1 out of 3 children worldwide never sets foot in a classroom.
Throughout the developing world, going to school is rarely free. Students are required to pay their own transportation costs, purchase uniforms, textbooks, notebooks and pencils. Children who cannot afford these basic costs cannot attend school. As families struggle to stay above the poverty line, the additional expense of school becomes an unlikely investment.
And yet, universal education has proven to be the most effective means of eliminating endemic poverty, and on an individual level has been shown to be the most sustainable escape from poverty’s clutches. Research has shown that every year of school increases an individual’s wages by 10 percent. The gains are even greater in developing countries.
