Support for Increasing Investment in Basic Education is Growing

There is a growing recognition among policymakers that education is the foundation for successful development. Data demonstrates a powerful connection between increases in educational attainment, particularly literacy and numeracy, and increases in development indicators across the board.

This relationship between education and economic and social development has been the focus of of many multinational summits and conferences, including the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990,and the follow-up conference held in Dakar, Senegal in 2000. Since Jomtien, stakeholders have continued to push for universal basic (primary) education to occupy the highest priority on the agendas of governments, donors, and partners in development. In Dakar, participants set 2015 as the goal for ensuring all children have access to basic primary education.

The case for universal basic education is compelling. Edward Fiske of the New York Times reports in "Basic Education: Building Block for Global Development," that in newly developing societies such as those in which AED works, each additional year of schooling beyond grade 3-4 can lead to tangible improvements in wages, birthrates, and infant mortality rates of between 10 and 20 percent each.

The education of girls has a particularly dramatic impact on economic and social development. Research demonstrates that education for girls yields impressive returns in the form of increased family income, reduced infant and maternal mortality, increased nutrition, overall health, and life expectancy. However, the constraints on girls' participation in primary education are even greater than those for children in general.

"The evidence of the advantages that basic education affords children, adults, societies, and governments is overwhelming," according to AED President Stephen F. Moseley. "It is clear, now more than ever, that all stakeholders in development must intensify their efforts towards achieving universal basic education."

AED, as a private, non-governmental and nonprofit organization with a mission that includes the improvement of educational quality and access, is a founding member of the Basic Education Coalition, a group of 16 development organizations that are working to improve awareness of basic education policies and issues among policymakers.