More than 500 million children worldwide are facing a major education problem: about 273 million are out of school, while another 270 million are in school but are not reaching basic reading, writing and arithmetic proficiency by age 11, according to figures cited by U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown. The issue has gained renewed attention during the September 2026 United Nations General Assembly, with conflicts in places such as Gaza and Sudan and climate-related disasters such as Nepal’s floods disrupting children’s education.

Introduction

The global education crisis has emerged as a major concern during the 2026 United Nations General Assembly, with education officials and humanitarian organizations warning that more than 500 million children either remain out of school or are attending school without acquiring basic learning skills.

The figure was highlighted by Gordon Brown, the U.N. special envoy for global education, during discussions around education financing at the United Nations in New York. Brown cited 273 million children who are not in school and another 270 million who are in school but are not learning enough to read, write or become proficient in arithmetic by age 11.

The crisis is not limited to one region. Armed conflict, displacement, poverty and climate-related disasters are interrupting education across countries and communities. Recent developments in Gaza, Sudan and Nepal illustrate how different types of emergencies can prevent children from learning.

At the same time, international organizations announced new financial commitments aimed at keeping children in school and rebuilding education systems. The Global Partnership for Education said $3.5 billion had been mobilized to support education systems in more than 90 lower-income countries.

What Happened?

The education crisis became a prominent issue alongside the U.N.’s annual gathering of world leaders in September 2026.

Brown’s figures underline two connected problems.

The first is access to education. About 273 million children are not attending school.

The second is learning quality. Another 270 million children are attending school but are not acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills at the expected level by age 11.

These figures help explain why simply measuring school enrollment does not provide a complete picture of the world’s education situation.

A child can technically be enrolled in school while still losing valuable learning time because of overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of teachers, damaged facilities, insecurity, displacement or inadequate learning resources.

The situation becomes particularly severe when education systems are affected by war or natural disasters.

Conflict and climate shocks are disrupting education

Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies, reported in June 2026 that 258 million school-aged children and adolescents across 87 countries have their education affected by crises. Of those, 93 million were completely out of school.

That number is different from the broader 500-million-plus figure cited by Brown because the two statistics measure different populations and problems.

The 258 million figure specifically concerns children whose education is affected by crises such as conflict, displacement and disasters. The 500-million-plus figure combines a broader global out-of-school population with children who are attending school but not achieving basic learning outcomes.

Understanding that distinction is important when interpreting the numbers.

Key Details

• 273 million children were cited as being out of school worldwide.
• 270 million additional children were cited as attending school but not achieving basic reading, writing and arithmetic proficiency by age 11.
• 258 million school-aged children and adolescents across 87 countries have education affected by crises, according to Education Cannot Wait’s 2026 estimates.
• 93 million crisis-affected children in that ECW estimate are completely out of school.
• 660,000 children in Gaza remain out of school for a third year, according to Education Cannot Wait.
• Around 70,000 young children in Gaza have no access to preschool, according to the same organization.
• Sudan has about 8 million children out of school, according to figures cited by Education Cannot Wait Director Maysa Jalbout.
• Education Cannot Wait announced $22 million in support for crisis-affected children in Sudan.
• Education Cannot Wait announced a $3 million emergency investment for children in Gaza and the West Bank.
• The organization also committed $1 million for flood-affected children in Nepal.
• The Global Partnership for Education said $3.5 billion had been mobilized for education in more than 90 lower-income countries.

Background: Why Is the Global Education Crisis Growing?

The education crisis has several causes, and they vary significantly from country to country.

War and displacement

Armed conflict can destroy schools, displace families and make normal classroom education impossible.

Teachers may leave affected communities, schools can become damaged or unusable, and families forced to flee may struggle to enroll children in new schools.

Education Cannot Wait’s June 2026 global estimates found that crisis-affected children are particularly concentrated in the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Of 182 million crisis-affected children living in the 20 highest-severity crisis contexts, 74 million were out of school.

The organization also reported that conflict-affected countries tend to experience particularly severe learning deficits.

Climate-related disasters

Climate shocks create another set of challenges.

Floods, storms and other disasters can damage classrooms, destroy educational materials and force families to relocate.

Nepal provides a recent example.

After catastrophic flooding in northern Nepal on August 26, Education Cannot Wait committed $1 million to support children whose schools, homes and communities were affected.

The initial allocation was expected to reach about 17,000 children in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. The organization said 5,000 children would receive education and protection support, while another 12,000 would benefit from disaster-risk-reduction interventions.

The Education Cluster also verified 29 affected schools, including nine that were severely damaged or destroyed and eight being used as shelters for displaced people.

Poverty and limited resources

Conflict and disasters are not the only barriers.

Poor families can face costs associated with transportation, school materials, uniforms and other necessities. In fragile education systems, governments can also struggle to provide enough teachers, classrooms and learning materials.

The result is a problem that is both about getting children into classrooms and ensuring that those classrooms provide meaningful learning.

Gaza: Hundreds of Thousands of Children Remain Out of School

Gaza has become one of the clearest examples of how conflict can disrupt education for an entire generation.

Education Cannot Wait announced on September 24, 2026, that it would provide a $3 million emergency investment to help children in Gaza and targeted areas of the West Bank return to safe and inclusive learning. The program is expected to reach approximately 10,000 to 13,000 vulnerable children and adolescents.

The program gives priority to children with conflict-related injuries and disabilities and to children who have lost parental care.

Education Cannot Wait said that 660,000 children in Gaza had remained out of school for a third consecutive year, while approximately 70,000 younger children lacked access to preschool.

The funding is therefore targeted at a relatively small portion of a much larger population in need.

That gap illustrates one of the central challenges of education in emergencies: humanitarian organizations can provide targeted assistance, but the scale of need can be much larger than available funding.

Sudan: A Severe Education Emergency

Sudan represents another major part of the global education crisis.

During a recent visit, Education Cannot Wait Director Maysa Jalbout described a classroom in war-affected Sudan where 120 students were receiving a lesson despite extremely difficult conditions.

The classroom reportedly had no water or electricity, while temperatures reached about 44 degrees Celsius. Hundreds of other children were waiting outside because the school did not have enough space for them.

Jalbout said Education Cannot Wait announced $22 million in funding to help several hundred thousand children in Sudan. However, she also cited an estimated 8 million children out of school in the country.

The contrast between the funding available and the number of children needing assistance demonstrates the scale of Sudan’s education emergency.

Nepal: When a Climate Disaster Interrupts School

Nepal shows that education emergencies do not always result from armed conflict.

In August 2026, catastrophic flooding affected communities in northern Nepal. Schools were damaged, some were destroyed and others were being used as shelters.

Education Cannot Wait’s $1 million emergency commitment was designed to help children resume learning while also providing protection and disaster-risk-reduction support.

The response is significant because interruption to education can continue after the immediate disaster has passed.

Children may lose books, uniforms and learning materials. Teachers and families may also need time and resources to rebuild their lives.

Education agencies therefore increasingly treat education as part of emergency recovery rather than something that can simply wait until the crisis ends.

What Officials and Organizations Said

Gordon Brown, the U.N. special envoy for global education, used the September 2026 U.N. meetings to draw attention to the scale of the education problem.

He cited 273 million children who are out of school and another 270 million who are attending school without achieving basic learning standards by age 11. He also emphasized the international goal of achieving quality education for all by 2030.

The Global Partnership for Education announced that partners had mobilized $3.5 billion to support education systems in more than 90 lower-income countries.

According to GPE, the package included $2.1 billion in confirmed and anticipated pledges and $1.4 billion in co-financing commitments from development finance institutions, philanthropic organizations and private-sector partners.

Education Cannot Wait has separately emphasized that the number of crisis-affected children is increasing while education funding remains under pressure.

Its September 2026 annual-results report said the organization reached 10.4 million children and adolescents across 33 countries during 2023–2025, while its total reach since inception had reached 16 million.

The organization also said humanitarian education funding covered less than one-third of assessed global needs, highlighting the continuing gap between demand and available resources.

Why This Matters

Education is more than classroom instruction.

For children living through war, displacement or natural disasters, school can provide routine, protection and social connection as well as academic learning.

When education is interrupted for months or years, the consequences can extend beyond a missed school year.

Children may fall behind their peers, struggle to return to formal education or leave school permanently. Education Cannot Wait’s research notes that learning gaps in early grades can contribute to later educational exclusion.

The problem also affects communities.

A generation with fewer opportunities to develop literacy, numeracy and other skills can face weaker employment prospects later in life. Countries recovering from conflict or disasters can consequently face an additional challenge: rebuilding human capital at the same time that they are rebuilding physical infrastructure.

This is why the current discussion is not only about getting children back into classrooms.

It is also about making sure that schools have qualified teachers, adequate learning materials, safe facilities and enough support to help children actually learn.

The Difference Between Access and Learning

One of the most important points in the current debate is that school enrollment and learning are not the same thing.

A child can be physically present in a classroom but still struggle to acquire foundational skills.

This can happen because of overcrowding, teacher shortages, interrupted schooling, poverty, language barriers, inadequate materials or the effects of conflict and displacement.

The figures cited by Brown therefore combine two sides of the education challenge:

Access: Children who are not attending school.

Learning: Children who are attending but are not reaching expected basic skills.

Solving only one of these problems would leave the other unresolved.

Funding: New Commitments Amid a Large Gap

There have been some new commitments despite the scale of the crisis.

The Global Partnership for Education’s $3.5 billion mobilization is intended to support education systems in more than 90 lower-income countries.

Education Cannot Wait has also announced country-specific funding for some of the world’s most serious emergencies.

These include:

• $22 million for crisis-affected children in Sudan.
• $3 million for vulnerable children in Gaza and the West Bank.
• $1 million for flood-affected children in Nepal.

However, these commitments should not be interpreted as resolving the wider education crisis.

Education Cannot Wait’s own estimates show that 258 million children have their education affected by crises, including 93 million who are completely out of school.

The funding announcements are therefore better understood as individual interventions within a much larger global challenge.

What Happens Next?

The immediate next steps include implementing newly announced education programs and continuing efforts to raise additional funding.

Education Cannot Wait has launched a broader campaign seeking $600 million over four years to reach 10 million crisis-affected children and adolescents with safe, quality education.

The organization has also scheduled a high-level replenishment conference for November 5, 2026.

For Gaza, Sudan and Nepal, the practical next steps are different.

In Gaza, the focus is on delivering targeted learning and support to vulnerable children, including those with injuries and disabilities.

In Sudan, funding is aimed at expanding education opportunities in a country where millions of children remain out of school.

In Nepal, emergency education assistance is focused on helping children affected by flooding return to learning while communities recover.

The broader question is whether new financial commitments will be sufficient to keep pace with the growing number of children affected by conflict, displacement and climate-related disasters.

At present, the available evidence indicates that the gap remains substantial.

Conclusion

The latest education figures presented around the United Nations in September 2026 reveal a crisis that extends far beyond children simply missing school.

About 273 million children are out of school, while another 270 million are in school but are not achieving basic learning outcomes by age 11, according to figures cited by U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown.

At the same time, Education Cannot Wait estimates that 258 million school-aged children and adolescents across 87 countries are affected by crises, including 93 million who are completely out of school.

From the war-affected classrooms of Sudan and Gaza to the flood-damaged schools of Nepal, the circumstances differ, but the central problem is similar: children are losing access to safe, consistent and effective learning.

New international funding commitments provide resources for some of these emergencies, but the latest figures show that the global education crisis remains much larger than any single funding announcement.

The developments at the United Nations therefore represent both a response to an immediate emergency and a reminder of the longer-term challenge of ensuring that every child can access education and actually learn.

FAQs

1. How many children are affected by the global education crisis?

The figure of more than 500 million comes from two groups cited by U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown: about 273 million children who are out of school and another 270 million who attend school but are not achieving basic reading, writing and arithmetic proficiency by age 11.

2. Why are so many children unable to get a good education?

The reasons vary. Conflict, displacement, poverty, damaged schools, teacher shortages and climate-related disasters can all disrupt education. Education Cannot Wait estimates that 258 million school-aged children and adolescents across 87 countries have education affected by crises.

3. How many children are out of school worldwide?

The figure highlighted at the September 2026 U.N. discussions was approximately 273 million children out of school.

4. How many children are out of school in Gaza?

Education Cannot Wait said approximately 660,000 children in Gaza remain out of school for a third year. It also reported that around 70,000 of the youngest children do not have access to preschool.

5. How many children are out of school in Sudan?

Education Cannot Wait Director Maysa Jalbout cited approximately 8 million children out of school in Sudan during discussions about the country’s education emergency.

6. What is being done to help children in Gaza?

Education Cannot Wait announced a $3 million emergency investment intended to reach approximately 10,000 to 13,000 vulnerable children and adolescents in Gaza and targeted areas of the West Bank. Priority includes children with conflict-related injuries and disabilities and children who have lost parental care.

7. What happened to education in Nepal after the floods?

Flooding in northern Nepal damaged schools and disrupted children’s education. Education Cannot Wait committed $1 million, with an initial target of reaching 17,000 children in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.

8. How much money was recently mobilized for global education?

The Global Partnership for Education said $3.5 billion was mobilized through a September 2026 event to support education systems in more than 90 lower-income countries. The announced financing included $2.1 billion in confirmed and anticipated pledges and $1.4 billion in co-financing commitments.