Harry Hole-the foundation “A pleasant and friendly guy”award went this year to former british prime minister Gordon Brown. The price is justified by Brown’s work with the global utdanningsfinansiering. Brown had a key role in the global utdanningskommisjonen and as the Un special envoy for education.
Underfinansiering of education globally is a big problem. Norway and Brown is now in the forefront of a new finansieringsmekanisme called “the International Finance Facility for Education” (IFFEd).
SAIH are pleased that Norway has committed itself, including through the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which supports the national authorities ‘ measures to ensure that all have access to free schooling of good quality. On the other hand, SAIH critical of the Uk blindly following the recommendations from the report to the global utdanningskommisjonen from 2016.
the Report says that the for many low – and middle-income countries is not sustainable to finance higher education from the public, while at the same time given greater access to primary education. The commission therefore proposes that higher education should be financed by tuition fees.
SAIH believes, however, that education should be a public good. It is unfortunate that the other substitutability of financing methods, to increase tax revenues for the national ressursmobilisering, are depreciated by the commission for the benefit of the mechanisms that can contribute to commercialization and greater inequality globally.
the Processes around the the mechanism has been closed, with little information available, and IFFEd has been met with criticism. A notification of concern is the opacity of whether the money going to IFFEd will come in addition to an expected increase in utdanningsbistanden. Many sivilsamfunnsaktører want that we look to existing mechanisms such as GPE, rather than to establish new initiatives.
development minister Nikolai Astrup stresses that it has not been taken a final position on whether Norway should participate. Nevertheless, the Storting has given the ministry of foreign AFFAIRS tilsagnsmakt to give IFFEd grants of up to 850 million from 2018 to 2025. Further sent a strong signal when Erna Solberg set up at the award ceremony at Brown to receive praise for Norway’s efforts in a global utdanningsløft.
Seen in the light of international trends of increasing privatization of education, vulnerability to debt and lack of public support, we need to be critical to such mechanisms.
SAIH asks Norway to have ice in the stomach and reconsider the support to the IFFEd. First, we must get clear about the mechanism capabilities to ensure good and inclusive education.
Former prime minister received Harry Hole-price
