Girls’ Education Challenge

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness may like to know that my honourable friend Lynne Featherstone has a particular focus on assisting those with disabilities in developing countries. The projects being taken forward at the moment are in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. There is great determination to make sure that schooling is inclusive, whether it is for able-bodied or disabled children.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords, I am sure the Minister recognises that even at primary level it is frequently difficult to keep young girls in school, partly because poverty means that they are needed at home. What will the Government be doing to make sure that this issue is really addressed in the post-2015 agenda and that we do not assume that, because it has been part of a millennium development goal so far, everything is okay? The reality is that, unless the quality of the education is really good, the family loses faith in the worth of continuing to send a young girl to school.

[Baroness Northover]

The noble Baroness is right, and that is one of the lessons from the MDGs. Looking forward beyond 2015, it is not just a case of getting children into school but of making sure that they stay in school. DfID built into its programmes consideration of the results—that is, ensuring that children stay in education and that they learn while they are there, and that teachers and educational programmes are in place. One reason for there being a focus on secondary education is that children are required to have gone through primary education.