Trapped in a brutal cycle of poverty, these millions of children and adults are also denied the right to an education. With children pushed into child labour and parents unable to afford school fees, gaining an education often be impossible.
In fact, over a third of the world’s illiterate population are based in India, where a staggering 266 million people cannot read or write. More than two-thirds of adults across India are illiterate, whilst almost one out of two children in India do not attend secondary school.
For women and girls especially, barriers to accessing education are even more difficult to overcome, with socio-cultural norms placing a high burden of care work on females in the family. With girls in low-income families vulnerable to sexual exploitation and early/forced marriage, such women and girls risk a lifetime of abuse.
This is where access to education and work is critical in helping people break out of the crucial cycle of poverty and build safer, brighter futures for everyone.