Cross-posted from The Guardian by Anna Leach, Guardian Professional, Tuesday 6 May 2014 11.44 EDT
In an exclusive discussion with the development community, former prime minister of Australia and education advocate Julia Gillard took over our Twitter handle @GdnGlobalDevPro.
"There can be no higher priority than getting all children access to school," said Gillard when she became chair of the board of directors at Global Partnership for Education in February this year. She added she was "alarmed by the recent sharp decline in donor support to education… particularly for girls' education."
So how will GPE work with donors to reverse the trend? On Thursday 8 May, the development community got an exclusive opportunity for a candid discussion with this high profile advocate. One of the subjects on the agenda was a question Gillard would like to see addressed: how can we ensure that girls are not left at home while boys go to school?
Read the discussion with #askJulia below.
Greetings, Julia Gillard here! Thanks to The Guardian for allowing me to take over & talk about an issue dear to me - education. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@mytwocentsandme We’ve got to make good on our promise of universal primary education for 57 mill out of school children (1/2) #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@mytwocentsandme We’ve also got to lift quality for the 250m children who can’t read or write (2/2) #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@jennieeke We can measure literacy and numeracy. It is vital to know if children are actually learning #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@fraser_selby Two issues. Access and quality. GPE works to get children in to school and learning in the poorest countries. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@Henjam48 We have the research that shows education promotes development, improves health, even reduces infant mortality. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@MarianRakosi The MDG is universal access to primary school. Young children need us to be their voice.1/2 #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@tmc071 We can't measure everything good schooling brings. Success is about confidence, learning, values. 1/2 #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@tmc071 We can and should measure literacy & numeracy. 2/2 #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@bernymcatlady GPE has worked with Yemen to get girls into school. The increase has been over 20%. Change can happen. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@corisel An Aussie! Our curriculum is broad & high quality.NAPLAN happens once a year to give us all info on foundations skills. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
@SenseInternatl GPE specifically targets out of school girls & kids with disabilities. How depends on local needs #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@PlanUK I think we need an new access goal & improved quality. Universal access means we have to reach all the girls.#askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@ElizaTalks By showing zero tolerance. It's criminal and requires the firmest response. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@pollymorgan GPE works in 28 post conflict & fragile countries. In these places 68% of all children complete primary school.1/2 #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@pollymorgan It can be done but requires resources. Please support our fundraising. 2/2 #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@GlblCtzn GPE has supported 22m to get access to school. Poverty is reduced when people have skills like reading and numeracy. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
.@danrodmanjones Show you believe the UK should strongly support GPE's fundraising round. The pledging conference is in June. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
A pleasure chatting with you all. Loved your enthusiasm for education & how to improve the world for today’s children #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014
I’ll end with this: there is no better investment than education. #askJulia
— Development Pros (@GdnGlobalDevPro) May 8, 2014