Around 12 million children may never see a classroom

Around 12 million young children will never set foot inside a school if the world doesn't take urgent measures soon.

That's according to a new data published by the United Nations, which found that girls face the greatest barriers.

"According to our projections, nine million girls of primary school age will never start school or set foot in a classroom, compared to about three million boys", said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO.

Updated information from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics reflects little or no progress has been seen in the area in more than ten years.

It found that last year, around 258 million children, adolescents and youth between the ages of six and 17 were out of school.