ABUJA, Nigeria, June 16, 2025/APO Group/ --
Most African governments have consistently failed to meet global and regional education funding targets to ensure quality public education, Human Rights Watch said today on the African Union’s Day of the African Child.
The 2025 theme for the day is “planning and budgeting for children’s rights: progress since 2010.” However, based on national data reported to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), only one-third of African countries met globally endorsed education funding benchmarks for annual average spending over the decade 2013 to 2023. The figure declined to just one quarter of countries by 2022 and 2023. Fourteen African countries did not meet any of the benchmarks a single year over the past decade.
“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.”
Insufficient public spending on education undermines African governments’ legal obligations to guarantee free and compulsory quality primary education and make secondary education available, accessible, and free for every child. It also undermines their political commitments to AU and international development goals and benchmarks. Under the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to providing at least one year of pre-primary education, African governments are required to ensure that all children complete free secondary education by 2030.
In 2015, UNESCO member states, including all 54 African states, agreed to increase education spending to at least 4 to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and/or at least 15 to 20 percent of total public expenditure. These internationally agreed funding benchmarks for education have been included in at least five global or AU-led declarations or action plans, including the 2015 Incheon Declaration, endorsed by all UNESCO member states; the Heads of State (“Kenyatta”) Declaration on Education Financing, endorsed by 17 African heads of state and governments and ministers; the 2021 Paris Declaration and “Global Call for Investing in the Futures of Education”; and the 2024 Fortaleza Declaration. In December 2024, the AU and African heads of state and governments expanded the upper end of the GDP benchmark from six to seven percent through the Nouakchott Declaration.
UNESCO member states have made additional commitments to invest at least 10 percent of education expenditures to guarantee at least one year of free and compulsory pre-primary education by 2030. In 2024, African countries agreed to ensure that an increased share of public funding is allocated to early childhood education.
Despite these obligations and global commitments, governments have failed to remove tuition and other school fees, particularly at the pre-primary and secondary level, leading to unequal access, retention, and poor quality in schools, with disproportionate impact on children from the poorest households. Families across Africa continue to shoulder an enormous burden in funding education, absorbing 27 percent of total education spending, according to World Bank 2021 data.
Africa has the highest out-of-school rates in the world, with over 100 million children and adolescents estimated to be out of school across all sub-regions except North Africa. Out-of-school rates have increased since 2015 for reasons including population increases, persistent gender gaps, the cumulative effects of Covid-19 school closures, climate emergencies, and conflicts.
Many children also drop out due to school-related gender-based violence, as well as discriminatory and exclusionary measures against pregnant and parenting girls, refugees, and children with disabilities, among other negative practices.
Only 14 countries guarantee free access to education, from at least one year of pre-primary through secondary education, based on available UNESCO data and Human Rights Watch research. Only 21 guarantee free access to 12 years of primary and secondary education, while 6 legally guarantee access to at least one year of free pre-primary education.
Human Rights Watch found that Morocco, excluding Western Sahara territory that it occupies, Namibia, and Sierra Leone are the only three African countries that both legally guarantee universally free access to primary and secondary education and at least one year of free pre-primary, and that have met both international education funding benchmarks in the last decade.
Many African countries continue to underinvest in public education to manage climate-related emergencies and conflict-related crises, but this is also due to political decisions and economic policies. Numerous African governments are applying regressive austerity measures to service debt interests and repayments. Fifteen are spending more on debt servicing than on education, leading to drastic cuts to teachers’ incomes, shortages of learning materials, and overcrowded classrooms. Creditor governments and institutions should consider debt restructuring or relief to ensure that debtor governments can adequately protect rights, including the right to education.
In a positive development, Sierra Leone currently co-leads an initiative at the UN Human Rights Council to develop a new optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with the aim of recognizing that every child has a right to early childhood care and education and guaranteeing that states make public pre-primary education and secondary education available and free to all. Botswana, Burundi, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and South Sudan have publicly expressed support for this process.
“African governments should urgently fulfill their pledges to guarantee universal access to free quality primary and secondary education,” Segun said. “Governments should focus on protecting public spending for education from regressive measures and cuts and allocate resources commensurate with their obligations to guarantee access to quality public education.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Bad news. This 3rd time he escaped unhurt. Lucky guy.
Cheers.
Somaliland and Somalia should together to crush those insurgents, there are a few in Somaliland hiding in Hargeisa and Burco everybody knows that. In Mogadishu they are hiding out there too. There are al shabab sympathizers in Hargeisa, Burco,and Mogadishu those people should be put away and get their heads cut off.
Godane and the majority of his subordinates all from Somaliland, yet they fight for so long everywhere in somalia from Kismaayo to Boosaaso. They donot have roots in Somalia this inhumane group fight the troops of many African nation at the same time. They ousted even those warmangers like them such as Dahir Aweys and sent him on the run for his life. Godane and his horrible assistants donot dare venture to Somaliland because they know Somaliland is a democratic state where freedoms flourish and security is tight. Long live Somaliland, long live freedom of multy-party system. Glory to SNM and all patriotic Somalilanders everywhere.
@Ciile,
Looks that you are confused about this Godane and his Alshabab Wing?
Godane is one of the big picture of Alshabab fighters in Somalia and Alshabab
emanated from Somalia and not from Somaliland. There are no such thing Alshabab
in Somaliland. Somaliland is a relatively peaceful Sovereign State free from
all the militia gangsters operating in the failed Sovereign State of Somalia.
Cheers.
Your confused it's Somaliland which is alshabab not Somalia.
What are you saying Somaliland is alshabab I think not. Somalia and Somaliland are neither alshabab they have alshabab loyalist yes in both places. Saudi Arabia and the UAE Pakistan are the ones who established alshabab and are financing them to so they don't want a stable horn of Africa.
5,000 Shebab fighters? That is a whole brigade. Which fox holes are they hiding in? I suspect there is vested interest among stakeholders in Somalia to ensure Shebab poses some threat – as long as it does not tip the balance – to warrant receiving monetary aid from international donors.If they wanted to AU forces would have purged Shebab long ago, but receiving $725 to $1,030 a month is awfully enticing for any African. That is equivalent to one quadrillion Somaliland Shilling, lol. With that kind of SL Shilling, I could own my own G@radagland Republic.
Unbelievable news!!!!!!!!!! Al-Shabab and him are the same people they were fighting together in Kismaayo and assassinating our scholars in Puntland doing illegal business across the country. This was a set up to fool the audiences betraying as shababs as their enemy. Come’on!!!! We know you. We puntland pple the founders of politics million years old.
Burger King stop with your lies we all know that puntland is alshabab sympathizers and you guys pay them millions of dollars to destabilize Somalia and to cause a crisis, what set up are you talking about the president of Somalia hates those cockroaches and that goes for Somaliland president. Puntland loves alshabab and you darods don't want a peaceful Somalia.
Farole is shabab those are faroole goons.
Don't insult hawyias infront of me you darod scum. what good are darods anyway they are the scum of the earth.
Present your proof that Somalia and Somaliland are doing those activates. What kind of illegal business are you talking you puntlanders do illegal business with your pirating and terrosim. You guys are assassinating your scholars in puntland not Somalia don't pin your problems somebody else okay and you guys caused the mess in kismaayo.
@Punt-King,
Sxb Garowe and Mogadiscio are two tigers flnaking the Somalia flag. Whenever I look at
the Somalia map with the two tigers like Mecca and the Quds, my stomach jolts!!!!
The Somalians are all vulnerably mafia configured.
Cheers.
Don't forget Hargeisa.
Don't insult Mogadishu you somalilanders are destroying so you can get recognition.
You somalilanders are causing the problems in Mogadishu so your country can get recognition.
The world don't want somalia to be peace no matter what they just want to continue this mayhem for the next 100 years because they could easily dismember Al shabaab by funding and creating a proper Somali National Army and not bringing more useless AMISOM forces who are in Somalia just to collect their payroll.
A Somali soldier gets only 100$ per month while the Amisom soldier receives $1300 per month. The Somali soldiers does all the hardworking they even confront the al Shabaab militia without any proper uniforms, no proper training, no headgear, no weapons or ammunition, no vehicles, no military boots etc to rub salt into their wound they even go months without pay.
The AMISOM are well equipped with proper armoured vehicles but they hardly do any fighting they stay in their bases most of the time even those from the djiboutians forces are useless since they deployed troops
in Somalia like two years ago they still haven't left Beletweeyne.
All the foreign soldiers in Somalia must go home send them all packing expect the Ethiopians.
Somalia has enough force to stabilise the entire Somalia Puntland along has thousands of soldiers sitting quietly, doing nothing, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa has experienced soldiers who have fought with Al shabaab before along with the Ras Kamboni rebels, Hiran rebels, khaatumo rebels, Barre Hirale clan militias or we could even use those from the Ogaden National Liberation Front who have experienced in guerrilla tactics.
But Beledweyne is peaceful thanks to Djibouti special forces. Djibouti elite forces have restored law and order in otherwise lawless Beledweyne. No one's head gets sawed off now. The market is open, people are trading, women are back to wearing their bras. I just can't wait to visit to thank our young boys for a job well done.
Surely you can't compare Puntland ragtag militia to a well trained and disciplined force like Djibouti's. I will take that as a joke from you. Next to U.S. military and IDF, Djibouti Armed Forces is the envy of the world.
Beledweyne is peaceful thanks to Djibouti special forces???? looool You and your jokes really crack me up wallahi. On 31 December 2011 Beledweyne was attacked from four sides by Ethiopian, Somali nation Army, Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah and the Shabelle Valley Administration Al-Shabab fled in hurry left most of their weapons and retreated back to Bulo Burte.
Beledweyne was given to Djibouti armed forces on a plate without ever engaging with al shabaab. If Puntland armed forces was paid the same money as those from Djibouti Amisom I have no doubt Puntland armed forces would have reached the rest of the Hiran district Al shabaab still controls like Bulo Burte, Jalalaqsi, Mahas etc and dislodged them in no time.