Families in sub-Saharan African countries are spending a large chunk of their household income to educate their children, with many being priced out of quality education, a new report from the UN’s education body, Unesco, says.

IN Ghana, for example, an average of 13% of a family’s expenditure goes on schooling.

Overall in sub-Sharan Africa, nearly 40% of the money spent on education comes from families, rather than other sources such as the government.

In its latest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report released on Friday, Unesco says there’s a growing risk of inequality and exclusion in providing education.

Manos Antoninis, the report’s director, says the impact of Covid-19 has squeezed family budgets further, making school fees and other costs unaffordable for many.

The report warns that 8% of families in low and middle income countries have to borrow money to pay for their children to go to school.

The rate is even higher in countries like Uganda and Kenya where a third of all families have to take loans to pay school fees.

Unesco wants governments to be more committed to providing 12 years of free quality education for all, for the sake of the poor who cannot afford private education.

Source: bbc