Nicholas Burnett delivered the keynote presentation to the International Working Group on Education, a biennial assembly of the major public and private donors to education, in Stockholm on June 7.

The theme of this year's meeting was "Financing education: Redesigning national strategies and the global aid architecture". Burnett argued that parents and developing country governments are doing their best but that international donors lag behind. He called for attention to seven topics:

1. Adequately funding global public goods in education

2. Encouraging and financing innovation in education

3. Adopting a pragmatic and non-ideological approach to cost recovery and the role of the private sector

4. Strengthening the case for international financing of education

5. Making existing aid more effective and holding donors to their commitments

6. Encouraging and organizing new donors

7. Seeking innovative finance solutions in education

Read Burnett's background paper, "Strategies for Financing of education: a global view," which expands upon these areas of opportunity.