A new report from Theirworld highlights an increase in funding for preschool education, but warns that cuts in donor aid, political shifts, and ongoing conflicts could undo this progress.
The 2025 edition of the Act For Early Years donor scorecard shows that international investment in pre-primary education has more than doubled over the past five years, reaching $250 million. However, early education still receives only 1.2% of total global education aid, far below the 10% target set by Theirworld and UNICEF.
While the growth in funding is promising, the report emphasizes that these numbers reflect data only up to 2023. The figures do not account for the impacts of recent conflicts, policy changes, and reductions in donor aid throughout 2024 and early 2025, all of which threaten to reverse the progress made.
“Without sustained efforts to prioritize early years investments, the gains made could easily be lost amidst other pressing challenges,” said Asma Zubairi and Pauline Rose, authors of the report from the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge.
