June 11, 2021

Girls' Education a Priority: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

T The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at the G7 summit, has pledged £430m towards improving education in some of the world's most underprivileged countries. The highlight being girl’s education.

This announcement has come amid aid agencies' cuts to girls education funding. Addressing the summit held at Cornwall, England, the prime minister said, "The best way we can lift countries out of poverty and lead a global recovery is by investing in education and particularly girls' education”. Calling the poor state of girl’s education worldwide an "international shame", the prime minister said that girls' education is the key to ending poverty, and fixing this issue should be a priority.

"If you want to change the world for the better, girls' education has to be the place to start"

The £430m aid was announced at the summit, to be disbursed over five years. It will be the UK's biggest contribution towards the Global Partnership for Education. Lis Wallace of the anti-poverty charity, One, called the status of education during the pandemic a "silent emergency", and has expressed that the agencies’ cut to international aid is dampening all efforts made to improve the situation. The offered amount is nowhere near what is needed but the need of the hour is to have a reversal of the "shameful cuts to overseas aid", said Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK . Further pointing out the importance of girls' education, "If you want to change the world for the better, girls' education has to be the place to start," said Helen Grant , the prime minister's special envoy for girls' education .

The government’s plan to give aid, however, came in contrast to last year’s funding cut in the case of UK Bangladesh Education Trust (UKBET), a UK charity working with child domestic workers in Bangladesh. "A month ago the government needed to save £25,000 by cutting one of the few programmes bringing education to young girls enslaved in domestic work in Bangladesh. Yet today, they have found £400m at the back of the cupboard." said UKBET's Annette Zara. However, one of the beneficiaries of UK aid is Matandani School in Malawi. The school’s head teacher Give more Chipanga said, supporting girls' education was vital for a country like Malawi. "Once a girl is educated, her family will be educated, society will be assisted," said Give more Chipanga. "You educate the nation," he added. Matandani School is part of the Unlocking Talent educational technology project, supported by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).

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