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$500 mn UN support for Pakistan's education plan

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IANS Islamabad
Last Updated : Mar 30 2014 | 6:00 AM IST

To help 6.7 million out-of-school Pakistani children get education, UN's Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown Saturday announced a financial programme, Xinhua reported.

The $500 million boost for education will bring the total global investment in Pakistan's education sector to more than $1 billion over the next three years.

"The aim is not just to get children into school but also to ensure learning opportunities for more than 55 million people over the age of 10 who are illiterate in Pakistan," Brown, the former British prime minister, here said during a programme also attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"The large expansion of learning through the government's investment will help to support opportunity for the Pakistani people."

Brown pledged that as Pakistan government doubles its education budget -- from 2 to 4 percent of GDP -- the global community will partner with Pakistan in financing the biggest education expansion in the country's history.

The government's commitment will inject an additional $4.6 billion annually into the education system.

When implemented, the project could exceed the targets in Pakistan's Accelerated Plan of Action, developed with the UN, which aims to educate 5 million out-of-school children by 2015.

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First Published: Mar 30 2014 | 5:54 AM IST

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