Blog by Ponke Danker, Coordinator INEW
(Part 1)
Last week, the UNESCO launched its 2026 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report at an event in Paris.
The report marks the launch of a new series of GEM Reports that will count down to 2030. This is a timely approach as the 2030 deadline rapidly approaches, while the world faces multiple challenges, including eroding support for the multilateral system that underpins the development and advancement of our shared global agenda on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The three-part series is designed to take stock of education progress across three themes, Access and Equity in 2026, Quality and Learning in 2027 and Relevance in 2028/9Beyond taking stock of progress and challenges on the path to 2030, this new series also aims to prepare for our next chapter and to frame the debate on the post-2030 education agenda.
The thing that stands out the most in this year’s report, is that yet again, we’ve seen a rise in the number of out of school children: There are now 273 million children out of school – 1 million more than last year. This means that one in six children, adolescents and youth worldwide are excluded from education. 2026 thereby marks the seventh consecutive year of a rise in out of school numbers.
While adding 1 million to 272 million might seem insignificant at first sight, this perception is misleading and just reflects how we struggle to comprehend large numbers. As Manos Antoninis, Director of the UNESCO GEM Report, said at the launch: “statistics in education are not easy to communicate, as unfortunately, not too much changes”. But that is exactly the issue: when so many millions of children are already out of school, each additional million represents one more child, and one more, and one more, and one more.
It is a reminder that, in the words of the launch’s keynote speaker Mazieh Hamidi, an Afghan refugee, Olympic athlete and women’s rights activist: “education is not a guarantee but a battle to fight for every day.”
To fully capture the range of the GEM reports’ findings, it is important that the report also highlights progress and successes. Since 2000, the completion rate has increased from 77% to 88% in primary, from 60% to 78% in lower secondary, and from 37% to 61% in upper secondary. Some countries have reduced out-of-school rates by at least 80% since 2000, such as Madagascar and Togo among children, Morocco and Viet Nam among adolescents, and Georgia and Türkiye among youth. These numbers demonstrate that progress can be made and that there are solutions and tools that work depending on context and situation.
Yet, progress is not happening fast enough. For example, the GEM report estimates that at the current pace, universal secondary completion would be achieved by 2105 – 75 years later than we aimed for. While progress is happening, its falling short of the 2030 agenda’s targets.
At the launch, GEM report representatives made the point that even in the face of such disappointing outlook, the slow progress might not necessarily mean that countries failed but instead highlighted that global monitoring tools also may require refinement to be more informative.
To demonstrate the progress made, the launch spent significant time on exploring countries’ success stories. Among them were China and Saudi Arabia – countries that generally have more money to spend and also successfully spent that money in the last years – leading to their tertiary enrolment ranging above the world average. But we also heard from Cote d’Ivoire, where secondary completion rates more than doubled in 15 years and innovative approaches like “mother’s clubs” helped keep girls in school. Or Uzbekistan, which reported back on policy reforms that anchored pre-school education into law doubling age 6 participation in 6 years.
But more importantly, from a perspective focused on those furthest behind, the 2026 GEM report’s launch highlighted that there is too much focus on what works as universal tools, when what works depends on the context and situations.
Herein lies the big takeaway from the new report, the recognition of key learnings:
- That we may live in an impatient world, but change takes time.
- That national targets need to be set, owned by individual countries, with country efforts highlighted and progress monitored in a way that meets each country where they are.
- That local-level solutions must be sought, which also entails remembering that “what works for you, might not work for others”, and that careful observation and monitoring of individual contexts is key to success.
- That, overall, monitoring tools need to be refined to clarify progress.
- And that no singular solution will suffice.
And lastly, at a time where civil society movements around the world are preparing for the Global Action Week for Education 2026 and its theme of “Financing Education”, the GEM report provides one final important message: that we need to shift focus and target financing to support those most in need.
With its recommendations the GEM report aims at providing a compass to navigate post 2030. And it is truly welcome that the report strives to be visionary and ambitious and seeks to start a conversation that will provide perspective for the next chapter.
As Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), highlighted in his input at the launch, the world needs ambition. Even though this might impact credibility in light of strained capacity, it is far better to live in a world where we’re ambitious.
And I wholeheartedly agree. With my spirits lifted by meeting with many colleagues working on the same mission with passion and resilience, I was reminded that, while we strive to realise the right to education for everyone, everywhere, we need to trust in our long breath. Current global developments can be discouraging, but it is important to remember that we are making change. This does not mean enough is being done yet, and that we shouldn’t ask and fight for more. But there is no reason to resign in the face of reactionary movements gaining temporary victories. We know our breath is long.
As Mazieh Hamidi reflected on how education had transformed her: “That transformation was not an accident but a result of hard work.”
This concludes the first part of our two-part blog on the 2026 GEM Report launch. Stay tuned for the next edition, where we will dive deeper into the report’s statistics and explore its theme: “Access and Equity.”
Read the full report here and find informative info graphics, key messages, and recommendations by the GEM report here.
