International Day of Education - Shifting the Focus Back on Learning

Education faces significant global challenges, including poverty, inequality, conflict, and limited access to resources, which prevent millions of children from receiving quality education. The United Nations (UN) continuously emphasizes the importance of education and highlights the need to support children so that all children across the globe can have access to equal education and opportunities. 

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) highlights the importance of education under Article 28: “States Parties recognise the right of the child to education.” It requires signatory governments to provide free and compulsory primary education and to ensure that secondary and higher education is accessible to all. The article also emphasises the importance of vocational training in equipping children with practical skills. It calls for safe and respectful school environments with fair discipline and upholding the child's dignity. The article also adds in section 3, “States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular, to contribute to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods.” 

The UN actively promotes education across all nations because of its transformative role in improving quality of life and fostering sustainable development. Education is a cornerstone for building cohesive societies, driving economic growth, enhancing competitiveness, and promoting innovation. According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, investing in education creates a strong foundation for these essential pillars of national progress. An educated populace contributes to greater economic and political security, empowering individuals to participate effectively in their communities and economies. Highlighting the link between education and peace, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated in 1999, “Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name.” In contrast, countries with lower levels of educational development often grapple with challenges such as poverty, inequality, and conflict, demonstrating a clear correlation between education, quality of life, and national stability. By addressing gaps in education, nations can create more resilient, equitable, and prosperous societies. 

Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of the Middle East struggle the most regarding education, and countries have suffered conflict in recent decades. Many countries struggle to improve education due to multiple factors. According to UNESCO, over 244 million children are out of school worldwide, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 98 million. Poverty forces many families to prioritise work over education to help the household survive, causing many never to attend or drop out early. At the same time, poor infrastructure and a shortage of teachers further limit access. Unfortunately,y girls are greatly affected due to early marriage, cultural norms, and safety concerns. This causes an estimated 129 million people globally to be out of school. Conflict also disrupts education for 20 million children, and malnutrition, which affects one in three children in the region, impacts learning. Addressing these challenges is essential for breaking the cycle of poverty and fostering national development.

The UN supports many nations in providing education so that countries and livelihoods may improve. However, this has become increasingly difficult as, in recent years, the global stage has shifted its focus away from education to address urgent crises such as COVID-19, climate change, wars, and economic hardships. While these issues are critical, this shift has often left education overlooked. But, this does not underpin the importance of education and continuing its support to ensure all children receive adequate education to flourish. 

In 2015, the UN created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are to be achieved by 2030. Goal 4 of the SDGs is “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all". It aims to provide inclusive and equal quality education for all. It focuses on universal access to primary and secondary education, affordable higher education, skill development, gender equality, and global education quality to empower individuals and promote sustainable development. 

Unfortunately, for reasons such as a need for prioritization of more urgent crises, Goal 4 is seeing slow progress. This is due to the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and growing climate challenges hindering progress, causing many nations to focus on other issues. The UN is assisting nations recover from the pandemic and setting more aggressive climate goals to slow the worsening crisis. The UN also provides support in war zones, still providing children affected with education. Additionally, disparities which are preventing children from access to education have struggled to improve, still leaving millions of children out of school. 

The UN predicts that only one in six countries will achieve the universal secondary school completion target by 2030. This means an estimated 84 million children and young people will remain out of school, while approximately 300 million students will lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, severely limiting their future opportunities. 

In addition to a shift of focus to other issues, a severe shortfall of funds further negatively impacts education globally. In low- and lower-middle-income countries, an annual financing gap of $97 billion in achieving their education targets persists, highlighting the urgent need for increased investment in education. To close this gap, countries must allocate at least 20% of their national budgets and 4-6% of GDP to education, yet many nations fall short of these targets. 

To combat this slow progress and make up for the shortfall, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is allocating 20% of its budget to education, focusing on teacher training, technical support, and school infrastructure in developing countries. This has shown significant improvement, as in 2022, it supported training for over 10 million teachers globally. The UN has focused predominantly on conflicted areas such as Syria and Yemen, where the government does not state support or provide suitable education, so the UN stepped in and ensured that children in conflicted areas can still have access to education. To further this, The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has enrolled 2.4 million refugee children in primary schools as of 2023 and rebuilt 11,000 schools destroyed by the

conflict. This shows the UN's effort to ensure that children are provided with education and can develop as individuals and in their own countries. 

While challenges like poverty, inequality, and conflict limit access to education for millions, there is hope. We can overcome these barriers by prioritising education, improving infrastructure, and ensuring equal opportunities for all. With continued global effort and investment, we can empower children worldwide, giving them the tools to build brighter futures and create a more equitable world.