International Day of Education

Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.

Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.

Despite the free primary and subsidised secondary education policy, an estimated 1.8 million Kenyan children aged between six and 18, who are supposed to be in school have either dropped out or never been in school at all. According to a preliminary assessment of the report by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM), which covers Sub-Saharan Africa.

Today worldwide, 244 million children and youth are out of school, and 771 million adults are illiterate. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable. It’s time to transform education.

On 24 January 2023 will be The fifth International Day of Education under the theme “to invest in people, prioritize education”.

Building on the global momentum generated by the UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, this year’s Day will call for maintaining strong political mobilization around education and chart the way to translate commitments and global initiatives into action. Education must be prioritized to accelerate progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals against the backdrop of a global recession, growing inequalities and the climate crisis.