Education on the move.
Campaigners welcome new pledges, call for more action from world leaders

Education groups today welcomed new momentum to the cause of Education For All (EFA) with significant new funding being announced at the UN MDG Summit.

However, the Global Campaign for Education cautioned that much more needs to be done and urged world leaders to do more to ensure financial resources and good policies are in place to achieve the goals.

This week’s Summit saw a wide range of events calling for immediate action to achieve Millennium Development Goal 2 – universal primary education.

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan at a GCE side event on Monday to urge leaders to honour education promises, while 12 year old South African schoolgirl Nthabiseng Thabalala presented a petition of 18 million signatures – including Pele and Mick Jagger - to UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon.

Welcome new funds came forward for education, with Australian Government unveiling a $5 bn pledge for education overall, which will mean $500m of new money for the primary sector each year up to 2015, and the World Bank announcing $750m for basic education over 5 years.

These funds could enable around 4 million children to get through school in the next 5 years. The Global Campaign for Education hailed Australia’s move as a major boost for primary education, and called for the money to be targeted at the poorest countries.

The campaign also welcomed the World Bank’s new funding, but stated that it should be scheduled over three years rather than five.

The government of Japan also announced a $3.5 bn pledge to education over the next 5 years, but analysts said that this might be a fall on previous aid levels, and noted that it has not yet been specified how much will go to basic education, which traditionally has claimed only 16% of Japan’s education aid.

The campaign also welcomed positive signs that the proposal for a Financial Transaction Tax, which could raise billions of dollars for development, was gaining ground in the Summit.

Kailash Satyarthi, Chair of the Global Campaign for Education, said: “Education has made positive strides at this year’s Summit. However, efforts need to be stepped up to reach the universal education target of 2015, and in particular other donors need to follow suit in making available new resources for basic education in the poorest parts of the world. GCE and EFA advocates will now turn our gaze to the G20 Summit with hopes that the planet’s forum for economic and financial management will agree to policies and finance for education as the best investment for global prosperity, recovery and the foundation for a peaceful sustainable future.”