As global education funding faces a staggering U.S.$3.2 billion cut by 2026, Africa stands at a critical crossroads.
Sharp global cuts to education funding are likely to push an additional 6 million children out of school by 2026. This will undo years of progress and worsen educational inequalities. These deep reductions jeopardize not only children’s access to learning but also the essential services that schools offer. This situation puts millions of young lives and their futures at serious risk. Many children in conflict zones or humanitarian crises may not receive or could be denied an education. This situation could worsen a crisis that threatens education and the continent’s economic and social future.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that global cuts in education funding could leave an additional six million children out of school by 2026, with West and Central Africa among the hardest hit regions. Official Development Assistance for education is expected to fall by $3.2 billion – a 24% drop from 2023 – with just three donor governments accounting for nearly 80% of the cuts.
“We estimate that 6 million additional children could be left out of school by the end of 2026, and around one-third of them will be in humanitarian settings. This would effectively push the number of out-of-school children worldwide from 272 million to 278 million – the equivalent of emptying every primary school in Germany and Italy combined,” said Pia Britto, UNICEF’s Global Director of Education and Adolescent Development. “Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, has its number of out-of-school children passing 100 million since 2020, and is at higher risk of aggravation due to its relatively high reliance on aid and its growing population of school-age children.”
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At least 28 countries will lose a quarter of their education aid.
“The impact on education systems in Africa could be catastrophic,” she said. “Our analysis shows that sub-Saharan Africa faces the sharpest impact, with 3.1 million more children at risk of dropping out by 2026, while the Middle East and North Africa could see an increase of 1.4 million out-of-school children, alongside major rollbacks in all other regions. The analysis finds that 28 countries are projected to lose at least a quarter of the education assistance they rely on for pre-primary, primary, and secondary schooling, 19 of them in Africa.”
In countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, enrollment is expected to decline by 340,000 students and 180,000 students, respectively. UNICEF reported that these cuts could worsen the global learning crisis and cost children an estimated U.S.$164 billion in lifetime earnings.
Across Africa, the crisis is resonating.
In Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, approximately 18.3 million children remain out of school, making it the country with the largest out-of-school population. This is a staggering number that occurs because of factors like escalating insecurity in regions like Kano and Borno State, economic hardship, and a lack of access to education. The northern regions, particularly the North-East, bear the highest burden, with a disproportionately high number of girls affected.
Sudan is on the verge of becoming the world’s worst education crisis. A conflict that began in April 2023 has forced more than 18 million children out of school.  Even before the fighting, 6.9 million Sudanese children were already out of the classroom. In Ethiopia, conflict, drought, and poverty have left 13 million children without access to education. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite its vast natural resources, economic interests are driving children into labour instead of classrooms. In eastern DR Congo, children are caught in the worst escalation of violence in over a decade, compounding displacement and insecurity.
The humanitarian emergency extends beyond education.
A recent UN-backed report warns that 2.3 million children under five in South Sudan urgently need treatment for acute malnutrition, with more than 700,000 suffering severe conditions. Renewed conflict in the north and shrinking humanitarian aid are fuelling the crisis. Meanwhile, the convergence of funding cuts, violence, climate shocks, and entrenched corruption is pushing communities deeper into hunger.
“In humanitarian settings, where education goes beyond learning, offering life-saving support, stability, and a sense of normalcy for traumatised children, funding could drop sharply – in some cases, cutting the equivalent of at least 10% of the national education budget.” This could devastate already fragile systems in countries like Somalia and the Central African Republic.
Britto said that wide cuts to education funding risk undermining governments’ capacity to plan effectively, support teacher development, and track school access and learning outcomes. This means that even children who remain in school could see their learning suffer, with an estimated 290 million students globally – over 150 million in Africa – projected to face declining learning quality.
The cuts risk worsening the global learning crisis, where in some low- and middle-income countries, just one in ten 10-year-olds can read and comprehend a simple passage.
Education in emergencies is one of the most underfunded sectors in humanitarian responses, with funding requests often falling short by over 70%, forcing aid agencies to drastically reduce the scope of education support for millions of crisis-affected children. She said that funding for education in emergencies is projected to drop by U.S.$745 million, or 24%, equivalent to at least 10% of the national education budget in some crisis-hit countries like Somalia, the Central African Republic, Haiti, and the State of Palestine. As a result, about 1.7 million additional children in humanitarian contexts risk losing schooling by 2026.
“Children in crisis settings are hit hardest because their governments have the least fiscal space to fill the gap,” she said. “Cuts mean classrooms shuttered, teachers unpaid, and children left without the stability and protection school provides.”
Britto said that while UNICEF has long led humanitarian response and service delivery on the ground, the agency is also working with governments to integrate Education in Emergencies (EiE) into national education systems, strengthening resilience so countries can better prepare for, mitigate, and respond to crises such as conflicts, public health emergencies, and climate change.
The cuts are also likely to widen existing inequalities.
Britto said that “beyond learning, schools are often a child’s only safe space,” warning that cuts threaten essential school-based services. For example, school feeding programmes face 57% cuts (U.S.$190 million), often depriving children of their only nutritious meal, while gender-focused initiatives are reduced by 28% (U.S.$123 million), putting recent gains in girls’ education at risk. Without these, she said, children face greater risks of malnutrition, child labour, early marriage, and exploitation.
For girls, the stakes are even higher.
She said that early marriage is a key driver of dropouts. Britto said that governments and local stakeholders can play a crucial role in reducing early marriage and keeping girls in school by adopting integrated, well-resourced, multi-sectoral approaches alongside strong education policies and community engagement. She explained that “effective strategies bring together education, health, social protection and radical inclusion policies that guarantee a girl’s right to return to school,” and emphasized that strong political commitment with accountability at the highest level is equally essential.
At the community level, she said, safe spaces for girls, parental education, and support systems help challenge harmful norms, while partnerships between local governments and communities are vital to address child marriage, Female genital mutilation (FGM), and toxic masculinity. She also said that linking cash transfers to girls’ enrolment and completion, alongside promoting comprehensive sexuality education in and out of school, “strengthens girls’ health and learning.”
“Scaling fit-for-purpose pathways and enabling south-south learning exchanges ensure that proven, game-changing interventions are resourced,” said Britto. “Together, these measures keep more girls in school and help end early marriage.”
Britto pointed to examples of successful interventions.
In Benin, a multi‑sectoral coalition of ministries, civil‑society groups, and traditional leaders has aligned legal reforms, cash‑transfer incentives, and community education to push the marriage‑age floor to 18, resulting in measurable gains in girls’ school attendance. In South Africa, the government’s partnership with community‑run safe‑space clubs provides mentorship, secure travel routes, and direct links to health and legal services, cutting dropout rates dramatically and shielding girls from early‑marriage pressures.
Searching for sustainable solutions
As major donors scale back, she urged African governments to innovate.
“Education financing must innovate without replacing core aid,” she said. “Stakeholders should push forward with blended finance, earmarked taxes, outcome funds, and other tools that expand the pie. The private sector, too, has a vital role, not only as a financier, but as a connector linking schools with labour markets and fuelling business development.”
Britto argues that African governments must step up to fill the gaps, shifting more domestic resources to cover aid shortfalls and build resilience into national systems, even if this means tough trade-offs.
The urgency is compounded by the climate crisis.
Britto highlighted that the climate crisis, with floods displacing millions and destroying schools across West Africa, is compounding the education emergency. “Climate and education are deeply linked,” said Britto. “Climate shocks directly disrupt schooling, and education is key to resilience. Heatwaves, floods, and storms are pushing children out of classrooms. Yet many countries lack strong education-continuity plans.”
According to UNICEF’s global director of education and adolescent development, simple solutions like mobile learning, teacher training, and climate-resilient school buildings are effective and affordable. She added that climate education also equips children to stay safe during disasters and supports faster recovery. She said that the African governments should integrate Education in Emergencies (EiE) into the national education sector and strategies to strengthen the resilience of the system to be able to prepare for, mitigate, and respond to crises (conflicts, public health emergencies, and climate change).
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A wake-up call for Africa
Weak governance and corruption remain obstacles to effective education spending. Civil society and regional oversight will be vital to ensuring that limited resources are transparently and equitably allocated. The African Union declared 2024 as the Year of Education, culminating in the Continental Education Conference held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, which reinforced the continent’s commitment to building resilient education systems that increase access to inclusive, lifelong, and quality learning for all Africans. This milestone event brought together key stakeholders to assess progress, discuss innovative financing, and strengthen political commitment toward achieving sustainable and equitable education across Africa.
UNICEF endorsed the Nouakchott Declaration, in which one section is dedicated to ‘education financing and governance, and youth empowerment’.
The Declaration calls for allocating national education budgets that exceed international benchmarks to reflect the large share of school-age populations, prioritising foundational learning for greater equity and higher returns, and exploring innovative financing models to support youth empowerment initiatives.  Moreover, it calls for strengthening data and evidence systems and establishing a continental accountability mechanism under the African Union Commission, based on initiatives such as the Foundational learning Action Tracker, which currently covers 52 countries.
The global funding crisis is a wake-up call.
“First, we must agree that investing in children’s education is one of the best investments in the future for everyone. It is beneficial for a country when the children are educated and healthy, and more broadly, this contributes to a more stable world,” Britto said. She called on donors, governments, and partners to rebalance education assistance to be more equitable and effective, with at least 50% of aid directed to the least developed countries. She said that funding for education in humanitarian settings must be safeguarded as a lifesaving intervention alongside other essential services. The director added that education assistance for foundational learning should be prioritised, explaining that focusing on early childhood and primary education produces the highest returns.
Governments are being urged to step up, shifting domestic resources and exploring innovative financing mechanisms – like blended finance, earmarked taxes, and outcome funds – to address aid shortfalls and strengthen national education systems, “even if this means tough trade-offs”.
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