NEWS: MPs discuss protecting education budgets following impact of COVID-19
10.12.20 - Director of Education at the OECD, Andreas Schleicher, presenting to parliamentarians the importance of sustainable financing for education.
On 10 December 2020, IPNEd member parliamentarians from across the world were joined by Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills at the OECD, and Elyas Abdi Jillaow, OGW, Director-General at the Ministry of Education, Kenya, to consider actions and recommendations to maintain and increase domestic and international financing for education. The session was chaired by IPNEd Co-Chair and member of the United Kingdom Parliament, Harriett Baldwin MP.
The session, on ‘protecting and growing domestic and international financing for education’, was the final in a series of briefings for MPs on COVID-19 and education.
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was already a US$148 billion annual financing gap in low- and lower-middle-income countries to achieve SDG 4. Additional costs due to COVID-19 related school closures risk increasing this financing gap by up to one-third, or US$30 to US$45 billion. IPNEd’s briefing brought together the expert analysis of the OECD, with the insights and evidence of the Ministry of Education, Kenya, to consider the role of both domestic resource mobilisation and official development assistance (ODA) in assuring quality and sustainable financing for education. Parliamentarians from across the world, including from Nigeria, South Africa and Canada, joined the discussion.
Additionally, representatives from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) joined the call, discussing with event chair, Harriett Baldwin, and speaker, Elyas Abdi Jillaow, the timely context of the briefing and their joint interests in the upcoming GPE replenishment conference. The 2021 conference will be co-hosted by the UK and Kenya, and seeks to transform education through securing US $5 billion for GPE’s 2021-25 financing period. For further information on the replenishment campaign, see GPE’s Case for Investment.
The speakers presented a variety of recommendations for parliamentarians to ensure higher and quality financing for education, highlighting the vital importance of maintaining these commitments following the budgetary and global economic shocks of COVID-19.
The briefing session can be watched here. For further information on IPNEd’s COVID-19 and education work, please contact the Secretariat at info@ipned.org.
