A new report by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Team reveals that over 272 million children and youth worldwide are currently out of school—a staggering increase of 21 million from previous estimates. This surge is attributed to updated enrollment data, revised UN population projections, and ongoing crises like the ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan.
The breakdown is sobering:
- 11% of primary school-age children (approx. 78 million)
- 15% of lower secondary adolescents (64 million)
- 31% of upper secondary youth (130 million) are not attending school globally.
The report warns that countries are projected to fall short by 75 million learners from their 2025 education targets. Conflict zones, outdated data systems, and demographic shifts are compounding the crisis. In many regions, especially those relying solely on administrative data, the full impact of population growth is reflected in rising out-of-school numbers. UNESCO calls for urgent policy action, improved data collection, and targeted interventions—particularly in conflict-affected and low-resource areas—to get global education efforts back on track.
