A couple of hundred years ago, hundreds of millions of children around the world got no education at all. These days, hundreds of millions of children are going to school but not receiving even a basic education.
Source: The Education Crisis
Is that progress? I suppose it is progress of a sort. It’s probably better than picking cotton, or being sent up a factory chimney or down into a coal mine.
That’s something to consider. There are still some exceptions, but in most countries children are legally protected from being used as labour and required to attend school.
So, yes, there’s been some progress. But when hundreds of millions of children are being deprived of their childhood for little or no tangible benefit it’s clear that there is still a long way to go.