The Situation of Rural Education

The rural population experiences significant hardship, and many rural children have their right to education severely affected - about 16% of children aged 7-10 and 25% of children aged 11-14 from rural areas do not attend school, according to Save the Children. The situation becomes even worse after eighth grade (the last grade of middle school corresponding to age 14-15) because children must change schools to go to high school, and many villages do not have high schools, and therefore parents must make arrangements for their children to commute to the nearest locality or for the child to move there, which is difficult, and as a result many children abandon school (despite the fact that education is compulsory until tenth grade). In one study, a third of rural school children said they planned to drop out of school after eighth grade.