The World Bank Group is the largest financier of education globally, operating in 94 countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4): inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all by 2030.

Education is a fundamental human right and a powerful driver of development, poverty reduction, health, gender equality, peace, and stability. It yields huge returns in income and is necessary for equity and inclusion.

For individuals, education promotes employment, earnings, health, and poverty reduction. Globally, every additional year of schooling results in a 9% increase in hourly earnings.

Societies also benefit from education, experiencing long-term economic growth, innovation, strengthened institutions, and social cohesion.

Despite progress in enrollment, learning is not guaranteed. The 2018 World Development Report emphasized the learning crisis, and the need for effective investments in human capital to end extreme poverty.

Currently, 70% of 10-year-old children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a short text, a condition known as Learning Poverty. This represents a significant increase from 57% pre-pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the learning crisis, with over 70 million people pushed into poverty, a billion children losing a year of school, and irreversible learning losses. If children cannot read with comprehension by age 10, their future prospects are severely impaired.

Analysis reveals deep learning losses, with international reading scores declining by over a year of schooling between 2016 and 2021. This may translate to a 0.68 percentage point decrease in global GDP growth.

To address this crisis, urgent action is necessary. The World Bank Group urges governments to implement ambitious Learning Acceleration Programs, recovering lost learning, and building better, more equitable, and resilient education systems to achieve SDG4.