What you need to know:

Data from the Unesco Institute for Statistics shows that the global number of out-of-school primary school-age children has started to rise, reaching 59 million, of whom 31 million are girls. This means that about 10 per cent of all girls within the 6-11 age range are denied the right to education, compared to 8 per cent of all boys.

By Mashine Milimo

Tanzania is among the countries with the highest percentage rate of out-of-school girls (18 per cent), lagging behind South Sudan amongst the six East African Community (EAC) member states, the rest being Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda.

This is apparently one of the stumbling blocks to curbing Gender Inequality in Education. Another problem is that it minimizes women’s participation in economic and decision making processes within the countries. South Sudan, the newest member of the regional bloc ranks highest (66 per cent). The others are Kenya (12 per cent), Uganda (5 per cent), Rwanda  and Burundi (3 per cent)

Data from the Unesco Institute for Statistics shows that the global number of out-of-school primary school-age children has started to rise, reaching 59 million, of whom 31 million are girls. This means that about 10 per cent of all girls within the 6-11 age range are denied the right to education, compared to 8 per cent of all boys.