Girls’ education: Facts and how to help

Updated by Mauro Flammini on August 4, 2026

A girl’s education is an investment in her future. It’s also an investment in the future of our world—a thriving, peaceful and sustainable world.

Education is a powerful tool in developing the full potential of every child, but it also helps promote understanding, respect and friendship between nations, peoples and religious groups.

For all children, but especially for girls, education provides stability for today and opportunities for tomorrow. Learn more about the importance of female education and how you can help protect girls’ education rights.

Is education a human right?

No matter who you are or where you live, you have a fundamental human right to education.

It’s protected in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948:

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available, and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Every young boy and girl is entitled to full and complete access to quality education. But many of the world’s poorest children continue to be denied this basic human right.

How many girls don't go to school?

In 2025, according to UN WOMEN:

• An estimated 122 million girls remain out of school worldwide.
• Nearly 50 million adolescent girls and young women are illiterate and 9 out of 10 living in low income countries do not have access to the internet

Those from the poorest families are more likely to be out of school than their peers from more affluent communities.

What is keeping girls out of school?

There are many obstacles standing in the way of girls’ education.

Poverty exacerbates issues like famine and drought, health and sanitation, cultural norms and practices, among others— all which collide to form insurmountable barriers to girls’ education.

Famine and drought caused by climate change

Food and water shortages are not a new phenomenon by any means, but, but, thanks to climate change, they have become so severe in recent years that many developing countries have declared states of disaster.

Additionally:

• In 80 per cent of households with water shortages, women andgirls are responsible for water collection.
• Globally, women and girls walk an average of six kilometres per day to haul 20 litres of water that is often contaminated or unsanitary.

After all that distance and heavy burden, she might be too tired or hungry to concentrate in school, or too sick from water-borne diseases to attend class at all.

Health and sanitation

While lack of hygiene and sanitation affects all school-aged children, inadequate facilities are most detrimental to girls.

Many schools have unsafe latrines or unsanitary water supplies, making it impossible for girls to remain in school when they begin to menstruate.

The shortage of safe, separate and private sanitation and washing facilities is one of the leading factors preventing girls from attending school.

Cultural norms and practices

Girls are often prevented from attending school even when they’re eager to do so. Many families and cultures tend to favor education for boys. Parents and community leaders may not see the value in educating a girl, believing it to be unnecessary for her primary roles in life as a wife and mother.

Even for those girls who do start school, cultural practices like child marriage can bring their education to an abrupt halt. Many are forced to drop out to focus on domestic responsibilities or to raise children of their own.

The numbers show that girls who aren’t in school face a greater risk of becoming child brides:

• Girls who have no education are three times more likely to marry before 18 than girls who attended secondary school or higher and 87 per cent of married girls aged 15-17 are no longer in school

Child labour

Impoverished families often have no choice but to resort to child labour to survive. Many of these children are “invisible,” out of sight and out of the reach of the laws that protect them.

Girls involved in family care or domestic work are perhaps the most invisible of all.

There is evidence to suggest that 59 million girls are in child labour worldwide —a number that is underestimated because it does not account for unpaid household labour in their own homes.

Girls arespending long days in harsh working conditions rather than in a classroom, where they belong.

Distance and cost

Physical access to a classroom can be a challenge.

In many parts of the developing world, the nearest primary school to a particular community, the walking distance could be up to several kilometres away:

• In Tanzania, for example, students can walk up to 7 kilometers to attend school.
• Contrast that against Canada, where the average walk is just one kilometre.

Many parents worry about their children having to travel long distances on their own to get to school.

Girls are particularly vulnerable, risking danger, violence and abuse just to get into a classroom.

And although primary education should be free, there are often associated costs that prove too heavy a burden for struggling families to bear.

Be it textbooks, school fees, uniforms or transportation—when a family has more than one child to raise, girls often lose out to their brothers.

Crisis and conflict

War and violence often bring an abrupt end to education opportunities for all children, but girls are particularly vulnerable during times of social or political crises.

Many families sustain insurmountable losses in natural disasters or epidemics, after which the need for education pales in comparison to simple survival.

Right now, over 103 million children —one in three—living in crisis zones or fragile contexts are out of school.

Why is it important to educate a girl?

Education, for any child, can open the doors to a brighter future that would otherwise be locked tight.

But it isn’t just about the future.

Children who stay in school are better protected from exploitation in the present. And when girls have access to education, they develop the knowledge, confidence and life skills necessary to navigate and adapt to an ever-changing world.

Breaking the cycle of poverty

The education of girls not only helps them achieve their individual potential but also helps to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and disadvantage.

When a girl stays in school, she increases her income-earning potential and her future is immediately brighter. Education empowers her to build a better life for herself, contributing to the health, safety and prosperity of her family and community.

In fact, ensuring all girls are finishing secondary school education by 2030 could boost the gross domestic product (GDP) of developing countries by 10% on average over the next decade.

Improved health

If all girls completed primary education, maternal deaths would be reduced, saving 98,000 lives because:

• Girls who stay in school are more likely to marry later and delay their first pregnancy.
• They are more likely to understand prenatal care, nutirition, family planning and potential warning signs during pregnancy.
• They are better equipped to seek skilled medical care with trained health professionsals.

Increasing a girl’s access to education decreases her risk of contracting HIV and improves future child and maternal health.

A woman who receives formal education is more likely than an uneducated woman to use contraception, marry later, have fewer children, and be better informed on the nutritional needs of her children.

Learning to lead

School is the place where children first learn to exercise their agency and make their voices heard.

Without access to education, girls are denied the opportunity to learn the skills that enable them to take charge—not only in their own homes, careers and lives—but also in their community and their country.

They can more effectively teach their own children, which will help lift an entire generation.

When we educate girls, we give them the chance to step up and realize their fullest leadership potential.

What is World Vision Canada doing to help?

Wherever World Vision Canada work, we work to champion the rights of girls.

We partner with families and entire communities— men, women, boys and girls—to help them understand a girl’s worth and why her rights must be protected.

In particular, we help them understand the importance of supporting girls’ education rights.

• We work to improve school facilities in developing countries around the world. By ensuring access to clean water and installing safe, private and separate latrines for girls near school buildings, we help keep children safe while they’re learning and encourage their continued attendance.

• By supplying furniture, textbooks, supplies and nutritious meals, children are better able to stay engaged and focused in the classroom.

Our work with local and international education ministries ensures that teachers have the tools they need to improve their classroom environments. By creating locally relevant and age-appropriate learning materials, children can learn what they need to know in their native language.

And by collaborating with other experienced organizations in the field, we’re able to reach more broadly to help implement successful education initiatives in the countries where we work.

What can I do to help keep girls in school?

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have a target to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2030.

We’ve made progress, but as many as 48 per cent of girls continue to remain out of school in some regions while 15 million girls aren’t in primary school.

As kids enter adolescence, higher numbers of girls drop out of secondary school from early pregnancy or the expectation that they should spend more of their time doing household work.

You can help keep girls in school by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice that many families face.

When you sponsor a girl, you help provide basic necessities like:

• Nutritious food
• Clean water
• Access to education and health care.

For families with girls, sponsorship helps ensure they are protected from child labour or early marriage – and that they stay in the classroom.

Inspiring stories about girls’ education

Tasya leads children’s forum in her community

In 2022, World Vision launched a child protection project in Sigi, Indonesia.

Channels of Hope trains leaders in child protection, gender studies, positive parenting, the risks of child marriage and sexual violence. These sessions help train leaders to challenge damaging social norms and create a strong community network to protect children, especially girls.

Tasya is the leader of The Child Forum in her community. The Child Forum was created to bring together boys and girls in the area and raise awareness about children’s rights and fight child marriage.

As a leader, Tasya helps organize community education sessions and events. using the group ’ s own social media content to spread the word. They’ve conducted research among their peers to explore and record their peers’ ideas and attitudes about child marriage, as well as identify any potential cases.

Working through community volunteers, more than 30 cases of child marriage in Sipado area project have been reported to World Vision in the last year. These cases are then referred to government support services, who engage with the family to connect them with services like emergency income support for families in financial distress, or health services for girls who are pregnant.

The group also invites government health services to come to their community and host information sessions for young people to learn about their bodies, reproductive health, and how to prevent pregnancy. Tasya is proud of her role in prioritizing education for girls in her community. As a result, the mindsets of many are being positively shifted and fewer girls are falling into child marriages.

Wipada follows her dreams and becomes a teacher

“At every milestone, my teachers were there to encourage, care, and set good role models for me. They were heroes to me. I was so inspired by my teachers and their profession that I aimed to be a teacher too when I grew up. I wanted children to thrive and become educated, happy, and decent citizens, just like the way my teachers supported me,” says Wipada, or Tar, a former sponsored child of World Vision Thailand.

People have their own path to walk with different paces and opportunities. While some are equipped with abundant developmental assets, others live in poverty. Tar belonged to the latter group.

“I was in Grade 2 when my homeroom teacher brought the good news that I was being sponsored through World Vision. I received school supplies, educational necessities support, and even got a birthday present from my sponsor almost every year. My family also received livelihood support such as oyster mushroom growing and chicken raising,” says Tar with overwhelming gratefulness when she recalls her past.

Through hard work and perseverance, Tar was able to graduate high school and decided to follow her dream of pursuing higher education. Now, Tar is a computer teacher at a local school and hopes to later become a public teacher.

“Thank you to my sponsor and all of my teachers for your continued support until my graduation. They were the reason that drove me to study at the higher education level until I graduated like I had dreamt of,” she says.

“I will be a good teacher. I have seen many students facing the same hardship I have been through. I promise to myself that, if I have a chance, I will pass on help to these children, just like how I was helped before so that they will have opportunities and improved quality of life.”

Dina makes a difference as a youth leader & activist

Dina was first involved in World Vision when she was around the age of seven. She became a peer tutor in Yamaranguila AP, Honduras as soon as she could, helping other children study and learn through play. She has had lots of opportunities through WV to travel and teach about health, sanitation, and the importance of education.

“I believe youth are not the future — we are the present. If we want change , it needs to start within us , ” she says.

Dina lived with her grandparents until she was 15, then moved to where her mother was working to continue her education. She graduated from secondary school and is now in college studying public accounting.

Dina is passionate about raising awareness in her community on children’s rights and does so as a youth leader. She is passionate about education and believes that, with the right tools, children can accomplish even their wildest dreams.