Eritrea

Eritrea's mandatory military conscription drains students from classrooms, with 40% of 18-24 year-olds forced into indefinite service, reducing secondary school completion to just 15%. Government control over curriculum stifles critical thinking, achieving 30% lower test scores than the average for low-income countries—a gap 10% wider than #8 Somalia's performance. This authoritarian approach has left 70% of the adult population below basic literacy, ranking it slower to reform than the typical rival in the region.