Davos: Why isn't education higher up on the agenda?

On the face of it, there should be little need to make the business case for education. It is intrinsically tied to all positive development outcomes. Economic growth, health, nutrition and democracy are all boosted by quality schooling. If all children in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, poverty would fall by 12% - and that's good for business. The private sector benefits directly from an educated, skilled workforce.

The private sector spends only $683 million a year to support education in developing countries, however, making up equivalent to just 5% of total education aid, as we found in the latest Education for All Global Monitoring Report. This is equivalent to less than 0.5% of the annual profits of the 10 biggest companies in the world. It is about the same as the amount Fifa gave to South Africa for the World Cup, the price of two Boeing 747s or the amount Americans spend on pizzas in just over a week.