11/08/2025
African governments fail to meet education funding targets.
Most African governments have failed to meet global education funding targets, with only one-third reaching international benchmarks over the past decade, Human Rights Watch reported on June 16th. The figure dropped to just one-quarter of countries by 2022 and 2023, while 14 African nations did not meet any benchmarks for a single year over the past decade, according to a press release marking the African Union’s Day of the African Child.
In 2015, UNESCO member states, including all 54 African countries, agreed to spend at least 4 to 6% of GDP and 15 to 20% of public expenditure on education. The 2025 theme for the day is “planning and budgeting for children’s rights: progress since 2010,” yet governments continue to fall short of their commitments.
Africa has the highest out-of-school rates worldwide, with over 100 million children and adolescents out of school across all regions except North Africa. Families absorb 27% of total education spending according to World Bank data, while 15 African governments spend more on debt servicing than education. Only 14 countries guarantee free access from pre-primary through secondary education, with Morocco, Namibia, and Sierra Leone being the only three that both guarantee universal free access and have met international funding benchmarks.
“African heads of state and governments and the African Union have all made bold commitments for national investment in education,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But governments are not translating those commitments into sustained funding, and many have actually reduced spending levels in recent years.”
The report calls for debt restructuring and relief to help African governments protect education rights, as many apply austerity measures to service debt payments at the expense of teacher salaries and learning materials.
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