At a time when budgets for international solidarity have been slashed across the globe and crises are undermining access to education for millions of children, the Education Coalition – of which Action Education is a member and a leading organisation – has published «Education: a sacrifice or a strategic priority? France and the global education crisis’ ». Among the key findings of this new Observatory report on French funding allocated to education is that whilst France demonstrates strong ambition by placing education at the heart of its solidarity-based diplomacy, unfortunately, the budgetary reality is struggling to keep pace. Analysis of an alarming assessment that calls for immediate realignment.
In an international context characterised by a proliferation of protracted crises (conflicts, climate-related disasters, economic instability), the right to education is bearing the brunt of massive cuts to budgets allocated to international cooperation. In France, the policies of the government and the Élysée Palace, as set out in numerous strategic documents, speeches and commitments (education is, incidentally, one of the few sectors mentioned in the communiqué from the G7 ministerial meeting under the French presidency) yet seemed clear: to make education one of the ten top priorities of France’s development and international solidarity policy.
However, the verdict of the new report published by the Education Coalition, of which Action Education is a member and lead organisation, is unequivocal. Behind this high-level political backing lies a bleaker reality: the budgets are not keeping pace. French official development assistance (ODA) for education suffers from major structural imbalances and a glaring lack of alignment with the actual needs on the ground.
An illusory increase in the accounts
One of the key findings of the Observatory – a point that the Education Coalition has been highlighting for nearly a decade – lies in the breakdown of the overall figures for French aid. Whilst the figures shown for the education sector appear to be rising overall on paper, a detailed analysis reveals that this funding includes expenditure that does nothing to strengthen the education systems of the least developed partner countries.
In particular, the Observatory highlights the systematic inclusion within the international solidarity budget of funds allocated to education:
- Tuition fees and scholarships awarded in France, which do not primarily benefit students from the least developed countries (LDCs); ;
- On the funding of networks of French secondary schools abroad; ;
- Internal expenditure, such as the budget allocated to the education system in Wallis and Futuna.
The Education Coalition urges that these expenditure items be excluded from the solidarity calculations, as they obscure the actual effort being made to develop school infrastructure and train teachers where the needs are most pressing.
Basic education: the figures don’t add up
The education of basic education (comprising one year of pre-primary education, primary education and lower secondary education), which is considered essential as it enables children to acquire fundamental knowledge from a very young age, receives only 18,9 % direct funding from France earmarked for education, which is therefore a far cry from 50 % recommended by experts and civil society to ensure a real impact.
When considering the total budgets allocated by France to international solidarity (across all sectors), basic education receives only 2,9 % bilateral funding in 2023.
In this context, pre-primary education, although essential, remains the poor relation as it receives less than 2 % in funding, a level that is incompatible with the stated priorities regarding early childhood.
The continuing neglect of the least developed countries
Sub-Saharan Africa and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are disproportionately affected by the combined effects of poverty and conflict. Yet it is in these regions that the largest number of out-of-school children are concentrated. According to the Observatory,
- Less than 20 % of sectoral aid for education is channelled to LDCs.
- Only 23 % is earmarked for sub-Saharan Africa.
This finding stands in direct contradiction to France’s stated policy objectives, which normally provide for 60 % of the budget earmarked for international solidarity to be allocated to LDCs. By turning its back on the most vulnerable contexts, French diplomacy is undermining progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), which aims to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.
Education in emergencies: the poor relation of the budget
It is estimated that the number of school-age children living in crisis zones and in need of urgent educational support has now risen to more than 230 million worldwide. In the face of this “silent crisis”, France’s humanitarian response remains dramatically underfunded.
The Observatory reveals that humanitarian funding for education has plateaued between 5 and 6 % of the total budget. This level of involvement falls well short of the recommended European target of 10 %. Whether it is a question of taking in refugee children, rebuilding schools after disasters or providing psychosocial support in conflict zones, the figures simply do not add up.
Gender, inclusion and climate: priorities that have been sidelined
Beyond the financial figures, the Observatory assesses the quality of aid using cross-cutting indicators, notably gender equality, inclusion and climate action – three areas that France considers essential and a priority. Yet, here too, the results are disappointing.
Only 6.4 % of French funding has reached «level 2» of the gender marker, which means that gender equality is rarely the primary objective of the projects funded. Whilst girls remain the first to be excluded from the education system during crises, the absence of a genuine cross-cutting feminist approach considerably limits the sustainable impact of the development policies implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD).
Whilst children with disabilities are the most vulnerable to exclusion and academic failure, nearly 95 % educational projects those funded by France completely ignore the issue of disability (no disability indicator) and alone 0.1 % of silver is specifically dedicated to the inclusion of children and young people with disabilities.
As far as the climate is concerned, the picture is hardly any more positive. Even though education plays a key role in adapting to climate change, the resilience of education systems and raising awareness among children and young people of environmental issues, more than half of the funding (56.4 %) go towards projects which have absolutely no environmental objectives.
For an immediate realignment from 2026 onwards
" International cooperation is now being called into question and budgets are being slashed on a massive scale; according to the latest OECD figures, the decline amounts to –23% for 2025. Against this backdrop, the report published by the Education Coalition serves as a much-needed wake-up call: education can no longer be content with merely being a priority in public discourse », insists Gilles Delecourt, Chief Executive of Action Education. « Without predictable, sustainable financial resources that are rigorously targeted at areas of vulnerability, France’s promises will remain unfulfilled; millions of children are deprived of any opportunity to go to school, to learn and to build a life for themselves. It is time for the budget to match the commitment and for France to keep its word.. "
In the face of these budgetary trade-offs, which are out of step with political ambitions, Action Education joins forces with the Education Coalition to call on the French government to make a profound and immediate strategic shift in order to:
- Ensuring budgetary transparency and integrity: to exclude from ODA for education expenditure that does not directly relate to international solidarity (domestic school fees, French secondary schools abroad).
- Refocusing international cooperation on priority geographical areas: realign budgets so that the LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa receive the lion’s share of concessional funding.
- A return to multilateralism: to fully honour France’s financial commitments to major global funds, such as the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Can Wait (ECW), by restoring France’s contribution from the 2026 financial year onwards.
- Actively supporting local civil society: to provide direct funding to local organisations on the ground in order to jointly develop robust, free public education policies, whilst remaining extremely vigilant regarding the risks of the commodification of education posed by certain public-private partnerships.
