Launch of DFID Education Strategy: ‘Learning for All’

Learning for All

03 March 2010

Speech by Douglas Alexander Secretary of State for International Development at the launch of DFID Education Strategy, DFID, London.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Department for International Development. I’d like to thank Nick for that kind introduction.

Bill Clinton, with whom I’ve previously shared this very stage, once said it was his policy only to be introduced to the stage by people he had previously given a job to. That way he was always assured a warm introduction.

After Nick’s warm words I think I might extend that policy – and only be introduced in future by members of my own staff.

I want to thank all of you for coming here this afternoon for the launch of our new Education Strategy – ‘Learning for All’.

And I want to particularly thank those of you who contributed to our consultation on this strategy. We had more than 2,000 visitors to our consultation website, and over one hundred written contributions I’m proud to say from more than 90 countries around the world.

Our consultation events in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda were well attended, and I’d like to say a particular thanks to the Global Campaign for Education and the UK Forum for Education and Training for hosting our main consultation meetings in the UK.

It seems like a long time since we launched that consultation exercise last August, and it’s good to be here now with the fruits of our collective labours – the strategy itself.

This is our contribution to a global effort that simply could not be more important. The power of education is universally understood. It’s often said that while talent is equally distributed around the world, opportunity is not. Education provides the key to unlocking the potential within each of and every individual.

Progress and challenge

That was a truth recognised by the world leaders who gathered in New York at the turn of the Millennium – and that is why they made universal primary education one of those eight Millennium Development Goals.

And while we are sadly not today on track to get every child into school by 2015, we can and should take heart from the progress that has been made over the past decade.

47 million more children are in primary school.

The number of children out of school has fallen from 103 million to 72 million.

The proportion of girls out of school has fallen – from 58 per cent to 54 per cent.

This is real progress that has changed some lives forever. It did not happen by accident, but thanks to the hard work and dedication people right around the world – including of course, of all of you here today.

And it happened because both developing countries and donor governments have made education a priority and been willing to make the investment – of time, of people and yes of resources – to deliver those results.

The UK Government is proud of the role that we have played in securing the progress made so far. We are one of the largest donors to basic education in low income countries – a responsibility we take seriously. But at the same time, we are anything but complacent. We recognise the challenge of providing an education for all is far from being met.

An investment in the future

We are now, I believe, at a critical point in our global, collective effort to provide a quality, basic education for all the world’s children.

We can look back over the road we have travelled in the past decade and see the huge gains we have made. Yet as we look ahead, we find the path has narrowed, and steepened.

Many of the 72 million children who remain excluded from any education at all are by definition some of the ‘hardest to reach’. They include children living in rural areas, children with disabilities, children who live in fragile and conflict-affected states – and of course girls from all walks of life.

It will now be increasingly tough to get each additional child into school. To do so we will need a renewed effort from right across the development partnership of national governments and donors, international organisations, the private sector, civil society and also faith groups.

Yet just as we need this greater effort, we find ourselves working in a suddenly much tougher and less benign environment.

The global financial crisis has had an impact at every level – from the families forced to pull their children out of school because they need them to work, to the decision by Ghana to freeze teacher recruitment, or by Pakistan to cut funding for early childhood education.

The growing crisis of climate change is also affecting schooling already – as girls have to walk further to collect water, they are unable to go to school. In regions of Cote d’Ivoire experiencing greater changes in the weather, school enrolment rates have fallen by one fifth.

And the persistence of conflict continues to keep children out of school. About 40 million ‘out of school’ children live in fragile and conflict-affected countries.

Some will argue – both in developing and developed countries – that given such urgent pressures, we cannot afford to invest in education for all. I believe that such investment will be vital for assuring our common prosperity, our common security and indeed our sustainability.

A global economy needs the knowledge and skills which can only come from a solid base of education. Now is not the time to undercut our investment in the future health of the global economy – but to strengthen it.

Education will play a vital role in understanding and addressing climate change. From the scientists required to track changing patterns, to the engineers and agricultural specialists that will be needed to help communities to respond to their changing environments.

And in fragile and conflict affected states, education can help reduce tension, promote peace and rebuild lives and communities. A World Bank study on civil wars since 1960 concluded that a country which has 10 per cent more of its youth in schools significantly cuts its risk of future conflict.

So even in our changing world, the imperative to provide education for all is unchanged – indeed it is, if anything, even more clear in light of this evidence.

This is the context in which we launch our strategy today. A context of a tough challenge, in a tougher environment.

A quality, basic education for all

The vision that lies behind our strategy is one of unwavering focus on a ‘quality, basic education for all’. We are maintaining our determination to put education at the heart of what we do – and we will maintain our commitment to invest at least £8.5 billion in education to 2015.

But in order to reach the children who are still denied an education, we will increasingly work in different places. So while our first priority in our strategy is to support access to a basic cycle of primary and lower secondary education, we will also invest more in fragile and conflict affected states – indeed as much as half of our bilateral programme.

Secondly, we will do more to help ensure quality of teaching and learning, particularly for basic literacy and basic numeracy. Because alongside the 72 million children denied any form of education, there are many more millions of children – perhaps as many as 300 million in total – who, even if they are enrolled in school are struggling still to master basic reading, writing and arithmetic. Because we know that it is the quality of learning – more so than the number of years a child spends in school – that ultimately matters.

Third, we will provide greater support to helping develop skills so that young people benefit from opportunities, jobs and growth. Because education has the power to kick-start a virtuous circle of increased prosperity and better health.

Our strategy will also set out our efforts to increase learning for girls – so important not only as a goal in itself, but because, as we know, mothers who have had education themselves are more likely to have healthy, educated children in the future. That is why we will ensure that in the countries where we work, girls will have the opportunity to stay in school to at least junior secondary level.

Our investment, I believe will achieve real results - through our direct support alone, we aim to:

build at least 15,000 classrooms per year benefiting over half a million children;

train at least 130,000 teachers per year;

support over 200 higher education institutions in Africa and Asia;

provide over 500 scholarships per year; and

support at least 5.5 million children in school per year.

In addition to this bilateral aid, we will continue to work with international partners. Over a third of our support will be through multilateral channels, mainly through the World Bank, the European Commission and the Education for All Fast Track Initiative.

Indeed we will help to create a new global education partnership this year, building on the Education for All Fast Track Initiative, to help catalyse progress towards a quality basic education for all.

As part of that effort, I’m pleased to announce to you today that the UK will provide a further £100 million for the Fast Track Initiative – and we hope that other donors come alongside us to deliver the global effort that is now required.

Of course making progress isn’t just about investment – we must share knowledge and experience, and ensure that investment is put to best possible use. That is why, next week, this Department will be hosting an international conference to catalyse progress towards the Millennium Development Goals – and education will be among the priorities for that discussion.

Conclusion

This is therefore our commitment to help the world’s children realise their full potential. In these tough economic times, there are those who argue that we cannot afford to undertake such labours.

I believe that in the interdependent world of today and tomorrow, we cannot afford to ignore either the call of morality, or indeed the knowledge that our own prosperity, health and security is now inextricably intertwined with that of people around the globe.

It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child. And we know today that for every child who is not given the opportunity to realise their potential, it is not only that child who suffers over a lifetime – but their family, their village, their society.

And for every extra child who does receive an education, who is given a greater chance, the benefits do not stop with the family, with the village, or at the nations borders.

Education for all therefore is and should be our common concern. It is our common responsibility. And together, I believe we can make it our common achievement. Thank you.