Education and health

People with little education are twice as likely to report poor health than those with a tertiary education. Education is connected to lifelong employment, learning, and participation in society and decision-making; and female literacy in particular results in better outcomes in children’s education, nutrition and life chances; reductions in family violence; and increased use of health services thanks to increased health literacy and better treatment from health services. 

COVID-19, education, and health: UNESCO estimates that globally, 23.8 million children, adolescents, and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) were at risk of not returning to school in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, including 11.2 million girls and young women, which could spell the reversal of 20 years of gains made for girls’ education. Without the school platform, and without the access to health and nutrition programmes, hunger, poverty, malnutrition and mental health are exacerbated for hundreds of millions of children and their families, affecting their chances of ever recovering from the COVID19 induced crisis. 

Action: Policies for improving health should aim to, among other things, increase the general level and quality of education and provide equal opportunity of access to education.

 This is because education has a major effect on health over the life course – through increased income and opportunity, self-reliance, and empowerment. It also creates engaged citizens. Ensuring high-quality education for everyone, especially adolescent girls, improves their health and well-being; school enrolment, attendance and achievement; and can protect them against becoming victims or perpetrators of violence.