A global pact on education for girls

Deprived kids: Gillard says 58 million children globally do not have a primary school education and girls suffer the most. - File photo

The recent injustices to girls have drawn world attention. They show an urgent need to empower young females by getting them back to schools.

A SPATE of shocking violence against schoolgirls in developing nations has set the stage for a global commitment later this year to ensure all girls have the chance of an education, according to former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Gillard, who chairs the board of the Global Partnership of Education, said a new set of development goals to be finalised in New York in September, was the opportunity to sharpen the focus on universal education and the quality of teaching.

The former politician, who served as Australia's first national female leader for three years until 2013, said 58 million children globally were deprived of a primary school education and girls particularly were suffering.

The United States First Lady Michelle Obama wrote in Britain's Financial Times on Tuesday that 62 million girls were out of school globally, describing it as "a heartbreaking injustice".

Forced marriages, early pregnancies and sexism were some of the obstacles to education.

But Gillard said events such as the shooting of Pakistan teenager Malala Yousafzai, a campaigner for girls' education, and the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria, had created a new impetus for action.

"There is now a momentum for girls' education borne of such dreadful horrors as Malala's shooting and the Boko Haram kidnappings," Gillard said.

“These events have drawn the attention of the world and reinforced in all of us how powerful it is to educate girls.” Gillard, speaking on the sidelines of the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference, said it was worrying the amount of international donor aid for education dropped 9.5% between 2010 and 2012.

She said an additional US$39bil (RM145bil) a year was needed from external funding sources to ensure all children had access to primary and secondary schools, stressing the importance of education for development and need for private sector funding.

Studies have shown if all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty -– equal to a 12% cut in world poverty.

Every extra year of school is estimated to increase an individual's earnings by up to 10%.

“Education is the enabler of everything else,” said Gillard, whose organisation comprises 60 developing countries, donor governments, NGOs and the private sector working to get all children into school for a quality education.

“We cannot get to a world that is peaceful and powerful without ensuring people are educated.” – Reuters