Nicholas Burnett Asssistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO

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

2. 2000 2005 2008 Gender parity goal 2015 Dakar Midpoint The big questions in 2008 • 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. 1991 1999 2005 Progress in primary education Sub-Saharan Africa Primary school enrolment up: 36% in sub-Saharan Africa 22% in South and West Asia 11% in Arab States Arab States South/West Asia Central Asia Central/Eastern Europe East Asia/Pacific Latin America Caribbean North America Western Europe 60 80 50 70 90 100 Net enrolment ratios in primary education (%)

5. Strides ahead in many countries Niger 1999 • Significant acceleration in post-Dakar period compared to 1990s Congo 2005 Burkina Faso Eritrea Mali Côte d'Ivoire Burundi Chad Guinea Nigeria Ethiopia Senegal Ghana • School fee abolition has favoured sharp enrolment increases in many sub-Saharan African countries 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 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Net enrolment ratios (%)

6. Prospects for achieving UPE by 2015 2025: 7 countries 2025: 6 countries

7. Gender disparities still prevail C. A. R. 1999 Chad 2005 Niger D. R. Congo Côte d'Ivoire Mali Benin Burkina Faso • Policies to encourage girls’ schooling have included: - Community mobilization - Targeting disadvantaged areas - Free learning materials - Sanitation in schools Eritrea Guinea Mozambique Togo Cameroon Nigeria Burundi Comoros Ethiopia Congo Swaziland Zambia Cape Verde Equat.Guinea Madagascar Kenya South Africa Senegal U. R. Tanzania • 35% of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education (63% globally), and only 6% at the secondary level S. Tome/Principe Zimbabwe Botswana Ghana Gabon Uganda Lesotho Mauritius Namibia Seychelles Rwanda Malawi Gambia 0,50 0,60 0,70 0,80 0,90 1,00 1,10 Gender parity Index in primary GER

8. 2005 Decline in number of out-of-school children Sub-Saharan Africa 1999: 96 million South/West Asia East Asia/Pacific Arab States 2005: 72 million 1999 Latin America Caribbean Central/Eastern Europe North America Western Europe 33 million in sub-Saharan Africa Central Asia 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Out-of school children, million

9. 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

10. 120 100 80 GER in secondary education (%) 60 40 20 0 Mali Chad Niger Togo Benin Kenya Ghana Eritrea Guinea Nigeria Malawi Uganda Zambia Ethiopia Gambia Namibia Rwanda Senegal Lesotho Comoros Botswana Mauritius Swaziland Cameroon Zimbabwe Seychelles South Africa Burkina Faso Mozambique Democratic Rep. of the Congo 1999 2005 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 774 million adult illiterates • 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) South/West Asia Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia/Pacific Arab States Latin America/Caribbean Central/Eastern Europe North America/ Western Europe 1985-1994 1995-2004 Central Asia 0 100 200 300 400 500 Adult illiterates, million

12. Indications of poor quality • Survival rate to last grade improving but remains low in sub-Saharan Africa (63%) and in South and West Asia (79%) • 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

13. Teacher shortages Teaching staff has not kept pace with enrolment increases in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia • 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 • 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 18 million new primary teachers needed by 2015, of which 3.8 million in Africa

14. EFA Development Index: a comprehensive view of progress Out of 129 countries: South Africa Dominican Rep. Namibia 51 high achievers (1 close to EFA in Africa) Swaziland Lesotho Guatemala 53in intermediate position (10 in Africa) Nicaragua Iraq Bangladesh • Index pulled down by low education quality or low adult literacy levels Nepal Malawi Mauritania Yemen • 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 Mozambique 1999 Ethiopia 2005 Chad 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Education Development Index

15. Increases in national spending on education El Salvador Madagascar • 50 out of 84 countries outside North America and Western Europe increased the share. • 18 out of 24 in sub-Saharan Africa 1999 Nepal 2005 Benin Tajikistan Mozambique Mali Kyrgyzstan Czech Rep. Colombia • 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 Burundi Senegal Mexico Ghana Poland Hungary Malawi Ethiopia Swaziland Ukraine Bolivia Kenya Morocco Lesotho 0 2 4 6 8 10 Public expenditure on education as a % of GNP

16. 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 To offset the cost of schooling for poor households countries are: • 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

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 • Effective teaching and learning strategies • Active learning, relevant curricula, HIV/AIDS education, importance of acquiring basic skills, better assessments • Learning time, materials and textbooks Textbook production, unbiased learning content, free distribution to priority areas • Healthy and safe learning environment • Nutrition, health programmes, physical safety

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 Literacy programs for youth and adults have long-term benefits • healthcare knowledge • HIV/AIDS prevention • self esteem and empowerment, widening choices • higher chance of parents sending children to school Early childhood and literacy programs carry strong returns but require massive scaling up

21. An education compact 1. Effective national policies 2. Higher domestic spending 3. External aid Educational development A model at work in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Tanzania, Yemen and Zambia 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: www.efareport.unesco.org efareport@unesco.org