• The rights and collective futures of children depwnds on education

As parents, teachers and students got ready for a return to school this autumn, few were thinking of the fact that across the world, education is in deep crisis. This is a slow and often unseen crisis, but its impacts affect us all. 

At the upcoming  UN Summit  on  Transforming  Education,  world  leaders  have  a  once-in-a-generation opportunity to take decisive action. The United Nations and the European Union now call on all member states to deliver much-needed commitments to ensure that all girls and boys can access, enjoy and benefit from a meaningful, modern, high-quality education.

Their rights and our collective futures depend on it.  Education is the most powerful and transformative tool we have to empower girls and boys with hope, skills and opportunity for their future. It paves the way for solving many of today’s global challenges.

However, in many parts, poverty and inequality still have a major influence over school attendance and learning achievement. And right across the world, education systems are struggling to equip learners with the values, skills and knowledge needed to thrive in our rapidly changing world. 

The  COVID-19  pandemic  has  exacerbated  a  pre-existing  crisis  and  the  global funding gap for education has increased significantly. Even before the pandemic, governments were spending less than half of the needed sum on education. Since then,  two  or  three  governments  have  cut  their  education  budgets  while  some international donors have also announced their intention to reduce aid to education. 

Collective action on future-oriented learning and education financing is urgent, if we want to recover pandemic-related learning losses and ensure that children and young people everywhere are able to access their right to education as enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

Investing in education has a transformative impact across the Sustainable Development Goals. It advances gender parity, educated girls are more likely to participate  in the  decisions  that  most affect  them,  to  live  longer,  healthier  lives,  and  to  earn  higher  incomes. 

It  makes  a  major  contribution  to  national development:  every  euro  spent  on  education  can  generate  10–15  euros  in economic  growth.  And  by  nurturing  informed,  empowered  citizens,  it  can  help countries  to  tackle  major  challenges  such  as  climate  change,  social  breakdown, conflict, gender-based violence and more.  The  European  Union  is  significantly  increasing  its  investment  in  education  in partner  countries. 

The EU will dedicate more than 10 per cent of its international partnerships budget, representing over six billion euros, towards global education. Now we need others to do likewise.  The UN Secretary-General  is calling on all government  leaders  and  all  actors,  including  private  sector  and  civil  society,  as part of a global mobilisation, to make concrete commitments to increase funding for education, from all sources. 

At the  Transforming  Education  Summit,  the  representatives  of  all  countries  and partners face a moment of truth: now is the time to collectively fill the investment gap  to  tackle  the  global  education  crisis. 

Now  is  the  time  to  invest  in  learning recovering  and  help  put  the  SDGs  back  on  track,  thereby  sowing  the  seeds  for transformation of our education systems, so that education better prepares learners to contribute to a more inclusive, peaceful, sustainable and just future, leaving no one behind. 

The authors are Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General

and Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner For Partnerships