Girls’ Educational Challenges

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Despite progress in recent years, girls throughout the world continue to suffer severe disadvantage and exclusion in education systems. An estimated 31 million girls of primary school age and 32 million girls of lower secondary school age were out of school in 2013. Across Africa, 28 million girls between the ages of about 6 and 15 are not in school and many will never even set foot in a classroom. There are a variety of barriers to girls’ education throughout the world. Some include school fees, strong cultural norms favoring boys’ education when a family has limited resources, inadequate sanitation facilities in schools such as lack of private and separate latrines, and negative classroom environments, where girls may face violence, exploitation or corporal punishment. Additionally, schools often lack sufficient numbers of female teachers.