Policy paper

2010 to 2015 government policy: education in developing countries

Updated 8 May 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

This is a copy of a document that stated a policy of the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. The previous URL of this page was https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-sure-children-in-developing-countries-get-a-good-education Current policies can be found at the GOV.UK policies list.

Issue

More than 57 million children around the world do not go to primary school. At least 250 million children cannot read or count, even if they have spent four years in school.

Every child should have the chance to go to school. But it’s not just about getting them into the classroom. It’s also about making sure they are well taught and that what they learn actually improves their opportunities in life.

Without a good education, they will be less likely to get a job and look after their families in the future. With fewer people in work and more people in need of support, they will struggle to prosper, holding their own countries back and ultimately the global economy.

High quality education can change this, helping to transform countries for the benefit of us all. Quality education helps citizens work together to create strong, open institutions and societies. An extra year of good schooling lifts a country’s yearly economic growth by 1%, making poor countries richer and, in the long run, less in need of foreign aid – and more able to trade.

Actions

Our priorities are:

  • improving learning
  • reaching more children - especially those in fragile states
  • keeping girls - particularly the most marginalised - in school

We concentrate on primary and lower secondary education, but also invest in high quality higher education, skills and early childhood education.

By 2015, we will:

  • raise the standards of education, training 190,000 teachers (99,000 trained so far) and introducing better testing of pupils’ progress - we will also give parents more of a say in their children’s education so they can make sure their children benefit from high quality teaching

  • get more children through school, supporting 11 million children in primary and lower secondary school

  • get up to 1 million more girls into school, through the Girls’ Education Challenge - girls are disproportionately absent from the classroom and yet they are more likely to pass on the benefits of their education to their family and boost economic growth

  • support higher education by improving the quality of more than 200 Higher Education Institutions across Africa and Asia - we will also support 750 to 800 Commonwealth students per year with scholarships to pursue their careers with UK universities

  • spend half of our direct education aid on unstable or war-torn countries where more than two-fifths of the world’s out-of-school children are found, and where a lack of education can directly contribute to conflict

  • support more research into the best ways to get children into school, keep them in school, and improve the quality of their education

Read our latest education policy paper (July 2013)

Background

We have committed to helping provide education for more children around the world as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - a series of targets agreed at the United Nations in 2000.

Target 2 of the MDGs aims for every child to attend primary school by 2015. DFID is working with the international community to make sure that education is an important part of the new set of development goals to be agreed in 2015.

While great progress has been made - the number of primary school children out of school has almost halved since 1999 - MDG target 2 is unlikely to be met, with large proportions of children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia still not making it into the classroom.

Appendix 1: researching how to make sure children in developing countries get a good education

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

Children often can’t access education because of conflict, humanitarian emergencies or social exclusion. DFID funds research which investigates how to get children into school and raise educational standards in difficult circumstances.

We also fund research which looks at how to get girls into school; evidence shows girls are disproportionately excluded from education and that educating girls helps lift whole communities out of poverty.

Over the past decade DFID has funded over 60 education programmes and 3 large research programme consortia which have explored how to deliver more and better education for all, including:

  • the Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP) conducted a 5-year research programme - its work led to changes in the way DFID distributes educational aid, as well as influencing other education policies
  • the Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE) aimed to help improve access to basic education - CREATE’s work in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, South Africa, found that giving school councils a say on children’s rights, making school opening hours flexible, abolishing corporal punishment and training teachers about child-centred teaching methods and inclusion were all critical for improving access
  • implementing Quality Education in Low Income Countries (EdQual) carried out research in sub-Saharan Africa - the programme found that the interaction between policy, the school, the home and the community environment is critical for good education, meaning factors outside school, such as nutrition levels, have an effect on achievement

Appendix 2: raising standards of education

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

We will work with governments to improve the quality and standards of teaching and to create simple, low-cost and effective education tests so they, and their citizens, can monitor children’s learning.

We want to make sure that poor families can send their children to quality schools which are close to home and provide a stimulating environment. We do this by working with partner governments to improve teacher training and providing teaching resources.

We also make sure that money is spent as intended by encouraging more parental involvement in schools and by enabling citizens to have a say in the education of their children.

In some contexts we are also working with non-state actors to improve education services for the poor, women and girls. Our support of low-fee private schools in 4 countries aims to understand if private providers can help to provide quality education for all.

At a global level, we work through the World Bank and Global Partnership for Education to improve the quality of education systems and train teachers in poor countries.

Appendix 3: Girls’ Education Challenge

This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.

The Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) will help up to a million of the world’s poorest girls have an opportunity to improve their lives through education.

The initiative calls on NGOs, charities and the private sector to find better ways of getting girls in school and ensuring they receive a quality of education to transform their future.

Projects that are able to demonstrate new and effective ways of doing this will receive funding from the GEC. GEC projects will be clearly evaluated to increase their effectiveness.

If you are from an NGO, charity or private sector organisation and you want to learn how to apply for funding for the GEC, more information is available in our detailed guide.