Education with Equity in Africa ECOSOC Africa regional meeting Lome, Togo 12 April 2011 Yumiko Yokozeki UNICEF Western and Central African Regional Office

Argument for education – MDGs 2 and 3 and more Child right argument: basic education is childrens right. Health argument: basic education contributes to reduction of child and maternal mortality. Economic argument: basic education helps people come out of poverty. Governance argument: basic education cultivates good governance. Power of education: 2+3=8 and more

Vast disparity in access and quality – global, regional and country-wide Africa region has the lowest enrolment ratio (NER primary education is about 80%) with diversity. Estimated 31 million or more school-aged children are out of school in 52 countries. In many countries with lower enrolment ratios, the quality of educational supply is limited. Within each country, disparity is evident in economic quintiles, gender, ethnic groups/geographical areas and rural-urban data.

Sahel countries show a sharp contrast between the richest quintile and the rest. Some post-conflict countries show the same contrast.

Other countries show a sharp contrast between the poorest quintile and the rest. Some other countries have the bottom two quintile distinctly disadvantaged.

Primary school attendance in rural and urban children

Geographical disparity in Cameroon

Geographical disparity in Guinea

Richest 20% Poorest 20% Poor, rural Hausa girls Rich, rural girls Poor, urban boys Poor, rural girls Nigeria Rural Hausa Rich, urban boys Urban Rural Urban Rural Rich, rural boys C. A. R. Chad Bangladesh Cameroon Honduras Indonesia Bolivia Cuba Ukraine Average number of years of schooling Education poverty Extreme education poverty 3.3 years 6.4 years 3.5 years 9.7 years 0.5 years 10.3 years 2.6 years 0.3 years Boys Girls 6.7 years 10 years Educational marginalization- combination of economic, rural-urban, gender and ethnic factors The case of Nigeria

Access to primary education in Cote dIvoire 72% National average 76.6% boys 67.1% girls 90.3% south 64.4% north 86.6% south 51.1% north 100.0% rich 84.7% rich 93.7% rich 77.8% rich 71.8% poor 46.7% poor 82.6% poor 30.9% poor Allain Mingat (2009)

Equity analysis in education: analysis of constraints and barriers and measures Who are deprived ? Major constraints Measures to include these children

Some good news … In many countries, the gap between the groups in access in primary education is narrowing. In Western Cape in South Africa, the learning gaps between the rich and the poor have reduced significantly (next slide). Ghana and Tunisia recorded the largest gains in the world in science scores in 8 th grade from 2003 through 2007 and among the largest gains in mathematics score (TIMSS 2003/2007).

Western Cape narrowed the literacy inequality gap in 4 years – the bottom three quintiles caught up to the second richest. Source: McKinsey & Co Report 2011

Conclusion Regional and national disparity is evident. In-country disparity is vast and this can be better- understood by intersection of multiple factors – economic, gender, geographical region, social norms, etc. Equity-focused analysis – 1) identifying the determinants of deprivation and major causes of such deprivation, and 2) prioritising strategic shifts in intervention

Thank you very much for your attention