Alright, so here’s the deal. Ask any of the 187 female Labour MPs if they would have gotten to the House of Commons without an education, and they’ll probably give you a piece of their mind. Most of them will go on and on about their school days and the teachers who really made a difference in their lives.
But get this, the government, where almost half of the MPs are women, is looking to cut spending on “education and gender” in the overseas aid budget. Yeah, it’s pretty depressing. Jenny Chapman, the international development minister, didn’t beat around the bush when she told a select committee that with the aid budget shrinking from 0.5% to 0.3% of national income by 2027, sacrifices had to be made. And sadly, that meant money that went towards building schools in poor countries and encouraging girls to attend them will be redirected. Health is now taking the top spot on the priority list.
Now, let’s be real here. Chapman is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cutting your budget by a whopping 40% is no walk in the park. But slashing education spending like it’s going out of style? That’s just plain wrong. It’s not like previous Labour governments would have ever greenlit such a move.
Back in the day, when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were running the show, they managed to secure a massive aid package at the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Times were different then. The economy was booming, and everyone’s pockets were feeling pretty full. Fast forward to today, and things aren’t so rosy. The global financial crisis hit, and suddenly, austerity became the name of the game.
But cutting aid for girls’ education? That’s a bad move. Studies commissioned by the Department for International Development (before it got swallowed up by the Foreign Office) showed that investing in girls’ education had major payoffs. Women with an education are more likely to seek healthcare for themselves and their children, leading to lower mortality rates. Plus, educating women has a ripple effect on the economy and society.
So, if the government is dead set on slashing the aid budget, there are ways to soften the blow. They could funnel more money through multilateral organizations like the World Bank to stretch those funds further. Pushing for debt relief for poor countries could also free up more resources for education. But it all starts with a change in mindset. We can’t forget that investing in girls’ education isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must for health, growth, poverty reduction, gender equality, and empowering women.
