Between 2013 and 2023, only one-third of African countries met the internationally recommended education financing benchmarks. Photo from Human Rights Watch
On the occasion of the African Union’s Day of the African Child, Human Rights Watch has warned that most African governments are failing to meet their global and regional commitments to finance quality public education.
The 2025 theme, “Planning and budgeting for children’s rights: progress since 2010”, stands in sharp contrast to findings based on national data submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Between 2013 and 2023, only one-third of African countries met the internationally recommended education financing benchmarks.
That number dropped to just one-quarter by 2022 and 2023, while 14 countries failed to meet any benchmarks at all over the entire 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 reduced spending levels in recent years.”
Failure to Deliver on Legal and Political Commitments
Insufficient public investment in education is undermining African governments’ legal obligations to provide free, compulsory, quality primary education and make secondary education available, accessible, and free to every child.
It also contradicts their political pledges under both AU frameworks and international development agendas like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call for universal free secondary education and at least one year of pre-primary education by 2030.
In 2015, all 54 African countries endorsed UNESCO benchmarks of allocating 4–6% of GDP and/or 15–20% of total public spending to education.
These targets have since been reaffirmed through key frameworks, including:
- The 2015 Incheon Declaration
- The “Kenyatta” Declaration on Education Financing
- The 2021 Paris Declaration
- The 2024 Fortaleza Declaration
- The 2024 Nouakchott Declaration, which expanded the upper GDP target to 7%
Additionally, countries committed to investing at least 10% of their education budgets in 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 pledges, many governments have failed to remove tuition and related school fees, especially at the pre-primary and secondary levels.
This has led to persistent inequality in access and retention, worsened educational quality, and disproportionately impacted poor households.
According to World Bank 2021 data, families continue to finance 27% of total education costs in Africa.
A Continent Struggling with Out-of-School Rates
Africa currently has the highest out-of-school rates globally, with over 100 million children and adolescents out of school in all regions except North Africa.
Since 2015, these figures have worsened due to population growth, gender disparities, COVID-19 school disruptions, climate-related emergencies, and armed conflict.
Barriers to schooling also include:
- School-related gender-based violence
- Discrimination against pregnant and parenting girls
- Exclusion of refugees and children with disabilities
UNESCO and Human Rights Watch data show:
- Only 14 countries legally guarantee free education from at least one year of pre-primary through secondary level.
- Only 21 countries guarantee 12 years of free primary and secondary education.
- Just 6 countries guarantee at least one year of free pre-primary education.
Only three African countries—Morocco (excluding Western Sahara), Namibia, and Sierra Leone—both guarantee universal free education from pre-primary through secondary and have met both international education funding benchmarks in the past decade.
Political and Economic Choices Undermining Education
While governments cite climate emergencies and conflict as causes for underinvestment, political decisions and economic policy priorities are also at fault.
Regressive austerity measures aimed at debt repayment have led to:
- Teacher salary cuts
- Learning material shortages
- Overcrowded classrooms
Currently, 15 African countries spend more on debt servicing than on education.
Human Rights Watch is urging creditor countries and international institutions to consider debt restructuring or relief to help debtor states meet their education obligations.
A Step Forward at the UN Human Rights Council
In a hopeful development, Sierra Leone is co-leading a new initiative at the UN Human Rights Council to create an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
This would:
- Recognize every child’s right to early childhood care and education
- Legally guarantee free public pre-primary and secondary education
Support for the initiative has come from Botswana, Burundi, The Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and South Sudan.
“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.”
About Human Rights Watch
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Founded in 1978, the organization works to expose injustices, hold governments and powerful institutions accountable, and advocate for policies that uphold the dignity and rights of all people.
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