Countries cannot afford their SDG 4 benchmarks

Without $97 billion in extra funding per year, low- and lower-middle-income countries will not be able to meet their 2030 national SDG 4 benchmark targets. This is more than 10 times the external resources currently available. New research published by the GEM Report shows that:

There is a need to triple the number of pre-primary teachers in low-income countries and double them in lower-middle income countries by 2030 to achieve national targets, the report says.

Around one third of the gap could be filled if donors fulfilled their aid commitments and prioritized basic education in the poorest countries

The new findings were presented at the education and finance ministers’ high-level panel, which took place on 13 April as part of the World bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. The event focused on raising education spending, while ensuring policy reforms to increase efficiency of the money spent.

Read the whole report here.