A new report into girls’ education in the Commonwealth has
highlighted the gap between ambition and reality, calling on
leaders from all sectors of society to make this a national
development priority and get behind cost-effective investments
such as early childhood education.
The Platform for Girls’ Education, co-chaired by the Foreign
Secretary , commissioned the report, which
assesses the state of girls’ education across the 53 Commonwealth
countries.
Many Commonwealth countries have made good progress towards
achieving gender parity in education, with girls out-performing
boys in some countries. However, girls remain particularly
disadvantaged in a large number of countries and there is a
compelling case for targeted efforts to support them.
The report, published by Cambridge University, suggests that
governments across the world need to target more funding to the
early years of education, especially for girls in remote rural
areas. It also highlights the need for targeted approaches to
help girls overcome the many challenges they face as they reach
puberty.
The Foreign Secretary said:
The importance of investing in girls’ education cannot be
overstated. Educated girls are a powerful force for building
more prosperous, fair and resilient societies based on an
“invisible chain” of shared values. Our shared vision of 12
years of quality education for all girls can only be achieved
through a much greater collective effort to dismantle the
barriers, driven by leaders from all sectors of society.
This first report is a significant step to identifying what
actions are needed to ensure disadvantaged girls are supported
to stay in school.
Professor Pauline Rose, the author of the report and the Director
of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre
at the University of Cambridge said:
The Report presents clear evidence on what works to enhance
educational access and learning for marginalised girls. The
Platform for Girls’ Education presents a key opportunity to
promote political leadership backed up with resources in order
to translate this evidence into action at scale.
The Platform for Girls’ Education is a group of 12 leaders with a
shared commitment to 12 years of quality education for all girls.
Its membership includes government and civil society
representatives from Canada, Fiji, Ghana, India, Kenya, Pakistan,
Rwanda, Trinidad & Tobago and the UK, as well as heads of
leading multilateral agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, Global Partnership
for Education).
Notes to editors:
- Please see the press
release with details from the first meeting of the
Platform for Girls’ Education
- Please see the full report
