Saturday, June 12, 2010

President Obama Urged to Attend Global Education Summit


This summer, South African President Jacob Zuma will host a global summit on education in Johannesburg, South Africa. The summit is being held in conjunction with the 2010 edition of the World Cup, whose official message is "1 Goal: Education for All." This message is expected to be seen by more than 3 billion people over the course of the games. On June 1st, more than 40 community leaders signed and sent a letter to President Obama urging him to attend this meeting and fulfill his campaign promises to make global education a key part of US foreign policy. President Obama has pledged $2 billion to the Global Fund for Education and reaffirmed the US's commitment to the Millennium Developed Goals, one aspect of which involves universal primary school education. The benefits of education have many wide-reaching effects. HIV/AIDS infection rates are reduced by 50% when people finish primary school. If quality education if available to an entire population, GDP will rise by an expected 1% per year.

-Matthew Thwaites