{"id":70414,"date":"2026-03-28T19:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=70414"},"modified":"2026-03-28T19:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:14:29","slug":"global-education-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-03-2026\/global-education-gap","title":{"rendered":"Global Out-of-School Population Climbs to 273 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the latest report by UNESCO, titled \u201c2026 GEM Report \u2014 Access and Equity: Countdown to 2030\u201d, the global out-of-school population has reached 273 million in 2024.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Highlights of Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Low Retention and Completion:<\/strong> The report states that<strong> only two-thirds<\/strong> of students globally complete secondary education.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>One in six school-age children <\/strong>remains excluded from education globally, indicating a major challenge to achieving universal education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Access Does Not Ensure Learning: <\/strong>The report emphasises that increased enrolment in schools does <strong>not necessarily translate into meaningful learning outcomes.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The factors such as <strong>overcrowded classrooms, lack of trained teachers, and insufficient learning materials<\/strong> are major constraints to quality education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate Financing:<\/strong> The report points out that <strong>insufficient and poorly targeted public financing <\/strong>remains a major obstacle to achieving universal education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Positive Trends in School Education&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The report highlights that several countries have achieved <strong>significant reductions in out-of-school populations since 2000.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Madagascar and Togo<\/strong> have reduced out-of-school rates among children by over <strong>80 percent.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Morocco and Vietnam<\/strong> have achieved similar progress among adolescents, while <strong>Georgia and T\u00fcrkiye <\/strong>have improved outcomes among youth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire<\/strong> has reduced out-of-school rates across <strong>all age groups <\/strong>by half during the same period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>School Education in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India operates one of the world\u2019s largest school systems, serving <strong>24.69 crore students<\/strong> across <strong>14.71 lakh schools, <\/strong>supported by over <strong>1.01 crore<\/strong> teachers (UDISE+ 2024-25).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gross enrolment ratio (GER)<\/strong> scores, as per NEP academic structure, are <strong>95.4<\/strong> at the preparatory stage (Grade III to Grade V), <strong>90.3<\/strong> at the middle stage (Grade VI to Grade VIII), and <strong>68.5<\/strong> at the secondary stage (Grade IX to Grade XII).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives taken in India&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Samagra Siksha Abhiyan (SSA): <\/strong>It is an overarching scheme for the school education sector extending from <strong>pre-school to class XII.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Scheme subsumes the three erstwhile<\/strong> Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>PM SHRI Schools: <\/strong>Development of <strong>14,500 schools<\/strong> as exemplary institutions with modern infrastructure and pedagogy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mid-Day Meal Scheme: <\/strong>Provides free meals to students in government schools to encourage school attendance, improve nutrition, and reduce dropout rates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009: <\/strong>Guarantees free and compulsory education for children in the 6-14 age group, focusing on quality education and no discrimination.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education: <\/strong>Aims to encourage girls from rural areas to continue education by providing financial incentives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>New Education Policy 2020:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emphasis on <strong>early childhood care and education (ECCE),<\/strong> particularly for children up to<strong> 6 years.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduction of a <strong>5+3+3+4 school structure <\/strong>(5 years of foundation, 3 years of preparatory, 3 years of middle, and 4 years of secondary education).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focus on <strong>critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving<\/strong> rather than rote learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The findings of UNESCO highlight that the <strong>global education crisis<\/strong> is not limited to access alone but <strong>extends to issues of equity and quality of learning.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With the deadline for <strong>Sustainable Development Goal 4<\/strong> approaching in 2030, there is an urgent need for accelerated and focused action.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensuring that every child not only attends school but also learns effectively is essential to achieving the vision of inclusive and equitable quality education for all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/governance\/global-out-of-school-population-climbs-to-273-million-unesco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> According to the latest report by UNESCO, titled \u201c2026 GEM Report \u2014 Access and Equity: Countdown to 2030\u201d, the global out-of-school population has reached 273 million in 2024. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Key Highlights of Report <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Low Retention and Completion: The report states that only two-thirds of students globally complete secondary education. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> One in six school-age children remains excluded from education globally, indicating a major challenge to achieving universal education. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Access Does Not Ensure Learning: The report emphasises that increased enrolment in schools does not necessarily translate into meaningful learning outcomes. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-03-2026\/global-education-gap \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70417,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70414\/revisions\/70417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}