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REITERATING THE OBVIOUS - EDUCATION IS A HUMAN SECURITY ISSUE The global efforts over the years for universal education narrowed the gender gap in primary school in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. However, the persistence of the reasons mentioned above hindered further progress. The COVID-19 pandemic obliterated recent progress. EFFECTS OF NON-SCHOOLING From the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, two-thirds of girls complete their primary education in low-income countries, and only one in three completes lower secondary education.’ While access to primary education is crucial and provides a foundational basis for life, compelling evidence suggests that “completing secondary education is associated with greater economic, social and political benefits than primary education alone.”'? Various studies suggest that secondary education has “a positive effect on cognitive skills, which in turn correlate strongly with increased wages and GDP growth, poverty reduction, and reduced fertility and population growth.”'*Secondary education returns have been demonstrated for low-and middle-income countries, with women experiencing higher returns than men, reinforcing that the education of adolescent girls remains a priority.” The impacts of low educational attainment have significant consequences on a girl’s life trajectory, including: 1. impacts to earnings and standards of living;’® 2. child marriages and early childbearing;’® 3. fertility and population growth;”” 4. impacts the health, nutrition, and well-being of girls and women; "* 1 Quentin Wodon et al., Missed Opportunities: the high Cost of Not Educating Girls, World Bank, 2018, 7, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29956/ HighCostOfNotEducatingGirls.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y. 2 UNICEF, Secondary Education Guidance: Multiple and flexible Pathways, UNICEF, October 2020, 1, https://www.unicef.org/reports/secondary-education-guidance-multipleflexible-pathways-2020. Psacharopoulos, G. — Patrinos, H. A, Returns to Investment in Education: A decennial review of the global literature, World Bank, 2018. 4 UNICEF, Secondary Education Guidance, 1. 155 Quentin Wodon et al., Missed Opportunities, 12-20. 1° Quentin Wodon et al., Missed Opportunities, 21-23. 7 Quentin Wodon et al., Missed Opportunities, 24-29. 13 Quentin Wodon et al., Missed Opportunities, 30-37. + 303 *
