The causes are both economic and cultural. Free public education is rare in many developing regions, so it is often impossible for families to send all of their children to school.
Boys receive priority for education in many families, especially when money is tight.
Girls drop out of school because of early marriage, pregnancy, or to care for the family and home. The more education a woman receives, the more likely she is to bear healthier and fewer children, enhance her family's health, and ensure her own children are educated. Many governments and organizations are developing formal and informal education programs so that girls have equal access to schooling. Women's literacy training also helps to break the generational cycle of poor education. Now that we have education, we have woken up, and our ears have opened.