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Hilary Benn: Educating girls is investment in better future for all

Intro | Education Strategy | Towards 2015 | Case studies | Other links | Related: Hilary Benn on education in-depth


Two schoolgirls at a DFID-funded school in KajiadoI am convinced that educating women in the developing world can help unlock progress towards all other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including: child mortality, maternal health, and HIV and AIDS.

Which is why the UK is investing £1.4 billion on education over the next three years as part of our strategy, Girls' education: Towards a better future for allPDF(516 KB) Or see our summary version of the paperPDF(242 KB)

This strategy sets out how we - together with partners like UNICEF and the Global Campaign for Education (see links) - will work to make it more affordable for girls in developing countries to attend school by helping governments to remove school tuition fees and provide better school facilities for females. 

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What does the education strategy contain?

Primary-age Chinese schoolgirlThe strategy contains more than just good intentions. 

It sets out the action DFID will take and the leadership it will provide - with others in the international community - to ensure equality of education between men and women, boys and girls.

Specifically, we are committing to:

 

  • Increasing our support for education over the next three years and challenge our partners to do likewise, particularly during the UK's Presidencies of G8 and the EU Current estimates suggest an annual shortfall of $5.6 billion to achieve the education Millennium Development Goal
  • Ensuring that there is effective international leadership to accelerate progress on girls' education.
  • Supporting governments to develop sound education plans, which ensure that the needs and rights of girls to all levels of education are met.
  • Helping make school more affordable for young girls by working with Governments to remove school fees and reduce other costs that families bear in educating their children.
  • Working to increase UK development awareness of girls' education in partnership with civil society and the External linkUK's Department for Education and Skills

It is clear that we need to do more in accelerating progress on girls' education. Our actions will send a crucial signal to the international communities and our partners about the urgency to make progress given that we will not reach the 2005 target.

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Towards 2015: Progress on MDG 2

African schoolgirlsProgress to date has not been good enough. 

There are still over 100m children out of school - 60m of which are girls. A girl growing up in a low-income family in rural Africa today has less than a one in ten chance of getting a primary education. 

The first MDG 3 target - getting equal numbers of boys and girls into primary education by 2005 - is going to be missed. And as a result, all the MDGs are at risk of not being met in 2015. 

In missing the targets we will be judged to have failed the promise we made at the World Education Forum in Dakar to provide support to any country that has made a serious commitment to education.

There is, however, reason for hope. For the first time in a decade all the ingredients for success are in place. Political commitment is growing in both the developed and developing world. 

There is a strong understanding of what actions can make a meaningful difference. Donors are increasingly supporting governments to develop the education strategies that that will help girls the most.

We cannot afford to fail, and that is why the UK is going to step up its efforts

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Case studies

A lesson at the Pahla Kadam residential camp school in Uttar Pradesh, India

Image: Ami Vitale/Panos

Although much needs to be done, progress has been made (see the education factsheetPDF(497 KB). In Africa, millions of children are in school in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia, thanks to money provided by debt relief and aid.

External linkGordon Brown on progress made in Africa (14 Jan, 2005)

 

Examples:

  • In Malawi, DFID helped increase school enrolment when the Minister for Education announced free education for all. An extra million children have enrolled since the abolition of school fees. External linkUNESCO: Malawi girls education project a resounding success and Ivy's story
  • DFID India’s support and intervention in West Bengal is today helping to bring down the teacher/pupil ratio from 1 teacher for every 250 children to 1 for every 50
  • Gareth Thomas announced funding of £32 million for rural education to support BRAC, a large Bangladeshi NGO in their work with 40,000 schools and their 1.5 million pupils. External linkMore on BRAC's work
  • In Kenya, a DFID-funded project with the Forum for African Women Educationalists is increasing the numbers of girls in education in a Maasai community and is running programmes to raise awareness of HIV, AIDS and reproductive health. See also External linkE-learning from Nairobi (Developments Magazine)
  • In Pakistan, the Northern Areas government, with DFID funding, has doubled the number of schools and increased girls' enrolment by 73% through the Northern Areas Education Project.

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Other links