27 March 2008
The Prime Minister and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have promised new support to provide school places for 16 million children in Africa by 2010.
Highlighting the lack of schooling for 33 million children as "one of the great challenges" in Africa, the PM said that the UK and France will "pool their resources" and each provide eight million school places through funding for new schools and teachers.
The Prime Minister said:
"The President of France and I have agreed that together we will finance eight million children each, sixteen million children who can be at school as a result of the changes we are making and the money we’re making available by the time the World Cup gets to South Africa in 2010.
"That will mean that there are opportunities for children who are denied them at the moment, it will mean that we will be training teachers for the future, we’ll be building schools with the different African Governments and with charities and other organisations who want to do this and I’m delighted that France, which has led the way in so many different ways in development aid for Africa, is joining us and that we together are going to be able to say that sixteen million children will get the chance of education."
Mr Brown said that the world football authority, Fifa, had also promised to step up its own sport and education programmes in Africa while the English FA and Premier League were building their own projects. The combined action will ensure millions more children are in school by the time of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he said.
The initiative was announced at Arsenal’s Emirates football stadium in north London during Mr Sarkozy’s state visit to Britain. French manager, Arsene Wenger, welcomed the two leaders to Arsenal Football Club where they watched a display of football skills from local youngsters.
Image copyright: Reuters
delicious
digg
facebook
