1. The EFA Mid-Decade Assessment and Mid-Term Policy Review Background Key findings of the assessment Recommendations Leotes Lugo Helin Office of the UIS Regional Advisor for Asia-Pacific AIMS-UIS Unit, UNESCO Bangkok

2. Education for All Goals 1. Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.early childhood care and education 2. Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.primary education 3. Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.learning and life skills 4. Achieve a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.literacy 5. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015.gender 6. Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.quality of education

3. Build national capacity to undertake M&E, MDA & Mid-Term Policy Reviews Assess progress and gaps in the achievement of the national and global targets of EFA Identify and locate the remaining gaps in terms of quality and equity sub-nationally, with a focus on disadvantaged and excluded populations Review, identify and locate problems, issues, policies, strategies, actions and critical factors of success/failure Use results of the assessment to sharpen the focus and update policies and strategies for attaining the EFA goals and the MDGs by 2015 EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Objectives

4. EFA Mid-Decade Assessment Framework Framework for the Assessment: Inclusive Education in a Lifelong Perspective a focus on the diversity of learning needs of sub- populations (e.g., the disabled, linguistic and ethnic minorities, girls and women, disadvantaged groups) provision of quality education for all learners The MDA aims to answer: Which children are not in school/learning centres? What inhibits their full participation? Who should be targeted as a priority? How can we improve quality and equality? How do we cost, budget and finance EFA?

5. Asia-Pacific MDA Process The “Bangkok” or “Asian” model”  Development of national capacity in: statistics, indicators and policy analysis monitoring and evaluation of implementation assessment of impact in attaining the EFA goals, with regard to all learners and specifically targeted populations  Country-led MDA and policy reviews  Problem-solving approach: analysing sub-national disparities in implementation and outcomes identifying critical factors and obstacles to achieving the EFA goals locating the under-served and “unreached” target groups  Supported by: training and production workshops Technical Support Groups organised by a regional Thematic Working Group on EFA the collaboration of UNESCO and UNICEF.

6. MDA: Where do we stand now? National EFA MDA reports finalised for: Indonesia and Myanmar National EFA MDA reports being finalised:  Lao PDR  Cambodia  Malaysia  Philippines  Thailand  Viet Nam Sub-Regional EFA MDA reports now being finalised  Bangladesh  Bhutan  India  Maldives  Nepal  Sri Lanka  Pakistan  China  Iran  Mongolia  +Central Asia  + Pacific

7. Results of national and sub-regional EFA MDA and the 2008 Global Monitoring Report used for policy reviews Recommendations for adjustments in terms of:  Target-setting, with specific references to priority target groups  Strategies for attaining the unattained and reaching the un-reached  A schedule of milestones to be attained over the remaining period Sub-Regional EFA Mid-Term Policy Reviews to be conducted in Asia-Pacific (the first held in Southeast Asia in February) EFA MDA and Policy Review

8. Policy/System Indicators for Literacy Existence of a nationally recognized definition of “literate” and “numerate” persons. What is the definition? How is it applied in measuring literacy attainment ? Existence of policies, laws, decrees stipulating literacy as a basic human right What kind of literacy and basic continuing education programmes exist for adults? Who organizes such programmes? How do these programmes function? Presence of literacy and basic continuing education programmes for adults conducted in local languages; and existence of literacy and post-literacy learning materials in local languages Literacy Indicators in the Technical Guidelines

9. Core EFA MDA Indicators on Literacy Adult Literacy Rate (15 years and above) Youth Literacy Rate (age 15-24 year olds) Gender Parity Index for Adult Literacy Public Expenditure on Adult Literacy and Continuing Education as a Percentage of Total Public Expenditure on Education Plus six additional indicators

10. Adult literacy rate, Viet Nam (in %) YearTotalEthnic Minority RuralUrbanMaleFemaleGPI 200089.88-88.4994.2993.6186.4692.36 200291.7175.3390.3795.7994.8288.8093.65 200492.1377.1390.7696.0692.6990.2297.34 Source: Household Living Standards Survey, General Dept.of Statistics Countries encouraged to disaggregate data with a focus on disadvantaged groups, e.g. ethnic minorities, urban-rural, male-female, etc.

11. Literacy data in national EFA MDA reports Main sources are: the national census (conducted every 5 to 10 years), labour force surveys, household surveys Few countries have conducted special literacy surveys: ◦ Philippines: Functional Literacy Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) ◦ Lao PDR National Literacy Survey 2001 ◦ Malaysia: 2006 special study on first year secondary public school students in Malaysia ◦ Cambodia: Assessment of Functional Literacy Levels of the Adult Population, May 2000

12. Lao National Literacy Survey, 2001

13. MDA Sub-Regional Report Highlights wide geographical variations in EFA progress data missing on who is being left behind Who are the disadvantaged? o Learners from remote and rural communities o Learners from religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities as well as indigenous peoples o Children from migrant families o Learners with disabilities/special needs o Street children, working children, and children in difficult circumstances (conflict or disaster areas) o Orphans and abandoned children (e.g., due to HIV/AIDS) o Learners from very poor families o Girls and women, especially from rural /ethnic minorities

14. Literacy: Progress and Challenges There is no common definition of literacy. Overall literacy targets for 2007 have mostly been met, and targets for 2015 are likely to be met. But poor quality of primary schooling can lead to low levels of literacy Where reading materials are not widely available, relapsing into illiteracy is a risk. There is a need to promote non-formal equivalency education for children who cannot attend school. There is a lack of classrooms and materials for literacy classes. There is a need to address the low reliability of data on non-literate populations, including use of languages other than the official language.

15. Policy and Strategy Recommendations: South-East Asia EFA Conference

16. Develop environments that support literacy practices by establishing community libraries, learning centres, etc. Integrate community knowledge and input in order to ensure local relevance, including involving the community in materials and curriculum development Invest adequate financial resources in language- appropriate education and literacy efforts, including allotting 3% of the overall education budget for adult literacy efforts (currently – 1% on average) Implement policies that encourage the use of mother tongue in initial literacy for children and adults Deploy teachers and facilitators appropriate to local contexts by recruiting from local communities and providing relevant pre- and in-service training Literacy, Mother Tongue, and Language Policies

17. Recommendation from the EFA Monitoring & Evaluation Group Challenge: Nationally representative household surveys: but, without focus on education, the information available is limited. Recommendations: Establishment of dedicated and regular household surveys on education to better understand key issues of the education system – including those un-reached school-aged students –through government funding as well as support from development partners. Ensuring that adequate questions on education and literacy are included in relevant and regular household surveys undertaken by the National Statistics Office.