Twelve years of quality education for all girls: a Commonwealth perspective

In 2015 leaders from across the globe pledged to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. The first target of this education Sustainable Development Goal committed to ensuring that all children – regardless of their gender and circumstances within which they are born – should complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018 affirmed the importance of 12 years of quality education for all, particularly marginalised groups including disadvantaged girls. The Platform for Girls’ Education was launched in response to this commitment to “leave no girl behind”, with the aim of driving forward action in the run-up to CHOGM 2020. To support the Platform for Girls’ Education, this Report aims to situate the current evidence on girls’ education across the 53 countries in the Commonwealth, with a particular focus on low- and lowermiddle income countries where the challenges are the greatest. It identifies the current situation of access to school and learning together with trends in domestic and aid financing to support the targets. It then presents evidence on interventions aimed at tackling barriers to girls’ access and learning in order to move forward towards achieving the commitments that have been made. It notes the distinction between gender parity in education – i.e. an equal proportion of girls and boys in school and learning – and the more ambitious goal of gender equality which involves wider steps to end discrimination and create a truly level playing field.