United Nations International Day of Education 2025

UN International Day of Education

In 2018, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as the “International Day of Education”. It said education:

plays a key role in building sustainable and resilient societies and contributes to the achievement of all of the other Sustainable Development Goals; it increases the productivity of individuals and strengthens the potential for economic growth, develops the skills needed for decent work, develops the professional skills needed for sustainable development, including in the fields of water and sanitation, green energy and the conservation of natural resources, helps to eradicate poverty and hunger, contributes to improved health, promotes gender equality and can reduce inequality, and promotes peace, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The UN General Assembly resolution called on all states to help meet sustainable development goal (SDG) four, to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

The SDGs were adopted in 2015 and are intended to be met by 2030. Both Conservative and Labour governments have acknowledged global progress on many of the SDGs has stalled and greater global efforts are required to ensure they are met.

Theme for 2025 international day

For 2025, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has named the day’s theme as “artificial intelligence (AI) and education: preserving human agency in a world of automation”. It says AI raises “critical questions about how to preserve, redefine, and, ideally, elevate human agency”.

Global progress in education UN SDG reports

The UN publishes annual reports on global progress on the sustainable development goals. The most recent was published in June 2024. Progress on a selection of indicators on education are summarised below. Note that some of SDG data is incomplete.

Proficiency in reading and mathematics, primary level

While the proportion has risen in Europe and North America, from 2000 to 2019 the proportion of children and young people achieving minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics at primary level fell across the globe:

• Mathematics: 49% in 2000 to 44% in 2019
• Reading: 61% in 2000 to 58% in 2019

In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion achieving a minimum level in mathematics fell from 16% to 11% and in reading from 34% to 30% across the same period.

Proficiency in reading and mathematics, lower secondary level

At lower secondary level, proficiency increased in both mathematics and reading globally (note there is no data for sub-Saharan Africa):

• Mathematics: 47% of children in 2000 to 51% in 2019
• Reading: 62% in 2000 to 64% in 2019

Declines were reported in both Oceania (excluding New Zealand and Australia) and the eastern and south-eastern Asia world regions.

Completion rate of education

Completion rates of education has increased across the globe at all levels:

• Primary level: increased from 77% in 2000 to 88% in 2023 globally. As of 2023, 89% of girls and 87% of boys complete this level of schooling.
• Lower secondary level: increased from 60% in 2000 to 78% in 2023 globally. As of 2023, 78% of girls and 76% of boys complete this level.
• Upper secondary level: increased from 38% in 2000 to 59% in 2023. As of 2023, 61% of girls and 58% of boys complete upper secondary.

Variations, however, remain between global regions. The lowest completion rates at primary range from 67% in sub-Saharan Africa and 68% in Oceania to 100% in Europe and North America. At lower secondary level, 45% of girls complete their education in least developed countries compared to 43% of boys.

School facilities and infrastructure

There is substantial variation in access to infrastructure by schools:

• Electricity access: in 2022 77% of primary schools had access to electricity globally. However, this was the case in only 44% in sub-Saharan Africa and 51% across all least developed countries.
• Internet access: 44% of primary schools and 69% of upper secondary schools had access to the internet in 2022. In southern Asia, only 36% of primary schools had access and 64% at secondary.

UNESCO report on global education in 2024/25

UNESCO’s global monitoring report for 2024/25 said that globally 251 million children were out of school. This has fallen from 390 million in 2000. Of those in 2024/25, 129 million were boys and 122 million were girls. Factors driving this included poverty, social norms against educational participation and armed conflict:

Globally, 251 million children, adolescents and youth are out of school, with a reduction of just 1% since 2015. The out-of-school rate is 33% in low-income, 19% in lower-middle-income, 8% in upper-middle-income and 3% in high-income countries […]

conflict also takes a major toll on education development. The primary completion rate has increased four times faster in Togo than in Yemen, two countries that were at the same level in 2006.

When assessing academic performance, the monitoring report also said that globally “socioeconomic status has a more significant impact on academic disparity than gender” on several measures:

In reading, only 54 students from the lowest [income] quintile reach the minimum proficiency level for every 100 students from the highest quintile; in mathematics, the ratio is 47 to every 100 students […]

Disparities by wealth are particularly wide in literacy rates, including in low-income countries. In a sample of 30 low- and middle-income countries, there are 53 adult males from the poorest 20% of households that could read a simple sentence for every 100 males from the richest 20% of households who could do so.

The report also notes that median public expenditure spending on education has fallen from 4.4% of gross domestic product in 2015 to 4% in 2022, representing a total of US$5.8 trillion. The value of overseas aid for education reached a high of US$16.6 billion in 2022, representing 7.6% of global aid. It noted spending levels were insufficient to meet the increase in enrolment rates:

any increases in the prioritization of education in low-income countries are neither uniform nor large enough to compensate for the 24% increase in enrolment levels (from pre-primary to tertiary education) since 2015. In middle-income countries, the deprioritization of education coincides with an 8% increase in enrolment and is only possible to maintain with higher out-of-pocket spending by household.

UNESCO also reports that globally there has been a shortage of qualified and interested candidates for teaching positions in upper and high-income countries and a shortage of teaching positions in low and lower-middle income countries.

Other challenges facing education access

In addition to the above, there are further issues affecting educational participation and attainment, including:

• Covid-19 pandemic legacy: in 2023 the World Bank estimated that school closures made in response to the pandemic resulted in nearly one billion children missing out of at least one year of in-person schooling. In 2024, analysis of 72 countries for the Bank suggested widespread losses in attainment, especially for those experiencing longer closure periods, for boys, immigrants, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Participation of women and girls: women and girls are often unable to participate in education. Reasons including higher rates of poverty, child marriage, gender-based violence, negative gender norms and behaviours, and lack of legal rights to participate. Analysis for the Center for Global Development argues girls’ education should continue to be prioritised in areas where girls’ attainment and participation has equalled that of boys, because it compensates for often requiring higher educational outcomes to achieve equal labour market outcomes and because of the wider significance of education, such as improving food security and safety.
• Disability: Unicef estimates there are 240 million children with disabilities worldwide. Compared to children without disabilities, children with disabilities are 49% more likely to have never attended school. Globally, only around half of primary schools have facilities for students with disabilities.
• Armed conflict and displacement: in 2024 the UN Children’s Fund, Unicef, reported that around 473 million children live in areas affected by conflict. This represented 19% of children worldwide, up from 10% in the 1990s. Children also represent around 49% of internally displaced people across the globe. The NGO, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, estimates that there were around 6,000 reported attacks on education and military use of schools and universities in 2022 and 2023. This was up 20% compared to the previous two years.
• Lack of learning facilities at home: in 2024 the World Bank reported most students in lower income countries and the bottom 50% in middle-income countries (measured by household income) lack access to the internet which would allow them to learn at home and catch up on education losses due to the pandemic.