Civil society groups have reacted with dismay after the United Kingdom made an early but lower-than-expected pledge to replenish the Global Partnership for Education, sparking some fears the multilateral fund may not hit a hoped for $3.1 billion target. The new £225 million is lower than the country’s previous pledge in 2014 which was £300 million ($427.7m), and is significantly lower than the £350 million ($499m) that civil society groups had been arguing for. The money is also subject to strict caveats.

"We're surprised and disappointed by the U.K.'s contribution,” said Philippa Lei, advocacy director at the Malala Fund, especially considering there is “much better data on the scale of the problem and resources needed to get all girls in school,” than when the U.K. made its 2014 pledge. “Ultimately this doesn't just affect the girls who won't go to school because the U.K. came in much lower than expected; it impacts all of us. Girls' education is the single best investment in a safer, healthier, wealthier world,” she added.

The lower funding pledge appears in line with Mordaunt’s position urging developing country governments to take greater “responsibility” for funding public services. “We need an education revolution, but to succeed in tackling this global learning crisis, we will not just need to be open-hearted — we need to be hard-headed too,” Mordaunt said in the press release.

However, education experts point out that the GPE now requires developing country partners to increase their national spending on education towards a target of 20 percent.

Read the full article about funding for the global partnership for educationby Sophie Edwards at Devex.