UNICEF today pitched for more "investments" in education, saying there is an annual funding gap of USD 26 billion for the provision of basic education in 46 low-income countries.
In many countries around the world significantly less public resources are being used to educate children in the poorest 20 per cent of society than their affluent counterparts, according to a UNICEF report.
The report which was launched at the 45th World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting here today called on governments, donors and the private sector to invest more in education.
According to UNICEF, there is an annual funding gap of USD 26 billion for the provision of basic education in 46 low-income countries, and since 2009 official development assistance to education has declined by 10 per cent.
However, just 5 per cent of the annual profits of the world's 15 highest-earning companies would eliminate this resource gap.
"There are around 1 billion primary and lower-secondary school-aged children in the world today. That's 1 billion reasons for investing in education," UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt said.
"We have known for a long time that education can break the cycle of persistent poverty and disadvantage for children, families and countries. But to do this, governments and the private sector need to not only invest more, but also invest more wisely in education," Brandt added.
The report titled, "the investment case for education and equity" said that on average 46 per cent of public education resources in low-income countries directly benefit the 10 per cent of students who are the most educated.
In lower-middle income countries it is 26 per cent, the report said adding that this imbalance disproportionately favours children from the most affluent households who typically attain the highest levels of education.
It calls on governments to prioritise the needs of the most marginalised children -- the poor, girls, ethnic and linguistic minorities, children with disabilities and those living in conflict zones.
The report said that the countries with the highest levels of learning inequality include India, where regional differences are extremely marked, and El Salvador and Yemen, where the most disadvantaged children are those who do not speak the language of instruction.
Education is also linked to empowerment, particularly for girls. Citing the example of India, the report said, women in India who had at least a secondary education were 30 percentage points more likely to have a say in choosing their husband than their peers with less education.
This situation of education inequality would worsen as the size of the school-age population increases. To achieve universal basic education, the world will have to enrol an additional 619 million children between the ages of 3 and 15 by 2030, an increase of 57 per cent on today's figures.
The report, the first in a series UNICEF was released this year with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, strongly advocates for more equitable education spending.
