Blog by Evelyne Para, SI Representative to UNESCO, Paris
Strengthening the transformation, resilience, and financing of education
On 10 July 2026, UNESCO convened global education leaders in Paris to accelerate progress toward SDG 4 (inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all) and to continue shaping the education agenda beyond 2030.
This meeting marked the fourth anniversary of the 2022 UN Transforming Education Summit (TES), which had galvanised global action to place education at the top of the global political agenda.
At this “Transforming Education TES+4” Summit in July 2026, UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed—alongside nearly 40 world leaders—reaffirmed their commitment to SDG 4. They did so while confronting a worsening global education financing crisis and working to shape the post-2030 education agenda to address the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Numerous international and regional development partners—including representatives from UN agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, civil society organisations, academia, and the private sector—attended these enriching sessions.
Here are the key takeaways.
The Key themes
This Summit provided an opportunity to review progress made in key thematic areas central to the transformation of education: inclusive digital transformation, the greening of education, equity and gender equality, the teaching profession, and skills development. Emphasis was also placed on education in crisis situations, with several roundtables examining these topics.
Discussions on inclusion and gender equality highlighted how countries are integrating equity into their policies, planning, and the resilience of their education systems.
For instance, Thailand showcased flexible learning pathways and proactive mechanisms to identify and support out-of-school students. Uruguay underscored the importance of societal dialogue, positioning education as a transformative tool for gender equality and social change, while Mauritania highlighted gender equality as a central element in building resilient education systems and safeguarding achievements during times of crisis.
During the roundtable on the teaching profession in which I participated, speakers examined key global milestones achieved since the Transforming Education Summit (TES), as well as measures to make the teaching profession more attractive. For instance, Cambodia presented reforms aimed at strengthening teacher competencies by raising initial training standards, consolidating pedagogical skills, expanding continuous professional development, and developing guidelines on the use of AI in teaching.
The session on skills, employability, and lifelong learning explored how Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and higher education systems can better meet the needs of a rapidly evolving labour market. Discussions highlighted a shared commitment to equipping learners with future-ready skills by strengthening links between education and industry, integrating digital and AI skills, and expanding opportunities for lifelong learning. National examples ranged from South Africa’s systemic approach—linking education, the economy, and the labour market—to Armenia’s industry partnerships aimed at boosting AI skills; Saudi Arabia’s promotion of digital education for global citizenship; and Oman’s integration of TVET, entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning within its national future skills framework.
The roundtable on education in times of crisis examined how lessons learned from education in emergency situations can help build more resilient education systems. For example, representatives from Ukraine explained how underground schooling and flexible, remote learning spaces implemented nationwide helped ensure educational continuity during the war, while shifting the focus of the emergency response toward long-term resilience, digital education, and lifelong learning.
Sustainable financing of education systems is essential
At this Transforming Education TES+4 Summit held on 10 July 2026, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, education officials from around the world emphasised during the opening plenary session on sustainable financing that resilient education systems require predictable, equitable, and long-term investment.
However, UNESCO estimates that many countries—particularly low-income and lower-middle-income nations—are currently facing a significant annual education financing gap, a deficit that continues to widen. In addition to declining aid, rising debt levels are placing increasing pressure on education systems across much of the developing world; debt repayment is increasingly competing with investment in education.
Global leaders discussed solutions to the worldwide education financing crisis against a backdrop of new data indicating that international aid for education could fall by as much as 30% between 2023 and 2027, and that 113 countries are allocating more resources to debt servicing than to education.
Participants emphasised the need to shift from fragmented, short-term funding to country-led, sustainable financing strategies—strengthening domestic resource mobilization, improving efficiency, and expanding fiscal space for education through innovative approaches. In this context, particular attention was paid to the challenge of debt sustainability—specifically debt-for-education swaps—as a means to protect and increase education investment amidst fiscal constraints. The role of development partners and international financial institutions in aligning external funding with national priorities to foster resilience and equity was also highlighted.
To assist countries in addressing these challenges, UNESCO presented a new technical guide on debt-for-education swaps alongside concrete recommendations designed to help nations escape the debt trap and invest in education.
In conclusion,
The TES+4 Summit, organised by UNESCO on 10 July 2026, provided an opportunity to assess the progress made since the 2022 Transforming Education Summit. It adopted an approach linking resilience and transformation to build systems that are more robust, agile, and better prepared for the future.
The transformation, resilience, and financing of education systems formed the central theme of this TES+4 event. Resilience—understood not only as the capacity of education systems to withstand and recover from shocks but also as their ability to anticipate, adapt, innovate, and improve—is inseparable from the transformation of education in a context of growing instability, rapid technological change, and large-scale societal shifts. In this sense, more resilient education systems are also more agile, forward-looking, and better equipped to deliver improved outcomes for learners and societies.
At the close of this Summit held at UNESCO in July 2026, H.E. Mr. Prasert Jantararuangtong, Minister of Education of Thailand, announced that the Kingdom would host the next Global Education Meeting in 2027 in Bangkok, from 31 March to 2 April. Bringing together governments, youth, educators, experts, development partners, and other key stakeholders, this event will provide a strategic platform to continue reviewing progress and to strengthen global commitment to decisive action during the final stretch toward 2030.
