Parliamentary committee takes aim at ‘shameful neglect’ of schoolchildren in poor countries as development secretary is urged to devote more funding

MPs have urged Priti Patel to spend more of the overseas aid budget on education, in order to tackle a “global learning crisis”.

There has been a “clear decline” in foreign aid spending on education since 2011, lagging behind the outlay on health disaster, government and civil society, the international development committee said. At the culmination of a nine-month inquiry, the committee called on the UK to raise the amount of foreign aid spent on education by 2%.

British support for global education currently stands at £526million, 8% of the Department for International Development’s (DfID) allocated budget.

In a letter to Patel, the international development secretary, the committee said it had heard evidence that the average annual expenditure for each child in low- and middle-income countries was less than $10 (£7.79). The MPs said this figure represented the combined spending of all aid agencies.

Poorest countries hit hardest as world lags behind on global education goals Read more

The committee questioned DfID’s support for low-fee private schools in countries like Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo “The evidence presented to us during the inquiry certainly suggests that the majority of low-fee private schools are not serving the poorest and most marginalised children, which is where DfID’s focus should certainly be,” the MPs said.

They added that there was as yet little evidence to prove that, once a child’s social background was accounted for, such schools produce better learning outcomes than government schools. Investments in private schools should only be made on an “exceptional” basis, the committee said.



The proportion of the global humanitarian budget spent on education is 1.8%, well short of the globally agreed target of 4% (pdf).

The MPs noted the leading role played by the UK, which remains one of the biggest donors to global education. They commended the “extraordinary support” shown by DfID to allow Syrian refugees access to education in Jordan and Lebanon, but contrasted that with the provision for refugees and internally displaced people in east Africa.

The UK aid strategy “fails to place enough emphasis on ensuring all children across the developing world have access to quality education”, which remained a “pipe dream” for millions of marginalised children – particularly girls, disabled children and refugees – said the committee. Unicef, the UN children’s agency, estimated that 90% of disabled children in developing countries do not attend school (pdf).

Stephen Twigg, the committee’s chairman, said: “More than 250 million children and young people are currently out of school and another 330 million are in school but not learning. There is a global learning crisis.



“Even though we know the benefits of education, there is not enough funding from the international community to deliver this, particularly in the low-income countries which need most support. National governments in low- and middle-income countries should also be investing in their education systems.

“Currently, we are leaving millions of children behind, deprived of an education. We must take action to ensure the most marginalised children can go to school.”

Twigg said the forthcoming G7 and G20 summits will afford DfID the chance to take a global lead on education. He urged the department to stand up for the most vulnerable.

The committee criticised the international community as having “shamefully neglected” education, particularly in emergencies, and said the UK should use its influence with donors and governments to ensure more funding, particularly in low-income countries.

In order to meet the global education agenda established by the sustainable development goals, the education commission estimates funding would need to rise from $1.2tn to $3tn a year by 2030.

The letter, published on Thursday in lieu of a full report because of the June election, welcomed the government’s recommitment to the overseas aid target of 0.7% of gross national income. However, the committee expressed concern that, during evidence sessions, DfID ministers were unable to reassure MPs that the current education budget would not be cut.

The MPs suggested a budget of 10% for education spending could be met by “slowing the pace of allocation of aid to other government departments”.

Organisations such as the Malala Fund, set up by campaigner and Nobel prizewinner Malala Yousafzai, are calling for the education budget to be raised to 15% of all UK funding.

Charlie Matthews, ActionAid’s head of advocacy, said it was vital that Britain maintained its tradition of supporting the education of women and girls: “Education is the key to a girl’s future, from learning the skills she needs to earn money, to gaining the knowledge to protect herself from disease or exploitation – education gives girls the power to make decisions about their own life.”

A DfID spokesperson said: “The UK is a global leader in education. Our commitment to providing the world’s most vulnerable young people with access to school is evident in our results: we are proud to have supported over 11 million children in primary and lower secondary education from 2011-2015, including over 5.3 million girls.”

Meanwhile, MPs and peers have expressed disappointment at the government’s response to a critical inquiry on the secretive £1bn conflict, stability and security fund. The joint committee on the national security strategy, which has called into question the transparency, leadership and accountability of the fund, said that while it had forced the government to recognise the need for greater parliamentary scrutiny of the fund, insufficient information had been provided to allow such scrutiny.