§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what additional resources have been made available by his Department to help combat illiteracy in developing countries.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI am ready to give additional help, but the ODA must take account of the plans and priorities of developing country Governments.
I hope that the world conference on education for all which was held in Thailand last year will encourage governments to give greater priority to combating illiteracy. We currently spend £3.7 million of capital and technical co-operation funds specifically on primary education and adult literacy. We are making £20 million available this year to the joint funding scheme for non-governmental organisation work which includes a number of literacy projects.