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Education is every child’s number one priority; It should be ours as well
At the dawn of a new decade, we have just 10 years left to achieve the Agenda 2030. Yet millions of children around the world are not learning what they need to contribute to a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Unless we make transforming education systems our number one priority, we will be 80 years too late to achieve this goal.
In November 2019, I met a group of young South Sudanese refugees in a school on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. Haltingly, they told me about their experiences fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in a foreign place. When I asked them how they felt about being able to go to school again, though, their eyes brightened and out tumbled their hopes and dreams. Like millions of children and young people around the world, education is their number one priority for the future.
It would be easy to assume that education is our global priority, as well. After all, it is a country’s greatest investment in the future. Education has a ripple effect on almost every aspect of development. An educated population is healthier, more productive, more peaceful, and more capable of tackling the great challenges facing our planet, including climate change. This effect is particularly powerful when we educate girls. If every girl in the world received 12 years of education, infant mortality would be cut in half, and the global economy would rise by as much as US $30 trillion. In our interconnected world, these benefits know no borders or boundaries. Education is the cornerstone of a better future for us all.
So it’s alarming that today, 260 million children are still not in school. It’s even more alarming that millions of children who are in school are not learning. More than half the world’s children are unable to read and understand a simple story by age 10. If we continue with business as usual, half the next generation won’t have the skills they need to harness the opportunities of the 21st century. In fact, at current rates of progress, it will be 2111 – well into the 22nd century – by the time the poorest girls in the world can expect to complete 10 years of basic schooling. That’s 80 years after the deadline to meet the Sustainable Development Goals expires.
We urgently need to recognise and prioritise the global learning crisis, and mobilise the resources and political will to get education back on track. Yet education is all but invisible on the world stage. Aid spending on education has been stagnant for nearly a decade, despite a global funding gap of $39 billion. Clearly, that must change.
However, it’s not just a case of investing more money, when business as usual is not working. That’s why the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) supports governments to transform education at systems level, where the impact of change can reach all children.
We are uniquely placed to do this. As a partnership, we mobilize global expertise to identify solutions at country-level, tackle challenges holistically and reduce fragmentation. As a fund, we channel investments to where they will have a catalytic effect to improve learning – be it investing in teacher training, creating conditions for girls to get to and stay in school, distributing textbooks, or modernizing data to drive evidence-based decisions.
Our unique approach gets results. In our partner countries, 77 million more children are in school today than when we began in 2002, including 41 million girls. Our success demonstrates what we all know to be true: that only by working in partnership can we tackle the challenge ahead.
With the clock ticking for millions of children around the world, we need to stop investing in business as usual. GPE has long counted on the UK as a champion for global education, particularly for educating girls. Now more than ever, we need such leadership to make transforming education systems our number one priority for 2030. Millions of children cannot afford to wait an additional 80 years, and neither can we.
Article from Engage Issue 20.
BY ALICE ALBRIGHT CEO OF THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION. • June 17, 2021
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
The outlook for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on global education is far from rosy. But a gloomy future isn’t inevitable. Disappointing statistics are the result of political choices that can be shifted and there are thousands of youth, grassroots activists and civil society organisations across the UK advocating for global education to make these changes. We need more people involved to build the momentum, we need to make a difference in challenging circumstances. You can help! Here’s how; Making global education a UK priority The UK is an important donor and champion for global education. However, education has been gradually deprioritised on the development agenda. Global education spending has plummeted from 13.5% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 to just 3.5% in 2023, and education was one of the sectors hit hardest by the abandonment of the 0.7% gross national income (GNI) target for ODA. With Labour’s annual budget confirming another reduction in the aid budget, funding for global education is under threat of being cut even further unless we stand together to say this can’t happen. While education is a domestic priority for the new Government, it has yet to emerge as a strong theme in their development agenda. As the Labour Party continues to develop their approach there is a unique opportunity for advocates to connect these dots and make the case for why education must be a key part of the Government’s international plans. For the Government to take action it needs to hear demand for change. There are many issues MPs recognise are important, but if they do not hear about these issues from constituents it can be hard for MPs to be vocal about them in Parliament. Following an election where many parliamentary seats were won with tight margins, MPs need to hear from the people they represent that global education must be on their agenda. With over half of MPs elected for the first time this year, many are actively looking for a steer on what issues to work on. We can give them one! How to Get Involved Write to your MP about why global education needs to be a bigger priority for the UK Government and encourage members of groups you are a part of, such as your union branch or a local community group, to do the same. This can have a real impact on your MP’s interest and ability to act for global education. You can also connect with other grassroots activists and get resources for taking action from international development advocacy organisations like Results UK. You can learn more about Results UK’s grassroots network on our website. If you are a teacher, get your school involved in the Send My Friend to School Campaign (SMF). Send My Friend is a UK civil society coalition advocating for SDG4 which supports a mass UK schools campaign to amplify student voices calling for universal quality education in solidarity with their peers around the world. Free campaign packs are available on the SMF website for primary and secondary levels with everything teachers need to run the campaign in their school. Parliamentarians can learn more about education issues and how to act by joining the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education, a cross-party group that brings together Parliamentarians interested in the right to education and provides them with knowledge and resources to be champions of the issue. By joining our voices through collective action, we can make a real difference in moving the needle on this issue. Together we have a chance to rechart the course for the realisation of quality education for all. BIOGRAPHY Hannah Frisch is the Senior Policy and Parliamentary Advocacy Officer for Education at Results UK and a Co-Chair of the Send My Friend to School Policy and Parliamentary Working Group. She is a policy advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education in the UK Parliament.
Last year the Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the work of The Federation of Drama Schools by providing financial aid to new graduates, enabling them to take part in an industry showcase at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The showcase is an annual event for Irish graduates who have completed a professional training at one of the Federation’s partner conservatoires in the UK, introducing young actors to the industry they hope to work in. The Federation of Drama Schools partners are institutions that provide conservatoire vocational training for those who want to be professional performers, theatre makers and technical theatre practitioners. The courses they offer are for students of eighteen years and over, who have completed their school level education. In November (2024) fourteen young Irish graduates took part in the showcase and the SSF provided financial support to two graduates who may not otherwise have been able to take part in this showcase, which is a bridge between training and their professional career. Melanie Lavery from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is one of those who benefitted from this support. Melanie writes of her experience. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Steve Sinnott Foundation for the support I received, making it possible for me to take part in the Dublin Showcase 2024. The opportunity allowed me to work with graduates from across FDS schools and widen my contacts in the industry. Coming from a socio-economically deprived area, I’ve often missed out on opportunities available to my peers. I have had to spend a lot of energy during my three years in drama school working to support myself and this has meant I often don’t have time to follow up network opportunities. In receiving this sponsorship and taking part in the showcase I have been able to connect with other Irish creatives - the people I am acting opposite, directors, casting directors and agents in the industry. These industry showcases are so important for graduates. It gives us the possibility of networking with industry professionals and hopefully the opportunity of taking that first crucial step into the profession we have trained for. As I studied in Wales, it gave me the chance to return to Ireland and to reach out to creatives there. The Foundation gave me this amazing opportunity to kick start my career in my home country. On the day of the showcase, I had such pride watching my fellow Irish peers performing on stage at Ireland’s National Theatre. Working together throughout the rehearsal period, I got to know them individually and we all helped each other to grow as performers. This showcase has helped me to create my own community of actors around me. When it came to talking with other creatives after the show case, I became so much more aware of how large and welcoming the industry is in Ireland and how much work is being produced here. I think this show case is so important as it highlights how vibrant and growing the industry is in Ireland. I feel so lucky that I was able to take part thanks to the help of the Steve Sinnott Foundation. For more information on the Federation of Drama Schools, professional industry showcases, and it’s partner schools please visit www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk
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