Quality education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible for everyone. It is recognized as one of the most powerful and effective means of creating systemic change in society and lifting whole communities out of poverty. Data from UNESCO shows that if all adults were able to complete secondary education, the global poverty rate could be reduced by more than 50%. For marginalized people everywhere, education is the crucial first step towards creating a better future for themselves and their families. While much progress has been made to ensure everyone, especially children, can exercise their right to education, there is still much to be done. Globally, there are about 258 million children and youth who are not in school, including 59 million primary school-aged kids. In the Philippines, 5 out of 10 families are deprived of basic education due to challenges such as poverty, lack of infrastructure, and limited resources.

Around 2.8 million Filipino children are not in school, and only 78% of those who are enrolled are able to complete basic education. These issues have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic; more than 4 million learners were unable to enroll in the 2021 academic year. Most schools lack the necessary infrastructure, resources, capacity, and other preventative measures to effectively conduct socially-distanced classes to mitigate the spread of virus. These challenges have resulted in a very troubling reality for Filipino students: they are not learning as well as their peers in countries. In the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, the Philippines was ranked last in Reading Comprehension and second to last in Mathematics and Science among 79 countries.