Investing In Public Education Worldwide Is Now More Important Than Ever

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, many schools have had to close, impacting the learning of over 1.5 billion children around the world. With an uneven transition to distance learning, education systems are confronted with more extensive and dire challenges of educational access, equity,  quality, and inclusion. Beyond the immediate impacts of COVID-19 on global learning, the global economic crisis it has precipitated will have lasting impacts on today’s children and youth over the medium- and long-term. As economic activity slows and government budgets shrink in response to the pandemic, there is a risk that governments will place an emphasis on short-termism that could shift funding away from education and undo some of the progress achieved over the last two decades in increasing public expenditure in education throughout the world.

This positive trend in education financing was the result of decades of efforts across governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, donors, civil society, and the private sector to improve the access and quality of teaching and learning that enable children and youth to build the skills they need to thrive in work, life, and citizenship in the 21st century…………………………………