To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of UNESCO's recent paper concluding that progress towards Millennium Development Goal 2 is too slow.
Baroness Northover: Increased urgency is required by the international community in order to meet Millennium Development Goal 2. International effort should focus on reaching the most vulnerable, increasing rates of school completion and improving learning outcomes.
The UK Government is playing its part; we have promised to support, by 2014, at least 9 million children in primary school, over half of whom will be girls, and 2 million children in secondary school. We will also help to train 190,000 teachers to help children to be able to learn.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the illustrative goal 3 "to provide quality education and lifelong learning" proposed by the United Nations High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development.
Baroness Northover: The UK Government welcomes the recommendations contained within the High Level Panel’s report, which are bold and inspiring but also practical and realistic.
We particularly welcome the prominence of education in the report and the goal on illustrative education, which builds on Millennium Development Goal 2. Access to good quality basic education for all should remain the focus post-2015, but with a stronger emphasis on gender equality, learning outcomes and transition to post-primary education.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reductions in donor development aid for basic education; and what plans they have to use their position as the largest bilateral donor to the sector to influence other donors to reverse that decline.
Baroness Northover: As the largest bilateral donor to basic education the UK is playing its part; we have pledged to support 9 million children in primary school and 2 million in secondary school by 2014. In addition, the DfID Girls’ Education Challenge will support up to an additional 1 million of the world’s poorest girls, to complete their education. We continue to work with our donor partners—both new and emerging— to encourage them to fulfil their commitments on education.