Education has a powerful role to play in achieving gender equality and in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet unequal access to education, gender bias, stereotypes and gender-based discrimination remain in society, within the family and in education systems. Low awareness about gender equality, inadequate resources and infrastructure to ensure safe and enabling learning environments, insufficient policy, legal and planning frameworks, as well as lack of investments in gender equality, have created barriers to the achievement of gender equality in and through education. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these inequalities and vulnerabilities, resulting in women being disproportionately affected by the impact as they juggle caring for children and elderly relatives with other household duties, all while working from home. This policy brief aims to highlight the main challenges that Central Asia faces in achieving gender equality in and through education in terms of access, quality, governance and financing, as well as the relevant policy interventions that could be taken to ensure a transformative agenda.