FORMER Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged 600 people gathered in Hobart on Tuesday morning to lobby hard in support of international education. Ms Gillard told a capacity crowd at a Tasmanian Women's Legal Service event that education was key to ending poverty, creating opportunities and bridging gender inequality. The former Prime Minister, now chairwoman of the Global Partnership for Education, said she was determined to see all children receive primary education. Ms Gillard encouraged those gathered to lobby local federal MPs to boost funding to global education efforts, and advocate for other countries to do the same. She said there was a $22 billion funding black hole depriving 58 million children of a proper education - with rural girls hardest hit. ''You wouldn't be surprised to learn that many of those 58 million children are girls - disproportionately girls,'' Ms Gillard said. ''If you go through the statistics, the chance of being educated declines rapidly with gender and with distance from major population centres.'' Ms Gillard said a full generation of rural girls was unlikely to be educated until the latter half of this century. ''That rate of progress is nowhere near good enough,'' she said. Ms Gillard said financial support from developed and developing countries was required to fill the funding void. She said the Global Partnership for Education wanted all children to receive not just primary schooling, but also pre-primary and secondary education, by 2030. ''We won't be able to achieve those lofty goals without more financing being mobilised for education,'' she said.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged 600 people gathered in Hobart on Tuesday morning to lobby hard in support of international education. Picture: Daniel McCulloch
FORMER Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged 600 people gathered in Hobart on Tuesday morning to lobby hard in support of international education.
Ms Gillard told a capacity crowd at a Tasmanian Women's Legal Service event that education was key to ending poverty, creating opportunities and bridging gender inequality.
The former Prime Minister, now chairwoman of the Global Partnership for Education, said she was determined to see all children receive primary education.
Ms Gillard encouraged those gathered to lobby local federal MPs to boost funding to global education efforts, and advocate for other countries to do the same.
She said there was a $22 billion funding black hole depriving 58 million children of a proper education - with rural girls hardest hit.
''You wouldn't be surprised to learn that many of those 58 million children are girls - disproportionately girls,'' Ms Gillard said.
''If you go through the statistics, the chance of being educated declines rapidly with gender and with distance from major population centres.''
Ms Gillard said a full generation of rural girls was unlikely to be educated until the latter half of this century.
''That rate of progress is nowhere near good enough,'' she said.
Ms Gillard said financial support from developed and developing countries was required to fill the funding void.
She said the Global Partnership for Education wanted all children to receive not just primary schooling, but also pre-primary and secondary education, by 2030.
''We won't be able to achieve those lofty goals without more financing being mobilised for education,'' she said.
