Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than half the world’s children between ages 6 and 11 who don’t go to school, according to UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

About 30 million children out of 58 million globally who are school dropouts live in this area.

Poverty isn’t the only reason, according to a PressTV video.

Some sub-Saharan African children are forced to study under harsh conditions. Others must walk long distances to attend school. Some schools offer a food program but if food isn’t delivered, the kids stop going to school, according to the report. Then there are teachers strikes.

Some African governments have introduced universal primary education and parents are not expected to pay school fees but this hasn’t made a difference and the dropout rate is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, UNESCO reports.

Teachers blame antiquated educational systems and say governments need to update the system to attract kids and keep them in school.

Interviewed in the PressTV video, Albanis Turyahebwa of Kampala International University said the same resources that accommodated 40 students in the 1990s must now accommodate 150 students.

New data from UNESCO show a critical gap in adolescent education for the 12-to-15-year-old age group. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 21 million adolescents who don’t go to school, according to PressTV reporting from Ethiopia.