UNESCO GEM Report

In June 2025, UNESCO released its Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024–25, highlighting enduring gender disparities in learning outcomes and educational leadership across the world, with concerning trends in countries like India, Pakistan, and Balochistan.

Key Points

Reading Proficiency Gap: Globally, for every 100 girls achieving minimum reading proficiency, only 87 boys do. In middle-income countries, the ratio drops to 72 boys per 100 girls.
Math Setbacks Post-Covid: Although gender parity in mathematics had held steady for two decades, recent data show girls in countries like Brazil, England, and New Zealand have experienced pandemic-related performance setbacks.
Leadership Imbalance in India: Women held only 5% of vice-chancellor or director positions across 189 Indian national institutions in 2021.
Better Representation in Vietnam: Vietnam fared better, with women holding 28% of university leadership roles in 2019, though just 8% served as rectors or presidents.