DFID’s financing of education plans is largely provided through general and sector budget support and it is not possible to disaggregate our support to show precisely how much has gone towards (a) children transferring from private and unregulated schools to the state sector and (b) children who previously received no schooling. Where there have been increases in enrolment as a result of the abolition of school fees, only aggregate data are available, it is not possible to identify where the extra children have come from. The primary source of global data on enrolment of school children is the Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The 2007 Report was launched on 26 October and may be accessed via:
http://www.unesco.org/education/GMR/2007/Full_report.pdf.
The UK’s support to education is provided through bilateral and multilateral channels, including the Education For All Fast Track Initiative. DFID provides bilateral support to partner governments to help them develop and implement their own education sector plans. Particular attention is given to getting children into school through removing school fees, providing equipment, building new schools, as well as through paying teachers adequate salaries and providing professional development opportunities for them.
Between 2000 and 2005 many countries abolished school fees, including Lesotho (2000), Cambodia (2001), Zambia (2002), Kenya (2003), Mozambique (2004), Vietnam (2004) and Burundi (2005). In Kenya, this led to an additional 1.2 million students entering the school system. In Burundi, almost 500,000 additional primary school pupils arrived to enrol on the first day of school, double the number anticipated. Removing school fees increases enrolment but also makes it necessary to plan for the surge in order to maintain adequate quality.