Vatican newspaper laments international ‘education emergency’
September 05, 2025
The Vatican newspaper decried the international decline in the number of children attending school, linking the decrease to cuts in international aid.
In “Emergenza istruzione“ [Education emergency], the most prominent front-page article in its September 4 edition, the newspaper reported that “approximately 6 million more children will be out of school by the end of 2026, due to drastic cuts in global education funding.”
Roberto Paglialonga wrote that “the future begins today, not tomorrow, they say, in a quote also attributed to Saint John Paul II. Yet, for many boys and girls, it may never begin. Because they are deprived of one of the most precious human goods: the opportunity to learn, understand, build relationships with teachers, peers, and friends, and embrace the destiny to which each of us feels called.”
Citing a new report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Paglialonga said that “official development assistance for education is projected to decrease by US$3.2 billion, a 24% drop compared to 2023, with nearly 80% of the cuts being caused by just three donor governments.”
“West and Central Africa will suffer the greatest impact, with 1.9 million children at risk, while the Middle East and North Africa could see an increase of 1.4 million out-of-school children,” he continued. “Approximately 350,000 Rohingya children risk permanently losing access to basic education.”
Paglialonga concluded:
Every dollar taken away from this sector—as UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warns—“is not just a budgetary decision: it puts a child’s future at risk.” And therefore, society’s. Thus eliminating any possibility of “educating the human heart” and introducing it to “total reality,” as the priest and educator Father Luigi Giussani maintained.
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Further information:
- Emergenza istruzione (L'Osservatore Romano, 9/4/25)
- Global funding cuts could force 6 million more children out of school in the coming year – UNICEF (UNICEF)
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