International

Education for all, necessary to fight poverty

Around the world, 75 million children have no opportunity to attend primary school. In addition, many children are prevented from going to school due to of crises and wars.

These are difficult times for education. Therefore, it is vital not to cut public investments. The future of these children is at stake. Education is vital for many of the world’s poorest girls and boys.

The future of bilateral aid to basic education is at risk. Some donor governments are reducing overall bilateral assistance, others are phasing out long-standing partnerships with particular developing countries and several are abandoning education as a priority sector altogether.

These reductions are poorly timed, arriving precisely when many developing countries are in most need of aid to reach the Education for All (EFA) and the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The arguments for investing in Education for All are very clear. Education has been proven to reduce poverty, improve health outcomes and promote equality.

Nowadays no country will successfully develop through a reliance on education alone, but choosing to neglect basic education can also have damaging consequences.