According to data provided by Unesco IS, still many people worldwide struggle with access to basic schooling. They lack the essentials to read and write, i.e. to orient themselves in life. One out of seven adults aged 15 years and above (754 million people) lack - according to the latest statistics - basic literacy skills, while around 250 million children aged between 6 and 18 years are not attending school.
The two most alarmingly affected regions are Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. This is a dramatic figure, and raises the question as to what kind of liveable future is offered to a large portion of the world's population. Since 1967, 8 September is International Literacy Day, to highlight the universal right to education, a fundamental prerequisite for human dignity, integration and development.
The Community of Sant'Egidio has always been committed to defending the right to education of minors, women, immigrants and minorities, such as the Roma. Its educational commitment ranges from the Schools of Peace for children and youth, active on all continents, to Language and Culture Schools for migrants in Italy and other countries, recently also in refugee camps on the borders of Europe.
The new school year, now just about to begin, is opening for the little ones full of hope for what they will be able to learn at school and in life. However, special care and maximum help must be given to children and minors in general living in war-torn countries such as Ukraine, Gaza or in some African nations, such as Sudan - in the grip of civil conflict and famine, and the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sant'Egidio hopes that education will be given the place it deserves, that everyone will be ensured access to educational activities in institutes of all levels, and that no one will be left behind: 'education for all’, because the right to learning is universal and must be guaranteed to all.
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