Alice Albright, the new CEO of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), visited Australia this week and praised the Australian aid program for its continued investment in the education sector.
Ms Albright said Australia's support to GPE brought the organisation a strong voice and vital support in areas like strategic thinking and governance.
Australia is investing $270 million in GPE between 2011 and 2014, assisting 800,000 children since 2011 to enter school for the first time. This forms part of Australia's overall education investment, which in 2013–14 is expected to be $1.158 billion–up from around $943 million in 2012–13.
Ms Albright noted that GPE achieves results by:
- mobilising funds from a range of donors and working closely with developing partner governments to ensure sufficient domestic funds are committed to education sector plans
- working at the system level across 58 countries to ensure that ministries of education have the tools, including finance and technical assistance, to draw up their education plans for the future
- focusing on education innovation, looking at the best ways to teach, the best ways to finance, and the best ways to work nationally, regionally and globally to ensure that children are in school and learning.
A 'super' development goal
Education can be considered a 'super' development goal–a key element to unlocking individuals' potential and enabling progress to break the cycle of poverty. It is the flagship sector for the Australian aid program, and investment in GPE is integral to achieving AusAID's strategic goals. Education gives people the knowledge and skills to lead productive lives and support stable and strong societies.
GPE, with the support of donor partners like Australia, is focusing on getting 25 million children into school in the next three years. However, with 57 million children around the world still out of school, there is much to be done in terms of access and education quality.
To achieve this, GPE brings together all the key players–ranging from developing country partners to donors, private sector, civil society and teachers–to ensure that developing countries have the finance, knowledge, technical know-how and political will to prioritise education and develop national plans for education. National plans are driven by developing country governments, so they are tailored to local conditions, ensuring that and children have the teachers, schoolbooks, buildings and skills they need to learn and thrive.
Australia invests in GPE because it helps more children access a quality education, achieves international education goals, and contributes to strengthening education systems in GPE's 58 developing partner countries, including Papua New Guinea, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Afghanistan.
During her visit, Ms Albright met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for School Education, and AusAID officials including the Director General Peter Baxter.
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Global Partnership for Education CEO, Alice Albright, during her visit to AusAID