RESULTS Welcomes Introduction of Bipartisan Education for All Act of 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
On July 22, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA) introduced the Education for All Act of 2013 (H.R. 2780).
With 57 million primary school-aged children still not in school around the world, and many more children in school failing to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills, leadership from the United States government is needed now more than ever to ensure all children are able to receive a quality basic education.
In response to the introduction of H.R. 2780, Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, issued the following statement:
I applaud Congresswoman Lowey and Congressman Reichert for introducing the Education for All Act of 2013. Access to a quality education is a fundamental human right and key to fulfilling global development goals. If all children in low-income countries were able to complete primary school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty.
Congresswoman Lowey and Congressman Reichert’s leadership on this issue is essential to ensuring the U.S. government prioritizes achieving education for all children.
Since 2005, progress getting children into school has plateaued. The bill calls for a strong U.S. global education strategy to ensure the U.S. contributes to reversing this trend and accelerating progress to achieve universal, quality education. I welcome the bill’s focus on equity, as it seeks to reach the most marginalized and vulnerable children, and children in conflict-affected and fragile states and other emergencies.
The Education for All Act also calls on the United States to support the Global Partnership for Education, the only multilateral partnership focused on ensuring all children have access to a quality education. This is an essential piece that would allow the U.S. to increase its impact and ensure funds are contributing to the development and implementation of quality, country owned, and sustainable national education plans and systems.
I urge Congress to enact the key provisions of the bipartisan Education for All Act— to ensure strong and effective U.S. leadership that will support countries to achieve education for all children.
The Education for All Act seeks to improve U.S. leadership by:
Authorizing the U.S. government to support a multilateral education initiative such as the Global Partnership for Education, the only multilateral partnership focused on ensuring all children have access to a quality education;
- Increasing efforts to address both quality of, and access to, basic education in developing countries, especially for the most marginalized and vulnerable children;
- Ensuring a continuum of education services for children in conflict and other emergencies;
- Supporting the implementation of developing countries’ national education plans and building the capacity of national education systems; and
- Creating a comprehensive U.S. government strategy to achieve these goals and increasing coordination amongst U.S. government agencies focusing on education for all.