A civil society organisation (CSO), Adda Girl Education Foundation, has called for sustainable financing of education, urging governments to allocate at least 20 per cent of national budgets to the sector.

The organisation also advocated allocating up to six per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to education, alongside pursuing tax justice and debt relief to address the learning crisis.

The programme manager of the organisation, Samira Galadima, who represented Nigeria, made this known in a statement made in Abuja.

Ms Galadima spoke at the drafting and launch of the Nairobi Charter on Transforming Education Financing in Nairobi, Kenya, to commemorate the 2026 Global Action Week on Education.

“Education financing must be based on what quality requires, rather than being constrained by models that limit African children’s right to access quality education,” she said.

She recalled that the ‘Incheon Declaration’ and the ‘Education 2030 Framework for Action’ committed governments to allocating between 15 and 20 per cent of national budgets and four to six per cent of GDP to education.

“The declaration also affirmed that lower-income countries with significant gaps in equity and quality need to reach or exceed 20 per cent of national budgets and/or six per cent of GDP,” she said.

Ms Galadima stressed that education spending should be calculated and reported before debt servicing to reflect the true impact of debt burdens on the sector.

The organisation further called for increased public resources through progressive, gender-responsive tax reforms, including ending harmful tax incentives, reforming taxation in the extractive sector, and closing loopholes that enable tax avoidance and evasion.

She cited evidence from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), indicating that lower-income countries could raise tax-to-GDP ratios by at least five percentage points by 2030, potentially doubling education budgets and boosting spending on health and other public services.

Ms Galadima also called for the rejection of austerity measures, including policies that freeze or cut public sector wage bills, noting their adverse impact on the teaching profession.

She opposed the privatisation of education and ineffective public-private partnerships, urging governments to prioritise funding for teacher salaries, inclusion, equity, and infrastructure development.

On debt, the organisation demanded debt relief and cancellation where obligations constrain education financing.

It noted that countries spending more on debt servicing than on education should be granted accelerated access to debt restructuring mechanisms.

The organisation also advocated a fair and transparent global debt architecture, including negotiations towards a United Nations Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt.

Ms Galadima further called for progress on reparations for the Transatlantic Slave Trade and compensation for climate-related damages.

“These are debts owed by the Global North to Africa that far exceed Africa’s external debts,” she said.

She emphasised that education financing must reduce inequality through equitable teacher deployment, gender-responsive infrastructure, and targeted support for rural and marginalised communities.

Ms Galadima urged international actors to support a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation by 2027, curb illicit financial flows, and ensure that 20 per cent of development aid is allocated to education, as agreed at the Transforming Education Summit.

“We call for full budget and spending transparency from governments. Scrutiny is essential to ensure resources reach those most in need and are used effectively,” she said.

She added that the organisation rejected the donor focus on foundational learning and the concept of “learning poverty”.

However, she advocated the adoption of rights-based costing approaches, such as the Cost of Quality Education per Student (CAQi), currently being piloted in some countries.

“We demand that governments and stakeholders committed to the right to education increase overall budget sizes, as well as the share allocated to education, while ensuring equity and accountability in spending,” she said.

 (NAN)