The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, on Friday warned that international aid to education is declining sharply.
The organisation said the rising debt service payments are increasingly squeezing education budgets in many developing countries.
New research released by UNESCO at the Transforming Education Summit +4, TES+4, shows that education is receiving a shrinking share of global development assistance.
Education accounted for just 7.5 per cent of total official development assistance in 2024, the lowest level in two decades.
UNESCO projects that the total global aid to education could fall by up to 30 per cent between 2023 and 2027.
It said that low and lower middle income countries face an annual education financing gap of 97 billion dollars, a shortfall that is expected to widen. At the same time, rising debt is placing growing pressure on education systems.
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A new UNESCO report on debt and education found that 113 countries, home to 6.1 billion people, spend more on debt servicing than on education.
As a result, real education spending has stagnated or declined in many countries, with long-term consequences for access, quality and equity.
“Education is the most powerful investment countries can make, yet it is being systematically underfunded,” UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany said.
He warned that the decline in global education aid risks perpetuating a cycle of under investment, inequality and stalled development.
To help address the challenge, UNESCO reiterated its call for debt-for-education swaps and released a technical guide to support their implementation. The mechanism would allow countries to redirect part of their external debt payments toward education investments.
The findings were released during the Transforming Education Summit +4, a follow up meeting to the UN Transforming Education Summit.
It is aimed at advancing global efforts to improve education systems and achieve Sustainable Development Goal, SDG-4, on quality education.
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