Education:

The right to learn

Every child has a right to learn. Yet 72 million children, of whom 41 million are girls, do not go to primary school.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, eight-year-old Mrisho and his brother Benadi are lucky because they do go to school – and their education is free. “My parents say it is a blessing they don’t have to pay for us to go to school,” says Mrisho.

Tanzania abolished school fees in 2001. With Britain’s help, it got 98% of its children in primary school in 2006 – up from 51% in 2000.

Though there are 17 million primary aged children out of school in South and West Asia, Africa still has the most children out of school: 32 million.

To reach the goal of sending every child to primary school, Africa needs an extra 1.6 million teachers. It must recruit 4 million between now and 2015.

To speed up progress, we are spending £8.5 billion of taxpayers' money on education in poor countries over the next ten years.

Find out more about DFID's goals on education.
Learn about DFID Global School Partnerships, linking schools in the UK and poor countries.

In Mozambique, the UK has pledged £150 million to educate the million children not in school and improve school buildings.

In Ghana, more primary school places and textbooks will be provided through £105 million funding.

In Malawi, teachers will be trained in 350 development centres built by DFID.