Despite major gains in access to schooling since 1960, widening inequalities driven by the climate crisis, conflicts and rapid technological change are leaving millions behind.
UNESCO warns that the global legal framework for the right to education must be modernised urgently to keep pace with a transforming world.
“If we do not update the legal framework, we will leave a large population behind,” cautioned Borhene Chakroun, Director of Lifelong Learning at UNESCO, in an interview with UN News.
Progress in access
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A new UNESCO report, Right to Education: Past, Present and Future, finds that progress since the 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education and the Education 2030 Agenda has been “real and measurable”.
“We have made enormous progress since the adoption of the Convention against Discrimination in Education,” Mr. Chakroun said.
In two decades, the landscape for free primary schooling has been transformed: 82 per cent of countries now provide free basic education, up from 56 per cent in 2000. Completion rates have also climbed, with 88 per cent of children finishing primary school today, compared with 77 per cent twenty years ago.
Gender parity in schooling is now close to being achieved in most regions. Higher education has undergone what UNESCO calls explosive expansion, rising from 100 million students in 2000 to 264 million today. Encouragingly, this surge includes significant growth in the least developed countries.
Persistent inequalities and a learning crisis
Yet behind these positive trends lie deep and stubborn disparities. “These positive results should not obscure the problems we face today,” Mr. Chakroun warned.
According to the report, 272 million children still leave school prematurely, while 762 million adults remain illiterate; two-thirds are women. Learning outcomes are especially worrying: “In several low-income countries, up to 70 per cent of ten-year-olds cannot read and understand a simple sentence – an alarming indicator of the quality of learning,” he said.
Poverty, shortages of trained teachers, weak infrastructure, political instability and climate shocks are all fuelling this crisis.
Climate, conflict and AI reshape learning
Global disruptions are placing unprecedented pressure on education systems. In 2024 alone, climate-related events interrupted the schooling of more than 240 million students.
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UNESCO is calling for stronger system resilience, improved teacher training and the expansion of hybrid and distance learning models, drawing on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Conflicts are also depriving millions of children of equitable learning opportunities, particularly those displaced across borders.
Added to this is the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. “Our approach to AI must be human-centred,” said Mr Chakroun, as UNESCO urges robust regulation, teacher training and tools genuinely designed to improve learning.
Lifelong learning
Amid sweeping changes in labour markets, UNESCO stresses that lifelong learning is now essential, particularly for workers and older people.
“Investing in the education of adults, workers and the elderly is a necessity: without it, many risk losing their jobs, becoming disconnected from society and no longer being part of their community,” Mr Chakroun explained.
Countries are already advancing reforms. France’s individual training account allows workers to finance skills development. Singapore’s SkillsFuture provides similar opportunities for all citizens; Australia targets low-skilled adults through foundational certification; and Morocco has enshrined the right to vocational training in its constitution.
