85 million children worldwide do not attend school, UNICEF says

By&nbspEuronews

Published on 05/10/2025 - 15:51 GMT+2

Today is World Teachers' Day, established successful 1994 to commemorate the signing of the Recommendation connected the Status of Teachers drawn up successful Paris connected 5 October 1966.

Teachers, Unicef says, are astatine the bosom of prime education, but the manufacture continues to endure from underinvestment and less students.

According to a 2024 study from the United Nations Children's Fund, lone 31% of countries had effectual teacher nonrecreational improvement systems successful spot — little than fractional the 64% target.

Worldwide, the study says, the fig of out-of-school children and young radical (Oosc) has been astir 265 cardinal for a decade, but the latest estimates amusement that Oosc were expanding to 272 cardinal successful 2023.

According to Unicef, Official Development Assistance (ODA) for acquisition volition alteration by USD 3.2 billion, a 24% alteration from 2023. This alteration would summation the fig of children retired of schoolhouse worldwide from 272 cardinal to 278 million.

"No kid should beryllium deprived of the close to larn and physique a future: ensuring trained, motivated and supported teachers means not lone offering knowledge, but besides protection, anticipation and opportunities for life," said Nicola Graziano, president of Uncief Italy.

85 cardinal children bash not be school

Looking astatine the details of children not attending school, Unicef estimates that 234 cardinal children request enactment to entree prime education, an summation of 35 cardinal successful the past 3 years.

Of these 234 cardinal children, 85 cardinal bash not be schoolhouse astatine all: 52% are girls, 17% are refugees oregon internally displaced persons and implicit 20% are children with disabilities.

The concern successful Gaza is peculiarly acute, wherever arsenic of July 2025, 1,466,000 children are facing difficulties successful gaining an education. By June 2025, 588 schoolhouse buildings had been affected, of which 538 successful the Gaza Strip (95.4 per cent) and different 50 successful the West Bank.

In Sudan, much than 17 cardinal of the 19 cardinal school-age children were retired of school. In Haiti, escalating pack unit and civilian unrest person near much than 1.4 cardinal children successful urgent request of acquisition support.

"Investing successful teachers means investing successful the future," Unicef said, explaining that it volition proceed to enactment truthful that each teacher is supported, each schoolroom is inclusive and each child, everyplace successful the world, tin person the accidental to learn.

"On this World Teachers' Day, we would similar to explicit our gratitude to each teachers and educators who, with courageousness and dedication, proceed to usher children successful their education, adjacent successful the astir hard contexts," Nicola Graziano, President of Unicef Italy, said.

"It is indispensable that governments and the planetary assemblage urgently put successful education, truthful that each child, wherever helium oregon she is, tin number connected the beingness of a teacher astatine his oregon her side."