In News:

• Released at the Global Education Meeting, hosted in Fortaleza by Brazil, the G20 President.
• Highlights progress and challenges in global education, with a focus on leadership, financing, and access.

Key Observations:

Leaders as Agents of Change:

• Education leadership is defined as social influence towards achieving common educational goals.
• Education leaders must:
  • Define clear purposes and influence change.
  • Balance learning outcomes with equity, quality, and inclusion.

Funding Deficits:

• 4 out of 10 countries spend less than 4% of their GDP on education.

Out-of-School Children:

• 251 million children and youth globally remain out of school, with only a 1% reduction since 2015.

Regional Disparities in Education Access:

• Central and Southern Asia show significant progress, but countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan still have large out-of-school populations.

Recommendations:

• Leadership Development: Empower school principals with the autonomy to manage schools effectively.
• Capacity Building for System Leaders: Strengthen the ability of education officials to act as system leaders.
• Climate Change Education: Introduce climate change topics in early education across subjects, not limited to science.

India’s Educational Initiatives:

• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: Focuses on developing school leadership through training and workshops for principals.
• NISHTHA Program: Aims to improve leadership and management competencies of school heads and teachers.

Current Educational Landscape:

• Since 2015, 110 million children have entered school, and 40 million more complete secondary education.
• However, 33% of children in low-income countries remain out of school, compared to only 3% in high-income countries.
• Sub-Saharan Africa houses more than half of the global out-of-school youth.

Challenges in Education Financing:

• UNESCO–World Bank report highlights that 40% of countries allocate less than 15% of their public expenditure to education.
• Countries investing less than 4% of GDP in education face significant resource shortages.
• Low-income countries spend an average of $55 per learner, while high-income countries spend $8,543 per learner.

Need for Innovative Financing Mechanisms:

• Debt-for-Education Swaps: Proposes converting unsustainable debt into funding for education, leveraging past successful initiatives.
• Multilateral Platforms: Suggested to facilitate global negotiations for converting debt into educational investments, involving entities like UNESCO and the G20.

International Cooperation and Solidarity:

• Decline in Education Assistance: Official development assistance for education has decreased from 9.3% in 2019 to 7.6% in 2022.
• Strengthening Partnerships: The need for enhanced global cooperation to fill the educational financing gap and ensure equitable access to quality education.