Global education funding cuts could leave 6 million more children out of school, UNICEF says

Six million additional children could be forced out of school by the end of 2026 due to steep cuts in global education funding, with approximately one-third of those affected living in humanitarian settings, UNICEF warned in a new analysis released today.

Official Development Assistance for education is projected to fall by $3.2 billion, representing a 24 per cent decline from 2023 levels, with just three donor governments accounting for nearly 80 per cent of the cuts.

The reduction would increase the global number of out-of-school children from 272 million to 278 million, equivalent to emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined.

West and Central Africa face sharpest impact with 1.9 million at risk

“Every dollar cut from education is not just a budgetary decision, it’s a child’s future hanging in the balance,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“Education, especially in emergency settings, often serves as a lifeline, connecting children to essential services like health, protection, and nutrition”.

West and Central Africa will experience the most severe impact, with 1.9 million children at risk of losing educational access. The Middle East and North Africa could see 1.4 million additional out-of-school children, with major rollbacks projected across all regions.

Twenty-eight countries are expected to lose at least a quarter of the education assistance they rely on for pre-primary, primary, and secondary schooling.

Côte d’Ivoire and Mali face particular risks, with enrolment potentially declining by 4 per cent, affecting 340,000 and 180,000 students, respectively.

Primary education will suffer the heaviest impact globally, with funding set to fall by one-third. This reduction deepens the learning crisis and puts affected children at risk of losing an estimated $164 billion in lifetime earnings.

Humanitarian settings could lose equivalent of 10% of national education budgets

In humanitarian contexts, where education provides life-saving support and stability for traumatised children, funding could drop sharply, in some cases cutting the equivalent of at least 10 per cent of national education budgets.

UNICEF’s Rohingya refugee response exemplifies the crisis, with 350,000 children risking permanent loss of basic education access. Without urgent funding, education centres may close, leaving children vulnerable to exploitation, child labour, and trafficking.

Essential services face severe cuts, with school feeding programmes potentially losing more than half their funding, whilst support for girls’ education is also set to decline significantly. These programmes often provide children’s only nutritious meal of the day.

System-wide cuts will undermine governments’ capacity to create evidence-based plans, adequately support teacher development, and monitor learning outcomes.

Even children remaining in school could experience deteriorating education quality, with at least 290 million students across all regions projected to face declining standards.

UNICEF urges donor and partner countries to protect education by rebalancing assistance to ensure at least 50 per cent reaches least developed countries, safeguarding humanitarian education funding, focusing on foundational learning, simplifying global financing architecture, and expanding innovative financing without replacing core funding.

“Investing in children’s education is one of the best investments in the future – for everyone,” Russell said. “Countries do better when their children are educated and healthy, and it contributes to a more stable and prosperous world”.

(information from unicef.org)