10 Toughest Places in the World for Girls to Go to School

BBC
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
Click here for more.
10 Toughest Places in the World for Girls to go to School Giving Compass

Giving Compass’ Take:

• Sean Coughlan reports that the following 10 countries are the most difficult places for girls to go to school because of a combination of factors including conflict, cultural norms, child marriage, and teachers shortages.

• What are the most impactful steps that philanthropists can take to increase the number of girls attending school in these places? How can cultural barriers be eroded to allow girls to access education? 

• Find out why education aid for girls in Afghanistan never made it the intended recipients.

Debates about schools in richer countries are often about the politics of priorities, what subjects should be given most importance, who needs extra help and what needs more public spending.

But for families in many developing countries questions about education can be a lot more basic – is there any access to school at all?

Figures from the United Nations suggest there has been “almost zero progress” in the past decade in tackling the lack of school places in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Here are the top 10 toughest places for girls’ education:

  1. South Sudan: the world’s newest country has faced much violence and war, with the destruction of schools and families forced from their homes. Almost three-quarters of girls do not even make it to primary school
  2. Central African Republic: one teacher for every 80 pupils
  3. Niger: only 17% of women between the ages of 15 and 24 are literate
  4. Afghanistan: wide gender gap, with boys more likely to be in school than girls
  5. Chad: many social and economic barriers to girls and women getting education
  6. Mali: only 38% of girls finish primary school
  7. Guinea: the average time in education among women over the age of 25 is less than one year
  8. Burkina Faso: only 1% of girls complete secondary school
  9. Liberia: almost two-thirds of primary-age pupils out of school
  10. Ethiopia: two in five girls are married before the age of 18

Read more about education in these conflict zones by Sean Coughlan at BBC.

K-12 Education is a complex topic, and others found these selections from the Impact Giving archive from Giving Compass to be good resources.

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
    Click here for more.
    How Much Does SEL Help Students Succeed?

    Giving Compass' Take: • The 74 describes a report about Social-Emotional Learning that assesses its benefits and shortcomings in the hopes that we can discover ways to improve the method. • Findings include the need for more teacher input into the practice, as well as the challenges in using it across diverse districts. How can nonprofits in the educations space make sure we raise the standards? • Here are some ways to involve parents in SEL programming. Taking care of students’ social-emotional needs can significantly impact their academics, boost graduation rates, and improve economic outcomes. But figuring out how to assess social-emotional learning every day in the classroom is “one of the biggest missing pieces.” That’s how researcher Clark McKown described it. McKown, a professor at Rush University in Chicago, co-authored a report that summarizes the promises and challenges of creating tools for educators to understand how well their students are learning skills like grit, perseverance, self-regulation, and social cues. The report looked at the winners of an assessment design competition hosted by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and found some promises as well as challenges in how SEL skills are measured. Getting these assessments right is critical if the SEL movement is to be seen as more than just a “fad,” McKown wrote. “I’d like it to be a data-based discussion about the extent to which SEL is helpful and how we can make it better,” he told The 74. Among the report’s findings: No shared definition for SEL Creative solutions for hard-to-quantify skills Difficult to use across diverse districts More teacher voice needed in SEL development Read the full article about Social-Emotional Learning findings by Kate Stringer at The 74.

Are you ready to give?

In addition to learning and connecting with others, taking action is a key step towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for K-12 Education take a look at these Giving Funds, Charitable Organizations or Projects.

Loading...
Learn More

Sign in

Your personal information is confidential at Giving Compass. For more information, please visit our privacy policy. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use.