Giving Compass' Take:

• Phineas Rueckert explores the challenges of giving children in poor countries a quality education, from overcrowded classrooms to poor nutrition.

• How might international aid groups and funders help nations overcome some of these obstacles? Where resources are most needed?

• Read about why we must not leave girls behind in education.

Children in poor countries face many barriers to accessing an education. Some are obvious — like not having a school to go to — while others are more subtle, like the teacher at the school not having had the training needed to help children learn effectively.

Increasing access to education can improve the overall health and longevity of a society, grow economies, and even combat climate change. Yet in many developing countries, children’s access to education can be limited by numerous factors.

This is why the United Nations proclaimed Jan. 24 the first-ever International Day of Education, to celebrate how education can lead to peace and development. The UN believes it’s unacceptable for 262 million children and young people around the world to stay out of school, and it’s demanding governments and other partners step up to change it.

"This day is the occasion to reaffirm fundamental principles,” Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, said in a statement.

Here are 10 of the greatest challenges in global education that the world needs to take action on right now to achieve Sustainable Development Goal4: Quality Education by 2030:

1. A lack of funding for education
2. Having no teacher, or having an untrained teacher
3. No classroom
4. A lack of learning materials
5. The exclusion of children with disabilities
6. Being the "wrong" gender
7. Living in a country in conflict or at risk of conflict
8. Distance from home to school
9. Hunger and poor nutrition
10. The expense of education

Read the full article about barriers to education around the world by Phineas Rueckert at Global Citizen.