Global AIDS Alliance

Free Basic Education

Please click here for recent action alerts, news, and reports related to universal basic education and school fee abolition.

Did you know?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 states: "Everyone has the right to education [and] education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages." But today, over 77 million children in the world's poorest countries do not attend school, 57% of them girls. At the current rate of progress, at least 75 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, will not achieve the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. Many of these countries are also those hardest hit by AIDS. In fact, the HIV epidemic itself is devastating struggling school systems-killing teachers and administrators, increasing absenteeism, and lowering productivity, all of which increase costs and undermine educational quality.

Worldwide, young people ages 15 to 24 account for 40% of new HIV infections. And almost two-thirds of these newly infected young people are girls, who are especially vulnerable to HIV infection for a variety of social, cultural, economic, and physiological reasons. In addition, girls are often taken out of school to care for sick relatives or forced to go to work to replace family income lost due to AIDS deaths. Orphans are also at high risk of HIV and much more likely to be forced to leave school.

Millions of young people lack accurate information about HIV/AIDS, and girls tend to be more poorly informed than boys. But basic education can equip all children with the skills and knowledge they need in order to avoid HIV infection. Indeed, education links directly to safer behavior and reduced HIV infection rates, and experts agree that basic education ranks among the most effective-and cost-effective-means of HIV prevention. The Global Campaign for Education estimates that if all children received a complete primary education, as many as 700,000 cases of HIV could be prevented each year.

In particular, education offers a powerful tool for reducing the social and economic vulnerability that exposes girls and orphans to a high risk of HIV/AIDS. Girls who attend school are much less likely to be sexually active, and better-educated girls tend to delay having sex and are more likely to require their partners to use condoms. Education also contributes to female economic independence, delayed marriage, family planning, improved child survival, and work outside the home-all of which can slow and reverse the spread of HIV.

What needs to be done?

There are a number of critical steps toward achieving universal basic education.

Eliminate School Fees
In the poorest countries, school-related fees keep millions of children out of school. And nearly all developing countries assess separate fees on various aspects of education, including tuition, textbooks and equipment, uniforms, Parent Teacher Association membership, and building services. Many mothers dying from HIV are most concerned with who will pay their children's school fees. And the cost of sending children to school often prevents people from adopting orphans either formally or informally.

Not surprisingly, eliminating school fees dramatically expands the number of children attending school. In Uganda, ten years after the elimination of primary school fees, the number of children in school has increased to 5.3 million from 3.5 million. In Kenya, primary enrollment jumped by almost one-quarter after the elimination of school fees. In addition, eliminating school fees is a cost-effective means of expanding educational access. Abolition of school fees was identified as the first "quick win" priority by The Millennium Project.

Reform and Scale Up the Fast Track Initiative
Countless small-scale projects have proven successful in expanding educational access, and the Education for All–Fast Track Initiative (FTI) offers a promising vehicle for scaling up these successful models. Launched in 2002 and housed at the World Bank, FTI is a multi-donor partnership intended to support low-income countries that have developed and begun to implement strong national education plans to get all children in school. Over 20 countries now have approved education plans and are receiving support through FTI. Click here to find out more about the Fast Track Initiative.

At the same time, The Fast Track Initiative must be reformed in order to make it more effective and accountable. Specific reforms should include the acceleration of public-private partnerships, a commitment to locally driven strategic plans, improved monitoring of international standards of accountability, strong civil-society role in governance and monitoring, and expanded use of information technology to achieve results.

Mobilize Increased Financial Resources
The poorest countries need external assistance in order to scale up and improve educational systems. Specifically, funds are needed to train teachers, strengthen and expand the educational infrastructure, buy textbooks and equipment, ensure educational quality, and introduce computer technologies. Additional resources are also needed to underwrite the costs of eliminating school-related fees and meeting increased demand for education.

The UK's Department for International Development estimates that as much as $10 billion per year is needed to ensure universal access to primary education. But total foreign aid for education was just $3.4 billion in 2004, and UNICEF estimates that international education aid has fallen by 30% over the past decade. For just those countries that are expected to be endorsed by the Fast Track Initiative by 2008, the funding gap is estimated to be as much as $5 billion. It is also critical that donor financing for basic education be truly long-term and flow through effective multilateral mechanisms such as the Fast Track Initiative in order to facilitate donor coordination and ensure that funding flows to countries with rigorous national education plans.

Last year the British government announced a landmark commitment to spend $15 billion over 10 years to support long-term national education plans. Disappointingly, no other major donor has yet come forward to match the UK's challenge on financing basic education.

What is the Global AIDS Alliance doing?

The Global AIDS Alliance is committed to accelerating universal basic education and the elimination of school fees. In particular, we are working to achieve the following goals:

• Mobilize global stakeholders in support of free basic education.

• Shape US policy and secure increased funding for basic education and school fee abolition.

• Define basic education as a key component of both HIV prevention and a response to the crisis of orphans and vulnerable children.

As part of these efforts, GAA is playing a leadership role in efforts to scale up and reform the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative, and to mobilize support for the new School Fee Abolition Initiative spearheaded by UNICEF and the World Bank. Our efforts to reform US spending on education in poor countries are focused on securing an increased US contribution to the Fast Track Initiative, and we are also working to require the US Agency for International Development to design and track its basic education programs to achieve specific targets related to increasing school enrollment, retention, and basic measures of educational attainment, and encourage the elimination of school fees.

The primary impacts of GAA's efforts to accelerate universal basic education will be to slow HIV infections among young people, and leverage new resources to help developing countries scale up and improve educational systems. In particular, we believe the elimination of school-related fees is key to achieving the Millennium Development goal of universal basic education by 2015 (MDG #2). Ultimately, expanded universal basic education will help lessen gender inequity, support orphans and vulnerable children, and reduce global poverty.

Where can I learn more?

At the bottom of this page, you will find a selection of recent materials related to universal basic education, including action alerts, news, and reports. In addition, GAA is working with a broad array of advocacy partners to help expand access to basic education and eliminate school fees. Many of these groups offer additional information about issues related to education, including the following:

ActionAid International
Global Campaign for Education
RESULTS
Save the Children (UK)
UNICEF

Click here for a full list of GAA's advocacy partners.