As the school year begins, families around Australia are buying new shoes, trying on uniforms, and stocking up on stationery.  

But for 250 million children around the world, school is out of reach. The barriers that stop these children from getting an education are complex and interconnected, and many of them are entrenched in communities that experience poverty. 

Here are seven reasons why children around the world can’t go to school, and what our Partners are doing to help families change the situation. 

1. There’s no school if you can’t get there 

Often children can’t attend school for a simple reason: they physically can’t get there. In many of the communities where our Partners serve, long distances, physical isolation, lack of safe passage, or inadequate infrastructure such as roads and footpaths make it difficult for children to safely travel to school.  

In one Cambodian village, residents worked with our Partner to build a bridge so that children could go to school during the rainy season. ‘This bridge may not look like much,’ said a community member, ‘but the impact is big for our village!’ 

2. Children can’t learn if they have to work 

To survive, families in poverty must often rely on their children as a source of income. Around 160 million children aged five to 17 are engaged in child labour, and research shows that roughly a third of these children don’t attend school.  

Amina’s family in Lebanon partly relied on her son Akram’s earnings from carrying groceries after her husband was injured in a truck accident. Thankfully, Amina got the support she needed and was able to enrol Akram in our Partner’s education program. He’s now thriving in his studies and making new friends.  

3. There’s no support for special needs 

In some communities, children with disabilities don’t attend school because the physical space is inaccessible; teachers don’t have the training to accommodate their needs; or there’s social pressure on parents to keep these children at home.  

Our Partner in Nepal has been helping schools improve their accessibility by installing features such as modified toilets, drinking taps, ramps and handrails. They’re also educating teachers and School Management Committee members on disability rights, so they can better meet the needs of all children.

4. They’re too hungry to learn 

Food insecurity has an impact on all of life, not just a person’s health. Famine, drought or extreme poverty means children who are hungry miss out on school because they don’t have the energy to leave home, or are constantly sick. If they do attend, they’re often too undernourished to get the most out of their lessons. 

In 2023, our Partner’s school food program in Kenya provided 1,800 students across seven primary schools with two wholesome meals a day. This ensured children had enough energy to learn, play, and engage with their teacher and peers.  

5. Families can’t afford the fees 

In some parts of the world, the cost of school fees, clothes, books and materials make school prohibitively expensive for families living in poverty—not to mention the indirect cost of losing a source of income if a child is at school instead of working. 

According to the World Bank, 54 per cent of adults in a dozen Sub-Sharan African countries rank paying school costs as higher than other expenses. These countries have the highest rates of education exclusion, with close to 60 per cent of youth aged 15 to 17 not at school. That’s why part of our Partner’s work includes helping families become self-sufficient, so they can afford the cost of educating their children and break the cycle of poverty. 

6. School can’t happen in a war zone 

Conflict disrupts ordinary life in so many ways—including a child’s ability to get an education. Air raids, the destruction of school buildings, dangerous living conditions and lack of infrastructure make it impossible for students to safely gather and learn. 

When families are forced to flee, it’s difficult to continue schooling and children are often left behind. Currently 7.2 million refugee children are missing out on an education. Our Partners work with families in displaced communities to ensure children continue learning, even when they’re living in temporary shelters. 

7. Girls are forced to drop out and get married 

In some places, girls are kept away from school for economic, religious or cultural reasons. Many girls are also married off young, and subsequently drop out of school to focus on domestic responsibilities and raising children. 

Thankfully, this also works in the reverse: the longer a girl stays at school, the less likely she is to marry young, and the more likely she will gain knowledge and develop skills for her future. 

Our Partners help all children know they have a right to an education, and they help communities change the way they perceive the value of girls. This is revolutionary for young women in Nepal like Bina, who is the first Muslim girl in her town to complete Year 10 and become eligible for university.   

As four million kids across Australia return to school, a quarter of a billion children and youth globally are denied this opportunity—because of poverty. But there’s still time to join Baptist World Aid’s call for 500 new Sponsors and bring education and hope to children affected by this injustice. Become a Sponsor and you can help children living in poverty access education, break the cycle of poverty, and build a brighter future. Head to bwaa.co/sponsorship today to sign up.