PARIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of children and young people out of school worldwide has risen for the seventh consecutive year, reaching 273 million, according to UNESCO's 2026 Global Education Monitoring Report released on Wednesday.

Since 2015, progress in keeping children in school has slowed in nearly every region of the world. The slowdown has been particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly as a result of population growth.

The report cited population growth, crises and budget constraints as the main reasons.

Crises, especially conflicts, have also hampered progress. More than one in six children lives in conflict-affected areas, representing millions of additional out-of-school children beyond those already counted in the statistics.

The situation is particularly alarming in the Middle East, where persistent regional tensions have forced many schools to close, depriving millions of children of education.

The share of countries that have introduced funding mechanisms to support disadvantaged populations in primary and secondary education has more than quadrupled over the past 25 years. For example, 76 percent of countries have adopted policies aimed at reallocating resources in favor of disadvantaged schools. However, only eight percent of all countries are making full use of these mechanisms to redistribute educational resources to disadvantaged populations.

No single policy can resolve exclusion on its own, the report underlined, calling for policies designed to tackle local realities and challenges. In some countries, measures such as making education compulsory rather than merely free, adopting child labor laws, expanding electrification and introducing school meal programs have helped increase the amount of time children spend in school. ■