House of Commons · Westminster Hall
23 January 2025 · 10 other contributors · 10,115 words
Opened by Bambos Charalambous Lab Southgate and Wood Green
Responding minister: Anneliese Dodds
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Bambos Charalambous raised concerns about international day of education in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
Will the Government bolster financial contributions to global education initiatives like Education Cannot Wait and UNICEF, ensuring funds reach marginalised and crisis-affected children?
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
Tomorrow marks the United Nations International Day of Education, highlighting education's transformative power as a fundamental human right. However, global progress towards SDG 4 is uneven, with 251 million children and youth still out of school worldwide, despite efforts to expand access since 2015. Conflicts, natural disasters, climate change, and emergencies have led to significant regressions in meeting education targets, particularly affecting low-income countries.
Inadequate access to water and sanitation is a key barrier for children, particularly those with disabilities, in receiving education. She supports targeting SDG6 on water and sanitation.
Discussed the decision to count in-donor refugee costs within overseas development assistance, noting different countries' approaches and highlighting the current Government's determination for a longer-term approach.
The UK's decision to slash bilateral aid for education from £757 million in 2017 to just £336 million last year is deeply shameful. He calls for commitments to reverse the cuts and prioritise support for women and girls.
Emphasised the importance of freedom of religion and belief, highlighting Northern Ireland's charitable giving and faith-based charities supporting education worldwide.
She pointed out that over 250 million children worldwide are out of school, with marginalised groups such as girls particularly affected. In Afghanistan, the Taliban's restrictions impact access to education for 1 million girls and women. The MP highlights the economic importance of education, as well as its role in stability, security, healthcare, and other outcomes.
Rightly mentioned disabled children, Myanmar was also mentioned by the Opposition spokesperson.
Sudan faces one of the worst education crises globally, with over 19 million school-age children lacking access to education due to conflict. He highlighted the work of Windle Trust International in providing educational opportunities for refugees. Asked if the Minister agreed with the Chair of the International Development Committee, who called the use of official development assistance for hosting asylum seekers in hotels a 'spectacular own goal'.
Talked about freedom of religion and belief, education provides dignity.
Mentioned the international women and girls strategy.
Celebrates progress in expanding access to education, particularly for women and girls worldwide since 2015 but questions the Government's plans to build on their work on the international women and girls strategy. The MP raises the situation for women and girls, particularly regarding access to higher and further education.
Government Response
Anneliese DoddsThe Minister for Development
The Minister acknowledges that while there have been improvements, many children are still out of school due to issues such as poverty, gender inequality, disability, lack of schools or trained teachers. She mentions the impact of climate crisis and conflict on education, with extreme weather events leading to significant loss of schooling days in low-income countries. The UK aims to work in partnership with like-minded donors and multilateral organizations to address the global learning crisis effectively. Discussed foundational learning as a priority, targeted the most marginalised groups, announced the UK will launch a global taskforce to tackle sexual and physical violence in schools, scaled up finance for education around the world by sharing trusted research and evidence, called on others to join in backing the international finance facility for education, provided funding for UNRWA core budget and Education Cannot Wait, announced £14 million for education programmes in Sudan. Responded to concerns about in-donor refugee costs within ODA, noting the reduction under current government; highlighted UK's investment in education resilience, including action on climate change and AI integration.