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Arts & Culture

The Worldwide Diffusion of Mass Education and the Institutionalization of Schooling

Quick fact

In 1950, only about 50% of the world's primary-school-age children were enrolled in school; today that figure exceeds 90%—a staggering global transformation achieved in just a few decades.

Why this is interesting

Nearly every child on Earth now sits in a classroom, but this was unheard of just 150 years ago. How did schooling become a universal rite of passage for the world's youth?