UK slashes global education fund pledge to £100m — a 77% cut
Development minister Kirsty McNeill pledged £100 million to the Global Partnership for Education's 2026–2030 replenishment — down 77% from the UK's £430 million commitment in 2021, as the fund raised a 'disappointing' $2.1bn against a $5bn target.
The UK will pledge £100 million to the Global Partnership for Education’s 2026–2030 replenishment, development minister Kirsty McNeill announced on 23 September — a 77% reduction on the £430 million Britain committed in 2021.
The National Education Union, which published details of the announcement, called the cut “shocking” and “devastating”, noting the UK has been GPE’s largest bilateral donor to date and a founding partner. NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede and Education International secretary David Edwards have written to McNeill urging her to urgently reconsider the pledge.
The announcement came at a replenishment event that raised a “disappointing” $2.1 billion against the $5 billion the fund had hoped to secure to support 750 million children’s education through 2030, Devex reported. Norway was among the major donors notably absent from the pledging event.
Send My Friend to School, the UK’s global education coalition, said the pledge “falls devastatingly short”, adding that it follows the end of essentially all UK bilateral aid to education. Global aid resources to education were already projected to fall 30% between 2023 and 2027, the NEU said, warning that the global out-of-school population is expected to keep rising.
Sources
- National Education Union: https://neu.org.uk/latest/news/neu-condemns-shocking-reductions-uks-support-global-partnership-education
- Devex: https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/global-education-fund-s-replenishment-raises-disappointing-amount-113422
- Send My Friend to School: https://sendmyfriend.org/2026/09/smf-statement-on-the-uk-pledge-announcement-to-the-global-partnership-for-education-2026-2030-replenishment/
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