behind it, and causes we list that pay for it:

What keeps children out	What the evidence says	Causes we list
Cost of fees, uniforms and boarding	Reviews of cash transfer programmes find they increase enrolment and attendance	Fees and uniforms for girls in rural Mali; uniforms, supplies and boarding costs in Tanzania (Girls’ Secondary Scholarship Fund)
Distance	In Bihar, India, giving girls bicycles to reach secondary school raised their secondary-school enrolment by about a third (32%)	Boats and school transport for island and coastal children in the Philippines (Rural Scholars Fund)
Hunger	School meals raise attendance; see our hunger relief page for the evidence	Daily meals for children in South African townships, listed under hunger relief
No private toilet for girls	Girls reaching puberty are more likely to stay when schools have separate toilets; see our water and sanitation page	Separate school toilets for girls in Nigeria, listed under water and sanitation
A language they don’t speak	Children usually learn to read faster in a language they speak and understand, and can then carry those skills into the national language (World Bank, 2021)	Mayan-language materials in Guatemala; language bridging classes for refugee children in France, Germany and Poland
No teacher in the classroom	In NGO-run schools in Rajasthan, India, checking teachers’ attendance with cameras and linking pay to it cut absence by 21 percentage points and raised test scores	Stipends for teachers taking rural postings in Mali; teaching Fellows in rural Nepal
A law that bars them	About 1 million girls have been barred from secondary school in Afghanistan (UNICEF)	Community-run classrooms for girls through the Girls’ Secondary Education Fund

In school, but not learning

Enrolment numbers can hide the real problem. An estimated 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries could not read and understand a simple text in 2022, up from 57% before the pandemic. Many sit in classes that move through the curriculum at grade level while they are still several years behind.

One answer that has been tested repeatedly is Teaching at the Right Level, developed by the Indian organization Pratham. Children are grouped by what they can actually do, not by age or grade, and taught basic reading and maths at that level for part of the day. In a randomized evaluation in Uttar Pradesh, 49% of children who attended short learning camps could read a paragraph or story by the end, against 24% of children who did not. Supplying the teaching materials alone made no difference to reading.

An expert panel convened by the World Bank, UNICEF and others rates this kind of targeted teaching, and structured lesson plans with coaching for teachers, among the most cost-effective ways to improve learning. Hardware such as laptops, on its own, rarely is. Equipment works best when it serves something teachers already do, such as the shared laboratory kit our STEM Access Program provides for practicals currently taught from textbooks only.

When war or displacement closes schools

Conflict and displacement are now among the main reasons children lose years of schooling:

Refugees: 5.8 million school-age refugee children, 44%, were out of school in 2025, and only 32% of secondary-school-age refugees were enrolled (UNHCR, 2026). Rohingya children in Bangladesh have no legal right to the national school system, so the Rohingya Refugee Camp Schools fund learning centres inside the camps.
Schools closed by insecurity: nearly 15,000 schools in West and Central Africa were closed by insecurity as of 2025, affecting about 3 million children, including about 2,500 in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions (UNICEF, September 2025). Causes fund temporary learning spaces and teachers in Burkina Faso and community learning centres in Cameroon.
Displaced at home: learning circles for children displaced by Colombia’s long-running conflict, and temporary classrooms in Ethiopia for children whose families were forced to move by drought.
Across borders: school places and materials for Afghan refugee children living in host communities in Pakistan.

Education gets a small share of emergency funding. Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, reported in 2026 that humanitarian funding for education had fallen for a second year in a row.

Second chances for adults and young people

About 739 million adults lack basic literacy skills, about two-thirds of them women (UNESCO). Learning later still pays: World Bank research finds each extra year of schooling raises earnings by about 9% on average, with higher returns for women. The causes we list include:

Literacy: accelerated classes for women and girls in Chad, where adult literacy is about 27%, and adult literacy and language classes for newcomers in the Netherlands.
Finishing school: evening classes in Brazil for adults who left school early to work, and literacy, numeracy and digital skills classes for adults in Australia.
Skills and apprenticeships: placements in Germany, Ghana and Guatemala, and help for UK school leavers to start and stay in apprenticeships.
Staying in college: scholarships for first-generation students and small emergency grants that keep US community college students from dropping out close to finishing.

Signs a programme is improving learning

It measures learning, not only enrolment. Look for reading and maths results or exam pass rates, not just the number of children reached.
It teaches children at the level they are at, in a language they understand, rather than racing through a curriculum they can’t follow.
It supports local teachers. Good programmes recruit, train, supervise and fairly pay teachers from the community, in line with the international INEE standards for education in emergencies.
It keeps children safe and involves families. Look for a safeguarding policy, safe learning spaces, a way to raise complaints, and parents involved in planning.

Every Education cause we list

From girls’ scholarships to apprenticeships, each cause below names the organization that runs it and the date our team last verified it.

Afghanistan

Girls' Secondary Education Fund

Supports underground and community-run classrooms for girls barred from formal secondary schooling, funding teacher stipends and learning materials distributed discreetly at the household level.

Funds handled by Afghan Institute of Learning (Creating Hope International) · verified Dec 2025