A/HRC/21/39 M. Right to education 87. Children living in poverty are more likely to drop out of or never attend school in order to engage in income-generating activities or to help in the home. Education is a crucial means by which persons can develop their personalities, talents and abilities to their fullest potential, increasing their chances of finding employment, of participating more effectively in society and of escaping poverty. The economic consequences of not finishing primary or secondary school are thus devastating and perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Girls are more commonly denied their right to education, which in turn restricts their choices and increases female impoverishment. 88. States should: (a) Ensure that all children, including those living in poverty, are able to enjoy their right to free and compulsory primary education through the provision of high-quality education in schools within safe reach and without indirect costs; (b) Provide schools in disadvantaged areas with high-quality, trained teachers and adequate infrastructure, including gender-sensitive sanitation facilities, water and electricity; (c) Take steps to progressively ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability and quality of education in all forms and at all levels. This includes allocating, as a priority, resources to persons living in poverty to compensate for socioeconomic disadvantages (e.g. proactive measures to combat school dropout rates, grants and school meal provisions); (d) Take measures to progressively introduce free education for secondary and higher levels, in particular for girls and groups vulnerable to poverty and marginalization such as children with disabilities, minorities, refugees, children of undocumented migrants, stateless persons, children living in institutions and those living in remote areas and slums; (e) Review and reform legislation to ensure consistency between the minimum school leaving age and the minimum age of marriage and employment; (f) Provide high-quality early childhood education centres to improve the education and health of children living in poverty; (g) Take measures to eradicate illiteracy, including for adults; (h) Ensure that persons living in poverty are able to know, seek and receive information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms and have access to human rights education and training. N. Rights to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications 89. Poverty seriously restricts the ability of individuals or groups to exercise their right to take part in, access and contribute to all spheres of cultural life, as well as their ability to effectively enjoy their own culture and that of others, exacerbating their disempowerment and social exclusion. Free cultural expression through values, beliefs, convictions, languages, knowledge and the arts, institutions and ways of life enables persons living in poverty to express their humanity, their world view, their cultural heritage and the meanings that they give to their existence and their development. Persons living in poverty are often unable to reap the benefits of scientific progress and its applications in an equal manner. 21