PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Education: Females (14 July 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of 12 years of quality education for every girl in each Official Development Assistance-eligible country.

Asked by:
Dame Harriett Baldwin (Conservative)

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the global learning crisis, especially for the most marginalised. It has been estimated that, at the peak of school closures, 1.3 billion children – 650 million girls - were removed from primary and secondary education. Girls face particular vulnerabilities that mean the most disadvantaged girls are at risk of dropping out of school permanently. As the effects of the COVID-19 crisis play out, the socio-economic impact on girls’ education in developing countries is becoming increasingly clear. From a learning perspective, closures – even with mitigating actions - will significantly reduce learning hours. The effects of school closures in developing countries are also much wider than reduced learning. For many disadvantaged children in developing countries, school closures expose them to increased hunger and malnutrition as well as increased risk of violence against women and girls.

The UK remains committed to 12 years of quality education for all girls. In our most recent published spend of ODA in 2018, our UK Bilateral ODA spend was £686 million and our UK Multilateral ODA spend was £293.7 million. We understand our leadership on girls’ education is more urgent and important than ever. DFID is adapting its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries. The UK has announced £20 million for the UN Children’s Fund crisis appeal, which includes education, and a further £5 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund to support emergency education in fragile contexts. The Global Partnership for Education, to which the UK is the largest donor, is flexing over £200 million to support education sector stability in response to the pandemic. We are also supporting efforts by UNICEF and others to support children back to school when it is safe to do so.

Our education response to the pandemic is two-fold, firstly to ensure preventative measures are taken to keep girls learning and returning to education, mitigating short term risks by focussing on safety, nutrition, wellbeing and the continuity of learning whilst schools are closed. Secondly, by supporting countries to protect and maintain their education budgets and ensuring that we build back better.

Answered by:
Wendy Morton (Conservative)
22 July 2020