UNICEF Warns Funding Cuts Could Push 6 Million More Children Out Of School By 2026

Global education funding is facing a sharp decline that could force an additional six million children out of school within the next year, UNICEF warned in a new analysis released on Wednesday. Around one-third of these children are expected to be in humanitarian settings.

According to UNICEF, Official Development Assistance (ODA) for education is projected to fall by US$3.2 billion, a 24 per cent drop from 2023 levels, with nearly 80 per cent of the cuts coming from just three donor governments. This decline could raise the number of out-of-school children worldwide from 272 million to 278 million, equivalent to emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined.

“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. She stressed that education in emergencies often serves as a lifeline, connecting children to health, nutrition, and protection services, while offering the best chance to break the cycle of poverty.

The analysis highlights that West and Central Africa will be the hardest hit, with 1.9 million children at risk of losing access to education. The Middle East and North Africa could see an additional 1.4 million children out of school, alongside rollbacks across all regions.

Twenty-eight countries are projected to lose at least a quarter of their education assistance, including Côte d'Ivoire and Mali, where enrolments could fall by 4 per cent, affecting 340,000 and 180,000 students, respectively. Primary education is expected to take the hardest blow, with funding set to fall by one-third, potentially stripping affected children of an estimated US$164 billion in lifetime earnings.

In humanitarian contexts, the crisis is especially severe. UNICEF's Rohingya refugee response faces the risk of 350,000 children losing permanent access to basic education if urgent funding is not secured. Education cuts in such settings not only deprive children of learning but also heighten risks of child labour, exploitation, and trafficking.

Essential services like school feeding programmes, often a child's only nutritious meal of the day, could be slashed by more than half. Funding for girls' education is also expected to drop significantly, while wide system-level cuts threaten teacher development, data monitoring, and overall education quality for at least 290 million students who remain in school.

UNICEF called on donors and partners to act immediately by rebalancing aid to least developed countries, safeguarding humanitarian education funding, prioritizing foundational learning, streamlining financing, and expanding innovative mechanisms without replacing core funding.

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

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