Opinion

Make early childhood education a right for all children

Viewpoint
Ahead of a crucial meeting of the Global Partnership for Education, Sarah Brown and Justin van Fleet are calling on board members of one of the biggest education funds to prioritise spending on early years education
Sarah Brown is the founder of global education charity Theirworld
Sarah Brown is the founder of global education charity Theirworld

In 2015, world leaders agreed that by 2030 no child would miss out on pre-primary education.

Their promise recognised the crucial years of education up to the age of five, by which point 90 per cent of a child’s brain has already developed. 

Despite these promises, a severe lack of investment in early years education means that even before Covid-19 shut classrooms around the world, 175 million children under the age of five were missing out on school. Tragically, spending on pre-primary education accounts for just 0.5 per cent of the international community’s aid to education. 

Next week, the UK and other donor countries have a chance to renew their commitment to these children. We urge them not to miss this opportunity.

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the largest education fund dedicated to improving access to education in lower-income countries, will meet virtually to discuss their priorities for the next five years and we are calling on them to put early years education at the heart of their plans.

We expect the GPE to include in its new strategy  a commitment to provide one year of early childhood education.

It should now support countries to deliver on this and track if progress is being made. And while one year is certainly a step in the right direction, all of the evidence suggests that countries should be aiming to deliver two years. Such a step would unlock early years education for tens of millions of children. 

At a time when Covid-19 is disrupting the education of millions of children worldwide, we urge the UK and other countries to show leadership and honour the pledge they made in 2015 to give every child in the world the best start in life. 

  • Theirworld is the global education charity founded and chaired by Sarah Brown, the wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.