Four years after a landmark United Nations summit on education, UNESCO will gather education leaders in Paris on 10 July to review global progress. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, more than 25 education ministers and the economist Vera Songwe are expected to attend. The meeting, known as the Transforming Education Summit +4, is seen as an important milestone before the 2030 deadline for Sustainable Development Goal 4.
UNESCO says education financing is in crisis, because aid is falling, debts are rising and budgets are under pressure. It reports that 113 countries, home to 6.1 billion people, spend more on servicing their debt than on schools. At the summit, the organisation will release new data and a technical guide to debt-for-education swaps, arrangements meant to free up extra resources for education. Delegates will also discuss artificial intelligence, climate change and how education systems can become more resilient.