If we want to change the world for the better, girls’ education is a good place to start

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of society as we knew it, and, critically, how we educate our children. In the UK and U.S. alike, we have had to adjust to a new normal of virtual learning. But now, as we continue to re-open and students return to in-person instruction, we have to ensure that the challenges the pandemic posed to in-person schooling over the past year and a half do not evolve into an unmanageable global education crisis and into a legacy of wasted talent. 

At the peak of the pandemic, 1.6 billion children around the world were out of school. All of these children have struggled, but for girls and women, much is at stake. Across most of the globe already, they face obstacles at every turn to getting a quality education; poverty, gender-based violence, child marriage, and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services. As a global community, it is our duty to act together to ensure that an entire generation of girls does not miss out on the chance for education. 

If we want to change the world for the better, girls’ education is a good place to start. 

When women receive a quality education, their families, communities, and countries all benefit. A child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live beyond the age of 5 years, and 50% more likely to be immunised against childhood diseases. Research shows that childhood pregnancy could be reduced by almost 60% if all girls had a secondary education, and communities with greater gender equality see a decrease in the likelihood of conflict by nearly 40%. By encouraging and enabling more girls to learn, we are helping to develop the next generation of scientists, innovators, and pioneers who will solve the world’s biggest issues. That’s why the UK is proud to be leading the global fight for girls’ education. Last week in London, the UK is co-hosted the 2021 Global Education Summit (GES) together with Kenya and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the only global fund for education that brings together governments, the private sector, international organizations and civil society to develop education systems in the world’s poorest countries and get more children in school.  

The GPE has helped get more than 160 million children in schools. The UK is the leading donor to the GPE and through last week’s summit, we’ve helped secure $4 billion in additional funds to continue transforming education in the world’s most vulnerable countries, alongside commitments from 19 Heads of State and Government to spend 20 percent of their national budget on education. This is a huge step forward in achieving the UK’s aim of giving more children the chance to learn and improve the lives of millions of individuals and their communities.  

Girls’ education is also at the heart of the UK’s G7 presidency. At last month’s G7 summit in Cornwall, England, the UK led the pledge on an ambitious agenda to have 40 million more girls in school — and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 — in low- and middle-income countries by 2026. Together, the G7 leaders announced they would pledge at least $2.75 billion to GPE. 

Girls’ education is a priority for the UK because we have long experience of the positive and transformative impact it can have on the world. Not only will it lead to decreased violence and increased gender equality, it makes economic sense. With just one additional school year, a woman’s earnings can increase by a fifth. If women had an equal role as men in the labour market, an estimated $28 trillion could be added to global GDP. It also saves lives, with the potential to cut infant mortality rates in half. An investment in girls’ education is therefore an investment in everybody’s global future and in the well-being of every one of the billions of ordinary citizens. We must work together as an international community to invest more in opportunities and to tackle the complex barriers to schooling so that all girls — across the world — can have access to the quality education they deserve.

Dame Karen Pierce is Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States of America. Prior to taking up the ambassadorship, Karen was the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Before this role, she served as the Director General for Political Affairs and Chief Operating Officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth in London, from 2016. Pierce joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1981.