International push for education dollars kicks off at Dakar conference

An international push to get a quarter of a billion children back to school got under way on Thursday at a conference aiming to fund education in defiance of poverty and unrest. Around the world, 264 million children are not in school, a gap that will keep many of them poor for the rest of their lives, according to organisers of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
Co-hosts Senegalese President Macky Sall and French leader Emmanuel Macron are expected to be joined by the musician Rihanna in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on Friday.
The two-day conference brings together donor governments and developing nations which have signed up for an exceptional partnership. The organisers of the event are hoping to raise $3.1 billion (2.49 billion euros) over the next three years for programmes to support basic education in 65 developing countries.
But a big chunk of the onus under the scheme also lies with developing nations. Partner countries in the scheme are required to earmark 20 percent of their national budgets to education - a goal that can be extremely tough for those battling jihadists or civil conflicts.
Literacy in sub-Saharan Africa hovers around 65 percent, according to UNESCO, the UN's culture and education agency, and girls lose out disproportionately. Families carry a large burden of the costs, even in relatively wealthy countries such as Senegal, where around 24 percent of the budget goes toward education.
Elin Martinez, children's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said government secondary schools in Senegal charge fees and indirect costs each school year upwards of 50,000 CFA francs ($93) per student, a cost that is out of reach for many families. "In my neighbourhood, a 16-year-old had to drop out. Her parents just said it was too expensive," said at a pupil at Colobane Lansar B school in Pikine, a suburb of the Senegalese capital Dakar.
Mothers at the school have created a group which helps with cleaning, cooking and tutoring - areas that Senegalese school budgets cannot cover. "Here in Senegal, if a child succeeds, it's everyone's child. But if he fails, we point the finger at the mother," sighed the headteacher, Sokhna Astou Seck, noting the traditional pressure on women to shoulder the burden. The poorer the country, often the larger the outlay by families.