HL Deb 19 January 2004 vol 657 cc120-2WA
The Earl of Sandwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they still expect all African countries to achieve universal primary education by 2015. [HL714]

Baroness Amos

On present trends it is likely that some countries in sub-Saharan Africa will fail to reach the UPE goal by 2015. The Education for All Monitoring Report identifies 24 countries which are unlikely to reach this Millennium Development Goal. Countries affected by, and emerging from, conflict are most at risk. Good progress is being made in other countries.

We are continuing to work in partnership with African Governments through bilateral and multilateral channels to address this situation. We have committed over £700 million to basic education since 1997 and project to spend about £1 billion on universal primary education in the years 2002– 07.

The Earl of Sandwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What evidence they have of the achievement of universal primary education in those African countries where they sustain an active education programme. [HL715]

Baroness Amos

Good progress is being made towards the goal of universal primary education (UPE) in countries that fall under our public service agreement, such as South Africa, Ghana, Lesotho, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

We have substantially increased our support to governments with credible plans for achieving UPE. These countries include Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia. We do envisage however that some may continue to have difficulties in reaching this goal. Decisions taken recently by some governments, notably Kenya, to make primary schooling free will have a major impact. We judge that the situation will continue to improve in our partner countries as we project to spend £1 billion on UPE in the years 2002–07.

The Earl of Sandwich

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received any reports on the effect of the abolition of school fees, as in Malawi, on the achievement of universal primary education; and whether this experience may be relevant to other countries. [HL716]

Baroness Amos

There has been a marked increase in enrolment in Malawi since school fees were abolished in 1994, resulting in a national net enrolment rate of 65.7 per cent1. The free primary education (FPE) policy, almost resulted in universal primary education (UPE) with an extra 1 million children enrolling at this time. However, there is still much to be done if UPE is to be achieved and maintained. Approximately 24 per cent2 of primary school-age children are currently out of school. Families continue to bear other costs (i.e, school materials and uniform costs), and the increase of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the region results in some school-age children not going to school.

  1. 11998 Census, National Statistical Office. Malawi
  2. 2ibid.

Malawi's experiences in the introduction of FPE have been widely shared in the region through our country offices. A key lesson from this experience is the need to ensure that the education system can cope with a large influx of enrolling children before FPE is introduced so as not to affect the quality of education. Also, strong government commitment is crucial 10 achieving UPE.