Education, more profitable investment

The lack of access of African children to education is mainly due to the insufficient number of schools, the inability of families to pay for education, the need for many children to work to earn a living, to early marriage (which prevent girls from continuing their studies) and discrimination that affects millions of children orphaned by AIDS.

Going to school doesn't mean "only" escape from the prison of illiteracy. Access to basic education latches in a virtuous circle that produces its effects from generation to generation.

There is evidence that education increases the chances of integration into the labor market and with it the possibility of having a better income than that mean people aren't educated.

Girls and girls who attend the school are more likely to attain economic self-sufficiency in adulthood and can defend more effectively their rights, at work and in the family. Statistics show that young women with a primary education cycle behind have fewer pregnancies and more spaced between them, and know how to nurture and care for children in a more balanced manner.

Adults and children received basic education have increased susceptibility to send their children to school. The first-person experience suggests parents the importance of education for their children, especially for girls. For this reason, investing in education of children today also means working for the welfare and development of children.

The experience accumulated in the field has enabled UNICEF to verify that investing in primary education, more than any other level of education, the highest return in social terms: health, employment, self-esteem and personal fulfillment. For this reason UNICEF considers education one of the priorities of its action for human development.