TV presenters and schoolchildren ask PM to sign a personal pledge to ensure education for all children worldwide

3 March 2008

BBC's children's presenters Sam and Mark accompanied schoolchildren today to no.10 to kick-start this year's Global Campaign for Education (GCE) by asking Gordon Brown for his personal promise to help get every child worldwide into school. With only 7 years to go to meet the education Millennium Development Goal (MDG), 72 million children are still missing out on a primary education, with millions more forced to drop out of school before they can complete even a basic education. 

The young campaigners took along a giant ‘missing out’ card symbolising the 72 million children who are still missing out on an education. They asked the Prime Minister to sign a pledge of what he promises to do this year to help meet the education goal.

The Prime Minister wrote:

Thanks to the efforts of millions of campaigners and governments in rich and poor countries alike we have made astonishing progress in getting millions of children into school in some of the poorest countries in the world.  This is a huge achievement. Now we need to redouble our efforts to get the remaining 72 million into school by 2015 and to improve their quality of learning. That is why the UK has committed £8.5 billion for education and why I am pledging £150 million of extra support to India's national programme for elementary education.

Owain James from the Global Campaign for Education said, "Now is a crucial time for action if we are to ensure all children experience a primary education by 2015. The Prime Minister has shown a welcome and vital commitment in helping to achieve this target outlined in the Millennium Development Goals. We must now ensure that this is followed through with effective action.  Our recent report ‘The Final Countdown' shows where we think the priorities for the UK Government should now be."

The GCE's report, ‘The Final Countdown’ gives the following recommendations:

· The rate at which the promised UK aid to education is delivered must be tripled in the next two years to meet the 2015 target. Currently the promised £8.5 billion for education is being spent too slowly.

· There must be greater stability in UK aid flows to education. Often aid is unpredictable in the most vulnerable countries which means that fixed costs like teacher salaries cannot be planned for. This is a key way to address issues of quality and inclusion.

· Countries that are furthest from the education Millenium Development Goals (MDG's) must be prioritised by the UK government by increasing investment in them. These are: Afghanistan, Burundi, DRC, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Susan and Yemen.

· Greater attention must be given to the quality of education and the inclusion of marginalised children in education – this includes girls, disabled children and children who work.

· The UK must work at international and country levels to ensure that conditions placed on aid do not undermine efforts to deliver quality education.