Education
Upholding the right of every child to an education that equips them for life and work
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Education for Children in Europe and Central Asia
Our goal: UNICEF works to ensure that every child has a quality education throughout their early, primary and secondary years. A quality education not only gives them the skills they need for school, work and life, but also helps to build economic development and social cohesion.
Data from the region
More than half of all young children of pre-primary age (aged 3 to 6) in the region are not in pre-school.
More than 2 million children of secondary school age are out of school.
Children with disabilities account for 90 per cent of children in specialized boarding schools.
Up to 40 per cent of students aged 15 in the region do not reach minimum proficiency levels in reading, mathematics and science.
Children in the Europe and Central Asia region face a learning crisis and the region is not on course to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of an inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
The challenges often start in a child’s earliest years, with more than half of all children across the region not getting the early education that paves the way for lifelong learning.
Some children are less likely to be in school and learning than their peers, including Roma children, those affected by migration, children from rural communities and those from the poorest families.
Children with disabilities are more likely to be placed in residential schools: institutions that often provide little or no education.
Yet being in a mainstream school does not guarantee a good education for every child and adolescent. Preschools in the region, for example, do not always offer the modern approaches based on play that nurture a love of learning. At lower secondary level, the share of students with at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics is low across the region. Again, the impact of poor-quality education is felt most keenly by children from vulnerable groups, who are less likely to benefit from the time they spend in school.
While enrolment rates are similar for girls and boys until lower secondary level, gaps start to appear for girls at the upper secondary level. And in parts of the region, girls continue to be under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which hampers their employment prospects.
Many students leave school without other skills they need for a productive adult life, such as critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. There is a mismatch between current educational approaches and the changing needs of today’s job markets, particularly in terms of digital and green skills.
Key policies
1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Article 28: recognizes the right to education and requires all States Parties to make primary education compulsory and available free to all; make secondary education accessible to every child and take measures to encourage regular attendance and reduce drop-out rates, among other provisions.
- Article 29: requires all States Parties to ensure that education enables children to reach their fullest potential; develops respect for human rights and different cultural identities; and fosters peace and tolerance as well as respect for the natural environment.
2015 Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
What is UNICEF doing?
UNICEF works to ensure every child has the best possible start to a lifetime of learning by supporting good quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). We encourage governments to invest more in ECEC, and we work to ensure that all marginalized children have access to early learning.
We work with countries to reduce the number of residential schools for children with disabilities and to channel the freed-up resources to inclusive education and community-based care. In Moldova, for example, the successful closure of residential schools – achieved with UNICEF’s support – shows that they can be replaced by when political will is backed by action.
UNICEF also supports the region’s teachers, helping them to enhance their skills, as well as their impact on children’s learning. In Albania and Serbia, for example, we have supported the development of digital competency training for teachers, recognizing that they need digital skills if they are to develop those of their students.
We work to make education more relevant through our support for curriculum reforms so that students leave school with the transferable, digital and green skills they will need to succeed in today’s increasingly digitalized job market and are ready to support the transition of their communities to green economies.
UNICEF recognizes that main barrier to a quality education is the failure of many education systems to meet the needs of every child. We believe that it is time to re-think what and how children learn by reforming curriculums and teacher training, investing in the measurement of learning, improving learning materials, and transforming schools so that they deliver for every child. Our work demonstrates that inclusive and high-quality education is cost-effective and improves learning – a result that can help to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for our region.