Some progress but Education for All can do better

Steady progress has been made since 1998, especially towards universal primary education (UPE) and gender parity among the poorest countries, but the pace is insufficient for the six Education for All (EFA) goals to be achieved by 2015. Increased political will and funding is required if countries are to meet the commitments they set at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000.

UNESCO’s 2006 Global Monitoring Report draws on data from the 2002 to 2003 school year to forecast which countries are likely to achieve the goals of UPE, gender parity in primary and secondary education and a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015.

There is some good news. Public spending on education has increased as a share of national income in about 70 countries. Aid for basic education more than doubled between 1999 and 2003. UPE has been achieved in 47 countries with another 20 on track to achieve it. Girls’ primary enrolments have risen rapidly, especially in some of the lowest-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. Gender and educational quality measures are increasingly visible in national education plans.

However, 23 countries are at serious risk of not achieving UPE by 2015 as their net enrolment ratios are declining. The 2005 gender parity target has been missed by 94 countries. 76 nations have not reached gender parity at primary level, and the disparities are nearly always at the expense of girls. 86 countries are at risk of not achieving gender parity even by 2015.

The EFA Development Index (EDI) provides a summary measure of a country’s situation. It covers four goals: UPE, adult literacy, gender and quality of education. Significant progress (by more than ten percent) was made in Cambodia, Ethiopia and Mozambique. Low-EDI countries registering sharp decreases include Chad, Guyana and Papua New Guinea.

UNESCO reports that:

• About 100 million children are still not enrolled in primary school, 55 percent of them girls.
• Fewer than two-thirds of primary school pupils reach the last grade in 41 countries.
• Primary-school fees – although known to be a major barrier to access – are still collected in 89 countries.
• High fertility rates, HIV/AIDS and armed conflict continue to exert pressure on education systems in the regions with the greatest EFA challenges.
• Enrolments in early childhood care and education (ECCE) programmes have remained static.
• In the Arab States, low adult literacy rates pull the EDI down.

Policymakers need to focus on:

• teacher training: in many countries, primary teacher numbers would have to increase by 20 percent a year to reduce pupil:teacher ratios to 40:1 and to achieve UPE by 2015
• increased public spending: in nine countries, including Indonesia and Pakistan, the share is less than two percent of Gross National Product
• ECCE: it needs to be seen as a domain for public policy rather than private initiative
• gender inequalities: ensuring that teachers, curricula and learning materials do not reinforce stereotypes
• low-cost school health interventions: they can reduce dropout rates and increase school achievement.

Source(s):
‘Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006’, UNESCO, November 2005 Full document.

Funded by: Several bilateral donors and UNESCO

id21 Research Highlight: 3 March 2006

Further Information:
Nicholas Burnett, Director
EFA Global Monitoring Report Team
UNESCO
7, Place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP
France

Tel: +33 1 45 68 17 06
Fax: +33 1 45 68 56 52
Contact the contributor: efareport@unesco.org

EFA Monitoring Report Team, UNESCO

Other related links:
'Is the international community getting serious about EFA?'

'Bringing the hardest to reach into the classroom'

'Achieving universal primary education in Malawi: quantity at the expense of quality?'

'Education for all in conflict affected countries: an impossible goal?'

'Education for all by 2015: how aid can help'

'Looking beyond numbers: measuring Africa’s progress towards gender equality in education'

'Missing the targets: poor progress on the MDGs'