Gapminder is celebrating world teacher’s day! UNESCO data shows that more boys and girls are completing primary and secondary school around the world than ever before. Teachers are doing a great job! But not all kids are making it into the classroom, 9% of primary school age children to be exact. Out of this group, about half (52%) are girls. The percentage of girls in the classroom has increased by 5% across low & middle income countries in last 10 years. The number has stayed more or less the same for boys. There are still some pockets of huge gender inequality, but in the world as a whole, boys and girls are going to school in roughly the same numbers. So let’s celebrate kids, their teachers and all those doing the best they can to get the remaining 9% of boys and girls into the classroom!
When we measure global knowledge, we have found that many people believe the gender gap is enormous. It’s not! Most children out of school are poor children. It’s not primarily a gender problem.
Help us beat the misconceptions. We are developing a new factfulness certificate for teachers. If you’re a teacher and would like to find out more about becoming a Gapminder certified teacher, click this link to be the first to hear when we release the programme.