Education

Education in emergencies: Children facing emergencies frequently tell us that education is a big priority for them as it provides a sense of stability and hope for the future, as well as life-saving learning. But over 72 million children affected by crises are out of school and while 127 million are in school, they are not achieving adequate learning outcomes. Save the Children plays a leading role in the education in emergencies field as co-lead with UNICEF of the Global Education Cluster and as a founding member of Education Cannot Wait. We have a particular focus on increasing the prioritisation of education in emergency responses, in supporting specific country responses with global advocacy and in education for refugees.

Financing: Financing for education is woefully low and insufficient to ensure quality education for children across the globe. Low- and middle-income countries are currently facing an estimated $97 billion annual funding gap. We work with key donors, multilateral funds, and national governments to raise more and better funding for education to close the gap.

UK Influencing: The UK government has a history of supporting global education initiatives, but this progress has markedly declined over recent years with spending rapidly decreasing. We work to provide evidence-based solutions to the UK government and the steps required by the UK to restore its leadership role in championing education worldwide through renewed funding commitments and advocating to the international community. We do this through our coalition work with Send My Friend to School and through our own engagement with the UK government.

School safety and resilience: Without preparedness and resilience, continued shocks and stresses threaten to exacerbate an already staggering global education crisis. At the same time, schools have a critical role to play in promoting disaster prevention from all hazards and empowering young people to understand and act on the risks they face. Save the Children works with partners, including through the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), to advocate for a comprehensive approach to school safety that builds the resilience of children, educators, systems, and communities. 

1.    Education in emergencies:  All stakeholders must work together to increase financing and prioritisation of education in emergencies, recognising its lifesaving impact. They must improve coordination, policies, and plans which deliver protective, safe, inclusive, and good-quality learning environments in crisis contexts, including in the first phase of a response.

2.    Education for refugee children: The international community and refugee hosting country governments must ensure that all refugee children have access to good-quality learning opportunities by closing the financing gap; developing and implementing inclusive policies; and increasing the quality of instruction by enabling refugee teachers to become qualified.

3.    Financing: National governments need to raise sustainable domestic resources for education. International donors need to increase their aid budgets for education and ensure key multilateral funds – such as the Global Partnership for Education and the Education Cannot Wait fund - have the funding they need to deliver crucial investments in education.  Donors must also explore the role of innovative financing mechanisms to unlock new sources of funding for education.

4.    Climate: Governments and donors must invest in building education systems that can withstand and recover from increasing climate disasters and hotter temperatures. They must also recognise the key role that education plays in building more resilient and green communities to help tackle the climate crisis in the longer term.

5.    Girls Education: To strengthen learning and wellbeing for the most marginalised girls, and ensure all children are empowered equally through education, governments must address the intersecting barriers to girls’ education by making teaching and learning gender-transformative; establishing girl-friendly, safe, inclusive, and empowering learning environments; strengthening community support for girls’ education and building gender-transformative education policies and systems.    

6.    Resilience: Governments, development partners, and organisations should endorse, implement, report on, and champion the Comprehensive School Safety Framework, using evidence-based solutions to build the resilience of their education systems.