Coalition for Global Prosperity

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Education is the crux of the 2030 Agenda

Author: Alice Palmer, Communications & Events Assistant

Today, 24th January, marks the fifth International Day of Education. The fourth Sustainable Development Goal, quality education, or more specifically, to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all", is the thread that runs through every one of the sixteen others. Climate action, no poverty, gender equality, economic growth – all of them depend on the success of number four. 

But while the international community agreed upon this Agenda in 2015, collectively identifying the central role education plays in global development, according to UN estimates, 64.3% of 10-year-olds are still suffering from learning poverty. Learning poverty, defined as being unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of ten, is a crisis that undermines the potential accomplishment of the 2030 Agenda. Aside from the obvious moral imperative to help the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised children, it is a crisis that closely affects us all.

Working with local partners, CGP’s Overseas Visits Programme takes Members of Parliament to see the life-changing impact of UK Aid on the ground. From demining to healthcare to refugee support, each project exhibits the transformative power of long-term development funding. But those projects that address goal number four — providing quality education — catalyse progress in their own unique way. As MPs have seen first-hand, the ability to create positive change is never limited to an individual, but rather, encompasses a whole community, and years down the line, has the power to define the prosperity of generations to come.

The Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan, a symbol of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, is the only home many of the camp's children have ever known. While Za’atari’s older generation of inhabitants are invariably conscious of the real home they have left behind, the 20,000 births recorded in the camp, which equates to forty babies born every week, mean a new generation continues to grow up in very different surroundings. And although this displacement comes with educational challenges, FCDO-backed INGOs have worked tirelessly to ensure that this has not led to the suspension of access to quality education, the foundation from which refugee children can develop skills, gain knowledge, and eventually, carve out their own paths in life.

Last October, CGP’s delegation to Jordan had the opportunity to bear witness to the immense value of Save the Children’s programmes at the Za’atari camp, all of which are focused on achieving the above aims. Early childhood services provided by Save the Children Jordan mean that children have access to psychological support and academic education that includes writing, reading and maths. The programme also offers training for caregivers, helping them enhance their ability to contribute to their child’s development, and supports local institutions in a similar manner so that progress is made throughout the community.

Further to this, Save’s Coaching for Life programme, in partnership with the Arsenal Foundation, uses bespoke football sessions as a tool to improve the emotional and physical well-being of girls and boys in the camp. Evaluation of the scheme after the completion of the first cycle revealed that the programme not only enhances children’s self-worth, self-esteem and confidence, it also contributes to better problem solving and interpersonal skills, all of which shone through in inspiring conversations the delegation had with the scheme’s participants.

In order to eradicate all barriers to education, especially girls’ education, other basic factors which negatively impact a child’s ability to attend school need to be addressed. In December, a delegation of MPs saw how WaterAid Ghana are removing these barriers by ensuring equitable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education (WASH) in marginalised communities. With the installation of proper hygiene facilities, girls in Ghana’s rural north can continue to learn during menstruation, an obstacle which for millions of girls around the world impedes their physical capacity to enter a classroom. 

In a similar vein, WASH facilities also contribute to the improvement of school attendance rates by mitigating the risk of poor health caused by preventable diseases. In lieu of having to collect water, recover from illness, or tend to an ill relative and thus take on further household responsibilities, children can attend school with a greater confidence that their education will not be snatched away from them for an indefinite length of time. According to WaterAid’s estimates, 3 billion days of increased school and work attendance – the equivalent of a staggering $420 billion – could be unlocked by increased WASH access. 

Next month, Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, is hosting their High-Level Financing Conference in Geneva. Its aim is to allow the 222 million children and adolescents affected by war, disaster and displacement to access education, by launching an ambitious new strategy which hopes to raise $1.5 billion in order to deliver its 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. The summit provides an important opportunity for the UK government to deliver on its commitment to prioritise and restore funding to girls’ education specifically, an announcement that followed the publication of the International Development Strategy in May last year and is anticipated in further detail in the as yet unpublished Women and Girls Strategy. New commitments would crucially help secure the futures of the children of Za’atari and all other children who face displacement of a similar kind.

As evidenced by Save the Children and WaterAid’s projects in Jordan and Ghana, the means by which universal access to quality education is finally achieved is not in every case about reversing teacher loss and building more classrooms. Amongst other things, it also involves improving gender equality and changing cultural attitudes towards girls’ education; boosting pupil retention; encouraging and strengthening access to higher education; and building more resilient and diverse systems which can withstand future crises of the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic. The task at hand is complex, and projects must remain context-driven. Needless to say, until every child in every corner of the world can access safe and inclusive education, we collectively deny ourselves a better, safer and more prosperous future.