§ 6. Mr. St. AubynTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her Department's support for education initiatives in Asia. [111178]
§ Clare ShortThe Government are working to strengthen the international effort to meet the International Development target of achieving universal primary education by 2015 and gender equality in primary and secondary schooling by 2005. To meet targets we must make greater progress in Asia where 50 million children are still out of school. The UK has major projects working to improve state systems in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal and we are working hard to try to ensure that the UN led Conference in Dakar on 26–27 April drives forward progress in meeting the 2015 target across the world.