Published : 26 Sep 2026, 08:16 PM
Updated : 26 Sep 2026, 08:16 PM
More than 500 million children are in urgent need of education as conflicts, displacement and climate shocks deepen a global learning crisis, India Today reports.
The crisis came into focus during the UN’s annual meeting of world leaders, where campaigners and officials called for greater funding to support children affected by war and climate change, according to the Indian news outlet.
Gordon Brown, the UN special envoy for global education, said 273 million children are out of school, while another 270 million are not learning enough to read, write or perform basic arithmetic by age 11.
"The message, I think, is clear," Brown said. "Instead of the world developing only some of the potential of some children in some countries, we must be determined to develop the potential of all children at all times in every country."
Maysa Jalbout, director of Education Cannot Wait, described meeting an 18-year-old displaced girl in Sudan who remained determined to study despite a classroom without water or electricity.
The school was overcrowded, with hundreds of other children unable to get inside, India Today said.
New funding commitments were also announced during the UN gathering. The Global Partnership for Education said $3.5 billion had been mobilised to support education systems in more than 90 lower-income countries.
Education Cannot Wait announced $3 million in emergency funding for children in Gaza and the West Bank.
Jalbout said 660,000 children in Gaza had remained out of school for a third consecutive year.
The organisation has also reportedly provided funding for children affected by floods in Nepal and announced $22 million for education support in Sudan, where about 8 million young people remain out of school.
