Breaking News: World Leaders Commit To 12 Years Of FREE Education For All

Five days since the conclusion of the World Education Forum, the Incheon Declaration is finally out for all to see.

It contains one important addition that was missing from the version adopted last week — the word “free.” A small word but with big implications.

With this addition governments and education leaders now commit to ensuring the “provision of 12 years of FREE, publicly funded, equitable quality primary and secondary education” for all by 2030. In other words, they commit to ensuring that all children can go to school for at least 12 years without having to pay school fees.

A big win for education and an even bigger win for the millions of children who would have had to drop out of education because they couldn’t afford it. It is also a win for education campaigners across the world.

The call for 12 years of free good quality primary and secondary education featured prominently in civil society’s own messages to the World Education Forum.

This was followed up by active engagement from the Global Campaign for Education and Education International in the group formed to draft the Incheon Declaration and, working together with us at Malala Fund, highlighting the important omission of the word “free” in the final Declaration.

Five days later we see the fruits of this engagement and a strong Declaration that holds the promise of a new future for millions of children unable to afford a good quality education… on paper at least.

Big thank you to all our Malala Fund supporters and partners for sharing our message on the importance of 12 years of free, quality education for ALL children over the past few months. We could not have done this without you!

We are now one step closer to a world where every girl and boy can go to school for 12 years — for free.

At Malala Fund, we believe that when a girl adds +12 years of education to her life, she can create real change in her community.