Global education is facing a critical moment, about 251 million children are out of school, learning levels are falling, and millions are leaving school without the skills they need. Unless we invest in strong, trained leaders to reverse this trend, we risk deepening inequality and losing another generation.
The 2024 Unesco GEM Report, “Lead for Learning” was unveiled at an event in Fortaleza, Brazil, attended by 40 education ministers from across the globe. The report explores the key role of leadership in driving educational change.
The launch coincides with the release of new out-of-school figures, revealing that global progress in reducing the number of out-of-school children has been just 1% since 2015. The shocking news is that 251 million children and youth are out of school worldwide, of which 71 million are not in primary school, 57 million in lower secondary, and 120 million in upper secondary education.
Of these, 122 million are girls and 129 million are boys, with the starkest inequalities evident in poorer countries. While only 3% of children in wealthier countries are out of school, that figure jumps to 33% in the poorest nations.
More than half of this out-of-school population is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. Global progress rates in reducing out-of-school children fell to just 1% since the fourth Sustainable Development Goal on education was set in 2015. Although an additional 110 million children are enrolled in school, there has been just a 1% rate of improvement in out-of-school rates. If the same rate of progress had been maintained from 2010-2015 to today, there would be 27 million more children in school.
For every $100 spent per child in high-income countries, less than $1 reaches children in low-income countries, further exacerbating inequalities (EFW 2024)
Low-income countries face overwhelming debt pressures, with six out of ten nations at risk of debt distress. In Africa, countries spent almost as much on debt servicing in 2022 as they did on education (EFW 2024)
The 2024 GEM Report stresses the pivotal role of leadership in addressing the education crisis. Strong, empowered leaders are essential to transforming education outcomes, yet only half of school principals globally receive training in core areas like teaching, collaboration, and personnel development. Leadership accounts for over a quarter of the variation in school performance, emphasising the urgent need to invest in leaders at all levels, from ministries to schools.
Politics is sometimes standing in the way, with over half of ministers of education out of post within two years of being appointed, and 29% of countries still making teacher hiring and firing decisions based on political views, including Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia. Close political ties can be detrimental for education outcomes, with short-term considerations taking precedence over transformational goals in education.
Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report, said: “Good schools require good school leaders who can inject new momentum into learning. These leaders, second only to teachers in influencing student outcomes, must be supported with training and resources. We’re not empowering our leaders to help take education where it needs to be. Four in ten countries do not even give university leaders the ability to take academic and organisational decisions by law”.