The Right to Write: When Education Is Still a Privilege

The right to write, to learn and to be educated is something many of us take for granted, yet generations have fought to secure it. Education gives us the freedom to learn, explore and discover our potential. But while education is recognised as a basic human right, that ideal remains far removed from the reality on the ground.

Even the opportunity to discover our interests can depend on access. Books, teachers and new experiences can spark a child’s curiosity and open up possibilities they may never otherwise have encountered. Yet today, 273 million children and young people remain out of school.

So why, despite advances in technology, accessibility and communication, does such a vast disparity in access to education persist? The disparity persists because the “world at our fingertips” is a privilege confined to a fraction of humanity. While digitally saturated societies debate the pedagogical merits of artificial intelligence in classrooms, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals that over 2.2 billion people remain completely offline. In low-income countries, merely 23% of the population uses the internet.

Beyond digital connectivity, fundamental physical infrastructure remains absent. Globally, more than one in five primary schools still lack basic services such as electricity, safe drinking water or basic sanitation, while roughly half do not have computers or internet access for educational use. The premise that modern technology democratises learning falls apart when the basic infrastructure required to power a lightbulb, let alone a computer terminal, is unavailable.

Beneath this digital divide lies a profound structural inequality in public financing. UNESCO figures reveal a $97 billion annual funding gap for low- and lower-middle-income countries to meet their national education targets by 2030. High-income nations spend an average of $8,532 per learner annually, whereas low-income countries spend just $55 per learner, a spending disparity of more than 150 to 1.

For many developing nations, national budgets are crippled by sovereign debt servicing, with many low-income countries spending more on debt repayments than on education. For families already struggling financially, the additional costs associated with schooling can make education increasingly difficult to afford.

This financial deficit is compounded by armed conflict, displacement, and deliberate policy regression. In 2026, an estimated 258 million school-aged children and adolescents are living through crises that are disrupting their education, with 93 million of them currently out of school. Conflict, displacement and climate-related disasters can destroy infrastructure, uproot communities and interrupt learning for years. Elsewhere, political ideology actively revokes access to education. In Afghanistan, an estimated 2.4 million girls are now excluded from secondary education.

The distance between the universal ideal of education and its reality on the ground is not an insurmountable technical puzzle. It is shaped by global economic inequality, political instability and chronic systemic underinvestment. Closing the $97 billion education financing gap should not be viewed simply as charitable spending, but as an investment in human development. Until these disparities are addressed, the right to write and learn will remain a privilege for millions rather than a universal reality.

Addressing the vast gap between the ideal of universal education and the reality on the ground requires more than rhetoric; it also requires practical, local action. Where larger systems fall short, grassroots organisations can help tackle some of the barriers facing children within their own communities.

For over ten years, our Who is Hussain Chicago Backpack Project has supported thousands of Chicago Public Schools students with backpacks filled with the essential supplies they need to begin the school year ready to learn.

And recently, through our Give Back Grant, the Who is Hussain Uganda team identified schools where a lack of basic resources was creating another barrier to education. Some of the schools were in remote areas, four to five hours from Kampala. Across two phases, volunteers provided 1,577 children across 13 schools with backpacks, books, stationery and other essential supplies.

Different communities and different circumstances, but a shared belief that a child’s financial circumstances should not determine their opportunity to learn.

At the Uganda distributions, volunteers also shared stories from the life of Hussain ibn Ali, speaking to the children about values of kindness, justice, hope and compassion. It is a simple reflection of what inspires our movement: learning from his example and finding practical ways to serve the communities around us.

The journey towards a world where every child can freely pursue their potential is long. But meaningful change can also begin with practical action: a backpack, a book, a classroom and an opportunity that may otherwise not have existed.