1. Socioeconomic Issues
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In short, socioeconomic issues when concerning education are when children are not in school because they have to help their families at home. Low-income families in many countries would encourage their children to stay home and work. In the long-term, the child will not be educated enough to get a high-paying job to support their family. According to UIS data for the school year ending in 2018, over 258 million youth are out of school. Another part of socioeconomic hardships include not being near any schools, which discourages children from going to school because of the commute.
2. Living in a conflicted country
One of the biggest barriers to education is war and conflict. When violence breaks out, people are forced to either hide or flee, both of which do not allow children to attend educational institutions. Schools are destroyed, teachers are nowhere to be found, and materials are lost. Wars that last for years set children back, as their education before the war was not supplemented. What is more is education has thus far been a very low priority in humanitarian aid to countries in conflict – only 1.4% of global humanitarian assistance was allocated to education in 2012.
3. Lack of Funding
For a school to function, it is imperative that they are provided with the resources they need to give quality education. Unfortunately, most public schools in poor countries are not given nearly enough resources to nurture their students. The 59 developing countries that are GPE partners face a funding shortage of $34 billion over the next four years for primary and secondary education.
4. Gender Inequality
More than two-thirds of the world's illiterate population are made up by woman. Although more and more girls are getting access to quality education, the gap between boys and girls is still big. According to global statistics, just 39 percent of rural girls attend secondary school. This is far fewer than rural boys (45 percent), urban girls (59 percent) and urban boys (60 percent).
5. Hunger and Poor Nutrition
Being severely malnourished, to the point it impacts on brain development, can be the same as losing four grades of schooling. Around 171 million children in developing countries are stunted by hunger by the time they reach age 5. Stunting can affect a child’s cognitive abilities as well as their focus and concentration in school. As a result, stunted children are 19% less likely to be able to read by age eight. Conversely, good nutrition can be crucial preparation for good learning.
7. No Classroom
Classrooms are an essential part of the education system, as they are meant to encourage the best learning environment possible. Many students globally learn in either overcrowded or no classrooms at all. For instance, on average there are 130 children per classroom in first grade in Malawi. This challenge is further made difficult by the lack of facilities like toilets there are in many schools. Without the proper learning setting with a classroom, students cannot be expected to succeed in school.
8.Untrained teacher or no teacher
Seemingly obvious, having an incapable teacher is often the cause to poor results for students. Many teachers in developing countries are not qualified to teach to the standards that the most developed countries have. A bigger problem is the student to teacher ratio. Ideally, the ratio should be around 20 students per teacher. To satisfy this ratio worldwide, there is a need for about 10 million more teachers to achieve both primary and secondary universal education.
9.Distance From School
One of the main factors discouraging students from going to school, the distance of the nearest school does affect the education students are given. Many underprivileged children are forced to go long distances through treacherous terrain by foot to reach school everyday. There are many dangers involved with walking to school that far, especially for girls who walk alone. When our team at EYL went to San Martin De Porres public school in Yanahuara in the Cusco region, Peru, the principal explained how many of the students attending the school lived at the school for the weekdays because their homes were hours away by drive.
