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WHAT CAN BE DONE
to 5.3 million – following the abolition of school fees. 463 Fee abolition is critical
to tackling economic inequality, and boosting opportunities for the poorest.
However, the quality of the education on offer has suffered in those countries
which have failed to match the increase in enrolment with adequate
investments in trained teachers, facilities and materials – a situation made
more difficult by faltering donor commitments and falling government budgets
due to the global economic crisis. This risks reinforcing inequalities in the
quality of education between the public and private sectors, and between
the poorest and wealthiest children.
Beyond school fee abolition, additional targeted investments are needed
to provide the most marginalized children with high-quality education.
These include extra funding for schools in rural and under-served areas,
policies to address other financial barriers to poor children’s access to
education (such as uniforms, transportation and learning materials),
and more accountability for education quality through active community
involvement in school management.
Some countries are leading the way. For example, Brazil has championed
reforms that increase access to good quality education and allocate more
spending to the education of poor children, often in indigenous and black
communities. 464 These reforms have helped to reduce inequality of access
since the mid-1990s: the average number of years spent in school by the
poorest 20 percent of children has doubled – from four years to eight years. 465
Investment in education and healthcare played a key part in Brazil’s recent
success in reducing inequality.
A number of East Asian countries, including South Korea, Japan and Singapore,
have implemented programmes specifically designed to promote equitable
learning, including investing in high-quality teachers. Even the poorest
students are now learning above the minimum threshold. 466 There is solid
evidence that making equity an explicit goal of education policy can lead
to improved educational outcomes across the board.
Public investment in healthcare and education for all citizens is a powerful
tool for addressing inequality, and these examples demonstrate that change
is possible, even in the face of powerful special interests.
Aid can tackle inequality and political capture
Taxation and domestic resource mobilization are critical to boosting public
spending. For some countries, harnessing aid and investing it well, for instance
into good-quality public services that citizens need and demand, has also
helped to reduce poverty and inequality through supporting national public
service plans and boosting public spending.
In 2004, just over a quarter of the aid received by Rwanda – a country that had
spent 10 years rebuilding national institutions and economic stability following
the 1994 genocide – was budget support: long-term aid that can support
health and education systems, as well as institution strengthening. Steady
growth in budget support up to 2004 allowed the government to eliminate fees
for primary and lower-secondary school education, increase spending
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