UN: Education is going through a dangerous turn

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that education is going through a deep crisis, stressing that the time has come for a change in education systems, according to the United Nations website.

The Secretary-General spoke at the opening session of the third and final day of the Education Transformation Summit (Leaders Day), that education, rather than being a great enabler, is rapidly becoming a major barrier, noting that about 70 percent of ten-year-old children in poor countries cannot read a simple text, “They are either out of school or in school but they are hardly learning.”

The Secretary-General shows that education systems, even in developed countries, often perpetuate inequality rather than reduce it, and reproduce it across generations.

“The rich have access to the best resources, schools and universities, which leads to them getting the best jobs, while the poor – especially girls – face significant obstacles in acquiring qualifications that can change their lives, IDPs and students with disabilities face the biggest obstacles of all.”