The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in its 2025 report, highlighted that since the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the world has made remarkable progress toward achieving gender equality in education.However, the report also underscores a pressing concern 133 million girls worldwide are still out of school, indicating that equal access to education remains an unfinished global goal.
Key Findings
¨ Over three decades, global female education has improved substantially, with women’s enrolment in higher education tripling from 41 million to 139 million, marking a historic shift toward equality.
¨ Despite women forming the majority of teachers, they occupy only 30% of educational leadership roles, revealing deep-rooted structural barriers.
Regional disparities persist
¨ Central and Southern Asia have reached near parity, but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to face severe inequality.
¨ In Oceania, girls’ enrolment lags behind boys, while Latin America now sees more girls completing secondary schooling than boys.Socio-economic factors like poverty and rural isolation, particularly in countries such as Guinea and Mali, remain major obstacles.
¨ Only two-thirds of countries mandate sexuality education at the primary level and three-quarters at the secondary level.
Key Recommendations by UNESCO
¨ It urges governments to adopt gender-transformative curricula and promote women’s leadership in education.
¨ It calls for expanding access to comprehensive sexuality education and strengthening protections against school-related violence.
¨ Invest in data to monitor progress and ensure accountability.
