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UCL and UNESCO partner to tackle global inequalities in education

15 April 2026

UCL joins UNESCO to tackle the global ‘learning crisis’ by expanding a global initiative that puts happiness and wellbeing at the centre of education policy and practice.

Paris delegation
Image description: UCL delegation at the cooperation agreement ceremony in Paris on 14 April 2026.


With global inequalities in education remaining stark, the two institutions will work together to expand UNESCO’s Global Happy Schools Initiative. Originally set up in 2015 in UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific region in response to increasing student disengagement, an overemphasis on high-stakes exams and teacher burnout, the Happy Schools concept became a global movement in 2024 with the publication of UNESCO’s global Happy Schools report. Grounded in the science of learning, the initiative promotes student and teacher wellbeing, active pedagogies and positive school climate for improving learning, teaching and overall system resilience.

Professor Geraint Rees, UCL’s Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), Professor Lauren Andres and Dr Victoria Austin, UCL’s Pro-Vice-Provosts (Inequalities) and Borhene Chakroun, Director of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO, launched the formal cooperation agreement at a ceremony in Paris on 14 April 2026.

Despite numerous legal instruments to protect young people’s right to education, access remains unequal due to financial, geographic, and social barriers.

UNESCO estimates that 273 million children and young people worldwide were out of school in 2024, while the World Bank reports that 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries are unable to read and understand a simple text.

Vulnerable populations, such as children with disabilities and those living in remote or conflict-affected areas, face even greater challenges in accessing quality education.

Children with disabilities are less likely to access schooling, and refugee children face some of the highest barriers of all, with more than half currently out of education.

In the UK, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds or with additional needs are significantly more likely to miss large amounts of school, highlighting how access to education is closely tied to children’s wider wellbeing and social inclusion.

UNESCO’s Happy Schools movement aims to transform schools in response to the twin crises of equity and relevance, as well as the growing crisis in student wellbeing. It supports the creation of community hubs that foster learning, health, wellbeing and everyday joy for everyone in the school community.

This topic resonates strongly with two of UCL’s interdisciplinary Grand Challenges themes, tackling structural inequality and advancing mental health and wellbeing, particularly given that schools are where these issues come together most powerfully.

The two organisations will work together across a range of activities, including placing UCL student interns at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, conducting action research of mutual interest, and building communities of practice through joint networking. The work framed within the Global Happy Schools Initiative will include launching a new collaboration in Lebanon with Jusoor, which means "bridges" in Arabic, an international NGO with the mission of “Maximising the potential of Syrian youth through education”. Since 2011, Jusoor has been bridging the opportunity gap for war- and displacement-affected children living in informal tented settlements, from early childhood through to their early careers.

UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), Professor Geraint Rees, said: “We welcome this important collaboration with UNESCO, which reflects a shared commitment to generating new evidence on what happy, healthy school environments look like in practice. By working together to develop and share this knowledge across global policy and practice networks, the partnership will help support meaningful, transformational change in education.”

Borhene Chakroun, Director of the Division of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO said: “UNESCO is delighted to join hands with UCL to advance the Happy Schools initiative. This partnership reflects our shared conviction that happiness and wellbeing are not “add-ons” but essential enablers of learning. A child who feels safe, recognised, and supported is not only ready to learn but also prepared to continue learning throughout life. Together, we can ensure that when schools thrive, students are empowered and whole communities thrive.”

Previous research led jointly by Professor Lauren Andres, UCL Pro‑Vice‑Provost (Inequalities) and the UNESCO Global Happy Schools team has shown how Happy Schools principles can be applied to learning and community hubs across diverse settings, from schools in informal tented settlements or townships, to adventure playgrounds and streets used as community spaces.

Professor Andres and Dr Austin, UCL Pro‑Vice‑Provosts (Inequalities), described how the new initiative showcases the important role universities can play in driving real‑world impact: “We are living in a world where millions of children are denied the basic right to a quality education and where inequality is deepening. Schools are not just places of learning. They are places where children eat, play, form friendships, and find safety. They are where parents and carers connect with their community, where health workers reach families, and where hope takes root. When schools thrive, whole communities thrive.

“This partnership reflects our shared conviction that happiness and fairness are not separate ambitions. They are inseparable. A child who feels safe, seen, and supported learns better. A school that centres joy and belonging is also a school that centres equity. At UCL we believe real change only happens when we work together with the people most affected to redesign the systems around them. The Happy Schools Initiative embodies exactly this spirit.”

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