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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Lifestyle
Paris - Asharq Al-Awsat

UNESCO: 617 Million Children Cannot Read or Count

Al Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan Teacher Hanan Anzi with Syrian refugee students at a UNICEF school. Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) revealed that 617 million children and teenagers around the world cannot read and count.

The report was released on the International Day of Education, which coincides on January 24th of each year.

A press release published Thursday cited the statements of Marie Bäumer, head of the UNESCO's German committee, saying: "The parents' educational level still plays a crucial role in helping children reaching university."

"We should focus our work on providing the available educational opportunities for the non-educated families, as well as migrants," she said.

The UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring report 2019 showed that teachers, in particular, are a key factor in the educational process.

With the retirement of a big number of teachers, Germany will need over 6,800 additional teachers yearly until 2030, Bäumer noted.

The growing number of pupils will increase the need for teachers to over 1,300 by 2020, and to about 3,800 primary education teachers on annual basis until 2025, she said.

"Now, we are facing a serious lack of teachers, and this lack is ascending annually," Bäumer concluded.

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