UN International Day of Education

Theo Clarke Excerpts

Thursday 28th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Theo Clarke (Stafford) (Con) [V]]

I am very proud to co-sponsor this debate on the United Nations International Day of Education, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin) on securing this important debate.

First, I welcome the important steps that the Government have taken to support education in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. In his first speech as Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend committed to ensuring that all girls receive 12 years of quality education, and that is something with which I fully agree. The Prime Minister also announced £515 million to help get more than 12 million children into school in some of the poorest countries in the world. This week, I took part in an evidence session as a member of the International Development Committee, and I was very pleased to hear the Foreign Secretary reiterate the Government’s intention to continue to use UK aid to support girls’ education. It is an important step in ensuring a better, more prosperous and fairer future for all of us.

This week, I have also been part of the United Kingdom’s delegation to the Council of Europe. From discussions with our European partners on the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, on which I sit, it is clear to me that we must continue to work together to tackle the issues that cause people to become displaced. It is also a matter that many of my constituents take a keen interest in, through groups such as Stafford Welcomes Refugees. It is important to remember that when children have sadly been displaced, they must still continue to be educated. That has never been more clear to me than when I visited the Malala school in Lebanon with Save the Children. Malala herself is a leading example of how education can transform people’s lives, and I was honoured to visit the school to see at first hand how UK aid is being used to educate displaced Syrian girls. The school will help to ensure that a generation of girls is not being lost, thanks to the education they are receiving from British teachers. In the future, they will be able to return to Syria and become its future teachers and doctors.

That point is why it is critical that this summer the UK and Kenya are due to host the Global Partnership for Education replenishment summit. The GPE has a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis and is the largest global fund dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries. Since 2015, the UK has supported more than 15.5 million children overseas to gain a decent education. With the UK set to hold that key summit this year and host the G7 in 2021, there has never been a better time for us to champion education. We should use our role in global Britain to ensure that the UN sustainable development goal on quality education is always achieved.