AusAID / Aid issues / Education

Strategic goals

Promoting opportunities for all

Other information

Education

Contact //Tel: +61 2 6178 4000
Fax: +61 2 6178 4880 // Post: GPO Box 887, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia

Overview
See our results
Funding
Research

Nauru’s youth go back to school

Youth opportunities improving in East Timor

Sri Lanka’s friendly schools

All Children Reading

How we are helping

Our funding for 2012/13

$879.4 million

Region	Spend ($A million)
Total	879.4
Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island countries	232.0
East Asia	353.9
South and West Asia	129.0
Africa and the Middle East	65.8
Latin America and the Caribbean	10.9
Rest of the world and unallocated	87.7

Education enables development and is crucial to helping people overcome poverty. It also contributes to equity, health, governance, sustainable development and empowering women. Education is the largest sector of Australia’s aid program.

Promoting opportunities for all is one of the five strategic goals of Australia’s aid program. Guided by the education thematic strategy, Promoting Opportunities for All: Education, Australia’s aid program helps more children, particularly girls, to attend school for a longer and better education so they have the skills to build their own futures and, in time, escape poverty. We do this by:

improving access to school for all children and youth so that they complete a basic education
improving the quality of education so that all children and youth learn the basic skills needed to lead productive lives
assisting governments to deliver education services that provide a better quality education for all.

Following the Government’s announcement on 17 December 2012 to reprioritise resources within the aid budget, the 2012–13 budget estimate for the Education program was reduced by $99 million to $879.4 million. The new budget estimate for Education reflects changes to country and global programs as well as deferrals in funding for Australian Awards scholarships and fellowships, and education research and partnerships, into future financial years.

Australia remains committed to promoting opportunities for all, and to the Education sector in particular. Education will remain the flagship sector of the aid program. Australia expects to be one of the largest bilateral donors in education by 2015–16. Our education assistance will, for example, focus on:

addressing the financial and social barriers to girls’ education
supporting school construction in disadvantaged areas
continuing to work with governments in areas such as education policy, planning and budgeting in order to improve education access and quality.

Promoting opportunities for all

Under the Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework, Australia has committed to helping 4 million more children go to school by 2015-16. We will also train 190,000 teachers and 300,000 school officials to improve education quality and leadership. Progress towards these results will be tracked and reported on an annual basis. The aid program is achieving results and we are on track to meet these targets.

Globally, Australia is the fourth-largest donor to the Global Partnership for Education. Since 2002, their work has enabled 19 million more children to enrol in school (54 per cent girls), provided jobs for 300,000 new teachers, built 30,000 new classrooms, and distributed more than 200 million textbooks to primary schools.

For more examples of our results, watch the video below or view the detailed pages on our country and global programs.

This video slideshow provides an overview of AusAID's efforts to improve access to basic education opportunities or all, improve learning outcomes, and drive development through better governance and service delivery so that partner governments support quality education for all.

Country programs

Global programs

Aid program funding to education

Australian ODA in 2011-12 by region

Region	Spend ($A million)
Total	833.1
Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island countries	215.5
East Asia	327.1
South and West Asia	131.8
Africa and the Middle East	45.1
Latin America and the Caribbean	8.8
Rest of the world and unallocated	104.7
Other Asia	0.1

Australian ODA in 2011-12 by sub-sector

Sub-sector	Spend ($A million)
Total	833.1
Education, level unspecified	307.5
Basic education	128.4
Secondary education	27.7
Post-secondary education	47.0
Scholarships and multi-sector training	322.5

Australia's development assistance for education ($ million)

The graph above shows total aid program funding to education, 2005–06 to 2012–13.

The figures are:

2005–06: $257 million
2006–07: $354.1 million
2007–08: $477.4 million
2008–09: $501.8 million
2009–10: $592.5 million
2010–11: $729.7 million
2011–12: $833.1 million
2012–13: $879.4 million (projected)

Research overview

Good research can lead to positive change for the world’s poorest and improve the quality and effectiveness of development policies and programs. That’s why AusAID is committed to a research portfolio that achieves impacts for the world’s poorest people. We fund research through:

competitive funding mechanisms (such as the Australian Development Research Awards)
research partnerships with different Australian, international and developing country research institutions
commissioning research to address a specific question or clearly defined research gap
one-off research grants, when an existing program of research is relevant to the Australian aid program.

More information on how AusAID funds research

Randomised cluster control trial evaluating the impact of Early Childhood Education and Development initiative across Indonesia

This research evaluates the impact of an Early Child Education and Development project conducted by the Government of Indonesia via a US$12 million World Bank loan. Published in 2010, updated October 2012.

Read the research evaluation

Identifying strategies to sustain professional learning communities for teachers in remote primary schools in PNG

This research examines the major needs of professional learning for teachers in remote primary schools in PNG and the key policy and operational directions to build and sustain successful professional learning communities. Published in 2010, updated October 2012.

Read the research summary

A baseline study of the current status of engagement of Australian universities and research institutions in Education for Development

This research by The Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne, evaluates the engagement of Australian universities and research institutions in Education for Development. Published in August 2012.

Read the baseline study

Why we give aid

Education is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and is an enabler of development. It helps people escape poverty. A good education is critical to improve income, employment and enterprise opportunities. For girls, extra years of basic education make a difference to employment opportunities, marriage age, health and their capacity to make better decisions about their lives and those of their children. For children with disabilities, education opens doors to social inclusion and independence. Education enables communities to make choices about their future, and contributes to good governance and sustainable development.

Find out more about why we support education

How we give aid

Guided by the Education Thematic Strategy, Promoting Opportunities for All: Education we work to increase access to quality education for all children. We base our investments on what works, is effective aid and achieves results. Australia provides a mix of support, enhancing partnerships with partner governments, multilateral organisations, NGOs, civil society organisations and the private sector. Our geographic focus is Asia and the Pacific.

Find out how we support education

Progress Against MDGs

Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women

MDG 2 - Achieve universal primary education

The total number of children out of school fell from 105 million to 61 million between 1990 and 2010.

MDG 3 - Promote gender equality and empower women

Gender parity in primary and secondary school has improved among developing countries in the past 10 years.
Some countries in the Asia Pacific region have already achieved gender parity in primary and/or secondary school enrolments.

Volunteers

Working in education as a volunteer

Australia Awards

AusAID's Australia Awards in education

Collaboration opportunities

Get involved with Australia's overseas education initiatives

Last reviewed: 28 February, 2013