Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support girls' education in Bangladesh.

The UK is investing up to £54.5 million over the next eight years to improve education outcomes for girls in Bangladesh. We support approximately 360,000 marginalised children, particularly girls, to gain foundational literacy and numeracy. The UK also provides technical assistance to strengthen primary and secondary education. This includes improving students' reading skills, online teacher education, and performance monitoring systems. Approximately 88,250 children who dropped out of school during the pandemic, are receiving catch-up education to complete their primary years. The UK is also one of the largest contributors (15 per cent) to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) fund. Between 2020 and 2023, Bangladesh will receive $79.7 million from GPE.