Today, 264 million children and young people are not in school; and millions more are attending school but not learning. Lack of a high-quality education is preventing millions of people around the world from escaping the cycle of poverty. Weak education systems and poor quality teaching often don’t support children to learn, and there are huge inequalities in access to education, especially for girls and children with disabilities.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has a key role in ensuring learning for all. It has a strategy to invest in financing higher quality education, and to measure learning outcomes, so that money spent in countries demonstrably benefits children’s educational attainment.
At GPE’s Financing Conference in Dakar, Senegal on 2 February, political commitment for education must result in funding for this vital work, with US $3.1 billion needed for the period 2018-2020. This will help transform the lives of over 25 million children. The UK has been the leading contributor to GPE since its establishment, and has helped GPE to focus on the quality of education. This month, please write to new Secretary of State, Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt MP, urging her to make an ambitious pledge equivalent to US $500 million, to help children gain the skills they need for a successful future.