Archive · 16 Jun 2025
UNESCO: 272 Million Children Worldwide Are Out of School
Imagine millions of children around the world not going to school.
A recent report shows there are now 272 million, which is more than before.
This increase is partly because of new enrollment data, and new rules.
Also, conflicts in some areas make it hard to know the exact numbers.
Countries are projected to be behind on their goals by 2025, as they are not reducing the number of out-of-school children as fast as planned.
So it's not just about how many kids there are but also how many can actually attend school.
The global out-of-school population is estimated at 272 million.
This is an increase of over 21 million from the last estimate.
New enrollment and attendance data accounts for 8 million of the increase.
The ban on girls attending secondary school in Afghanistan contributes to the rise.
Countries are projected to be off-track by 75 million relative to their national targets by 2025.
- Who
- UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Team (GEM).
- What
- The global out-of-school population is estimated at 272 million.
- When
- The report was released recently.
- Where
- Globally.
- Why
- The increase is due to new enrollment data, updated population estimates, and the impact of conflicts.
- Out-of-school population
- 272 million
- Increase from last estimate
- 21 million
- Primary school age out-of-school
- 78 million
- Lower secondary school age out-of-school
- 64 million
- Upper secondary school age out-of-school
- 130 million
- Countries off-track by 2025
- 75 million
