1. 2 9 EFA Global Monitoring Report9
Overcoming inequality: why governance matters
Concurrent Session 1, 12th UNESCO-APEID Conference
Bangkok, Thailand; 24 March 2009

2. Education for All (EFA)
Education as a basic human right is recognized in Article 26 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
EFA was first launched in Jomtien, Thailand in March 1990 at the World Conference on Education for All; It was reaffirmed at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000
EFA is not a UNESCO programme. It is an international commitment made by governments, NGOs, civil society groups, UN agencies, multilateral & bilateral agencies, etc.
Background about EFA:

3. The Six EFA Goals Early childhood care and education
Universal Primary Education (UPE)
Life Skills and Lifelong Learning
Literacy
Gender
Quality Education
All Goals should be reached by 2015, same as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

4. Key messages of the 2009 GMR
There has been strong progress towards many EFA goals, but…
Key targets for 2015 will be missed – and time is running out
Governments are failing to tackle inequality, as are current approaches to governance
Aid to education is stagnating and donors are not meeting their commitments
1) The good news is - There has been strong progress towards many EFA goals, but…
2) The bad news is that if we keep on our current trajectory, key targets for 2015 will be missed – and time is running out
3) Governments are failing to tackle inequality, as are current approaches to education governance. We will look at current education governance reforms and especially seek to identify if and how they are reducing inequality in education.
4) Aid to education is stagnating and donors are not meeting their commitments

5. EFA & the MDGs: mutually-dependent
EFA as a foundation for the MDGs
The Education for All agenda is broader than the MDGs
Education can help unlock progress on the MDGs:
Broad-based growth to halve extreme poverty
Reducing child and maternal mortality
Tackling child malnutrition
Strengthening democracy and citizenship
The report highlights the fact that the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals are mutually-dependent.
The Education for All goals go beyond the Millennium Development goal of universal primary education – and covers all the aspects of education including crucial aspects such as early childhood education and care and also education quality.
We examine also the crucial role of education in achieving other of the goals. Education plays a fundamental role in :
- in economic growth and halving extreme poverty
Reducing child and maternal mortality
tacking child malnutrition
Strengthening democracy and citizenship

6. EFA & the MDGs
Education for some – global and national inequalities persist
The global divide: between the world’s richest and poorest nations
The wealth gap: within countries, children from the richest households are up to 5 times more likely to be enrolled that those from the poorest
The quality divide: many children leave school lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills
Education for some – global and national inequalities persist
This report underlines the deep and persistent inequalities in education which are undermining progress as a whole toward the EFA goals. They occur on different levels:
1) Between the world’s riches and poorest countries – we look at the difference in chances for attaining education between developed and developing countries. For example, children in France are twice as likely to enter tertiary education as children in Benin or Niger are to complete primary school. This has obvious implications for patterns of globalisation in the coming generations.
2) The wealth gap: within countries. In this report we look at data from household surveys which reveal that children from the richest households are up to 5 times more likely to be enrolled that those from the poorest.
3) The quality divide: many children, especially in the developing world leave school lacking basic literacy and numeracy skills. There are large gaps in achievement being registered between the world’s richest and poorest countries

7. EFA & the MDGs
The global divide: between the world’s richest and poorest nations.
OECD countries:
By age 7, almost all children are in school
At 17 yrs, 70% in secondary school
Sub-Saharan Africa:
At age 7, only about 40% are in school
At 17 yrs, 30% are in secondary….but 20% still in primary
Primary
Secondary
Post-secondary
age 24
OECD countries
Sub-Saharan Africa
age 23
age 22
age 21
age 20
age 19
age 18
age 17
age 16
age 15
This graph illustrates the global education divide in terms of school attainments.
On the left, we see that in OECD countries, by age 7 almost all children are in school and at age 17, 70% attend secondary school.
However, if you look at the same stages in sub-Saharan Africa, at age 7 only about 40% of children are in school and at 17, 30% are in secondary school and another 20% are still in primary school.
What is happening on a global scale is also mirrored at the national level….
Getting children into school at the right age is important. To attain universal primary education, all children must be in primary school by around 2009 at an appropriate age, and progress smoothly through the system. In some countries in Southeast Asia, however, under and over-age enrolment in primary school remains to be a major challenge. In the case of Cambodia, for example, around 40% of students start primary school two or more years over age. There is also very high dropout rate in the early grades (average of 10%). Monitoring/tracking studies have shown that “under-age children tend to repeat grades, while over-age children tend to drop out.”
age 14
age 13
age 12
age 11
age 10
age 9
age 8
age 7
age 6
100%
80%
60%
40%
20% 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Proportion enrolled by age and level of education

8. EFA & the MDGs The wealth gap:
Grade attainment
The wealth gap:
100
OECD countries (Finland)
Latin America and
Caribbean, average
LAC, Richest 20%
South and West Asia,
average
SWA, Richest 20%
Children in the poorest 20% of households are more likely to drop out than those in the richest 20% 80
Sub-Saharan Africa,
average
SSA, Richest 20%
Survival to grade (%) 60
LAC, Poorest 20%
This graph illustrates grade attainment at the country level when you compare the richest and poorest households.
The top blue line shows us what typical grade progression looks like in a rich country such as Finland. Most children stay in school and there is very little drop out.
If you compare these with regional averages from Latin America and the Caribbean, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, you see that already there are many children who are not making it through all the grades.
But when we see the averages per region broken down by the richest and poorest quintile, you will see that there is a vast gulf between the poorest and richest households within each region – and this is most striking in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. 40
SSA, Poorest 20%
SWA, Poorest 20%
Grade attainment by wealth quintile in sub-Saharan Africa,
South and West Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean 20
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Grade 9

9. The wealth gap
Grade survival indicators provide insight into the ways inequalities constrain progress towards UPE. In looking at countries with low survival rates, two broad patterns can be identified (figure above). The pattern in Cambodia shows that in countries with high attendance, where children from poor households are often almost as likely to start school as their richer counterparts but far more likely to drop out. Inequalities widen progressively as children progress through the system, as in Cambodia. While the extent of divergence differs, countries like India and Myanmar have shown a similar pattern.
In the case of Senegal, where attendance is low, gaps between wealth groups tend to remain relatively constant as children progress through the primary cycle. This implies that dropout rates are not markedly widening inequalities.
Inequalities related to wealth widen progressively as children progress through the system, as in Cambodia.

10. Monitoring EFA Education quality – the learning divide
Low average level of learning in many developing countries relative to developed countries
PISA assessments have 60% of children in Brazil and Indonesia scoring in the lowest 20%, compared to 10% in Canada or Finland
Global learning divide mirrored within countries: large disparities between the richest and poorest children
100 80 60 40 20
Kyrgyzstan
Indonesia
Brazil
Argentina
Mexico
Thailand
Chile
France
United Kingdom
Japan
Finland
Share of students (%)
High achievement
Low achievement
Education quality is also an area where there are great inequalities both at the national and global levels.
There is a low average level of learning in many developing countries relative to developed countries
This graph shows selected results from The PISA 2006 assessments. PISA is the Programme for International Student Assessment carried out by OECD in collaboration with UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
-PISA is an internationally standardised assessment and administered to 15-year-olds in schools
-it covers the domains of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy not merely mastery of the school curriculum
-the reading literacy scale is measured from levels 1 to 5, with level 1 as the lowest
-Students who do not reach Level 1, are not able to routinely show the most basic skills that PISA seeks to measure. This signals serious deficiencies in student’s ability to use reading literacy as a tool for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in other areas.
The 2006 PISA shows that:
60% of children in Brazil and Indonesia scoring in the lowest 20%, compared to 10% in Canada or Finland
In Thailand, half of the students tested had scores at or below Level 1, while the other half had scores of between Levels 2 to 4
The global learning divide mirrored within countries: large disparities between the richest and poorest children
At or above level 5
Levels 2 to 4
At or below level 1, the lowest level in PISA

11. Monitoring EFA
Early childhood education and care (ECCE) is still neglected
Malnutrition as a barrier to EFA: 1 in 3 children suffer worldwide (higher in South Asia)
Economic growth not enough: Child mortality rates in East Asia & Pacific improved in the last decade, but for every 1,000 live births, 31 children still do not reach age 5
more than a third of children in Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao PDR still suffer from moderate to severe stunting
Successful programmes make a difference
Philippines: nutrition programme registered improvements in cognitive development
Rich countries also face problems
United States: poor and ethnic groups lagging behind in ECCE, leading to inequalities in educational outcomes
In the report this year, we focus on early childhood education and care and that indicators in this area are a cause for concern.
Malnutrition and child mortality indicators are not improving at the required rate in many regions. One in three suffer from malnutrition worldwide, and this rises to 40% in South Asia. By the time these children reach primary schools, they will have their cognitive capacities damaged which will have long-lasting effects on their ability to learn and progress through school.
The report uses some examples of social protection programmes notably some Latin American countries which are having a real impact on poor households. Some of these programmes provide cash transfers to families on the condition that they meet certain requirements such as sending their children to school and conducting regular health checks.
However, though some rich countries have pre-school attendance rates of around 100%, others are much lower (such as 60% in the United States). This is creating inequalities in educational outcomes later.

12. Monitoring EFA
Steady but uneven progress in universal primary education (UPE)
Since 1999, the primary net enrolment rate for developing countries has increased at twice the rate of the pre-Dakar decade
Fewer children out-of-school in 2006 than in 2000, globally
Slower population growth also means East Asia & Pacific will have some 15 million fewer children of primary school age in 2015 than in 2006.
Progress in:
Increased political leadership
public investment & abolished school fees
school construction
measures to strengthen quality …
… but the world is not on track for UPE by 2015
Since 1999, we have seen real achievements in education which have expanded the horizon of opportunity for millions of children. There are now 28 million more children in school, and the primary NER for developing countries have increased at twice the rate of the pre-Dakar decade.
Some of the lessons from success stories in UPE
“Increased public spending and investment in schools, teachers and teaching materials has been critical. So has an increased focus on equity through measures to remove barriers and create incentives aimed at overcoming disadvantages based on wealth, gender, social standing or caste.”
Ethiopia and Tanzania have each reduced their numbers of out-of-school children by 3 million since Dakar.
Tanzania now only has just over 100,000 children out of school.
Nepal and Bangladesh have increased enrolment of girls and the disadvantaged.
Nepal has used scholarship programmes to increase enrolments of girls and low-caste children
Mauritania, Morocco and Yemen have registered strong gains
Though there are no one-size fits all solutions, the report looks at some of the lessons to be learnt from strong EFA performers which have made a real difference in certain countries. These include:
Increased political leadership
public investment & abolished school fees
school construction
measures to strengthen quality …
…However, despite these impressive gains, the world is not on track for UPE by We see this from the out of school figures.

13. Monitoring EFA
2015
at least 29 million children out of school in 2015
Millions of children
2006
75 million children out of school in 2006
2006
2015
Nigeria
8.1
7.6
India
7.2
0.6
Pakistan
6.8
3.7
nearly half of these in sub-Saharan Africa alone
55% girls - who are more likely never to have been in school than boys
Partial projections in 134 countries (which represent two-thirds of out-of-school children in 2006)
Nigeria and Pakistan together represent about one-third of the out-of-school population
Ethiopia
3.7
1.1
Bangladesh
1.4
0.3
Kenya
1.4
0.9
Niger
1.2
0.9
Burkina Faso
1.2
1.1
Ghana
1.0
0.7
Mozambique
1.0
0.3
The numbers of children out of school are still a great cause for concern.
In 2006, there were still 75 million children out of school, nearly half of these in sub-Saharan Africa alone. More than half of these are girls who are more likely to never to have been in school than boys.
In an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, where national and individual prosperity are linked more and more to education, 12% of the developing world’s primary school age population is not in school.
For East Asia and the Pacific, there were 9.5 million out-of-school children in 2006, 3.5 million more since Cambodia, Myanmar and the Republic of Korea made extraordinary progress in reducing the number of children not enrolled. (For East Asia & Pacific, data on China’s number of out-of-school children is an estimation).
Analysis of enrolment data by age suggests that around 31% of the world’s out-of-school population may eventually enrol as late entrants. For East Asia and the Pacific, around 70% of the out-of-school population is expected to enter school at a later age.
This report, carried out projections for out of school numbers for 2015 based on 134 countries. According to projections, there will be at least 29 million children out of school in It must be noted that these are partial projections as they do not include the Sudan or DR Congo.
As you can see from the graph, while some countries are on track for reaching UPE by 2015, others will fall short of the goal, notably Nigeria and Pakistan. These two countries alone represent about half of the out-of-school projected population for 2015.
Philippines
1.0
0.9
Yemen
0.9
0.3
Mali
0.8
0.6
Turkey
0.7
0.7
Brazil
0.6
0.2
Senegal
0.5
0.2
Iraq
0.5
0.2

14. Monitoring EFA
Global, regional and national inequalities are a barrier to progress in universal primary education
Wealth-based inequalities: one country, several worlds
children from rich and poor backgrounds move in different worlds
Poor children are over-represented among out-of-school:
over 40% of out-of-school children in the Philippines, 51% in Indonesia, 60% in Viet Nam
Other inequalities:
gender
location (rural v. urban)
Ethnic origin
In the report, we explore how it is inequalities in education which are a great hindrance to achieving universal primary education. We identify inequalities due to wealth, gender, location, ethnic origin, language spoken and disability.
When it comes to UPE, the rich and the poor live in different worlds. Thus wealth-based inequalities creates several worlds within one country. In many of the world’s poorest countries, the richest households already enjoy universal primary education while the poor lag behind.
Poverty is one of the greatest cause for inequality, not only between rich and poor countries but within countries, separating children from the richest and poorest households.
Poor children are overrepresented in out of school numbers, and are more likely to drop out as we saw earlier. Children from the poorest quintile account for over 40% of out-of-school children in the Philippines, 51% in Indonesia and 60% in Viet Nam. Thus progress in raising school attendance among the poor has a great impact on improving national attendance and moving towards universal primary education.
Not only income, but other inequalities can often combine to exacerbate inequalities. Girls are still disadvantaged in many countries, as are those living in rural areas or slums. Minorities and children from immigrant background or speak a minority language are also facing education disadvantage; Children with disabilities are among some of the most excluded from education in many countries.
language
disability

15. = about 5 million adult illiterates Latin America/Caribbean
Monitoring EFA
Little progress in reducing numbers of illiterate adults
Still 776 million illiterate adults in 2006, two-thirds are women. This represents 16% of the global adult population
Projected number of adult illiterates (age 15+), by gender and region, 2015
Projections for million illiterate adults worldwide, 81 million of which will live in East Asia & the Pacific
Literacy gap –Adult literacy rates can vary up to 40 percentage points between the richest and poorest households within a given country. or
= about 5 million adult illiterates
Women
Men
Additional note:
There has been slow progress on literacy since 2000, failure also of aid donors to target this.
Illiteracy is the legacy of past failures in education policy
In East Asia and the Pacific, an estimated 113 million adults in the region were considered illiterate in , nearly two-thirds of these were in China and 13% in Indonesia. Of the total number of illiterate adults in East Asia and the Pacific, around 7 out of 10 illiterates are women (or 71% of the total figure).
Between 1985–1994 and 2000–2006, the average adult literacy rate increased from 82% to 93% mainly due to the reduction of illiteracy in China. The rise was more pronounced among women whose literacy rate climbed from 75% to just over 90%.
By 2015, there will be a projected 81 million adult illiterates in the region and majority or 71% will still be women.
It should also be noted that “national literacy rates conceal major disparities in literacy levels within countries. These disparities are linked to gender, poverty, place of residence, ethnicity, language and disabilities. Age is another important dimension: younger adults tend to have higher literacy rates than older adults.”
South & West Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Asia/Pacific
Arab States
Latin America/Caribbean

16. Monitoring EFA Gender disparities – still a long way to go
Primary & secondary education
59 out of 176 countries have achieved gender parity in both primary and secondary education
China, Japan, Marshall Islands, Myanmar and the Republic of Korea have achieved gender parity in primary and secondary levels
Primary education
Over half the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia and the Arab States yet to achieve gender parity
Lao PDR only enrolls 90 girls per 100 boys in primary education, among the lowest in East Asia & Pacific next to Papua New Guinea with 84 girls per100 boys
Secondary education
Gender disparities still larger– only 37% of countries have achieved gender parity
In many countries, boys are disadvantaged
Gender gaps in secondary schools were seen in three-quarters of countries in East Asia & Pacific
59 out of 176 countries have achieved gender parity in both primary and secondary education
China, Japan, Marshall Islands, Myanmar and the Republic of Korea have achieved gender parity in primary and secondary levels
Over half the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia and the Arab States have yet to achieve gender parity in primary education
Lao PDR only enrolls 90 girls per 100 boys in primary education, among the lowest in East Asia & Pacific next to Papua New Guinea with 84 girls per100 boys
Gender disparities still larger in secondary education – only 37% of countries have achieved gender parity
In many countries, boys are disadvantaged
Gender gaps in secondary schools were seen in three-quarters of countries in East Asia & Pacific
Gender inequalities are compounded by other inequalities
Poverty + gender = greater gender disparities
Girls progress in school hampered by:
teacher attitudes
negative gender stereotypes (in textbooks)
school factors interact with social and economic factors.
Cross-national research using household survey data carried out for this Report underlines the strong association between poverty and gender inequalities in education. Children in poor households are less likely to attend school than their wealthier counterparts, irrespective of whether they are boys or girls... Gender disparities are inversely related to wealth: they rise for girls born into the poorest households. This disadvantage also tends to be greater at the secondary level than at the primary level.
As of School Year 2006, Thailand has attained gender parity in primary gross enrolment ratio, i.e. there are the same number of boys and girls enrolled in primary education relative to the total population of primary school-age boys and girls.

17. Monitoring EFA Acute teacher shortages still a problem
To achieve UPE by 2015, we will need to recruit and train:
Sub-Saharan Africa million teachers
East Asia - 4 million teachers with largest increases required in China and Indonesia
South and West Asia million teachers with largest increases required in India
National pupil/teacher ratios mask large disparities between rich-poor, rural-urban, indigenous- non-indigenous areas.
Schools attended by wealthier children tend to have smaller classes and more trained teachers than those attended by poorer children
To achieve UPE by 2015, we will need to recruit and train (including replacing teachers retiring or suffering from HIV/AIDs)
Sub-Saharan Africa million teachers
East Asia - 4 million teachers with the largest increases required in China and Indonesia
South and West Asia million teachers with the largest increases required in India
National pupil-teacher ratios mask large disparities between rich/poor, rural/urban, indigenous/non-indigenous areas.
Schools attended by wealthier children tend to have smaller classes and more trained teachers than those attended by poorer children. Untrained teachers are also often concentrated in poor rural areas.

18. 56 countries achieved or close
Monitoring EFA
Measuring overall progress: The Education Development Index
Measures overall progress in four EFA goals
(data for 129 countries in 2006)
56 countries achieved or close
EFA by 2015
Japan, Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia
44 countries midway
This year, as in the previous years, the GMR measures composite education achievement in 4 of the EFA goals (UPE, adult literacy, gender parity & equality, and education quality)
56 countries, 5 more than in 2005, are close to achieving or have achieved the four goals, including Japan, Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia
44 countries are mid-way to achieving the goals (including Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia)
29 countries are lagging behind with EDI values less than Majority are Sub-Saharan Africa countries. This also includes Lao PDR with an EDI of and Cambodia, with an EDI of 0.778
There is no EDI data for Thailand and Viet Nam due to some missing data
Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia
29 countries furthest
Cambodia, Lao PDR

19. Governance for equity Governance reform in education
Education governance = the formal and informal processes through which policies are formulated, priorities identified, resources allocated, and reforms implemented and monitored
Bad education governance is seen in:
overcrowded, underfinanced schools
absent teachers
unaccountable to families
high levels of inequality
low levels of learning
Good governance aims
for:
Transparency
Accountability
Equal opportunity for all citizens
Enhancing the voice and participation of citizens
The governance reform agenda:
Decentralize to sub-national bodies
Devolve authority and decision-making to schools and parents
Expand choice and competition
Flexible recruitment and financial incentives for teachers
Poor governance practices in education affect the whole of society. But invariably it is the poor and the already marginalized who bear the brunt. Good governance implies not just transparency and accountability, but also a commitment to equal opportunity for all citizens.
Governance describes the institutions, rules and norms through which policies are developed and implemented – and through which accountability is enforced. Governance reform in its broadest sense is concerned with changing the rules of the game – that is, changing the processes through which decisions are made and implemented on behalf of members of an organization or a society.
« The governance reform agenda » describes some recent education governance reform movements which are being promoted in both the developing and developed world.
(nb. Not being promoted in the report – the report examines these to see whether or not they are actually reducing inequality in education).
Some of these include:
- Decentralizing education finances to sub-national bodies
- Devolve authority and decision-making to schools and parents
- Expand school choice and competition for parents, including greater involvement of the private sector
Flexible recruitment and financial incentives for teachers
The report also includes case studies in countries on governance issues.

20. Governance for equity Governance reform: country case-studies
Financial decentral- ization
Nigeria – federal resources redistributed unequally
Viet Nam & South Africa – central government redistributing to poorer regions
El Salvador - EDUCO schools improving learning achievement, but …
Honduras results are unchanged
School-based management
School choice and competition
United States & Chile – increased parental choice, but questionable impacts on learning achievement and disparities
Sweden – expanded choice & private providers, but not exportable
Low-fee private schools
Pakistan - are a response to demand – but also a symptom of state failure

21. Governance for equity Evidence and lessons
Financial decentralization comes with threats to equity
Lesson: governments should retain a strong role in leveling the playing field
Devolution to schools can perpetuate inequality and over-burden local providers
Lesson: governments need to create an enabling environment to strengthen ‘voice’ and build capacity
Choice and competition is not a panacea for state failure, or a prescription for equity
Lesson: if public sector provision is broken, the governance challenge is to fix it
Lesson: avoid blueprints – and don’t export them
Recognize the limits to contract teacher recruitment and performance-related pay
Poverty-reduction strategies can not work without integrating education
Lesson: integrate education into wider strategies for overcoming poverty and inequality
The report also includes specific case studies on governance reform in selected countries. Among the evidence and lessons are listed in this slide
Conclusions:
1) There is no evidence of the benefits of these reforms, especially in terms of reducing inequalities
2) It is not beneficial to take blueprints from rich countries and apply them to developing countries. There is no blueprint for good governance: each country has to develop national and local strategies.
3) Governments across the world have attached insufficient weight to equity in the design of governance reforms.

22. National finance National education finance
2 000
4 000
6 000
8 000
10 000
Congo
Chad
Zambia
Madagascar
Lao PDR
C. A. R.
Malawi
Tajikistan
Cameroon
Rwanda
Uganda
Bangladesh
Nepal
Benin
Ethiopia
Burundi
Mozambique
Niger
Mali
Mauritania
Kenya
Mongolia
Senegal
Burkina Faso
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Lebanon
Philippines
Peru
El Salvador
Swaziland
Jamaica
Syrian A. R.
Dominican
Iran, Isl. Rep.
Romania
Namibia
Brazil
Morocco
Cape Verde
Botswana
Malaysia
South Africa
Mexico
U. A. Emirates
Argentina
Slovakia
Poland
Greece
Germany
France
United
Italy
Austria
Sweden
Luxembourg
Public current expenditure on primary education per pupil (unit cost) at PPP in constant 2005 US$
$9950
$39
National education finance
Most countries have increased the share of national income allocated to education since 1999.
Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique & Senegal all have sharp increases in spending, associated with positive results
but…
In other countries especially in South Asia, levels are stagnating
and…
Global wealth inequalities are mirrored in inequalities in education spending
Range from US$39 in Congo to $9950 in Luxembourg
Before we look at what is happening in international aid, this is just a brief overview of the state of national funding:
- overall progress
- but still some countries with the biggest numbers of out-of-school children are spending the smallest share of national income on education.
In terms of public spending for education, latest available data show Thailand (2005), along with Malaysia (2004), had the highest allocation of total public expenditure to education of 25%, compared to 15% for the Philippines (2005) and 14% in Lao PDR (2006). However, as a percentage of its gross national product or GNP, Thailand’s total public expenditure on education was 4.3% of GNP in 2005, a drop from 5.1% in With the current global economic crisis, countries around the world, including Thailand will find it more challenging to increase spending for education although increased public funds for education is more needed than ever at this time.

23. Aid & aid governance
Donors are failing to deliver on their Dakar commitments
Aid commitments: global shortfalls and education deficits
Donors falling short of 2010 commitments: meeting these requires additional US$30 billion
In 2006: aid to basic education US$5.1bn (same as 2004)
Aid to basic education in low income countries: US$3.8bn but US$11bn needed annually to meet EFA goals
2.8
3.0
4.1
5.2
3.7
5.1
7.3
6.6
7.0
8.3
9.4
11.0
8.5
11.3
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Constant 2006 US$ billion
Total aid to basic education
Total aid to education
Fast Track Initiative under threat:
Potential financing gap of US$2.2bn by 2010
Aid for education was allocated to 147 countries in 2006 according to the OECD-DAC.
The EFA FTI: Of the US $1.3 billion pledged, US $1.1 billion has been notionally allocated but not all of it has been transferred yet. Agreements totalling just US $329 million have been made with countries, with total disbursements by the end of February 2008 amounting to US$270 million.
Total official development assistance (ODA) commitments towards East Asia and the Pacific remained relatively constant around US$13.5 billion in and 2005, and dropped to US$11.7 billion in More than half that drop was experienced solely in Indonesia (nearly US$1 billion less in 2005 than in 2006).

24. Aid & aid governance: Equity Matters
Some countries such as the Netherlands and UK allocate over 60% of aid to basic education in low income countries
…France, Japan and Germany allocate only a small fraction
Donors vary in their commitments to basic education in low-income countries
The report argues that its not just aid for education which matters, but also supporting aid for basic education in low income countries.
- Some countries such as the Netherlands and UK allocate over 60% of aid to basic education in low income countries
- however…France, Japan and Germany allocate only a small fraction (France 12% and Germany 7% of total aid to education goes to basic education in low income countries)

25. Aid & aid governance The Paris agenda: a mixed record
Improving aid governance: Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (2005). Until now, progress is variable:
Shift from projects to programmes
Increase from 33% to 54% in
National ownership
Conditions vary
Aligning aid to national priorities & improve predictability
Some positive examples, but some donors unwilling to work through national structures
Improving donor coordination to reduce inefficiency
Progress in some countries (Ethiopia– over half of missions were joint in 2007), but…
In 2007, Niger hosted 600 donor missions – less than 100 were joint
In 2005, 18 countries had to deal with 12 donors for basic education alone
In 2005, donors set out a new vision for the governance of development assistance in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In it, rich countries resolve “to take far reaching and monitorable actions to reform the ways we deliver and manage aid.” Has this led to better results? In some cases, changes in aid delivery mechanisms are lowering transaction costs and reducing fragmentation. In others, new delivery mechanisms have not been able to overcome existing problems.
There has been a shift from projects to programmes: Increase from 33% to 54% in
The criteria for measuring commitment to programme-based aid include growth in the share of aid provided as pooled funding and budget support. The target is to provide two-thirds of the total by There has been a particularly strong trend towards the adoption of sector-wide approaches (SWAps) in social sectors, with education figuring prominently.
Country ownership remains weak. Fewer than one-quarter of the surveyed countries have national development strategies that are clearly linked to the national budget. This is up from 17% in 2005, but far short of the 2010 target of 75%.
Progress on aligning aid with government programmes has been minimal. 46% of all aid was delivered through common aid delivery arrangements such as SWAps. This is roughly the same proportion as in The target for 2010 is 66%.
Donor coordination is still rudimentary. In 2007, the 54 countries received more than 14,000 donor missions, of which only one in five was coordinated on a joint-donor basis. The 2010 target is 40%.
Overall, early monitoring results from 54 developing countries and 27 donors, accounting for half of all aid delivered in 2007, suggest that the 2010 targets set in the Paris Declaration will not be achieved in most countries and that progress has been slow and uneven.

26. Conclusions Policy recommendations:
Get serious about equity – and set targets for reducing disparities
Strengthen links between education planning and poverty-reduction strategies
Back EFA targets with equitable financing
Commit to quality education
Recognize the limits to choice and competition
Deliver on aid commitments (now)
Policy recommendations:
Get serious about equity – and set targets for reduced disparities
Strengthen links between education planning and poverty-reduction strategies
Back EFA targets with equitable financing – this means making equity a target – for example targeting children in slums
Commit to quality education
Recognize the limits to choice and competition – the language of the market is not a solution for the problems we face in education
Deliver on aid commitments (now)

27. 2 9 EFA Global Monitoring Report www.efareport.unesco.org9
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