Thank you, Madame President,
Despite some solid results, Norway also faces challenges.
Globally, 4 out of 10 children do not complete secondary. The drop-out rates in Norway are also too high. Failing to graduate can make it difficult for young people to continue their education and enter the labour market.
We should go beyond averages. Disaggregated data, collected and analyzed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Global Education Monitoring Report, can help us with this.
We also need to go beyond access and focus on quality. In Norway, the learning outcomes of boys are on average lower than for girls. In many countries, of course, there is still a female disadvantage in education that we also need to address. We should also see those that are struggling – even when the group they are part of isn't.
In our development assistance, Norway emphasizes the Leave No One Behind principles. We work to increasingly ensure that marginalized groups are targeted in the programs we support. Girls' education, education in conflict and ensuring inclusion of individuals with disabilities are high priorities for Norway.
We work with partners who aim to strengthen public education systems. While maintaining a high level of Norwegian aid to education, we also support work on increasing domestic resource mobilization including though improved tax systems as a basis for financing.
While it is fundamental to get the basics right, it is important that we also go beyond basic skills. Sustainable development is for instance one of three interdisciplinary topics in the new curriculum in Norway.
Thank you, Madame President.