133M Girls Out of School: The UNESCO Report Reveals
- Dec. 3, 2025, 12:29 p.m.
Despite universal advancement toward gender equality in education, 133M girls still stay out of school. These girls risk missing chances to shape their futures without immediate action, as societies lose economic and social benefits that education offers.
World Gender Parity Education in Progress
UNESCO reports extended progress with regional inequalities and persistent gaps nearly 30 years after the Beijing Declaration launched the goal of full gender equality in education. Girls’ enrolment in primary and secondary education has nearly attained parity with boys since 1995. Now, 91M girls attend primary school and 136M attend secondary school than 30 years ago. Tertiary education enrolment has more than tripled as well, rising from 41M to 139M women.
Prevailing Regional Disparities
The growth varies widely throughout regions. Southern and Central Asia have attained parity in secondary school registration, as sub-Saharan Africa goes on to fall back. Girls lag behind boys in Oceania, whereas in the Caribbean and Latin America, boys are fewer boys than girls to go on into secondary education. Rural location and poverty deepen these challenges, particularly in countries like Mali and Guinea, where very few women attend school.
Many countries face problems of inclusivity and quality despite better enrolment numbers. Sex education is mandatory in only two-thirds of countries at the primary stage and three-quarters at the secondary stage. Textbooks in various contexts keep on encouraging gender stereotypes, limiting education’s potential to drive change.
Gaps in Leadership
Even though women form the global teachers’ majority, they remain underrepresented in leadership functions. Only 30 per cent of top education leaders in the world are women, spotlighting structural blocks that stop education from becoming a real driver of equality. UNESCO forces that governments must expand sex education, enforce gender-transformative curricula, fortify leadership pathways for women, invest to assist efficient policymaking & accountability and assure protection from school-related fury.
Education: A Societal Investment
Assure that girls’ education is an essential advantage in the future; filling gender gaps can strengthen economies, create equitable societies and enable women's empowerment. The Beijing Declaration commitment will only be possible if the evidence leads to sustained and decisive activity.
