Nearly 40 global leaders gathered at UNESCO this week for the Transforming Education Summit +4, reaffirming their commitment to SDG 4 as they confront a deepening global education financing crisis and work to shape the education agenda beyond 2030.
The Transforming Education Summit +4 (TES+4), held on 10 July at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, brought together UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, South Africa President Cyril Ramophosa, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, nearly 40 ministers, Grammy-nominated recording artist and songwriter Audrey Nuna, youth representatives, and representatives of UN agencies, international and regional development partners, financial institutions, civil society, academia and the private sector.
Resilience in education is about people: empowering teachers, supporting learners, and building systems that can evolve to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Khaled El-EnanyUNESCO Director-General and SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee Co-Chair
Through the twin lenses of resilience and transformation, the TES+4 reviewed progress in key thematic areas: inclusive digital transformation, greening education, the teaching profession, skills development and education in crisis situations. The Summit also restated that sustainable financing underpins resilient education systems while inclusion, equity and gender equality remain at the heart of educational transformation.
Today’s Summit builds on the landmark launch in 2022, and its task is twofold. The first is acceleration: five years remain to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive, equitable, quality education for all – and the pace of the next five years will decide how much of that promise is kept. The second is direction: today’s discussions will help define the global education agenda beyond 2030. Because 2030 is a milestone, not a finish line, and education will remain the foundation for every one of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Amina J. MohammedDeputy Secretary-General, United Nations
Building resilient education systems
The opening plenary on sustainable financing highlighted that resilient education systems require predictable, equitable and long-term investment, in line with the TES Call to Action on Financing Education and the work of the SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee.
Speakers emphasized the need to shift from fragmented, short-term funding to country-led sustainable financing strategies that strengthen domestic resource mobilization, improve efficiency, and expand fiscal space for education through innovative approaches. In this context, particular attention was given to the challenge of debt sustainability – such as debt swaps for education – to protect and increase investment in education in constrained fiscal contexts. The role of development partners and international financial institutions in aligning external financing with national priorities to reinforce resilience and equity was also underscored.
To help countries navigate these challenges, UNESCO has released a Debt and Education package exploring how the global debt crisis is constraining fiscal space and forcing governments to divert resources away from education.
Resilience, financing and the post-2030 agenda are not parallel tracks, they converge on one destination: education systems that anticipate disruption, adapt with equity, and transform with purpose, catalyzing the skills revolution needed for tomorrow’s economies.
Cyril RamaphosaPresident of the Republic of South Africa and SDG 4 High-Level Steering Committee Co-Chair
The session on education in crisis examined how lessons from education in emergencies can help build more resilient education systems.
South Sudan underscored the need to better align international support for teachers, data systems and sustainable financing with efforts to promote to contribute to peace and social cohesion. Ukraine showed how underground schooling and nationwide distance and flexible learning spaces allowed learning continuity the war, while shifting the focus from emergency response to longer-term resilience, digital education and lifelong learning. Libya highlighted how safe schools, strong partnerships and digital transformation can serve as strong pillars to build resilient systems.
Participants agreed on three priority actions:
- Learning remains a beacon of stability and crucial to building sustainable resilience in EiE with teachers at the heart of it.
- Resilience can only be achieved through effective and robust partnerships.
- Resilience is built before a crisis, not during it.
In the session on the teaching profession, participants discussed country-level reforms, as well as global-level milestones achieved since the TES, including the 2024 Recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession and the Santiago Consensus adopted at the 2025 World Summit on Teachers. Cambodia presented reforms aimed at strengthening teacher competence by raising teacher training standards, strengthening pedagogical competence, expanding continuous professional development and developing guidance on the use of AI in teaching. The Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States highlighted efforts to advance regional dialogue to make the teaching profession more attractive across the Gulf States.
Participants agreed on three priority actions:
- Developing and implementing comprehensive teacher policies
- Transforming teacher education from a lifelong perspective
- Taking decisive and immediate action to make the teaching profession more attractive
Discussions on inclusion and gender equality highlighted how countries are embedding equity into education policies, planning and system resilience. Thailand presented flexible learning pathways and proactive mechanisms to identify and support out-of-school learners. Uruguay underlined the importance of dialogue across society, positioning education as a transformative tool for gender equality and social change, while Mauritania highlighted gender equality as central to building resilient education systems and safeguarding progress during crises.
Participants emphasized three priorities:
- Embedding systematically inclusion across education systems
- Strengthening accountability, inclusive participation, and the use of evidence
- Scaling proven solutions through financing, partnerships and political leadership
Transforming the future: Digital, climate and lifelong learning
The session on inclusive digital transformation reaffirmed education as a public good, highlighting the Gateways to Public Digital Learning Initiative’s progress in ensuring that digital and AI technologies advance equity, inclusion and human agency. Egypt, as a lead country of the initiative, shared its experience in developing public digital platforms, while the Philippines announced its decision to join the initiative. Finland emphasized the importance of co-creating digital solutions with learners, teachers and stakeholders. The United Arab Emirates presented the AI-powered NOVA project, showing how AI can transform institutional practices while strengthening responsible governance.
Participants identified three priorities:
- Through the Gateways Initiative, UNESCO, UNICEF and ITU will help countries realize a future where every student, teacher and family can find and access digital learning resources that enlarge educational opportunities.
- Leverage the Gateways Initiative to continue helping countries establish and iteratively improve digital and AI commons for education, in line with the principles in the UNESCO-UNICEF-ITU Charter for Public Digital Learning Platform
- Ensure the digital transformation of education serves to strengthen individual and collective human agency and critical thinking in a digital and AI age.
The session on environmental and climate change education focused on advancing climate-ready systems through the Greening Education Partnership. Leaders from Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Kingdom of Tonga and the Seychelles underscored the urgency of climate and ocean literacy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the need for a whole institution approach and the entire ecosystem to become climate ready. For its part, Uzbekistan shared approaches to greening schools and curricula, stressing that education is one of the most effective means to achieve sustainability.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/en/articles/unesco-unites-global-education-leaders-accelerate-progress-sdg-4-and-shape-education-agenda-beyond?hub=701
