Chapter 2. Progress towards the EFA goals - Unesco

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0 1 0 CHAPTER 2 2 Education for All Global Monitoring Report Nearly 71 million adolescents were out of school in 2007, 54% were girls approach. Starting from the proportion of children entering school at the official age, it uses administrative data to track their progress to grade 5 and, unlike the gross intake rate for the last grade, subsequent completion. For countries seeking to make the transition from school systems characterized by late entry, grade repetition and low completion to a more regular cycle consistent with progress towards universal primary education, the net cohort completion rate is a potentially useful measurement tool. One advantage of cohort tracking is that it provides a credible measure of distance from universal primary education. In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, it underlines the daunting scale of the challenge ahead. While intake rates are going up, delayed entry is endemic. Half of all countries in the region had 50% or more children entering school later than the official starting age in 2007. Assuming a five-year school cycle, this implies that governments in the region would have to double the net intake rate by 2010 to make universal primary entry possible by 2015. For some countries, the challenge is to raise the net intake rate while building on a strong but limited completion record. In Burkina Faso, most children entering school at the appropriate age progress through to completion – but the net intake rate in 2006 was just 27%. Conversely, Malawi and Nicaragua have net intake rates over 60% in 2006 where fewer than half the official age entrants make it through to completion. Out-of-school adolescents The focus on out-of-school children of primary school age has deflected attention from a far wider problem. Millions in the lower secondary school age group are also out of school, either because they have not completed primary school or could not make the transition to lower secondary school. Recent data analysis suggests that nearly 71 million adolescents were out of school in 2007 – almost one in five of the total age group (Table 2.3). 17 Viewed through this wider lens, the out-of-school problem is twice as large as it is typically reported to be. The problem is most widespread in sub- Saharan Africa, with 38% of adolescents out of school, and South and West Asia with 28%. As with primary school age children, adolescent girls are more likely than boys to be out of school. Globally, 54% of out-of-school adolescents in 2007 were girls. In the Arab States the figure was 59% (Bruneforth and Wallet, 2009). Equally disconcerting is the fact that many adolescents in school are still enrolled at the primary level (Figure 2.23). This is the case for 39% of lower secondary school age adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, for example. Table 2.3: Number and % of children and adolescents of primary, lower secondary or basic education age not enrolled in primary, secondary or higher education, 2007 17. For the purposes of this analysis, adolescence is defined in terms of the official lower secondary school age range. Although the range varies by country, it is typically shorter than that for primary school. The lower secondary cycle is usually two to four years, compared with five to seven years of primary schooling in most countries. World Developing countries Developed countries Countries in transition Sub-Saharan Africa Arab States Central Asia East Asia and the Pacific South and West Asia Latin America and the Caribbean North America and Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe Source: Bruneforth and Wallet (2009). Primary education Total out-of-school As % of the primary age group Total out-of-school Lower secondary education As % of the lower secondary age group Total out-of-school (000) (000) (000) Basic education (primary and lower secondary combined) As % of the basic education age group 71 791 11 70 921 18 142 712 14 68 638 12 68 197 21 136 835 15 2 334 4 1 538 4 3 872 4 819 6 1 187 6 2 006 6 32 226 26 21 731 38 53 957 30 5 752 14 4 009 18 9 761 15 271 5 302 4 573 4 9 039 5 10 319 10 19 358 7 18 031 10 29 905 28 47 937 17 2 989 5 1 885 5 4 873 5 1 931 4 1 319 4 3 250 4 1 552 7 1 452 7 3 004 7 74
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALS Universal primary education The transition from primary school to lower secondary school is hazardous for many children. Problems that may be evident at the primary level are often magnified at the secondary level. Cost, distance to school, labour market demand and – especially for girls – deeply engrained social, cultural and economic barriers figure prominently (Otieno and K’Oliech, 2007). Because secondary schools are often further from home, the importance of distance as a barrier to entry increases. This is especially true for poor households facing labour shortages and for children in rural areas (Mingat and Ndem, 2008). In Mauritania and Senegal, the average journey time to the closest secondary school is eighty minutes in rural areas. The average distance to the closest lower secondary school in Senegal is twenty-five times farther than to the nearest primary school (Glick and Sahn, 2009). Distance can compound the effects of poverty, with poor households often unable to cover the cost either of transport or of boarding school places. Girls face a distinctive set of barriers: longer distances may reinforce security concerns and, in some contexts, early marriage prevents them from progressing beyond primary school. The transition to lower secondary school is now at the centre of the Education for All agenda in many countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, universal basic education is an increasingly prominent policy goal. For example, Ghana has adopted a basic education cycle embracing six years of primary and three years of lower secondary; in Zambia the cycle is seven years of primary and two years of lower secondary. There are good reasons for the shift in emphasis towards a longer basic education cycle. As more children get into and progress through primary school, demand for secondary school places is growing. There is also evidence of high social and private returns to education beyond the primary level. Yet governments also face tough choices. In countries that have been unable to deliver affordable, good-quality basic education to large sections of the population, the shift in emphasis raises important questions for equity in public finance. Aid partnerships can help relieve the financing constraints. However, it is important for governments and donors to avoid a premature shift in policy priorities. With millions of children still excluded from primary education and the world off track for the 2015 goals, there is a great deal of unfinished business awaiting urgent attention. Figure 2.23: Many adolescents are out of school, or still in primary school Distribution of lower secondary school age children by education level and % out of school % of lower secondary school age population 100 80 60 40 20 0 23 39 38 Sub-Saharan Africa Conclusion 60 12 28 South/ West Asia In secondary education or higher Source: Bruneforth and Wallet (2009). Arab States East Asia/ Pacific In primary education 5 Latin America/ Caribbean Out of school As in previous years, the progress report on universal primary education is a story of ‘glass half empty, glass half full’. Much has been achieved – but the international community has a long way to go if it is to deliver on the promises made in Dakar and in the Millennium Development Goals. The slow-down in getting children into school since 2004 is a particular concern. Another is the evidence of a large mismatch between administrative data on school enrolment and household survey data on school attendance. The out-of-school problem may be far bigger than has previously been assumed, pointing to a need for an urgent policy response at both the national and international levels. 64 18 18 75 15 10 72 23 60 20 21 Developing countries The transition from primary school to lower secondary school is hazardous for many children 75
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