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The proposed Sustainable Development Goal on education is being called the most ambitious commitment to education in history, but one which global leaders in education finance say requires greatly increased resources to pay for it.

During the Forum on Financing for Sustainable Development on 18 May in Seoul, Korea, held adjacent to the World Education Forum in nearby Incheon, a session on Global Financing for Education, which was co-hosted by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Global Partnership for Education(GPE) and the Brookings Institution, focused on the necessary financing architecture to scale up education delivery in developing countries.

This United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) presented in the framework of the Post-2015 global development agenda covers universal completion of quality primary and secondary education for all girls and boys, universal access to pre-primary education, and increased access to quality vocational and tertiary education.

It discussed trends in the quality, magnitude, and allocation of domestic and international public finance and private financing; the experience to date in supporting scaled-up investments across countries; and the development of a global fund for education building on the GPE.

The panellists included Julia Gillard, Chair of the GPE Board, of which Education International is a member. Gillard spoke of the need to highlight past successes in improving educational outcomes as motivators for future action, and of the ongoing efforts to scale up the GPE and to prepare it for a larger scale-up of education financing.

The panellists also discussed mechanisms, including scaling up the GPE into becoming a global fund for education that leverages national resources and technical expertise, with international aid to fill the gaps in education financing, access and achievement. They stressed that education in humanitarian emergencies needs specific attention and funding.

They also agreed that the Republic of Korea could play a crucial role in encouraging such a global fund, and that this country serves as a global example of educational excellence. Through the transformation of its education system in 3-4 decades, Korea has laid the foundations for its economic successes- an example that offers lessons for many other countries. As a strong GPE supporter, Korea is also ideally placed to spearhead the scaling up of international financing in education.

Ministers of education from different countries further supported the idea of a global fund building on the GPE that can support government efforts across different levels of education. In addition to supporting countries to create goal-based, scaled-up national education plans, and linking funding to results in the form of improved access and learning outcomes, such a global fund could help address common problems like teacher quality and the accessibility and costs of technology, assessments, curriculum, books and learning materials.

The proposal for a scaled-up global fund for education building on the platform of the GPE will be discussed further at the World Education Forum currently taking place in Incheon, Korea, from 19-21 May, and at the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13-16 July.