The United Nations today launches an appeal to Fifa and five major European football leagues, including the Premier League, to place a small levy on sponsorship revenues that would help get 2 million children in poor countries into school over the next five years.

On the eve of the World Cup draw in South Africa, Unesco – the UN's culture, science and education arm – says a "Better Future" levy of just 0.4% on all broadcast and sponsorship revenues from next year's World Cup and the five main European leagues between 2010 and 2015 would raise $48m (£29m) a year between now and the following World Cup in 2014.

That sum would put half a million children in poor countries into school every year, of whom 140,000 could be financed by the English Premier League's contribution.

Commercial revenues from the 2010 World Cup are projected to reach $850m. Annual revenues for the major leagues in Europe range from $1.4bn in France, to about $2bn in Spain, Italy and Germany, and $3.5bn in England.

Fifa already backs the "1 goal" international coalition and aims to use the World Cup to put education at the heart of international development efforts. But Unesco wants it to back its support with cash amid fears the world will miss its target of getting all children into school by 2015.

The Unesco proposal, which is backed by Sport Against Racism in Ireland (Sari), has been sent to Sepp Blatter, Fifa's president."This is a chance for football to step up to the mark and make a difference to the lives of some of the world's most disadvantaged kids," said Brian Kerr, a Sari board member and manager of the Faroe Islands. "Most footballers, managers, and fans would welcome this proposal. This is a chance to ensure that Africa's first World Cup leaves a legacy that will be remembered." The proposal echoes growing calls for a Tobin tax on all foreign exchange trades, named after the Nobel prize-winning economist James Tobin, as a way of raising revenue to boost development aid to poor countries.

Kevin Watkins, director of Unesco's upcoming Education for All global monitoring report, said: "The $48m in revenues from the levy is less than many of Europe's top clubs spend on a single footballer. This is a small price to pay for giving half a million children each year the chance for an education that could transform their lives."

Chris Hughton, the manager of Newcastle United, called on Fifa to act on the proposal. "Football is a high-pressure environment. But at the end of the day it's a sport. Education is a human right – and that right is being violated every day for millions of kids. As a sport we can help to change this picture through the Better Future levy."

For a country like Ghana, the home of Chelsea's Michael Essien, pictured, the English Premier League's financing of 140,000 school places would represent a 15% decline in the number of children out of school.Italy's contribution could put 82,000 children into school, which would fill the San Siro stadium in Milan. In a country like Mali, where Lamine Sissoko of Juventus comes from, this would represent 10% of the out-of-school population.

The contribution from Spain could create 83,000 primary school places annually – a figure just under the capacity for Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium. France could create 57,000 additional school places , equivalent to 10% of the out-of-school population in Patrick Vieira's Senegal.

The Premier League appeared cool on the idea, however, pointing to the share of its revenues it already distributes to a range of groups and charities. "We already redistribute 14% of our revenues to a variety of good causes, including education and health projects," said a spokesman.

Fifa did not reject the idea but a spokesman said that since 2007 it had committed at least 0.7% of its annual revenue to social development initiatives, including education. "The real problems in education cannot be solved by money alone, nor solely by Fifa or the football world. That is also why the 1 Goal campaign which Fifa supports is not about raising funds or building schools or education facilities, but about collecting signatures worldwide to put the necessary public pressures on donor countries, who need to action their – already made – commitments to education, which stand at approximately $11bn."

A Uefa spokesman said: "We aim at 0.7% of Uefa gross income which complies with the international standard of 0.7% of GDP."