Britain's support for global education funds is more vital than ever – it must be maintained
A classroom in Malawi (International Parliamentary Network for Education)
4 min read
Swingeing cuts to overseas aid have put the education of the world’s poorest children at risk. UK support for the Global Partnership for Education, to be decided in the coming days, will mitigate some of that risk and must be maintained.
Earlier this year, we visited Malawi, where we saw the positive impact UK aid has had across the country.
Seventy-five per cent of Malawi’s population lives on less than £2 per day, making it one of four countries globally with the highest rates of extreme poverty.
In a country where only 13 per cent of children aged 7 to 14 acquire basic maths skills, we saw the difference that UK expertise, along with funding to provide teachers with training and materials, made in children’s learning outcomes.
We spent time in classrooms, observing teachers who, with UK support, were using new, proven approaches to teaching numeracy.
The evidence backed up what we witnessed. A report from the project's first phase in 2023 found big improvements in maths skills for children in years one to three.
After we returned from Malawi, the British government announced the effective end of the UK's long-standing bilateral support for the country.
This year Malawi will receive a total of £50.2m. Over the next three financial years, that figure will fall to £20m, then £10m, and finally £5m in 2028-2029.
The cuts are already leading to the closure of vital health and education programmes, including the initiative we saw firsthand that aimed to improve children’s numeracy skills.
Sadly, this is mirrored across the continent. Support for Mozambique, highly vulnerable to climate change, will be cut by 90 per cent. Funding for Rwanda and Sierra Leone will be cut by 80 per cent, and Somalia by 49 per cent.
In all these countries, the UK was helping expand and improve education.
However, the decision to cut development assistance has ended bilateral support for education, depriving partner countries of an estimated £600m in vital funding over the next three years.
When it announced cuts to UK aid, the government said it would deliver more funding through multilateral mechanisms.
One of those mechanisms is the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
A founding member and, for many years, the leading bilateral donor to GPE, the UK hosted the Partnership’s replenishment conference in London in 2021 and helped GPE mobilise a record $4bn.
We directly provided £430m, which has helped 372 million children in partner countries receive a better education.
GPE now aims to raise $5bn in donor commitments to fund its work through to 2030 and unlock a further $10bn in co-financing from the private sector, multilateral banks and foundations.
Nothing will compensate for the end of direct funding to partner governments resulting from UK aid cuts. However, affirming UK support for GPE and maintaining funding at current levels will go some way to reducing the funding gaps those countries now face.
Although a significant cut in real terms, once again pledging £430m would enable GPE to train 1.15 million teachers, allow 11.49 million more girls to attend school, and improve the quality of education for over 84.3 million children by 2030.
If GPE isn’t fully funded, Malawi, along with other low-income countries, will see further cuts to the support they receive, leading to fewer children receiving an education.
That is not in Britain’s interests. Fewer children learning will slow growth, exacerbate conflict and widen gender inequality.
The UK is yet to make its pledge to GPE. But the reality is simple: the UK has chosen to reduce bilateral aid. That decision makes multilateral investment more important than ever.
If we are serious about helping countries grow and develop, then we must ensure the institutions best placed to support that goal have the funding to do the task we’ve given them.
Bambos Charalambous is the Labour MP for Southgate and Wood Green, and Rachel Gilmour is the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead. They visited Malawi as members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education, of which Charalambous is Chair. They are also members of the International Parliamentary Network for Education
