The Education Finance Playbook
A practical guide for governments, donors聽and philanthropists to fund quality, inclusive聽education for all by 2030.
Introduction
The scale of the global education crisis聽is mind-boggling. Even before Covid-19聽struck, there were 258 million children聽who did not have a place in school. 滨迟听was forecast that more than 50 per聽cent of young people would not have聽the most basic reading and maths聽skills by 2030. Millions would either聽never set foot in a school or dropped聽out early.
The impact of pandemic, which at its peak locked 1.6聽billion children out of school, has made the challenge聽of providing quality education even more acute, with聽an estimated 24 million children at risk of never聽returning to education. The most marginalised and聽underserved 国产视频 children with disabilities, minority聽populations, low-income families and girls 国产视频 have been聽pushed further to the margins.
Contracting economies mean many government聽budgets will be smaller at a time when the need for聽investment in education has increased dramatically.聽Without quality education, the next generation faces聽the threats of child labour, poor health, early marriage聽and intergenerational poverty. Drastic action is needed.
Major recovery efforts and stimulus packages are聽underway to invest trillions of dollars into the global聽economy in response to Covid-19. Making education a聽central pillar of global and national recovery packages聽is a surefire way to reap the greatest financial and social聽benefits possible, ensuring longer-term equitable and聽sustainable development. Education is a strategic聽investment with phenomenal returns, a proven solution聽which leads to sustained economic growth.
Education is the key to unlocking opportunity for the聽next generation. Data shows that education unlocks聽economic recovery, innovation, and climate action. 滨迟听improves inclusion, antiracism, peace and security, and聽much more. It has been shown that:
Closing the education financing gap in low and lower-middle-income countries could reduce emissions by 51.48 gigatons (equivalent to five times the annual emissions of advanced economies) by 2050
If all students in low-income countries acquired basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty.
Yet for development ministries, overseas aid聽departments and philanthropists searching for the聽most impactful way to invest resources in the聽education of the next generation, making sense of the聽different funding mechanisms and organisations, the聽costs, and where to invest, can be overwhelming.
The Education Finance Playbook聽provides that much-needed clarity, and聽shows how Sustainable Development聽Goal 4 国产视频 equitable and inclusive聽quality education for all by 2030 国产视频撀燾an be achieved. It will require nothing聽less than a Marshall Plan for education聽recovery across the globe.
Putting every child on track for education by聽2030 will require a comprehensive, unrelenting聽mobilisation of political will, innovation and聽resources by as many partners as possible.聽The challenge is far greater than any one聽institution国产视频檚 efforts. It is clear that the current聽collective efforts of the international community,聽while well-intentioned, are insufficient for the聽task at hand. The playbook demonstrates that the聽current strategy for funding education will leave聽hundreds of millions of children behind unless we聽act differently 国产视频 starting now.
This playbook outlines the scale of the education聽crisis, the current status of funding and the price聽tag needed to put the world on course to provide聽quality education to every child. It maps the聽global education architecture and identifies the聽relative importance of various funds as well as聽their efficiency in delivering money to children国产视频檚聽education.
The playbook identifies a price tag of $75 billion a聽year, on average, that the international community聽needs to mobilise to put the world国产视频檚 children on聽track for universal education.聽It recommends a three-point plan to fund聽education post-pandemic, showing that聽Sustainable Development Goal 4 is within reach if聽it is taken seriously and if stakeholders innovate.
滨迟听calls for:
- National governments to mobilise domestic resources through equitable taxation, and meet globally agreed budget targets for education.
- Donors, philanthropists and businesses to step up and meet or exceed funding commitments, such as the development aid budget commitments of 0.7% or higher.
- Donors, multilateral banks and recipient countries to innovate, by backing the new International Finance Facility for Education. The
playbook demonstrates that $6.25 billion contributed by donors could make $50 billion of new finance available for education at a time when resources for recovery efforts are at a premium.
The Education Finance Playbook puts the聽challenge in perspective, drawing on the best
evidence and synthesising information into a digestible format to provide a roadmap to inform governments, donors and philanthropists about how best to make an impact over the next 24 months and beyond.
The Education Finance Playbook is:
- A practical guide: This playbook summarises the headline figures and draws on many reports by our colleagues and peer organisations working to support governments around the world 国产视频 particularly in lower-income countries 国产视频 fund and deliver education
- An overview of the different ways to fund education: The playbook draws on empirical analysis about effective ways to support education, priority areas for action in the Covid-19 recovery, and the comparative advantages and efficiencies of various funding pathways, based on publicly available information and certified information from organisations supporting education
- A call to accountable, collective action: For too long the international community has simply accepted that education will be a chronically underfunded sector. The assumption is that anyone reading this playbook already cares about how we get every single child on the planet into quality education. It calls on all stakeholders, including governments, donors, philanthropists, international organisations, NGOS, civil society and business to unite with young people around a set of priorities and concrete steps to hasten progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4
The Education Finance Playbook is not:
- A comprehensive technical review of the literature: There are many great reports by our colleagues at organisations like Save the Children, UNESCO, UNICEF, the Education Commission, the Global Partnership for Education, World Bank and others with technical analyses about the scale of the crisis, declarations about shared priorities, the effectiveness of policies and interventions, and financial projections. We draw on those reports and documents to provide a top line summary to help navigate the sector
- A guide to making the case for education: 国产视频 has produced a resource called 国产视频淭he Key国产视频 with talking points and facts to make the case for education. The assumption is that anyone reading this already believes education is important. If you need more evidence to help you convince someone about why investing in education is the key to unlocking a better future and the other Sustainable Development Goals, visit The Key (thekey.theirworld.org)
- A critique of the important work underway: Every single actor highlighted in the playbook 国产视频 and many more 国产视频 is doing important work to end the global education crisis, which is bigger than any single organisation, institution or stakeholder. Every institution has a particular contribution to make. It will take everyone working together and doing their part to ensure every child and young person enjoys an equitable and inclusive quality education.
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