Last month, Ministers for Education from Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone came together with UK Parliamentarians, Government officials and education experts to discuss the risks from the UK stepping backs its support of global education
How can countries develop without education? This question was front and centre at an event in Parliament on 21 May, where seven Ministers of Education from across Africa sat down with UK Parliamentarians, Government officials, and global education experts to discuss partnerships to improve foundational learning – the basic reading, writing and maths skills that form the bedrock of all education.
The event, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global Education, took place on the sidelines of the annual Education World Forum (EWF) in Westminster – the world’s largest gathering of education and skills ministers. This forum is backed by the UK Government and demonstrates the UK’s legacy as a leader in global education. That legacy, it seems, is on the verge of being thrown away.
Just one week before the EWF, UK Minister for International Development Baroness Chapman identified education and gender as areas likely to be deprioritised as the UK cuts its Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget. At this event, the risks from the UK stepping back from its support for global education came into focus. Here are five lessons from the discussion which spell out what the loss of UK support for foundational learning will entail in Africa, and what the UK stands to lose as well.
1. Progress is happening and momentum is building on foundational skills – but stands to be undermined
Millions of children are enrolled in school but not learning the basic skills they need to reap the benefits of education. It is estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, 90% of children are unable to read a simple sentence with understanding or solve basic maths problems by age 10.
Countries across the African continent are taking this issue seriously, and Ministries of Education are leading the charge. At the roundtable, Ministers shared how targeted investments are delivering measurable results – from Zambia’s work tailoring instruction to student’s ability levels, to Sierra Leone’s impressive improvement of exam results.
“It is as if all the partners have withdrawn support at a time when we are building momentum and scaling up what works.”
But maintaining momentum is hard – and it’s getting even harder as external funding disappears.
Minister Wirima of Malawi emphasised that loss of funding from donors like the US and UK is happening at a critical time: “It is as if all the partners have withdrawn support at a time when we are building momentum and scaling up what works.”
This is exactly the moment when donors should be leaning in – not pulling back. The risk is losing gains just as they begin to materialise.
2. There is no inclusive development without foundational learning
If children cannot read or do basic maths by the end of primary school, they are effectively locked out of further opportunities. Foundational learning is not only a personal right, it is the entry point to full participation in society. Without it, the most marginalised are left behind, and the promise of inclusive development becomes impossible to deliver.
“Foundational learning, in our view in South Africa, is not just a policy issue, but it’s a moral one. It’s an economic investment… and a developmental imperative for any country, especially countries of the African continent… If we fail to invest adequately in foundational learning now, we will pay a far greater price in the form of lost potential, wasted human capital and rising inequality,” said Minister Gwarube.
As another participant powerfully asked during the discussion:
“Where do we place education when you’re looking at what has contributed to the development of the UK and the European world? We know the power that it has. So what is the moral or justifiable reason to deprioritise it if we truly aim to support developing countries to grow socio-economically? “
If development is to be inclusive – reaching girls, rural learners, the poorest children – then education that supports foundational learning must come first. The UK cannot claim to support inclusive development while walking away from the education systems that make it possible.
3. Investing in foundational learning is an economic no-brainer
Foundational learning is not an optional cost – it is an economic necessity and one of the most powerful investments a country can make.
“The best economic policy is education. The second one, education. The hundredth one, education,” said Minister Sakaylima of Zambia.
Dr. Benjamin Piper, Director of Global Education at the Gates Foundation, stressed the cost-effectiveness of investments in foundational learning.
“For every $1 spent there is a $30 return… So the economic return is pretty substantial.”
In a world of tough spending decisions, foundational learning offers immense economic and social benefits that continue to produce returns for generations.
Africa has the fastest growing, youngest population of any continent. By 2050, 1 in 4 people in the world will be African. In this context, these returns hold particular significance.
Minister Gwarube described this as “unlocking the [demographic] dividend”:
“Our young population is not going to automatically be an economic asset. It becomes one when the youth is healthy, when they are skilled and meaningfully engaged in the economy and society – and that transformation, we believe, begins in our classrooms.”
In a world of tough spending decisions, foundational learning offers immense economic and social benefits that continue to produce returns for generations, making it one of the best value for money investments available.
4. Partnership is needed to sustain progress
African countries are making bold domestic investments in education – but the scale of the problem is immense and time sensitive, as millions of children continue to lose out on learning. Bringing about the change that is needed requires global buy-in to tackle a problem that ultimately affects everyone.
“While it might seem like an Africa problem, this is actually a world problem,” said Minister Syakalima.
“[The aid cuts are] a wake-up call for us to fill the void. However, there is no question that there will still be gaps in foundational learning outcomes across the world, and that must be justification for the UK to reconsider this decision [to cut ODA] and invest and prioritise education.”
Countries that have been putting immense resources into education are still finding it hard to ensure all students learn foundational skills.
Sierra Leone invests 20% of its public budget in education, yet donor funding continues to play an important role.
“We are trying to reduce our reliance on external aid, which is why we’ve committed this amount of funding,” explained Minister Sackey. “But we have 1 million additional pupils in our system [due to expanding access] and we are also coping with climate change. We cannot yet wean ourselves off external funding, but we are showing bold and great steps to make sure that we contribute to our development.”
Partnership goes beyond funding, with immense value in global efforts, led in part by the UK, around data, evidence, and sharing of technical expertise. In Zimbabwe, Minister Moyo shared that working in partnerships helped increase pass rates for students by about 10%, even when Government funding was inadequate.
Sustaining progress driven by domestic will requires global solidarity. Even with a smaller footprint, the UK’s expertise, convening power, and targeted investments can continue to punch above their weight.
5. The UK’s legacy on education is at risk
The UK has long been recognised on the global stage as a champion for education. Under previous Governments, both Labour andConservative, education has been a strategic development priority on which the UK built its global agenda. Over the past two decades it has gained a reputation for being a steadfast advocate, a reliable donor, and a hub of expertise for education.
In foundational learning, the UK stands alone, as most donors prioritise higher education. It is the only remaining government donor in the Coalition for Foundational Learning following USAID’s recent implosion, which will result in a loss of $1 billion per year for basic education.
“The UK has been a leader in this space, not just with ideas, but with the funding to back them. We hope that leadership doesn’t disappear,” said Ruth Kagia, High-Level Envoy and Advisor for the Global Partnership for Education.
But this leadership is in question, and the UK’s reputation possibly irreparably damaged, if the current Government moves ahead with its plans to turn its back on an area that the UK has put at the heart of its development work for two decades. Stepping back now sends a message: that the UK no longer sees itself as a leader in the very issue it helped elevate.
There is still time to turn things around
We are just weeks away from the UK’s making final decisions on how it will structure its diminished development portfolio in June. If the UK’s posture does not change, education will see some of the deepest cuts and effectively fall off of the UK’s agenda.
In his closing remarks, Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly, Director of the International Parliamentary Network for Education, reflected on the costs of the UK’s backtracking on an issue it has long placed at the centre of its development agenda: “There is no healthy society, there is no democratic society, there is no economic growth if our citizens can’t read and write and are numerate.
“At a time when the UK has invited all of you here to the Education World Forum, we aren’t able to front up and deliver with the support that’s necessary.”
Despite this, resilience remains. “Foundational learning must not only survive, but thrive – strengthening the human capital foundation for the prosperity of our nation and the world is mandatory,” said Minister Wirima of Malawi.
The UK has fully embraced and championed global education as a vehicle for transformation in the past. And as one of the Labour’s 5 missions, it appears this Government continues to understand the power of education to develop more equitable societies, at least domestically.
Let’s hope the UK remembers this before it makes its final decisions on its global priorities – and stays in the room.
All image credits: Sujata Setia