What does resilience mean for education? 

Resilience is the buzzword of the moment and a central theme of the Transforming Education Summit +4 Stocktake taking place this week in Paris. In education, resilience has been defined is the capacity of systems to thrive (e.g. maintain progress in access, participation and learning), while adapting to financial, political and environmental challenges, which we will be exploring in the 2028/9 GEM Report.  

A few key findings emerge from the analysis, which should be feeding into any debate about resilience, ensuring that shocks do not further widen education inequalities.  

1. At the regional level, more than half of countries channel education funding through subnational governments, for instance, which is a solid way of evening up opportunities. Yet fewer than half use explicit equity criteria such as poverty levels, remoteness or fiscal capacity when allocating resources. 
2. At the school level, meanwhile, three quarters of countries provide additional support to disadvantaged schools. However, in many countries these transfers represent less than 0.5% of total education expenditure.
3. At the household level, direct financial support to students and households may be widespread, but coverage remains substantially lower in low-income countries than in high-income countries. 

Financing for resilience 

With the financial outlook for education deteriorating, protecting budgets and international support will remain critical. Yet our strong belief is that choices made about how resources are allocated may prove just as important as the total resources available. 

Countries that direct funding towards disadvantaged learners, schools and regions are more likely to sustain participation and learning during periods of disruption. As for those that do not, they risk seeing existing inequalities deepen when shocks occur.