Global Estimates 2025 Update

Girl writing on blackboard
Cover of ECW Global Estimates Update

Nearly One Quarter of a Billion Crisis-Affected Children and Adolescents Require Urgent Support to Access Quality Education

Education Cannot Wait (ECW)'s new report State of Education for Crisis-Affected Children and Adolescents: Access and Learning Outcomes, Global Estimates 2025 Update reveals that the number of school-aged children in crises worldwide requiring urgent support to access quality education has reached 234 million – an estimated increase of 35 million over the past three years. 

Of these, 85 million are out of school. Refugees, internally displaced children, girls and children with disabilities remain among those most impacted by these intersecting crises. In humanitarian crises, access to quality education is not only a fundamental right – it is also lifesaving and life-sustaining. Education provides a sense of normalcy, critical protection and services, and restores hope amid the most challenging circumstances. 

State of Education for Crisis-Affected Children and Adolescents

Image
Graphic highlighting new number of children requiring education support
Girl in a classroom in Gaza

Key Findings

1 in 5 crisis-affected out-of-school children globally has a disability

Portrait of a girl

Key Findings

1 in 2 crisis-affected children globally doesn't reach upper-secondary

Children attending class

Key Findings

1 in 2 crisis-affected children globally lives in Sub-Saharan Africa

Child and teacher inside a classroom during class

Key Findings

When in school, less than 1 in 5 crisis-affected children are able to read at the end of primary level

"Nearly a quarter of a billion children and
adolescents in crises worldwide are deprived
access to a quality education. As a global community, unless
we start investing in the young generation –
their education and future – we shall leave behind
a legacy of destruction."

Yasmine Sherif 
Executive Director

Key Resources

Image
Cover ECW Global Estimates Study

State of Education for Crisis-Affected Children and Adolescents: Access and Learning Outcomes, Global Estimates 2025 Update

Reports & Evaluations
Language:
Image
Cover ECW Global Estimates Study

Brief: State of Education for Crisis-Affected Children and Adolescents: Access and Learning Outcomes, Global Estimates 2025 Update

Advocacy Brief/Factsheet
Language:

ECW's Global Estimates Study Dataset

This report is accompanied by a suite of open-source tools designed to support further analysis and more comprehensive understanding of crisis-affected populations and their educational challenges. This includes the full database underpinning the estimates presented here, which provides detailed headcounts for every dimension, as well as the complete matrix of out-of-school rates for each of the 50 subgroups of crisis-affected children. This interactive tool empowers users to:

  • Generate customized analyses.

  • Conduct research. 

  • Inform programme design. 

  • Guide advocacy efforts.

Join the conversation✨📚 

Access Global Estimates Study
social media pack