As early as at the World Conference on Education in Thailand in 1990, the right to "Education for All" was elevated to a goal of the international community. However, according to the latest UNESCO "Global Monitoring Report - Education for All", this goal is still far from being reached. Despite tremendous efforts about 61 million children are still not attending a school. Furthermore, the quality of basic education is often insufficient and many children do not even finish primary school as only 58% in Sub-Saharan Africa do. Hence, the aspirations of the SDGs are high (target 4.1): By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
In the international context, the universal understanding of basic education consists of 6 to 8 years of primary and lower secondary school. About 55 % of KfW’s education budget goes into primary and secondary school projects. Currently, KfW Development Bank promotes, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), 96 projects with a total volume of EUR 1.15 billion worldwide (2016). The regional focus lies in North Africa/Middle East followed by Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
In order to enable as many children as possible to acquire basic reading, writing, and mathematical skills, KfW promotes the construction, refurbishment, equipment of schools and teaching centres as well as the provision of teaching and learning material. The promotion of secondary schools becomes increasingly important due to a growing number of pupils. These schools are, for instance, supported with improvements for natural science classes or scholarships for poor and talented pupils. Moreover, KfW promotes teacher trainings in order to improve the overall quality of teaching. In many cases, projects of basic education are conducted in cooperation with other partners (basket funding) or the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). This enables us to make comprehensive contributions towards solving diverse issues within the education sectors of the partner countries.
All of the above is helping children to attend inclusive schools with proper education. Inclusive implies that girls, disabled children or minorities are granted equitable access to schools. Thereby, KfW Development Bank is contributing its share to reduce educational poverty and to increase social and political participation.
Current Topics – Primary and secondary education (PDF, 235 KB, non-accessible)
Project information - Primary education Egypt