Children who don't go to school are often the most vulnerable and marginalized. They are a high priority for GPE.
Despite dramatic improvements over the past years, progress towards achieving education for all has stagnated. In total, 263 million children, adolescents and youth were out of school for the school year ending in 2016.
The progress has not been equitable: the children who face the most severe barriers to education, such as those associated with gender, poverty, displacement, nomadism, disability, and/or ethnicity, are still left behind.
A disproportionate number of out-of-school children live in countries that are characterized by instability and conflict and/or extreme poverty. Many of the countries with the highest numbers of out-of-school children still do not receive adequate external financing to meet their needs.
GPE is dedicated to strengthening national education systems in order to substantially increase the number of children who are in school and learning, and overcome the barriers that prevent them from attending, staying, and completing school.