There are almost 60 million children around the world who are not in elementary or middle school. That’s nearly twice as many as the number of U.S. children who are in school. And a staggering global total of 250 million kids, nearly 40 percent of the world’s children of primary-school age, can’t read a single sentence.
We can and must drastically improve these numbers. Children, regardless of where they are born, deserve the right to reach their full potential. Thankfully a global education movement is on the rise, committing to provide quality basic education for all children.
Education is the catalyst for poverty reduction and a better world. For example, people with a primary education are 1.5 times more likely to support democracy than people with no education. A child with an educated mother is twice as likely to go to school. A child with a literate mother is twice as likely to reach age five. HIV/AIDS infection rates are halved among young people who finish primary school.
Congress must support the Global Partnership for Education and Basic Education so those 60 million children will be in school and can read every sentence.
Betsy Suero Skipp, Miami