The importance of education is universally accepted and is recognised as the basis for progress by expanding human capabilities and choices. Quality education affects the individual‘s personal development and positively affects society by providing skills, encouraging social stability, and promoting economic growth [1], [2]. After the adoption by the international community of Education for all (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which call for increased access to quality education, much progress was made in enrollment in primary schools. Despite such progress, there are still too many children out of school. In 2018, 8.2% of primary school-age children worldwide were out of school [3], compared to 19% in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This accounts for more than half of the global number of primary school-age children who are out of school. The lowest completion rate for primary school children is also among children in SSA, or 29%, compared to 85% worldwide [4]. Equity in education refers to providing all students with the same opportunities and resources in fair, impartial and just ways [5], [6]. Providing the same resources to all students is necessary for them to reach their potential without presetting obstacles. This will bring them up to the same opportunity level as their peers and create an equitable education system. Equity in education can be viewed through fairness and inclusion, where fairness indicates that personal or socioeconomic circumstances do not impede educational success. Inclusion in education refers to all students being ensured the same opportunity to reach a basic skill level [7]. One of the reasons for not realising or achieving educational equity is unequal access to opportunities and resources and structural poverty‘s exclusionary processes[6].

Author: Gudlaug Erlendsdóttir

Published in: Canada International Conference on Education, 2023

• Date of Conference: 26-28 June, 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/CICE.2023.0012
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-913572-58-7
• Conference Location: Residence and Conference Centre, Toronto, Canada