More than 500 million children around the world are in urgent need of education, according to reports from various international organizations. This issue was a central topic at the recent United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders gathered to address global challenges. In a packed sixth-grade classroom in Sudan, a teacher struggled to teach 120 children, including an 18-year-old girl named Amina, who had been displaced by conflict, forced into marriage, and now is a mother. Despite her hardships, Amina remains committed to completing her education. Maysa Jalbout, director of Education Can't Wait, visited the school and described the extreme conditions: temperatures reached 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), with no access to water or electricity. The classroom was so small that hundreds of children waiting outside had to be turned away, and they urged visitors to advocate for more schools. Gordon Brown, former British prime minister and current U.N. special envoy for global education, highlighted that 273 million children are not attending school, while another 270 million are in school but not learning basic skills like reading, writing, or arithmetic by age 11. Many of these children live in regions affected by war or climate change. Brown emphasized the need for a global commitment to ensure all children, regardless of where they live, have access to education and the opportunity to reach their full potential. At the U.N. meeting, some progress was made. The Global Partnership for Education announced that $3.5 billion had been raised from governments, private donors, and development finance institutions to support education systems in over 90 low-income countries. This funding aims to improve the quality of learning and ensure more children can access education. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who co-hosted the campaign, said the funding helps "dynamic and youthful nations like Nigeria" to remove barriers preventing children—especially girls—from attending school and reaching their potential. Education Cannot Wait, the organization led by Jalbout, focuses on the 258 million school-age children affected by crises such as war and natural disasters. Recently, the organization announced a $3 million emergency investment to support children in Gaza and the West Bank, helping up to 13,000 of the most vulnerable children, including those with disabilities and those who have lost their families. Jalbout stressed that for children who have survived war, lost limbs, or lost their families, education is essential to rebuilding their future. In Gaza, 660,000 children remain out of school, and over 70,000 have no access to preschool. Elsewhere, the organization has also provided aid to children in Nepal affected by recent floods and in Sudan, where 8 million children are still out of school despite recent funding efforts.