Will Work with GPE to Improve Children’s Learning
Zimbabwe this week became one of the newest developing country partners to join the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). The country has worked with GPE’s partners to articulate its priorities for education, including improving the professional status of teachers, the quality of learning and overall learning conditions for children, and reinvigorating school governance and management. Resources will be focused on those with the greatest need.
“We welcome Zimbabwe to the Global Partnership for Education and look forward to working with the Zimbabwean government and a wide range of development partners to improve the quality of learning for all Zimbabwean children, which is one of the top priorities of their education sector plan,” said Alice Albright, GPE’s Chief Executive Officer.
As a member of the Global Partnership, Zimbabwe is now eligible to apply for a Program Implementation Grant in the amount of $ 23.6 million.
Zimbabwe will join the Africa 1 constituency of the GPE Board of Directors. Zimbabwe’s Education Medium Term Plan covers the period 2011-2015. An Operational Plan for 2013-2015 sets out more specific actions to support education for the current three-year period.
Zimbabwe has a population of 13 million and is located in Southern Africa bordering South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. According to the World Development Indicators, 72% of Zimbabweans live below the national poverty line; adults have an average of 7 years of schooling. Zimbabwe ranks on place 172 (out of 187 countries) on the International Human Development Index.
The Global Partnership for Education is made up of nearly 60 developing country governments, as well as other donor governments, civil society organizations/NGOs, teacher organizations, international organizations, and private sector organizations and foundations, whose joint mission is to galvanize and coordinate a global effort to provide a good quality education to children, prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable.
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