Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

When Juni was a baby, her father died from AIDS. Her older siblings were forced to drop out of school because her mother could not afford their school fees. Juni’s eldest brother, Henry, now works hard in his job to help pay Juni’s school fees. Juni enjoys school and wants to be a teacher one day. Thirty percent of children in Papua New Guinea never attend school and many schools have few resources and poorly trained teachers.

Target: To enable all children, girls and boys alike, to complete primary schooling.

Around the world, 115 million children of primary school age do not get the opportunity to go to school – that’s more than five times the population of Australia! These are mostly children living in poverty, whose parents may never have had any formal education.

A decent basic education can help people to escape poverty. The ability to read, reason, and communicate empowers people to make informed choices about life and increases their ability to generate income. It also empowers them to advocate for justice and social change. Boys and girls who attend school are more likely to be healthier and avoid diseases like HIV and AIDS. Educated parents are more likely to send their children to school. Universal primary education can help prepare a skilled workforce to help countries progress economically.

Bangladesh, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Pakistan, Brazil and Guinea are a few examples of countries where governments have recently taken significant steps towards abolishing school fees, offering stipends for girls and increasing spending on education. In the past 15 years, Guinea has increased primary school enrolment from 25% to nearly 70%.

Aid and development organisations like World Vision help communities educate their children by:

1. improving the quality of education through the training of school teachers.
2. helping to build school buildings.
3. providing school uniforms, textbooks, furniture and stationery.