{"id":42524,"date":"2026-05-06T11:49:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-education-blog.org\/?p=42524"},"modified":"2026-05-06T11:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T09:49:29","slug":"ineffective-financing-is-holding-early-childhood-education-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world-education-blog.org\/2026\/05\/06\/ineffective-financing-is-holding-early-childhood-education-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Ineffective financing is holding early childhood education back"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"TextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">E<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">arly childhood education\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">i<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">s one of the smartest investments a society can make.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">C<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">hildren who access quality pre-primary education arrive at school better prepared, stay longer and learn more. And yet, for millions of the world&#8217;s youngest learners<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">disproportionately th<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">os<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">e\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">from the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">poorest\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">households,<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">\u00a0access\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">remains<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">\u00a0out of reach.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">A core<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">\u00a0reason,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">the <a href=\"https:\/\/unesdoc.unesco.org\/ark:\/48223\/pf0000397618\">2026 GEM Report<\/a> show<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">s<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">is<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW22469937 BCX0\">\u00a0money.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP Selected SCXW22469937 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun MacChromeBold SCXW58925986 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW58925986 BCX0\">A decade of stalled progress<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP Selected SCXW58925986 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The story of early childhood education in the 21st century is\u00a0one of progress\u00a0and stagnation. Globally, the net enrolment rate of children in the year before primary school\u00a0increased\u00a0by almost\u00a0one percentage point\u00a0per year,\u00a0from 64% in 2003 to 74% in 2015. But since then,\u00a0it has increased by\u00a0just one percentage point over\u00a0nearly a\u00a0decade,\u00a0largely affected\u00a0by the disruption of the pandemic. Participation rates for all children of pre-primary age tell a similar story.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/28667894\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/28667894\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"chart visualization\" \/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This\u00a0could be seen as\u00a0puzzling given that, over the same period,\u00a0there have been efforts to\u00a0remove\u00a0cost barriers\u00a0to early childhood education: the number of countries offering at least one year of free pre-primary education rose from 46 to 69 between 1999 and 2023. More countries have also made attendance compulsory.\u00a0However,\u00a0stagnating enrolment figures tell us\u00a0this\u00a0isn&#8217;t\u00a0enough.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Looking at changes in participation over time\u00a0shows where the focus should lie.\u00a0In Africa and Asia, enrolment in early childhood education has risen, but\u00a0the\u00a0absolute\u00a0gap\u00a0in participation rates\u00a0between the richest and poorest children has barely moved in\u00a020\u00a0years.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"42535\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/world-education-blog.org\/2026\/05\/06\/ineffective-financing-is-holding-early-childhood-education-back\/figure-10\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?fit=1754%2C1004&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1754,1004\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FIGURE 3.12 2026 GEM Report\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?fit=1024%2C586&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-42535\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=1754%2C1004&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1754\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?w=1754&amp;ssl=1 1754w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=300%2C172&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=1024%2C586&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=768%2C440&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=1536%2C879&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/world-education-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Figure.png?resize=786%2C450&amp;ssl=1 786w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A public spending gap<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">One\u00a0fundamental obstacle to\u00a0equitable\u00a0early childhood education is underfunding. Only\u00a010 of more than 100\u00a0countries\u00a0with data\u00a0spend at least 1% of GDP on pre-primary education. Among\u00a061 countries with comparable data, median public spending rose from 0.29% to 0.43% of GDP over two decades.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The data do, however, offer a compelling case for investment. Roughly doubling public spending from around 0.25% to 0.5% of GDP is associated with\u00a0approximately tripling\u00a0participation rates in the year before primary school.\u00a0When public provision falls short, families must pay, and those who cannot simply go without\u00a0pre-primary education.\u00a0Few other policy levers offer returns like that.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">With limited funding, targeting financing becomes essential. Alongside expanding infrastructure to improve access, one of the core messages to\u00a0emerge\u00a0from the analysis in the 2026 GEM Report is that\u00a0equitable\u00a0access to education requires\u00a0equitable\u00a0finance. Across-the-board allocations that treat all schools and all families equally will not close\u00a0participation\u00a0gaps. What is needed are redistribution mechanisms that deliberately direct resources toward those who need them most.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Some countries that have made this connection are seeing the results.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unesco.org\/gem-report\/en\/articles\/what-new-equitable-financing-index-efi\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Latin America has some of the best designed equitable finance mechanisms globally<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. No doubt partly\u00a0as a result of\u00a0this, in eight countries, children from the poorest quintile managed to close the participation gap with their wealthier peers between 2000 and 2024.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Targeted\u00a0transfers and\u00a0smart\u00a0incentives<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A closer look at how countries are financing\u00a0equitable\u00a0access reveals a varied toolkit.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Analysis for\u00a0the 2026 GEM Report, which is featured on the PEER website, found that in addition to making it free, countries use three other mechanisms to make pre-primary education more affordable: transfers to institutions serving disadvantaged children (54%) and transfers to families either by the education ministry (26%) or some other ministry, usually social protection (55%).\u00a0 While transfers to institutions are\u00a0mainly aimed\u00a0at assisting children with disabilities (59%), transfers to students and households focus primarily on poverty (92%).<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/28712388\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/28712388\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"chart visualization\" \/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The argument for using cash transfers\u00a0is backed by\u00a0evidence. In rural Karnataka, India, scholarships that covered preschool fees raised participation by 20 percentage points,\u00a0and saw\u00a0cognitive gains persist into primary school. In El Salvador, children exposed to a conditional cash transfer programme from birth to age five or six were 12 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in preschool and 9 percentage points more likely to have completed at least one year. In France, Germany, and Norway, income-indexed fees, tax relief, and cash bonuses have helped bring low-income and immigrant families into the system.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unesco.org\/gem-report\/en\/2026-gem-report-country-case-studies\/lithuania?hub=1074\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Lithuania\u00a0<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">offers a model worth examining more closely. The government funds 20 hours a week of pre-primary education for every child, regardless of which type of institution they attend. Where children attend for longer hours, the\u00a0additional\u00a0cost falls to the institution&#8217;s owner. Since 2020, free lunches have also been provided to all children in pre-primary education, regardless of family income. The result is a system that distributes public support broadly while\u00a0maintaining\u00a0flexibility.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"flourish-embed flourish-chart\" data-src=\"visualisation\/25100728\"><script src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/resources\/embed.js\"><\/script><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25100728\/thumbnail\" width=\"100%\" alt=\"chart visualization\" \/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Some\u00a0other\u00a0promising tools\u00a0remain\u00a0massively underused. Preschool feeding programmes, for example, reach only around 2% of children in low-income countries and 13% in high-income countries. They\u00a0are\u00a0also\u00a0rarely subject to systematic evaluation.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A question about the private sector<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As demand for early childhood education has grown and public provision has struggled to keep pace, private providers have expanded their role. In one\u00a0third of countries, private provision now accounts for more than half of total enrolment.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The challenge is not private provision per se, but the terms on which it\u00a0operates. The GEM Report&#8217;s mapping of country profiles\u00a0on its\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unesco.org\/gem-report\/en\/peer\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">PEER website<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0in 2021\u00a0found that while around 81% of countries offer incentives to non-state actors and 58% subsidize private institutions, regulation often focuses on administrative compliance rather than equity outcomes. Only about half of countries regulate fees charged by private providers, and just 15% regulate profit\u00a0making. Without stronger accountability frameworks, public subsidies for private providers risk expanding access for those who already have it, rather than reaching those who do not.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The picture that\u00a0emerges\u00a0from the 2026 GEM Report is\u00a0that\u00a0countries\u00a0which\u00a0made the political and financial commitment to\u00a0build comprehensive\u00a0early childhood education systems have seen\u00a0real results.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What is needed is coherence. Legislation aligned with financing\u00a0and\u00a0financing aligned with equity goals. Isolated programmes can\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0what is possible. But only systemic, sustained investment\u00a0that is\u00a0directed deliberately toward those who have been left out the longest will make universal, high-quality early childhood education a reality rather than an aspiration.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/share.descript.com\/embed\/9vA4sDjLrYw\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Early childhood education\u00a0is one of the smartest investments a society can make.\u00a0Children who access quality pre-primary education arrive at school better prepared, stay longer and learn more. And yet, for millions of the world&#8217;s youngest learners,\u00a0disproportionately those\u00a0from the\u00a0poorest\u00a0households,\u00a0access\u00a0remains\u00a0out of reach.\u00a0A core\u00a0reason,\u00a0the 2026 GEM Report shows,\u00a0is\u00a0money.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177997448,"featured_media":42543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6267887,1],"tags":[721631934,399725100],"class_list":["post-42524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-early-childhood-care-and-education","category-uncategorized","tag-2026-gem-report","tag-early-childhood-care-and-education-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ineffective financing is holding early childhood education back - World Education Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Early childhood education\u00a0is one of the smartest investments a society can make.\u00a0Children who access quality pre-primary education arrive at school better prepared, stay longer and learn more. 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