Catherine Zainab Tarawally, Deputy Whip of the All People’s Congress Party has joined 274 World Leaders to write and call for urgent action to address the global education emergency triggered by COVID-19. The letter from the 275 World Leaders was addressed to the G20, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Regional Development Banks and Governments. With over 1 billion children still out of school because of the lockdown, there is now a real and present danger that the public health crisis will create a COVID generation who lose out on schooling and whose opportunities are permanently damaged.
While the more fortunate have had access to alternatives, the world’s poorest children have been locked out of learning, denied internet access, and with the loss of free school meals – once a lifeline for 300 million boys and girls – hunger has grown. “An immediate concern, as we bring the lockdown to an end, is the fate of an estimated 30 million children who according to UNESCO may never return to school.” “For these, the world’s least advantaged children, education is often the only escape from poverty a route that is in danger of closing. Many of these children are adolescent girls for whom being in school is the best defence against forced marriage and the best hope for a life of expanded opportunity.”
According to the World Bank the long-term economic cost of lost schooling could be as much as $10 trillion in lost productive output. And to spur global momentum in support of progress in education, a coalition of global organisations has now joined forces in the ‘Save our Future’ initiative launched on August 4.
Yet at the very time we need extra resources, education funding is in danger on three fronts:
- As slower or negative growth undermines tax revenues, less money may be available in almost every country for public services, including education.
- When allocating limited funds, some governments may leave education crowded out and underfunded as they prioritise expenditure on health and economic recovery.
- Intensifying fiscal pressure in developed countries will result in reductions in international development aid, including aid for education, which has already been losing out to other priorities in teh allocation of bilateral and multilateral aid. their is also a danger that multilateral donors, who already under-invest in education, will reallocate funds.
The World Bank now estimates that, over the next year, overall education spending in low and middle-income countries could be $100-150 billion lower than previously planned. This funding crisis it says will not resolve itself. “We call on the G20, the IMF, World Bank and regional development banks and all countries to recognise the scale of the crisis and support three initiatives to enable catch-up to happen, and progress towards SDG4 to be resumed.
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque