Why Children Aren’t in School

One of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals is universal access to primary education (age 7-14 years). Many positive strides have been taken, but there is still a long way to go. Some reasons that a child may leave school include:

• Poverty – families cannot afford fees for tuition, books, or uniforms.
• When a parent, especially the mother, falls sick, an older female sibling will often be called upon to provide care.
• If an extended family has to choose which children can attend school, an orphan in that family is less likely to go to school.
• Sometimes family members pressure a child to leave school when the child is old enough to work.
• Girls often drop out of school because a lack of personal care products keeps them at home for some time every month. Eventually, they fall too far behind and drop out.
• Girls who become pregnant will almost certainly drop out of school.
• Some children, especially older children supporting younger siblings, must work to have money with which to live.
• Younger children may leave school because their guardians do not feel that they are capable of learning at a young age, so they are kept at home.
• Guardians may consider a child’s education finished once the child has learned how to read and write.
• After the death of one or both parents, an older sibling often takes the role of a parent.
• Some children become too sick to attend school.