• MDGs and education

MDGs and education

This study employs multiple sources of data and innovative analytic tools to project when 70 poor countries, given current and historical trends, are likely to achieve the goal of universal primary education. It identifies countries which are unlikely to reach universal primary entry and completion by 2015 but which are moving faster than the historic trend and so should be considered success stories and encouraged and supported. The report highlights as case studies several countries (Morocco, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Uganda) that have made the right choices and moved rapidly to attain universal education.

The report focuses on four areas:

• common patterns in education growth among the world’s low-income countries
• projections showing when countries will reach universal primary school access and completion. Has the global focus on education in recent decades coincided with a noticeable acceleration in long-term growth trends?
• population groups that are not keeping up with national trends
• the relationship between school entry, retention, and learning.

The report finds that for the last half of the 20th century, enrollment and completion growth has been consistently upward, although some countries have suffered temporary setbacks. It also finds that there is substantial variation in education growth, with the fastest countries taking less than 50 years to move from 10% to 90% primary school entry and the slowest taking over 120 years. While there are many developing countries that will not reach the EFA and MDG education goals by 2015, there is a group of countries that will reach the goals within the following decade, many of which are moving at a faster pace in recent years.

Recommendations are also made by the authors. These include:

• use educational attainment indicators, a better measure of educational outcomes, where relevant
• use and improve education data from household surveys and population censuses where relevant to supplement administrative data
• recognise and support countries that are making progress toward the goal of universal primary school completion
• target resources to underserved populations
• provide long-term support to countries that need it.

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