Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department’s programming to support improved foundational literacy and numeracy is being targeted to countries where literacy rates and proficiency in maths are lowest.

HMG's Girls Education Action Plan, launched in May by the Prime Minister sets out how we plan to deliver the global girls' education targets and ensure all children, particularly girls, have access to quality education. The plan identifies the need to address the gap in children's foundational learning to ensure children achieve basic literacy, numeracy as well as other transferable skills as the building blocks needed to make progress in school, attain higher order skills, and reap the full rewards of education. UK support is underpinned by evidence and focuses on supporting the most marginalised. The bulk of our education programmes are in Africa where the needs are greatest and learning levels lowest, such as in Malawi and Uganda. The UK is also ensuring that children's learning is prioritised in very challenging contexts, such as in Nigeria and Syria, and building strong relationships to identify and support governments that are committed to education reform, such as in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.