Education for All:

1
Education for All Facing the challenge
Éducation pour tous Relever le défi
Toronto, April 26, 2005
2
Introducing the report
An independent annual report, an advocacy and
reference tool to

• Chart progress towards the six Dakar goals
  adopted in 2000
• Hold the global community to account for its
  commitments
• Highlight effective policies and strategies
• Monitor international aid flows
• Draw attention to emerging challenges
• An international project funded by five bilateral
  donors

3
Education for AllTHE QUALITY IMPERATIVE

• The world is not on track to achieve the six EFA
  goals and the two Millennium Development Goals on
  education
• Investing in education is a key to poverty
  reduction
• More children are going to school than ever
  before but many drop out before grade 5 or
  graduate without mastering basic cognitive skills
• National policy change supported by more
  resources from the international community are
  required to reach the goals
• 2005 is a year of make or break opportunities
  (G-8 Summit on Africa, UN Millennium Summit)

4
Education for AllDakar goals and Millennium
Development Goals
5
Progress towards universal primary education
81.7 in 1990, 84 in 2001
NET ENROLMENT RATIOS IN PRIMARY EDUCATION
Pace of change too slow to reach UPE by 2015
103.5 million out-of-school children in 2001
Net enrolment ratio 85 in 2005, 87 in 2015
6
Gender parity in 2005?
57 of out of school children are girls, 60
countries not on track to meet 2005 gender parity
target
Girls enrolment lags behind boys in 40 of
countries at primary level
Disparities more extreme at secondary and
tertiary levels
7
Quality deficits
In many low-income countries more than one third
of children have limited reading skills even
after four to six years in school

• Stark regional inequalities a child in Africa
  spends five to six fewer years in school than one
  in Western Europe
• Drop-out in 30 out of 91 countries with data,
  less than 75 of children reach grade 5
• International assessments (SACMEQ, PASEC) point
  to weak performance in reading and mathematics,
  PISA points to poor literacy skills in middle and
  low-income OECD countries
• Large classrooms pupil-teacher ratios on the
  rise in countries where education has expanded
  rapidly.
• Lack of teacher training and poor conditions of
  service hinder learning in many low-income
  countries.

8
Progress towards ECCE
A strong influence on future school performance,
a positive impact on girls enrolment in primary

• Slow global progress in the majority of
  countries, GER in pre-primary education is still
  below 50
• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds more
  likely to be excluded
• Attendance rates considerably higher for urban
  children than those living in rural areas

9
Literacy and adult learning
800 million adults without literacy, 70 live in
nine countries
64 of adult illiterates are women
10
Overall progress
The EFA Development Index covers 127 countries
and incorporates the four most quantifiable
EFA goals

• Countries far from meeting the goals, including
  22 in sub-Saharan Africa, plus population giants
  Bangladesh, India and Pakistan

11
Setting priorities

• Reaching all learners poverty, conflict,
  HIV/AIDS and disabilities keep millions of
  children away from school
• Strategies to close the gender gap in education
• Recognize links between access and quality and
  impact of literacy and early childhood care on
  schooling
• Improve quality investing in teachers, training,
  classrooms, learning materials and school
  management
• Increased aid to basic education and better
  harmonization of external assistance

12
Gendered strategies for EFA
Removing gender gaps in education should have
first priority in all programmes of school
expansion and quality improvement

• Incentives to reduce child labour and encourage
  schooling school meals, stipends to families,
  scholarships
• Gender sensitive teacher training, curriculum and
  teaching methods to overcome prejudice and
  stereotyping
• Making HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive
  health education a priority in all school
  programmes
• Safe schools close to home, adequate sanitation
  facilities
• Legislative and policy reform to create enabling
  environment

13
In the classroom investing in teachers
Only one-third of students reach last grade of
primary education where pupil/teacher ratios are
high
14
Effective teachers

• Earnings In Africa, teacher earnings were lower
  in real terms in 2000 than they were in 1970.
• Recruitment more flexible pathways
• Training priority to school-based models and
  ongoing professional support
• Pedagogical renewal structured teaching is an
  option in low-income settings. Teacher presents
  material in small steps, checks student
  understanding and encourages interaction

15
Other essentials that make the difference

• Curriculum relevant, gender sensitive, balanced
  with carefully defined aims
• Instructional time few countries reach
  recommended 850-1,000 hours/year
• Learning materials strong impact on learning but
  small percentage of education spending goes to
  textbooks
• Language Successful models start in mother
  tongue and make gradual transition to second or
  foreign language
• School environment safety, health, sanitation
  for girls and boys, access for disabled

16
National resources finance and quality
In low income countries, increasing spending has
a positive impact on learners cognitive
achievement

• 6 of GNP recommended on education spending not
  reached in majority of countries
• Education spending higher in rich countries (5.1
  of GNP) than in systems where access and quality
  remain a top challenge (under 4 in Africa and
  East Asia/Pacific)
• Spending increases in East Asia and Pacific and
  Latin American and Caribbean in late 1990s, but
  -24 in Philippines -8 in Indonesia

17
National resources finance and quality
Students in countries that invest more in
education tend to have better literacy skills. In
high-income states, the impact of additional
resources is less clear
18
International commitments the need for
sustained investment
The Dakar Pledge No country seriously committed
to education will be thwarted by lack of
resources
US7 billion / year
Required to reach UPE
US1.5 billion / year
Current aid to basic education
US5.5 billion / year
Resource gap
US3.2 billion / year
New pledges
Fast Track Initiative In the first ten countries
endorsed, a financing gap of US200 million
remains
19
Canadas rising investment in education
Canada ranks 6th among the 21 DAC bilateral
donors to education (2003 DAC figures)

• 23.5 of total Canadian aid goes to education, a
  significant increase observed in past 5 years.
  DAC average 10.
• Basic education accounts for 61 of total
  Canadian aid to education up from 43 in 2002.
  DAC average 29
• 41.5 of Canadian education aid goes to
  Sub-Saharan Africa 20.5 to South and West Asia
• Fragmentation donors disburse aid to an average
  63 countries. Canada provides aid to an average
  53 countries

Canadas ratio of official development assistance
to GNI is 0.24, below the recommended 0.7
20
Assessing success
Imagine a retrospective evaluation on
international coordination in 2015. Key
judgements to be made

• New resources mobilized to achieve the six EFA
  goals, especially for countries with national
  EFA plans? Are these resources consistent with
  the scale required?
• A global store of knowledge about policies that
  strongly help to improve equitable access to an
  education of good quality?
• International aid better harmonized, aligned and
  used effectively to support sound, nationally
  owned education-sector policies?
• EFA fully integrated in wider international
  discourse and action in support of the MDGs and
  poverty reduction?

21
EFA Global Monitoring Report
Launch of 2006 Report 9 November 2005
EFA Global Monitoring Report c/o UNESCO 7,
place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP, France
www.efareport.unesco.org efareport_at_unesco.org