For all children, education offers hope - Main contents

European Year for Development - focus on education in February

You may already know that 2015 - the European Year for Development - is divided into monthly themes. As the month of February gets underway, we are discussing a topic that is very close to my heart: education. For all children, education offers hope. It can truly transform their lives. Schools can help protect girls and boys, providing safe spaces for learning and development.

I'm proud to say that the European Union has made education a priority. In total, we will be investing around €4.6 billion in all levels of education between 2014 and 2020. More than half of the countries in which we are providing support for education are fragile or conflict-affected, compared with just two-fifths in the previous programming period. We do not shy away from working in difficult conditions. I believe that securing access to education is key to fighting inequalities worldwide.

Good progress has been made towards the goal of Universal Primary Education. Enrolment rates have increased substantially since the setting of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in developing regions from 83.5 % in 2000 to 90.5 % in 2012. With our support almost 14 million children have enrolled in primary education, 1.2 million primary teachers have been trained, 37,000 schools have been built or renovated, and 7.7 million people have received technical and vocational education since 2004.

But there is still much to do. The figures speak for themselves - there are still 58 million children who do not go to school and 40% of them will never enter a classroom. 250 million children who attend school either don’t make it to fourth grade or are unable to read or do basic mathematics, even after four years of school. Globally, 126 million young people lack basic reading and writing skills: 60 per cent of them are young women. Only 2 out of 130 countries have achieved equality between girls and boys at all levels of education (as part of the work on the MDGs.) Gender disparities persist at primary and secondary level: in Sub-Saharan Africa, only two countries out of 35 have achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education. So, it's clear that there’s lots of work still to be done.

First and foremost, we must ensure that all children have access to primary education. But higher education is also of great importance in the efforts to eradicate poverty and to promote inclusive growth. That's why the EU provides support to higher education through initiatives like the Erasmus+ programme, an education and training programme for young people all over the world, which will benefit students worldwide by setting up academic partnerships and exchanges; helping to increase mobility and knowledge sharing between other regions and the European Union.

I believe that it is only through tackling all the stages of education that we will get to a comprehensive approach, with education as a driving force for development. This month, as our work on education goes under the spotlight, I'd like to emphasise my commitment, not only to getting children into school but also to improving the standards of education that they receive when they get there.