When it comes to achieving equitable access to quality education, the world’s poorest countries lag far behind. In 2020, 260 million young people of primary and secondary school age did not attend school.[Many boys and girls are enrolled in school but drop out of primary school early. In sub-Saharan Africa, only two in three children complete their primary school education. In 2019, 195 million young people did not attend secondary school. More than 132 million young people and young adults did not have the possibility to take the school-leaving examination qualifying them to enter higher education or to graduate from school as the first step towards being qualified for work. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation.

Demand for tertiary education as a whole, however, is rising worldwide: More than 235 million people are enrolled in higher education institutions. That is more than twice as much as in 2000. Yet, while 78 per cent of the populations in Europe and Northern America have access to tertiary education, it is just nine per cent in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), many children and young people do not have basic reading skills by the end of lower secondary school. In recent times, progress on improving literacy levels among young people and adults has been slow. Worldwide, 17 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men over the age of 15 still lack reading and writing skills.