UNESCO says 258 million children face crisis-related education disruption worldwide

UNESCO reported on July 2 that 258 million school-aged children and adolescents worldwide are facing disruptions to their education because of crises, according to a new report from Education Cannot Wait. The estimate is up from 234 million in 2025. The report also said 93 million children and adolescents are currently out of school.

The figures describe a global education emergency spanning multiple types of crisis. UNESCO linked interruptions to conflict, displacement, climate-related disasters and other emergencies. They are not a count attributable to one war, disaster or country, and the increase does not mean that 24 million newly displaced children have been identified.

A larger population facing interrupted schooling

The change from 234 million affected children in 2025 to 258 million in the new estimate represents a broader reported total of school-aged children and adolescents whose education is being disrupted by crises. It should be read as a year-to-year change in the estimate, not as a finding that every child in the increase entered the crisis at the same time.

The 258 million figure also differs from the report’s measure of children who are currently out of school. The latter number is 93 million. In other words, the reported population facing education disruption includes children and adolescents whose schooling is being interrupted in crisis conditions, while the out-of-school figure identifies a smaller group described as currently outside school.

Because the available announcement combines several crisis types, it does not provide a country-by-country breakdown or explain the full methodology behind the estimate. The figures therefore show the scale of the worldwide problem without identifying how much of the total is associated with conflict, displacement, climate-related disasters or other emergencies.

Why education is part of the humanitarian response

UNESCO said schools in crisis settings do more than deliver lessons. They can also provide safety, stability and psychosocial support. When children cannot reach school or schooling is interrupted, the disruption affects access to those functions as well as access to formal education.

That framing makes education access a humanitarian concern as well as a social-policy issue. The report’s estimate covers children and adolescents affected by crises worldwide, including those living through or responding to conditions that can interrupt normal schooling. The number of children currently out of school underscores that the disruption is not only a question of whether classes are temporarily altered; for millions, the reported result is exclusion from school at the time of the assessment.

UNESCO’s broader education news coverage in July continued to list work related to crisis education, youth leadership and inclusive education. That page provides institutional context for UNESCO’s ongoing education and youth efforts, but it does not independently reproduce the 258-million estimate.

What is known next

The July 2 announcement identifies the new Education Cannot Wait report and its headline estimates, but the available source material does not set a country-specific response, implementation deadline or next reporting date. It also does not establish that all 258 million affected children are permanently out of school.

What the figures establish is the scale of the challenge: a reported 258 million school-aged children and adolescents are facing crisis-related education disruption, and 93 million are currently out of school. Any assessment of where resources or interventions are most needed will require the detailed country and crisis breakdown that is not included in the available announcement.