At the 2022 Transforming Education Summit, global leaders pledged to close the massive education funding gap, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and escalating emergencies worldwide. But education still remains in crisis worldwide due to conflicts, climate shocks, and underfunding. To achieve SDG 4, countries must significantly mobilise resources and sustain financing for education, including a greater share of Official Development Assistance (ODA).
In its Pre-Budget Submission for 2025, INEW called on the Irish government to boost its ODA budget for education. Building on the €250 million commitment from 2019 to 2024, a significant investment in 2025 will yield essential outcomes for development initiatives and advance the 2030 agenda and all SDGs worldwide for the good of all.
Achieving adequate financing for education goes beyond increasing budgets. It also requires breakthroughs in tax policy, debt management, and austerity measures. While governments and international financial institutions frequently cite limited fiscal space and advocate for austerity, trade, tax, and debt practices disproportionately restrict countries in the Global South from investing in education, with girls bearing the heaviest burden. We urge governments to explore and implement alternative solutions to ensure sustainable education financing, including:
- Expanding progressive tax reforms;
- Reducing or eliminating debt;
- Eliminating illicit financial flows;
- Eliminating waste in public expenditure;
- Eliminating corruption;
- Using government reserves for strategic long-term investments in education.
Ireland must participate in this concerted, progressive effort.
