Education in Emergencies: Numbers at a glance
This page present topline figures and trends on education in emergencies for children and youth. All data comes from the EiE Hub and its members.
Overview
- Globally, an estimated 234 million school-aged children and adolescents across 60 countries were affected by crises in 2024, and needed support to access quality education that helps them achieve holistic learning outcomes.
- This number has increased by at least 35 million in the last three years.
- Out of these children and youth, some 85 million – an alarming 37% – were out-of-school and lacked access to any form of education.
- 52% of them were girls.
- Almost 28 million were living with disabilities.
Children in need of education in emergencies
Source: Education Cannot Wait
234 million children in crisis contexts worldwide require access to quality education
Out of these, 85 million children are out of school
- Many of the children attending school still lack access to quality education. Some 59 million crisis-affected children in primary school, do not, or are not likely to, meet the minimum learning proficiency prescribed under the Sustainable Development Goals
Displacement
- By the end of 2024, there were 117.3 million displaced people in the world, including refugees, internally displaced, asylum seekers and others.
- There were 31 million were refugees, twice as many as just a decade ago. Out of these, 41% are under the age of 18.
- An estimated 330,000 children are born as refugees each year.
Displaced children globally (in millions)
Children (millions)
Year
20,256,458
21,863,234
24,714,825
32,133,545
34,023,701
Source: UNHCR
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
35M
30M
25M
20M
15M
10M
5M
0
- Of the 12.4 million estimated school-aged refugee students, at least 46% are thought to be out of school. That means 5.7 million refugee children are missing out on an education.
- Refugee girls still lack the access to education that boys have. In 2024, 64% of primary-aged boys had access to education, compared to 62% for girls.
- Overall, refugee children face higher barriers to access education than other children. At the primary level, gross enrollment for refugees stood at 67%, significantly below both low-income countries (102%) and fragile or conflict-affected countries (94%).
Attacks on education
- During armed conflict or insecurity, students, teachers and schools often become targets.
- In 2024, there were 1,265 attacks on schools, a dramatic increase of 44% compared to 2023.
- Attacks on education and the military use of education facilities increased by 20% in 2022 and 2023 compared to the two previous years.
- Around 6,000 attacks on students, educators, schools, and universities were reported – equaling an average of eight attacks per day.
- More than 10,000 students and educators were reportedly killed, injured, abducted or arrested.
The climate crisis and education
- Globally, at least 242 million students – from pre-primary to upper secondary education – experienced school disruptions due to climate-related events in 2024 alone.
- Between 2016 and 2023, some 62.1 million children were forced to flee their homes within their countries due to weather-related disasters.
- The loss of school infrastructure is alarming, with the education sector experiencing financial losses of US$4 billion annually due to cyclones alone.
Funding for Education in Emergencies in 2025 (millions of USD)
75.7% Unmet
24.3% Met
Source: OCHA Financial Tracking Service
Funding
- Education in emergencies is both life-saving and life-sustaining. Beyond providing children and youth access to schooling, it facilitates access to a range of other services and protects children from forced recruitment, violence, or early marriage.
- Despite this, EiE has consistently faced a more serious funding gap than other sectors. In 2025, donors provided only 24.3% of the total funds requested through UN-led humanitarian appeals, making it one of the most underfunded sectors.
- The aid cuts in 2025 have had a devastating impact on education services in crisis contexts, while education faced steeper cuts than most other sectors. Humanitarian actors were forced to reduce their funding requests by 33% for education, leaving more than 33 million people in need outside the scope of aid planning.
- Total development aid for education is projected to fall by US$3.2 billion by 2026, a 24% drop from 2023. This could push another six million children out of school completely.