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International Day of Education

Writer's picture: Her Path, Her PowerHer Path, Her Power

Guest Blogger: Kieran Taylor


Today, on the International Day of Education, there is much to celebrate. The policymakers working tirelessly to guarantee children’s access to schooling; the educators putting in the time to nurture all who come through their classrooms; and especially, the students themselves. With an accessible education today, students’ opportunities to achieve their dreams and avoid (or lift themselves and their families out of) poverty broaden significantly. In fact, per the World Bank, every additional year of education represents a 9% average increase in hourly earnings later in life.


Today is not only about celebrating the benefits of tutelage, however. The world remains a long way from total educational parity for its children. While high-income countries feel the effects to a relatively mild extent, with only 3% of children on average out of school, this percentage rises to 33% in low-income countries. In total, more than a quarter billion children worldwide are not in school. Even among those with educational access, its effectiveness can vary, leaving 617 million children below the learning poverty line - unable to read simple sentences or do basic math.



These daunting statistics reflect severe challenges and hindrances to children the world over, but some groups - including the girls of Studio Samuel’s community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - feel the effects more than others. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than half of the 251 million out-of-school children around the world, and even for those with access to an education, a multitude of barriers stand in the way of completion. Girls in particular suffer in this regard, with factors like forced early marriage and gender-based violence contributing to shockingly low completion rates: 47% for lower secondary schooling, and a mere 27% for upper secondary. In our own community, 5 in every 6 girls between the ages of 9-12 drop out of school.


It is important to remember on this Day of Education that these are not just figures, but a composite of near-countless kids denied access to a classroom, denied the resources and support they need to learn and thrive, and in many cases, denied a future. They are the reason the United Nations’ fourth Sustainable Development Goal - to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” - is so crucial, and the reason Studio Samuel remains committed to bridging that gap for the girls in our community.


Training for Tomorrow, our licensed educational offering to students, does not replace our students’ traditional schooling, but rather supplements it with skills not taught in the average classroom to best prepare them for a brighter future. Students of this parallel program receive focused occupational and life skills training, ranging from in-demand, employable skills like coding to self-defense courses to protect their safety on a daily basis. The results have been astonishing: we maintain a 90% enrollment rate and 94% of students saw their grades improve within just six months of enrolling. 2 in 5 found themselves equipped to protect themselves from the physical violence they face in everyday life.


Education is a human right, and each and every child out of school represents a failure of our collective obligation to the next generation. We can, and should, toast to the successes as well; for one, because of your support, 20,000+ adolescent girls have access to education. But these successes also demonstrate the kinds of opportunity that hundreds of millions of children simply do not receive, and why we must rally together to address this fact. 


Happy International Day of Education to all, and we ask you to please consider how you can make a difference in a child’s life today.



Donate today and help keep one more girl in school.

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Studio Samuel is a registered 501(c)(3) in the U.S.  [EIN 45-5248421] and a licensed CSO in Ethiopia. 

US: PO Box 1272  NY NY 10159

ET: House No 1382, Yeka SubCity, Woreda 2, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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