UNESCO’s 2026 GEM Report focuses on access and equity in education.
“A set of 35 country case studies drawn from rich data illustrates what happens when an international agenda meets national realities. The stories, supplemented by further research insights, show that change in education takes time; no single reform will address educational exclusion. Following the optimism of the 2000s, after fiscal restrictions had been lifted allowing many countries to invest in public education, the harder work of keeping students in school and dismantling the many constraints facing them has required more sophisticated action, often beyond education.”
Some statistics on inclusive education:
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24% of countries now have inclusive education laws (up from 1% in 2000).
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As of 2025, 56% of countries have policies for inclusive education.
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29% of countries explicitly mandate that children with disabilities must be taught in inclusive settings, while the share of countries whose legislation permits segregation has fallen to 9%.
- Fewer than 1 in 10 countries have a strong equity focus in their education financing systems.
Read more information about the ‘Equitable Funding Index’ a tool presented in the 2026 GEM Report to assess the equity orientation of countries’ education systems.