Strong foundations Early childhood care and education Cairo 12 November 2006 UNGEI meeting

Education for All Dakar Goals and Millennium Development Goals 1.Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2.Achieve universal primary education 3.Promote gender equality and empower women 4.Reduce child mortality, and other health goals 5.Improve maternal health 1.Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education 2.Universal primary education by Learning and life skills programmes for youth and adults 4.50% increase in adult literacy rates by Gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by Improving quality of education MDGsEFA Goals No country in need should be denied international assistance 1

Far from EFA (EDI below 0.80) Intermediate position (EDI between 0.80 and 0.94) EFA achieved or close (EDI between 0.95 and 1.00) EFA: Where do we stand? Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States Central Asia East Asia/Pacific South and West Asia N. America /West. Europe Latin America/Caribbean Central/Eastern Europe Out of 125 countries, 47 have achieved the EFA goals. Countries showing the greatest progress are in the lowest scoring group Excludes many countries far from goals, e.g. those in conflict Total 2

More and more children are starting school Arab States Central/East. Europe N. America/ West. Europe East Asia/ Pacific Central Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America/ Caribbean South/West Asia Gross intake rate in primary education (%) Sharp increases in Grade 1 access in Sub- Saharan Africa and South and West Asia 3

Arab States Central/Eastern Europe Central Asia East Asia/Pacific Latin America/Caribbean North America/ Western Europe South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Gender Parity Index in Gross Intake Rate in primary education  Global gender parity index up from 0.92 in 1999 to 0.94 in 2004  Rapid progress in countries with low enrolment ratios and high gender disparities  Mauritania, Malawi, Qatar and Uganda among countries that achieved gender parity between 1999 and 2004 Trend benefiting girls 4

Gender parity in primary  About two-thirds of countries out of 181 with data have achieved gender parity in primary education  Gaps still concentrated in Arab States, South and West Asia and Sub Saharan Africa: roughly 90 girls for every 100 boys Gender parity Primary education GPI in GER Sub-Saharan Africa Arab StatesSouth/West Asia Latin America Caribbean Centr./East. Europe N. America/ West. Europe Central AsiaEast Asia/ Pacific

77 million children still not in school 6 Drop of 20 million since 1999, mainly in South Asia  117 girls out of school for every 100 boys  Marked exclusion in Arab States and South and West Asia  But rural residence, household poverty and mother’s lack of education are more determining factors

Who is out-of-school? Rural, poor, uneducated mother Out-of-school children by schooling experience 7

Too few pupils complete primary school In addition to increasing access, improving retention is a key to reducing out-of-school children Rwanda Burundi Lesotho Madagascar Ghana Swaziland Benin Niger Togo Eritrea Mali Cape Verde Cameroon Mauritius Mauritania Morocco Saudi Algeria Lebanon Oman Kuwait Mongolia Azerbaijan Tajikistan Kazakhstan Lao P. D. Myanmar Nepal Bangladesh Nicaragua Ecuador Guatemala Colombia Panama Bolivia Dominica Costa Rica Barbados Belarus Survival rates to last grade (%) Cohort completion rates (%) 8

Girls’ better completion Almost everywhere except Sub-Saharan Africa, girls are more likely to stay in primary school longer than boys 9

Needed: more trained teachers  Sub-Saharan Africa needs to recruit at least 1.6 million more teachers to reach UPE by 2015  Serious shortages in rural areas  Too few female teachers in countries with low enrolment of girls  Slight improvement in pupil-teacher ratios in most regions between 1999 and 2004  Only slight increase in % of trained teachers 10

Arab States Central/Eastern Europe Central Asia East Asia Pacific Latin America Caribbean North America/ Western Europe South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa % Female teachers pre-primaryprimary  In pre-primary nearly all teachers are women  Lack of primary school female teachers in regions where largest gender disparities persist Recruiting female teachers 11

Secondary parity  Only one-third of countries have achieved parity at the secondary level  Gender differences greater than in primary education  Low secondary enrolment ratios: disparities at expense of girls  High secondary enrolment ratios: disparities at the expense of boys Gender parity Secondary education GPI in GER Africa Sub-SaharanArab StatesSouth/West Asia Latin America Caribbean Centr./East. Europe N. America/ West. Europe Central AsiaEast Asia/ Pacific 12

Continued barriers to schooling  Poverty  Direct and indirect costs of education: stipends, scholarships to increase access  Distance to school  Language and ethnicity  School environment  Social exclusion  Cultural barriers: role in home and in society 13 Multiple sources of exclusion must be overcome through educational and financial support

Towards gender equality  Public policy must promote equal rights and treatment of girls  Reducing gender bias in curricula and textbooks  Gender sensitive teacher training and classroom pedagogy  Confronting sexual violence and harassment 14 Gender parity in education does not always mean gender equality

Literacy remains elusive One in five adults – 781 million – lack basic literacy skills – one in four women The vast majority live in South and West Asia, sub- Saharan Africa and East Asia 15

The ECCE imperative: Young children under threat  Child born in developing world has 40% chance of living in extreme poverty  31% of children in developing countries moderately or severely stunted  10.5 million under-5 children die each year, most from preventable diseases  High under-5 mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa and South/West Asia  Each day 1,800 children infected with HIV  Children in emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations highly vulnerable 16

“Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children”  Rights UN Convention on the Rights of the Child  Development Poverty reduction and the MDG health and education goals  Education Future participation and achievement  Equity Reducing social inequality ECCE: strong foundations 17

Nutrition Thinking comprehensively Holistic programmes encompass:  Nutrition  Health and hygiene  Physical and emotional development  Social skills  Education 18

Early childhood, nutrition and education  Iron, nutrition, deworming and psycho-social stimulation impact on learning  Combining nutrition and education has larger and longer-lasting impact  In some cases, impact higher for girls  Access to primary school on time, especially for girls  Retention in primary school  Lower repetition  Better language development  Higher achievement Nutrition and Education Reinforce Each Other Early Childhood Participation Improves Later Education 19

Acting early pays off  Most rigorous studies on benefits come from developed countries  U.S. High/Scope Perry study of low-income African-American children  higher IQ at age 5  enhanced success at school  higher earning at age 40  High returns to programmes in India, Egypt, Colombia, Bolivia  Returns greatest for poorest and most disadvantaged children ‘It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and at the same time promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large. Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy.’ James Heckman, Nobel economics prizewinner 20

A diverse field 21 Ages 3+  Pre-primary and non-formal education for 3+ Ages 0 to 2  Organized / non-formal care and education  Support to parents / Parental leave  Governments  Private Sector (high private provision in Africa and Arab States, relatively high in Latin America/Caribbean)  International NGOs  Community-based organizations Providers Ages 0 to 8  Informal provision by parents or extended family, at home, family or community settings

Countries with at least one formal programme for children under 3 in 2005 (%) Programmes for the under-3s The lack of programmes for the under-3s partly reflects assumptions about women’s domestic role, out of step with current realities 22

Regional trends in pre-primary Developed/transition countries Latin America/Caribbean East Asia/Pacific South and West Asia Arab States Sub-Saharan Africa A three-fold increase in pre-primary enrolments over 30 years More than 1 in 3 children now enrolled but huge regional differences 23

Drivers for ECCE  Historical forces Industrialization and demand for women workers From private charity to public responsibility  More women at work outside agriculture Strongly associated with participation in pre-school programmes  Migration and urbanization  Changing household structures Fewer extended families More one-parent households  Research on child development 24

Women in labour force drives ECCE provision High female employment generates demand for ECCE 25

Poverty limits access Poorer households Richer households  Higher attendance for children from richer households  Lower attendance among poor who would benefit most 26

Arab States Central/East. Europe Central Asia East Asia/ Pacific South/West Asia N. America/ West. Europe Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America/ Caribbean GPI in GER in pre-primary education Gender parity line The gender factor  The gender gap in early childhood programme enrolments is small in most countries  Notable improvement in Arab States but disparities higher than at other education levels  Afghanistan, Morocco, Pakistan and Yemen have lowest GPIs in pre-primary 27

Why the policy neglect?  Slow response to social and economic trends  Role of the family vs role of the state: unclear boundaries  Diversity of sector makes coordination difficult  Child development research results not well known  Lack of rigorous studies in developing countries  Governments prioritize primary education  International aid focuses on other education levels Early childhood is still not a priority in many developing countries 28

Strong policies for young children: What is needed?  Top-level political endorsement  A national early childhood policy grouping multiple players  A lead agency to coordinate early childhood policies  Integration in national development plans and PRSPs  Staffing, training and standards for all providers  Explicit provision for disadvantaged and vulnerable  Partnerships: NGOs, private sector and international agencies  Financing: higher spending, targeting and more aid Policy EnvironmentPolicy Elements 30

Challenging gender stereotypes  Do pre-school programmes promote gender specific expectations?  Teaching materials and games often promote gender stereotypes – building blocks vs housekeeping corner!  Different treatment by teachers  Changing curriculum and teacher attitudes  Changes in staffing policy: encouraging more men to work in EC programmes  More women in administrative and leadership conditions  Delegations to investigate gender equality in pre-schools (Sweden)  Incentives for schools promoting gender equality ISSUES POLICIES 31

Promoting school readiness  Mother tongue instruction  Good communications between schools and parents, involving parents as resource people  Integration of ECCE with primary curriculum (Jamaica, France, Guyana)  Connections between teaching and learning styles (Pakistan programme)  Continuity between home and school (home visits, readiness programmes)  Special support for disadvantaged children who have not followed pre- school (Guatemala) ECCE can ease the transition to primary schooling, especially for girls 32

Financing ECCE: Finding the balance Funding is public and private Less than 10% of public education spending goes to pre-primary Even in OECD countries, parents’ share can run up to 60% Universal coverage + extra support to disadvantaged children (OECD) Income targeting Geographical targeting (remote areas,urban slums) Targeting specific groups: disabled, those in emergency situations How to allocate limited resources to children most in need? A universal policy with targeted spending on most disadvantaged? 33

ECCE: A low priority for donors Almost all donors allocate to pre-primary less than 10% of what they give to primary Bilateral donors give priority to centre- based programmes for children from age 3 34

Action Now! 1.Act on all goals: early childhood, literacy and primary school with gender integrated in all policies 2.Act with urgency: 2005 gender parity target missed 3.Emphasize equity and inclusion, with consistent focus on gender 4.Increase public spending, and focus it better 5.Increase aid to basic education, and allocate where most needed 6.Move ECCE up national and international agendas 7.Increase public financing for ECCE, and target it 8.Upgrade the ECCE workforce: better training and pay, more women in leadership positions Clear progress but more effort is needed 35

Contact Information EFA Global Monitoring Report Team c/o UNESCO 7, place de Fontenoy Paris 07 France