Australia’s development program
Stability for education
Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest learning disruption of education systems in history, which is directly affecting stability and security in the Indo-Pacific. Education is critical to stability, as the greater a country’s ‘educational endowment’, the lower is the risk of conflict. Societally, each additional year of education completed reduces the risk of conflict by around 20 per cent[1]. This page provides an overview of how Australia’s education partnership support the stability pillar of Partnerships for Recovery: Australia’s COVID-19 Development Response. The information below outlines key related initiatives and summaries of programming and related documents.
Global Partnership for Education
$180 million, 2021-2025
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a multi-stakeholder partnership of bilateral and multilateral donors, developing country partners, and representatives from civil society and the private sector. GPE aims to provide inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, focusing on vulnerable population including marginalised children and girls. Australia's support to GPE complements our bilateral education programs in the Indo-Pacific region and extends our reach in the education sector to a global scale. Australia is an active member of GPE's board.
Related links
Global Partnership for Education
Australian Strategic Partnerships in Remote Education (ASPIRE)
$459,217, 2020-2021
The Australian Strategic Partnerships in Remote Education (ASPIRE) will convene Australian experience and expertise in open, distance and online learning to facilitate learning continuity and to enhance educational access and equity in the Indo-Pacific region. Prioritising the conditions in the Pacific, Timor-Leste and Indonesia, ASPIRE will draw on a broad range of Australian capabilities in education, international development, research, broadcasting and digital media. ASPIRE supports Partnerships for Recovery: Australia’s COVID-19 Development Response and will respond flexibly to alleviating the disruptions COVID‑19 has brought to the education sector, in collaboration with in-country and whole of government partners.
Related documents
- ASPIRE design [DOCX 912 KB]
- ASPIRE brochure [DOCX 211 KB]
- Australian remote education capability scoping matrix [DOCX 197 KB]
- ASPIRE Steering Committee TORs [DOCX 32 KB]
- Remote education literature review executive summary [DOCX 662 KB]
- ASPIRE Funding Assessment Criteria [DOCX 27 KB]
- ASPIRE M&E Framework [DOCX 134 KB]
Education Programs for Continuity of Learning in the Indo-Pacific
$33,636, 2020-2021
As a part of the Australian Strategic Partnership in Remote Education (ASPIRE), DFAT is supporting the broadcasting of additional Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) educational content, which doubles to eighteen the education programs that are available to 35 Indo-Pacific countries and territories. The ABC content provides crucial assistance in complementing formal education content in partner countries. Content is suitable for early years, primary, and early secondary education across a mix of subject areas, and will be available for a period of two years.
All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development
$8.56 million, 2011-2022
Australia, together with USAID and World Vision US, is a founding partner in All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR). ACR is an ongoing series of competitions and prizes that leverage science and technology to source, test, and disseminate innovative solutions to improve the literacy skills of early grade learners in developing countries. ACR builds private and public partnerships, leveraging co-investment to extend its reach. In its current (third) round, ACR is focused on improving learning for children with disabilities, developing materials in underserved languages and engaging families and communities in foundational literacy. The tools and resources created under this partnership are supporting remote learning during global COVID-19 school disruptions. Since the partnership began ACR has:
- Reached more than 600,000 early grade learners in 24 countries
- Distributed over 1 million mother tongue instruction and reading materials in more than 140 languages, including sign languages and created more than 5,000 braille reading materials
- Funded more than 80 innovative solutions
- Published 20 research and evaluation reports
- Collaborated with over 30 organisations.
To learn more go to the ACR Competitions webpage.
Related links
Related documents*
| Name of document | Year published |
|---|---|
| Annual report All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development | 2019 |
Australian Council for Educational Research
$4.3 million, 2014-2023
Together with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), DFAT is a founding partner of the ACER Centre for Global Education Monitoring (GEM Centre). GEM Centre tools and resources cover best practice in teaching, remote learning and learning assessment, which each support adaptive COVID-19 responses including safe returns to school and learning challenges. The GEM Centre works to strengthen national systems' capacity to implement and use educational assessments to drive policy change and system reform. ACER is a world leader in education analytics and the GEM Centre provides developing countries with access to high level technical expertise to improve education systems in our region and globally.
Related links
Centre for Global Education Monitoring
Education Analytics Service
$3.6 million, 2016-2023
The Education Analytics Service (EAS) is a service facility that provides DFAT with access to technical expertise for analytics, advisory support and professional development in education. One of the EAS's key tasks is to undertake a longitudinal study of DFAT's teacher development programs in Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Laos. Teacher development is critical to effective remote and accelerated learning and related schooling adaptations due to COVID-19. The three-country study reflects each program-specific context, but broadly seeks to answer the question: "to what extent does Australian investment improve teaching quality and improve student learning?"
Related documents*
| Name of document | Year published |
|---|---|
| Conceptual Framework | 2017 |
| Timor-Leste Interim Report | 2019 |
| Timor-Leste Interim Report 2 | 2021 |
| Lao PDR Baseline Report | 2021 |
| Vanuatu Interim Report 1 | 2021 |
| Lao PRD Interim Report 1 | 2022 |
| Vanuatu Interim Report 2 | 2023 |
Related links
To view more EAS reports please visit the Education Resources webpage.
Research on Improving Systems of Education
$9.86 million, 2016-2022
Australia is a partner with the UK and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) program. RISE is funding world class analysis in seven countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia & Nigeria) that aims to build an evidence base on what works to improve education systems, including insights on barriers to reform. Australia's investment in RISE ensures a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. RISE is providing valuable evidence and guidance to inform decisions and education sector responses to COVID-19.
Related links
Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE)