Human Rights Watch Calls Out African Governments on Education Funding

By Editorial Team

Human Rights Watch has criticized African governments for consistently failing to meet crucial education funding targets, impeding the delivery of quality public education for millions of children. The organization made this announcement on Monday during the African Union’s Day of the African Child.

The persistent underinvestment in education is said to undermine governments’ legal and political commitments to provide free and compulsory quality education from pre-primary through secondary levels across the continent. Despite internationally agreed-upon benchmarks, including UNESCO’s recommendation for education spending to reach between four to six percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or 15 to 20 percent of total public expenditure, most African nations fall short.

The African Union had increased its GDP benchmark to seven percent in December 2024. However, data from the past decade shows that only one-third of African countries met the benchmark, a number that declined to one-quarter by 2022. UNICEF’s 2024 analysis for the Day of the African Child revealed that fewer than one in five African countries allocated 20 percent or more of their public spending to education.

This funding crisis has severe repercussions, leading to underfunded schools, overcrowded classrooms, and undertrained teachers. Africa currently has the highest out-of-school rates globally, with over 100 million children and adolescents unable to access education. Families often bear 27 percent of total education spending, with an estimated US $183 billion required annually to meet AU Sustainable Development Goals. However, available resources only amount to $106 billion, leaving a financing gap of over 40 percent.

Human Rights Watch attributes political decisions, economic policies, and regressive austerity measures as key drivers of underinvestment, highlighting that 15 countries spend more on debt servicing than on education. This disproportionately affects children from the poorest households and young girls who encounter barriers like tuition fees, school-related gender-based violence, and discriminatory practices against pregnant or parenting students.

As the continent observes the AU’s Year of Education 2025, experts are urgently calling for action to address the education funding crisis.