Nursery World - Make early childhood education a right for all children

Ahead of a crucial meeting of the Global Partnership for Education, Sarah Brown and Justin van Fleet are calling on board members of one of the biggest education funds to prioritise spending on early years education

Sarah Brown is the founder of global education charity Theirworld

In 2015, world leaders agreed that by 2030 no child would miss out on pre-primary education.

Their promise recognised the crucial years of education up to the age of five, by which point 90 per cent of a child’s brain has already developed.

Despite these promises, a severe lack of investment in early years education means that even before Covid-19 shut classrooms around the world, 175 million children under the age of five were missing out on school. Tragically, spending on pre-primary education accounts for just 0.5 per cent of the international community’s aid to education.

Next week, the UK and other donor countries have a chance to renew their commitment to these children. We urge them not to miss this opportunity.

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