Bono gives weight to proposed US education bill

The Education for All bill was announced on Tuesday by New York Democratic lawmakers Clinton and Nita Lowey, and Republicans Gordon Smith and Spencer Bachus.

The legislation would double US funding for basic education to 1 billion dollars in fiscal 2008 and then gradually increase it annually until it reached 3 billion dollars by 2012.

''This is mind-blowing stuff and this is the real moment,'' Bono, frontman for band U2, said from Dublin, where he joined a joint conference call with the US lawmakers.

Bono said there were 38 million children out of school in Africa, which he said was roughly the number of middle school children in the United States.

Bono, who has used his celebrity to campaign for funding for Africa and debt cancellation for debt-burdened poor nations, said he felt personally responsible to ensure that money provided such initiatives was properly spent.

He said he would campaign in the next few months to get countries in Europe and elsewhere to match the U.S. proposal.

The legislation comes ahead of a high-level meeting of donor in Brussels to increase funding for a global program to provide basic education for poor children by 2015.

Clinton said the proposed U.S. legislation strongly supported global targets to halve poverty by 2010 and would ensure the U.S. coordinated its efforts with other donors for maximum impact.

Lowey, a member of the US House of Representatives, said U.S. involvement in global education efforts was important to develop free societies and against ''teachings and recruitment of terrorist organizations.'' - DDNews India