Donors pledge $1bn to Pakistan for education: Brown

ISLAMABAD: Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday said that international donors have pledged to provide Pakistan with about a billion dollars over the next three years to help it provide education to millions of out-of-school children.

Now a United Nations special envoy on global education, Brown said in Islamabad that the global community will partner with Pakistan in financing the biggest education expansion in the country's history.

Pakistan recently doubled its education budget, from two to four per cent of its gross domestic product.

Brown said the goal is to provide education to more than 55 million people over ten years old who are illiterate in Pakistan.

“The money has been pledged by number of international organisations and friendly countries,” he said while speaking at a press conference after addressing the Youth Forum here at the Convention Centre.

He said the international community wanted to ensure there were no child marriages and labour and cases of discrimination on basis on gender.

Brown said he met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and education ministers of all provinces to discuss promotion of education in the country and they all were determined for the cause.

“We must develop concerted measurers to send girl and boys to schools. We hope to develop new proposals to speed up efforts to offer education to every child,” he added.

The former British premier said that there was a great change in last two years and now people have began to recognise that future of Pakistan's economy depends on education and there was great determination on the part of girls' themselves that their right of education should be upheld.

“This is movement of change, this is civil rights struggle for change, liberation movement and girls particularly are demanding their right for education.”

He said Pakistan has been behind rest of the world for many years because so many children are out of schools, adding that the country could become a beacon by making rapid progress in next two years.

Earlier, speaking at the Youth Forum, he said that the world would provide full assistance to get into a partnership with Pakistan to deliver education to all.

“The world stand with you as you invest in education for the future, it is good for your economy, it is good for your society because you are educating girls,” he said.

The Youth Forum was also addressed by Minister of State for Education Balighur Rehman, Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar and others.

In response to a question about Malala Yousafzai, Gordon Brown told the youth that they should really be proud to have such a courageous girl like her.

He said Global Partnership for Education had committed $100 million, the USAID $140 million and the European community $100 million, besides support from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Nations and other countries.

“We will make our contribution in getting best education opportunities in future and in the next four years billions of dollars will come from the international community to support education in Pakistan