World leaders commit to education

They did this at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, in a summit chaired by South African President, Jacob Zuma and attended by Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, among other heads of states and governments.

This was the first ever political summit to be created as a result of a sporting event and the leaders responded to the campaigns call for a surge of political will to ensure every child can go to school before the next World Cup in 2014.

Once a shining beacon in the education field, Zimbabwe has become one of the countries in the world where education has been limited to the elite, with unemployed and under-paid parents struggling to send their children to school.

Kailash Satyarth, the 1GOAL President, praised the leaders for their commitment, which will better the future of a young generation if followed.

While this World Cup Summit hasnt solved the education crisis today, it has insisted the crisis must be solved. Millions of people have shown a yellow card to world leaders demanding an end to the injustice that locks one in ten of the worlds children out of school. We hope today marks the first step on the path to an education for those children, said Satyarth.

The Summit was addressed by 1GOAL Ambassadors and Aaron Mokoena, the South African national soccer team Captain, and was attended by over 100 delegates.

1GOAL called on poor countries to increase their spending on education to 20 per cent of their national budget and for a roadmap for all African children to be in school by 2014. This comes amid reports that education spending in Africa is being cut by as much as $4.6bn.

In a statement issued after the summit, the leaders said, We, Heads of State and Government, and Eminent persons, seize the opportunity of the Summit to reiterate the commitment made by the international community at the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000) to ensure quality basic education for all children, young people and adults by 2015.

We reaffirm that education is a fundamental human right enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Everyone is entitled to free primary education. As global leaders, we have the responsibility to equip all children, youth and adults with the knowledge and skills needed to improve their lives and fully participate in society.

It is still uncertain whether Zimbabwe will actively participate in the educational campaign, with the Minister of Education, David Coltart, saying this week that he hoped his country wouldnt be left behind in the One Goal campaign.