UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024–25

Syllabus: Education

Source:  NDTV

Context: The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024–25 highlights that India continues to struggle with poor learning outcomes despite near-universal school enrolment.

Key Findings of UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024–25:

1. Near-Universal Enrolment but Poor Learning Outcomes (India): Despite >95% primary school enrolment, India struggles with foundational literacy and numeracy gaps

E.g., ASER 2023 shows only 43% of Class 3 students can read a Class 2-level text.

1. Global Gender Disparity in Reading Proficiency: Globally, only 87 boys per 100 girls achieve minimum reading proficiency. In middle-income countries, it drops to 72 boys per 100 girls.
2. Post-Pandemic Gender Reversal in Math Proficiency: While gender parity was improving, COVID-19 reversed gains—girls now underperform in math in countries like Brazil, UK, and Italy.
3. Women Dominate Teaching but Lag in Leadership (India): In India, 60% of elementary teachers are women, but only 13% of vice-chancellors in central universities were women as of 2022.
4. Inadequate Leadership Training: Many Indian states lack formal principal training despite NEP 2020’s provision of 50 hours of annual professional development.
5. Global Gaps in Leadership Accountability: Less than 50% of surveyed countries require headteachers to undergo leadership preparation before appointment.
6. Correlation Between Female Leadership and Better Learning Outcomes: In some African countries, female-led schools showed up to 1 additional year of learning gain over male-led ones.
7. Decentralized Leadership Builds Trust: Case studies (e.g., Delhi’s pilot on middle leadership) show teacher trust improves with effective mentorship and distributed leadership.

Positive Trends in Education:

• Female Teaching Workforce Rising (India): Over 60% female representation in elementary schools enhances gender-sensitive learning environments.
• Policy Commitment via NEP 2020: NEP mandates structured training for school leaders, indicating recognition of leadership’s role in outcomes.
• Evidence-Based Global Monitoring: UNESCO’s expanded global dataset helps identify performance gaps in literacy, gender, and governance.
• Success of Peer-Mentorship Models: Middle leadership initiatives in Delhi boosted professional culture and collaboration among teachers.
• Global Dialogue on School Leadership: Over 100+ countries participated in leadership surveys—highlighting the rising global priority on education governance.

Negative Trends in Education:

• Learning Crisis Despite Enrolment Gains: High enrolment has not translated into learning—India’s NAS 2021 showed only 25% proficiency in math at Class 8.
• Gender Inequity in Leadership: Women remain underrepresented in top roles—only 19% of global education ministers are women.
• Digital Divide Post-Pandemic: Prolonged school closures hit girls harder, especially in developing countries with poor digital access.
• Inconsistent Implementation of Reforms: NEP’s training goals remain uneven—few states ensure full compliance with the 50-hour leadership training rule.
• Opaque Selection and Promotion: Many education systems—including India’s—lack transparency and merit-based recruitment for leadership posts.

Way Forward:

• Strengthen Leadership Pipelines: Institutionalize mandatory leadership certification programs for principals and school heads.
• Promote Women in Senior Roles: Launch targeted leadership acceleration programs for women in education administration.
• Improve Learning Metrics: Shift from enrolment-centric monitoring to robust measurement of learning outcomes through tools like NAS and ASER.
• Integrate Leadership into Teacher Training: Develop leadership modules within pre-service and in-service teacher education curriculums.
• Invest in Localized Mentorship Models: Scale up successful decentralized leadership models (e.g., Delhi middle leader pilot) across states.

Conclusion:

The UNESCO GEM Report 2024–25 reveals that systemic leadership gaps and gender inequities continue to affect learning outcomes despite strong enrolment numbers. Bridging the gap between policy and implementation remains critical for building equitable, high-performing education systems.

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