Along with this, only 2 in 3 students complete secondary education as per Global Education Monitoring Report 2026: Access and Equity, Countdown to 2030, Report by UNESCO.
Key Findings
- Out of School children: Comprised 273 million children, adolescents and youth in 2024 (this excludes an estimated 13 million more 10 countries most affected by conflicts).
- Secondary Education: Essentially no country has achieved universal secondary completion for its youth, despite it being a declared objective under SDG 4.
- Access Vs Learning Outcomes: While access to education does guarantee short term improvement in learning outcomes, it has often been criticized as guarantor of meaningful learning.
Key Recommendations for Ensuring Access and Equity
- Systemic Level Reforms:
- Legislations: Legal recognition of education as a right, compulsory schooling legislation and fee abolition. E.g., 2009 Right to Education Act (India).
- Public Financing: Denmark tried to balance a decentralized system and private provision with public funding to prevent inequality from rising.
- Demand Side Reforms:
- Cash Transfers: In rural Karnataka, scholarships covering preschool fees raised participation by 20%.
- Others: Providing School supplies; better health and nutritional status; etc.
- Supply Side Reforms
- Public Infrastructure: Infrastructure programmes to increase the availability of places in public preschools and reduce parents’ reliance on fee-charging private providers.
- Open and distance education: Student enrolment in world’s largest open universities has increased access to higher education.
- Other Key Recommendations: Countries to set National Targets within Global Framework like keeping the global temperature below 1.5°; efficient use of data; equity oriented policies, etc.
