Nicholas Burnett Asssistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO ADEA Biennale, Maputo, Mozambique 6 May 2008 Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?

2 The big questions in 2008 Gender parity goal Midpoint Dakar  Have national governments followed up on their commitment to EFA?  Where are the greatest challenges?  Are donors providing adequate support?  What requires top policy attention?

3 What has happened since Dakar 2000?

4 Progress in primary education Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States South/West Asia Central Asia Central/Eastern Europe East Asia/Pacific Latin America Caribbean North America Western Europe Net enrolment ratios in primary education (%) Primary school enrolment up: 36% in sub-Saharan Africa 22% in South and West Asia 11% in Arab States

5 Strides ahead in many countries Niger Congo Burkina Faso Eritrea Mali Côte d'Ivoire Burundi Chad Guinea Nigeria Ethiopia Senegal Ghana Namibia Rwanda Gambia Mozambique Togo Benin Kenya Swaziland Equat. Guinea Zimbabwe Botswana Lesotho South Africa Zambia Cape Verde Madagascar Malawi Mauritius S. Tome/Principe U. R. Tanzania Seychelles Net enrolment ratios (%)  School fee abolition has favoured sharp enrolment increases in many sub- Saharan African countries  Significant acceleration in post-Dakar period compared to 1990s

6 Prospects for achieving UPE by 2015 Goal achieved by 2005 (NER ≥ 97%) 63 countries Close or in intermediate position NER 80%-96% High chance of achieving the goal by countries (5 in Africa) At risk of not achieving the goal by countries (8 in Africa) Far NER<80% Low chance of achieving the goal by countries (13 in Africa) Serious risk of not achieving the goal by countries (4 in Africa) Not included in the prospects analysis 54 countries 2025: 6 countries 2025: 7 countries

7 0,500,600,700,800,901,001,10 C. A. R. Chad Niger D. R. Congo Côte d'Ivoire Mali Benin Burkina Faso Eritrea Guinea Mozambique Togo Cameroon Nigeria Burundi Comoros Ethiopia Congo Swaziland Zambia Cape Verde Equat. Guinea Madagascar Kenya South Africa Senegal U. R. Tanzania S. Tome/Principe Zimbabwe Botswana Ghana Gabon Uganda Lesotho Mauritius Namibia Seychelles Rwanda Malawi Gambia Gender parity Index in primary GER Gender disparities still prevail  35% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education (63% globally), and only 6% at the secondary level  Policies to encourage girls’ schooling have included: - Community mobilization - Targeting disadvantaged areas - Free learning materials - Sanitation in schools

8 Decline in number of out-of-school children Central Asia North America Western Europe Central/Eastern Europe Latin America Caribbean Arab States East Asia/Pacific South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Out-of school children, million million in sub-Saharan Africa 1999: 96 million 2005: 72 million

Expansion of secondary education  55% increase since 1999 in secondary enrolments in Africa  38% GER in lower secondary, 24% in upper secondary  Technical and vocational education accounts for 6% of secondary enrolments

Malawi Zimbabwe Swaziland Namibia Seychelles Niger Mozambique Burkina Faso Rwanda Chad Uganda Senegal Democratic Rep. of the Congo Mali Zambia Guinea Eritrea Benin Nigeria Ethiopia Comoros Lesotho Togo Cameroon Ghana Gambia Kenya Botswana Mauritius South Africa GER in secondary education (%) Advances and disparities  Universalization of lower secondary education is a policy objective in most African countries  10% annual increase in several African countries but in others participation rates below 20%

11 Minimal attention to adult literacy  Number of illiterate adults increased in sub-Saharan Africa but average literacy rate rose to 59%  150 million adult illiterates in sub-Saharan Africa  62% are women  Direct assessments of literacy skills suggest even greater challenge (Kenya adult literacy survey) 774 million adult illiterates Central Asia North America/ Western Europe Central/Eastern Europe Latin America/Caribbean Arab States East Asia/Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa South/West Asia Adult illiterates, million

12 Indications of poor quality  International and national learning assessments point to low achievement in core subjects (language and mathematics), especially in developing countries  Low levels of learning achievement are related to :  socio-economic background  rural residence  lack of access to textbooks in school, books at home  insufficient and inefficient instructional time  inadequate physical infrastructure and material resources  Survival rate to last grade improving but remains low in sub-Saharan Africa (63%) and in South and West Asia (79%)

13 Teacher shortages  Contract teachers fill gap in francophone sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. They receive lower salaries and less training than civil- servant teachers Teaching staff has not kept pace with enrolment increases in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia 18 million new primary teachers needed by 2015, of which 3.8 million in Africa  Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest pupil teacher ratio in the world (45:1). Pupil/trained teachers ratios above 60 in Chad, Madagascar, Mozambique and Rwanda

14 EFA Development Index: a comprehensive view of progress Out of 129 countries: 51 high achievers (1 close to EFA in Africa) South Africa Dominican Rep. Namibia Swaziland Lesotho Guatemala Nicaragua Iraq Bangladesh Nepal Malawi Mauritania Yemen Mozambique Ethiopia Chad Education Development Index 53 in intermediate position (10 in Africa) 25 far from achieving EFA of which:  16 in sub-Saharan Africa  4 Arab States  4 in South and West Asia  1 in East Asia / Pacific  Index pulled down by low education quality or low adult literacy levels

15 Increases in national spending on education  50 out of 84 countries outside North America and Western Europe increased the share.  18 out of 24 in sub-Saharan Africa  5% annual increase in public spending on education in sub- Saharan Africa and South and West Asia  Countries making significant progress towards UPE have generally increased their spending as a share of GNP El Salvador Madagascar Nepal Benin Tajikistan Mozambique Mali Kyrgyzstan Czech Rep. Colombia Burundi Senegal Mexico Ghana Poland Hungary Malawi Ethiopia Swaziland Ukraine Bolivia Kenya Morocco Lesotho Public expenditure on education as a % of GNP

Aid to education: inadequate to achieve EFA There has been a slowdown in the growth of aid to education since 2004 and levels remain inadequate. Africa receives 40% of total aid to basic education Total aid includes allocations from budget support and aid to level unspecified

17 The Way Forward

18 Promoting access  Targeting poorer regions and population groups Brazil, Burkina Faso  Abolishing school fees (10 countries in Africa since 2000)  Setting up education cash-transfer programmes Latin American countries, Kenya, Turkey  Providing scholarships for girls Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan Governments are also encouraging access through:  Flexible models for working children, enforced child labour legislation  Inclusive education for the disabled  Bilingual education for children from indigenous communities To offset the cost of schooling for poor households countries are:

19 Improving learning at all levels Four broad policy areas  Trained and motivated teachers Training models, professional development, incentives to work in underserved areas, policy frameworks for contract teachers  Healthy and safe learning environment Nutrition, health programmes, physical safety  Learning time, materials and textbooks Textbook production, unbiased learning content, free distribution to priority areas  Effective teaching and learning strategies Active learning, relevant curricula, HIV/AIDS education, importance of acquiring basic skills, better assessments

20 Programs for young children and for parents Early childhood care and education programs  offset disadvantage  improve children’s well-being  prepare them for primary school  improve student performance in primary school  healthcare knowledge  HIV/AIDS prevention  self esteem and empowerment, widening choices  higher chance of parents sending children to school Literacy programs for youth and adults have long-term benefits Early childhood and literacy programs carry strong returns but require massive scaling up

21 An education compact A model at work in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Tanzania, Yemen and Zambia 1. Effective national policies 2. Higher domestic spending 3. External aid Educational development POLICY PRIORITIES  Inclusion  Quality  Literacy  Capacity Development  Financing: National commitment to increase education spending Donors must Focus on low-income countries and Fragile States Continue to support countries making progress towards EFA

22 The report, summary, regional overviews, statistics and additional resources are on line at: