Sections:

The importance of secondary, vocational and higher education to development

14 July 2006

Following wide consultation, Ministers have approved a briefing paper detailing what DFID will do in support of secondary, vocational and higher education and skills and why it is doing it.

Greater investment is needed at all levels of education if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). DFID gives priority to supporting primary education for all children – especially girls – in countries that are off-track for reaching the MDGs for education. It will continue to do so. But investment is also needed in secondary, tertiary and vocational education, lifelong learning and skills, in order to increase the ability of governments and the private sector, to deliver basic services, and to promote sustainable growth.

The paper details DFID’s approach on secondary, vocational and higher education in the light of our commitments at Gleneagles, our response to the Commission for Africa (CfA), and promises to spend £8.5 billion over the next ten years on education.