Improving quality in basic education: what makes a difference

1. Improving quality in basic education: what makes a difference Mmantsetsa Marope (Ph.D.) Director, Division for Basic to Higher Education and Learning Brussels, 3 May 2011

2. Presentation outline • Two decades of Education for All • Enduring quality challenge • Evidence of poor quality • Evidence of inequitable quality • Critical causes of poor and inequitable quality • Implications of poor and inequitable quality • Proposed interventions and promising practices • UNESCO’s general education quality improvement actions • Expected benefits of quality primary education • Potential role of the Belgian development cooperation

3. Two decades of progress in primary education

4. Two decades of progress in primary education • 695 million children enrolled in primary school in 2008 • Equivalent to an additional 121 million children since 1990 • 67 million children of primary school age children were out-of-school in 2008 • 36 million fewer children out-of-school than in 1990 • The share of out-of-school girls declined slightly from 57% in 1999 to 53% in 2008 • 116 countries achieved gender parity in primary education in 2008 • Large gaps closing in the Arab States, South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa • In 2008, children will attend school for about 11 years, on average • In 1990, the world average was just 9 years

5. Rapid progress in primary school participation In sub-Saharan Africa, participation increased by 31% between 1999 and 2008, with an additional 46 million children enrolled in primary school in that region alone. Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011.

6. Missing the targetOut-of-school trends projected to 2015

7. Enrolment progress is uneven among partner countries ANER fell between 1999 and 2009 ANER rose between 1999 and 2009 Source: UIS database.

8. Enduring quality challenge: Quality is poor

9. A global quality picture: primary education survival rates Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2008.

10. PISA result: Performances in reading 2000-2009

11. Reading skills of students reaching grade 6

12. Learning gaps across countriesGrade 8 TIMSS math test score Source: EFA GMR 2010

13. Quality is poor in many partner countriesSurvival rates to last grade of primary Countries such as Burundi and Mozambique are struggling with retention, despite increased primary school enrolment since 1999. Source: UIS database.

14. Low achievement levels are indicative of poor quality In South Africa, 78% of students don’t reach the low international benchmark % of students reaching the PIRLS international benchmark for reading in grade 4 Low benchmark = basic reading skills 100 Below low benchmark 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Germany France Indonesia South Africa Qatar Morocco Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011.

15. Enduring quality challenge: Quality is inequitable

16. Quality is inequitable between regionsPupil/teacher ratios high in poorest regions 40:1 ratio international benchmark Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011; UIS database.

17. Quality is inequitable between countries Latin American 2006 regional surveys of primary mathematics placed 30 percent of Chilean grade 3 students at level 3 or 4, compared with just 13 percent in El Salvador About 10 percent of grader 3s in Argentina performed below level 1 on the mathematics performance scale, while a similar proportion performed at the highest level (UNESCO-OREALC, 2008) Over 50 percent of grade 3s in Cuba performed at level 4 – more than three times the share in Argentina or Chile For the 2009 PISA, the gap between the highest and lowest performing OECD countries was more than the equivalent of two school years

18. Quality is inequitable between & within countriesPatterns of dropout differ across wealth groups Children from poor households are more likely to drop out than children from wealthier homes Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011.

19. In Kenya, wealth differences polarize reading achievement levels Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011; original source UWEZO (2010).

20. Differences by wealth, location, gender, country

21. Critical causes of poor quality

22. Varied access to programmes for children under age 3 Countries in region with at least one formal programme including children under 3 in 2005 (%) Source: UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007.

23. Wide variation in pre-primary participation across regions Pre-primary gross enrolment ratio (%) in 2008 Source: UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011.

24. Vulnerable children excluded from ECCE programmes 3-to 5-year olds from urban areas or with educated mothers are more likely to participate in early learning programmes Source: UNICEF, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS3).

25. Early inequity leads to lifelong inequity in learning outcomes and educational opportunities In Ecuador, a study of 3- to 5-year-olds marks a clear association between a child’s cognitive score and the family’s socioeconomic status. The gap begins early and widens over time. Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2010, from Paxson and Schady (2005).

26. Poorly qualified teacher force • Teacher shortage (GMR 2011) • Difficulties allocating teachers to marginalized areas (Monk 2007) • Limited teaching in local languages (Canagarajah 2004) • Female teachers are particularly needed (Lloyd and Young 2009) • Insufficient teacher training (Cheung 2008) • Increasingly poor and differential pay scales (Davidsson 2007) • High absenteeism and attrition (Chapman 2007)

27. Trained teachers are rare in some countries Countries with large pupil/ teacher ratios also have small shares of trained teachers Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011.

28. Inadequate learning environments (1) • What do inadequate learning environment look like? • School and classroom shortages (Cambodia, occupied Palestinian territory, United Republic of Tanzania) • Poor management of school facilities (Cambodia, India, Uganda) • Insufficient teaching materials (Ecuador, Kenya, Mozambique, Peru, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania) • Lack of proper sanitation facilities (Cambodia) • Dangerous and long travelling routes to school (occupied Palestinian territory, Uganda)

29. Inadequate learning environments (2) • Inadequate learning environments contribute to: • irregular attendance • students dropping out • teacher fatigue and the deterioration of work patterns • disappointing learning achievements • annoyance and reduced attention span • negative attitudes towards school • decrease learners’ ability to engage in teaching and learning process (Source: The National Policy for an Equitable Provision of an Enabling School Physical Teaching and Learning Environment, Department of Basic Education, South Africa, May 2010)

30. Implications of poor and inequitable quality

31. Implications of poor and inequitable quality (1) At an individual level: Disengagement; loss of confidence; failure to acquire requisite skills, competencies, affects and values High repetition and drop-out rates Reduced chances of meaningful employment / productive work Reduced potential to earn Increased chances of social deviance & associated consequences Reduced quality of life…

32. Implications of poor and inequitable quality (2) At a country level: Low internal efficiency of education systems High costs of poor or lack of education (e.g. poor health, spending on social safety nets and remedial programmes) Wasted human resource potential Shortage of skilled labour, associated low productivity, low growth and low competitiveness Lost opportunity for redistributive effects of broad-based quality education Social inequalities and the associated risk of social instability and fracture At the global level: Sustained global inequalities and associated costs on both rich and poor countries

33. Proposed interventions and promising practices

34. What contributes to improving quality? (1) • Early Childhood Care and Education providing for holistic attention that include health, nutrition, early stimulation and protection, resulting in: • Better school readiness, attendance, learning, internal efficiency • Improved early brain development • Improved cognitive development and primary school achievement • Higher school enrolment • Reduced drop out rates • Improved delivery of nutrition and health services • Reduced risks of social delinquency • Gender parity

35. What contributes to improving quality? (2) • Studies point to significant relationships between cognitive achievement and school expenditure, teachers’ andpractitioners’ educational training and adequate play andlearning facilities • School performance (as measured by test scores) is significantly improved by textbook provision, smaller class sizes,adequate instructional time and sound teaching practices, including an age appropriate curricula • Policy development should target disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and aim towards gender equality and inclusive education

36. Human Brain Development – Synapse FormationEarly childhood is an optimal moment to support sensory, cognitive, social & language development Language Sensing Pathways Higher Cognitive Function (vision, hearing) 9 -3 3 1 0 6 4 8 12 16 -6 Months Years Conception AGE C. Nelson, in From Neurons to Neighborhoods, 2000

37. Heckman’s curve - rates of return to human capital investments across all ages Heckman, 2008: Schools, Skills, and Synapses

38. Examples of successful quality interventions (1)- in ECCE - Health sector-based intervention e.g. Posyandu (“health service post”) in Indonesia combining basic health services with parenting education Welfare sector-based intervention e.g. Conditional cash transfer in Mexico, Nicaragua Education sector-based intervention e.g. Community-based ECD centres in disadvantaged areas in Nepal; Madrasa Preschool Programme in East African countries e.g. Non-formal education programme for parents to promote better parenting in rural Tanzania Multi-sectoral intervention e.g. Parenting education for parents with children 0-6: Educate Your Child of Cuba and Better Early Childhood of Brazil

39. Examples of successful quality interventions (2)- in primary education - Focusing resources on early primary grades (Mali) Providing adequate and relevant textbooks (Kenya) Bilingual education (Mali, Viet Nam) Building schools closer to marginalized communities (India) Temporary schools in the face of armed conflict (DRC) Successful teacher training (Kenya) The introduction of teacher benefits (Mozambique)

40. Providing enabling learning environments • Good lightning • Improves students ability to perceive visual stimuli and their ability to concentrate and take instructions • A colorful environment • Improves learners’ attitudes and behavior, attention span and feelings about school and reduces absenteeism • Good acoustics • Improves learner hearing and concentration (15 percent of learners in an average classroom supper from some hearing impairment) • Outdoor facilities • Improves learner formal and informal learning systems, social development, team work, and school-community relationship (Source: The National Policy for an Equitable Provision of an Enabling School Physical Teaching and Learning Environment, Department of Basic Education, South Africa, May 2010)

41. Access does not have to be at the expense of quality! Swaziland on the other hand increased test scores by 5 percent with a 12 percentage point growth in NER from 71 to 83 percent Namibia had a phenomenal 9 percent increase in test scores—the highest in 7 years and among the 14 countries—while holding its NER sturdy with only a 1 percentage point increase in NER from 90 to 91 percent Botswana increased its test scores almost held sturdy, with only a 2 percent increase while the NER modestly increased by 5 percentage points from 84 to 90 percent

42. Increasing access AND qualityThe case of U. R. Tanzania Participation in primary school increased by 43% between 2000 and 2007 Many students from low-income households Student mathematics scores increased by 6% during the same period Percentage of students reaching numeracy competency increased by 13% Total education spending increased by 22% Growth of education spending outpaced economic growth Long-term development planning with the National Vision 2025 Source: UNESCO, Global Monitoring Report 2011; The Tanzania Development Vision 2025.

43. UNESCO’s general education quality improvement actions

44. UNESCO’s actions (1) I. Support equitable access to quality ECCE • Heightening advocacy and support for ECCE • First World Conference on ECCE (Moscow, 2010) and the implementation of the Moscow Framework for Action and Cooperation • Strengthening the analytical and knowledge base for ECCE policy development • Handbook on ECCE • Strengthening national capacities to deliver ECCE • ECCE subsector analysis (e.g. Mongolia) • Thematic policy review on ECCE integration in Rep. of Korea • Strengthening global and national capacity for monitoring Goal 1 • Holistic Child Development Index • Intensifying resource mobilisation • Establishment of UNESCO ECCE Fund

45. UNESCO’s actions (2) II. Develop and implement a General Education Quality Diagnostic/Analysis and Monitoring Framework (diagram in next slide) To develop a comprehensive and systematic instrument - in the form of toolkits - for diagnosing/analyzing, monitoring and sustaining the quality of general education systems - from ECCE to secondary To provide technical support to Member States for applying the instrument and for undertaking improvement efforts To strengthen Member States’ capacity in diagnosing/analyzing, monitoring and sustaining the quality of general education systems III. Articulate with the post-secondary quality improvement efforts

47. Expected benefits of quality primary education

48. Expected benefits of quality primary education • Individual • Confident and competent individuals with better educational and social outcomes • Increased chance of obtaining meaningful employment opportunity and higher earnings • Family • Healthy and well-functioning family, esp. through better educated mothers • Country • Improved internal efficiency of the system through reduced repetition and drop-out Enhanced social equity through redistributive effects, and resultant effect on reduced incidence of violence and costs of inequities • Greater social inclusion and cohesion • Efficient use of resources through minimizing wastage • More optimal human & earning potential through nurturing a productive labour force required to lead knowledge- and technology-driven growth and global competitiveness • World • More equal, peaceful and productive world

49. Potential role of the Belgian development cooperation

50. Recommendation 1: Preconditioning on quality • Precondition the Belgian Development Cooperation on quality measures: • ECCE related quality measures • Primaryeducation related quality measures • Enhance the role of the Belgian Development Cooperation - e.g. within FIT - as ‘quality watchdog’ • Strengthen cooperation between the Belgian Development Cooperation and UNESCO