Over the last 12 months, a total of nearly one million young people have now spoken out on the learning crisis and how they think governments should be responding, through UNICEF’s global U-Report poll.
The second ever U-Report poll on learning, which ran from April to July 2023, gathered the views, concerns, and ideas of more than 450,000 young people.
It builds on the findings of the first U-Report poll on learning, with more than 440,000 participants, which was released in September 2022.
For the second year in a row, young people have again sounded the alarm on the learning crisis, which is the failure of education systems to ensure students learn the basics of reading and mathematics, on which all future learning is built. Latest estimates show that nearly two-thirds of ten-year-olds globally cannot read and understand a simple story.
Quality education is essential to help every child reach their full potential and shape a better future for themselves and their communities.
Children and youth play a pivotal role in demanding action from political and other leaders, to prevent the learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe.
This is what they said.
U-Reporters do not think their governments are doing enough to address the learning crisis.
This was highest in Latin America and the Caribbean where up to 45 per cent of respondents believe that their government is not doing enough, followed by 40 per cent of in the Middle East and North Africa, and 39 per cent in West and Central Africa. The response was also highest for non-binary U-Reporters, with over 50 per cent feeling like their governments are failing.
In fact, four-in-five U-Reporters believe that the learning crisis will negatively impact the future of their country. Alarmingly, 92 per cent of respondents from North America reported being concerned about their futures.
This was reflected in their experiences of schooling. More than half of U-Reporters felt that they were not always learning in school. The situation was most dire for respondents in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where a startling 92 per cent of young people reported that they were not always learning in school, and in the Middle East and North Africa where 75 per cent reported the same. The findings were also significantly higher for non-binary young people, with 76 per cent reporting they were not always learning.
More than 25 per cent of U-Reporters also reported that they did not receive enough help at school for basic skills like reading and mathematics to continue their learning and get a job after graduating. A notable proportion (52 per cent) of young people from the Middle East and North Africa reported that they felt they did not get sufficient support, which was much higher than in other regions and over twice the average of 25 per cent.
The poll also explored what government actions young people felt were the most urgent to address the learning crisis. U-Reporters identified education financing, supporting teachers, and reaching out-of-school children as the most important actions. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia and North America, the majority of respondents saw education financing as the key priority. Most respondents in South Asia prioritized supporting teachers, while in Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and Pacific, most emphasized on reaching out-of-school children.
Children and young people also shared the one thing that they would like their education minister to know about.
Up next
The poll results will be used to support UNICEF’s advocacy with high-level decision makers around the United Nations General Assembly and SDG Summit in September 2023. Coming 12 months after the Transforming Education Summit (TES), this is a critical chance to hold governments to account for commitments made to address the learning crisis and to demand more political action.
With partners, UNICEF is renewing calls for countries to take action on the learning crisis and invest more in foundational learning by endorsing the the joint agency Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning to:
1. Half the rate of learning poverty by 2030;
2. Work immediately to:
- Enroll all children and keep them in school;
- Increase access to remedial and catch-up learning and teach children at their current learning levels;
- Support teachers, giving them the tools, they need; and
3. Support the health, nutrition and psycho-social well-being of every teacher and child.
4. Close the educational resource gap to advance foundational learning.
Learn more about UNICEF's global advocacy on the learning crisis.
Young people, your voice matters! Join UNICEF’s U-Report platform by sending the word JOIN to U-Report Global channels on:
