Education is every child’s number one priority; It should be ours as well
At the dawn of a new decade, we have just 10 years left to achieve the Agenda 2030. Yet millions of children around the world are not learning what they need to contribute to a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Unless we make transforming education systems our number one priority, we will be 80 years too late to achieve this goal.
In November 2019, I met a group of young South Sudanese refugees in a school on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. Haltingly, they told me about their experiences fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in a foreign place. When I asked them how they felt about being able to go to school again, though, their eyes brightened and out tumbled their hopes and dreams. Like millions of children and young people around the world, education is their number one priority for the future.
It would be easy to assume that education is our global priority, as well. After all, it is a country’s greatest investment in the future. Education has a ripple effect on almost every aspect of development. An educated population is healthier, more productive, more peaceful, and more capable of tackling the great challenges facing our planet, including climate change. This effect is particularly powerful when we educate girls. If every girl in the world received 12 years of education, infant mortality would be cut in half, and the global economy would rise by as much as US $30 trillion. In our interconnected world, these benefits know no borders or boundaries. Education is the cornerstone of a better future for us all.
So it’s alarming that today, 260 million children are still not in school. It’s even more alarming that millions of children who are in school are not learning. More than half the world’s children are unable to read and understand a simple story by age 10. If we continue with business as usual, half the next generation won’t have the skills they need to harness the opportunities of the 21st century. In fact, at current rates of progress, it will be 2111 – well into the 22nd century – by the time the poorest girls in the world can expect to complete 10 years of basic schooling. That’s 80 years after the deadline to meet the Sustainable Development Goals expires.
We urgently need to recognise and prioritise the global learning crisis, and mobilise the resources and political will to get education back on track. Yet education is all but invisible on the world stage. Aid spending on education has been stagnant for nearly a decade, despite a global funding gap of $39 billion. Clearly, that must change.
However, it’s not just a case of investing more money, when business as usual is not working. That’s why the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) supports governments to transform education at systems level, where the impact of change can reach all children.
We are uniquely placed to do this. As a partnership, we mobilize global expertise to identify solutions at country-level, tackle challenges holistically and reduce fragmentation. As a fund, we channel investments to where they will have a catalytic effect to improve learning – be it investing in teacher training, creating conditions for girls to get to and stay in school, distributing textbooks, or modernizing data to drive evidence-based decisions.
Our unique approach gets results. In our partner countries, 77 million more children are in school today than when we began in 2002, including 41 million girls. Our success demonstrates what we all know to be true: that only by working in partnership can we tackle the challenge ahead.
With the clock ticking for millions of children around the world, we need to stop investing in business as usual. GPE has long counted on the UK as a champion for global education, particularly for educating girls. Now more than ever, we need such leadership to make transforming education systems our number one priority for 2030. Millions of children cannot afford to wait an additional 80 years, and neither can we.
Article from Engage Issue 20.
BY ALICE ALBRIGHT CEO OF THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION. • June 17, 2021
Mike Fleetham of Thinking Classroom has written a book " Headlines: Inspiration, humour and advice for school leaders ". A collection of original ideas, advice from professionals, quotes, and tips to support and inspire all leaders. Perfect for new and established leaders working in education, especially headteachers. "Being a headteacher is like looking both ways before you cross the road, and then getting hit by an aeroplane." To Enter the Competition To win a copy of Headlines please share your inspiring education or life lesson in no more than 600 words. The winning article will also be published in our next edition of Engage. Send your words of inspiration to admin@stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk 📅 Deadline: 5th September 2025 Stuck on Ideas? Here are some questions and prompts to get you started! What’s the one lesson school didn’t teach you, but life did? Think of a moment that changed your path, what happened? What piece of advice has helped you grow the most? When did a challenge turn into an opportunity for you? What story from your life would inspire someone on the other side of the world? What’s the life lesson that unlocked your next chapter? Your words could uplift, empower and be seen by many. Let your story inspire the world! 🌍💡 Good luck and we cant wait to read all the entries!
This week our CEO Ann and Jude (SSF Ambassador) visited schools in Coventry and heard about the wonderful work that students are doing to foster peace and community connection, as part of Coventry Arts Week. We visited Lyng Hall school in the morning and met with Ms Hagan and four of the schools UNESCO ASPnet ambassadors. They told us all about their recent project. The students took their art and poetry to the 80th Anniversary symposium in Ypres and Dunkirk. They shared with us some of the poetry they had written together with the students on the field trip and some of their own poems too. They also shared their future plans for working with their local primary school on peace and community. We also had the privilege of joining Ms Hagans class where they were looking at Caliban’s tale. Here is one of the students work
For my birthday this year I had the honour to walk 60 miles (yes it was a big 0 birthday) over 3 days to support the essential work of the Steve Sinnott Foundation of which I am CEO. Education in its many forms is essential for all of us to thrive and make the most of life's opportunities. The Foundation works to ensure that as many children and adults as possible across the globe can access the human right of education. The plan was to walk with friends and supporters who I hoped would keep me smiling along the way and it felt like a good way to make use of the Foundation’s “Get Moving” campaign. Here's how my Get Moving Fundraiser went on the first day. The 13th June I started my walk in London by walking from Barnet to west Hampstead and visiting my sister at her shop at Tree of Life where I got served a nice iced coffee to keep me going.
