BEC – Teach a Child, Transform a Nation - Basic Education Coalition

“Education is a human right with immense powerto transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstonesof freedom, democracy and sustainablehuman development.”— Kofi Annan

IntroductionThis timely report, Teach a Child, Transform aNation, draws on abundant evidence that makescrystal clear that quality basic education is theessential building block for health, economicdevelopment, gender equality and long-termsecurity. Despite the progress it documents, thedistance ahead of us is great to reach theEducation for All goals.No country has reached sustained economicgrowth without achieving near universal primaryeducation. Education lays the foundation forsound governance and strong institutions.Investing in girls’ education, in particular,increases women’s incomes, delays the start ofsexual activity, reduces infant mortality,increases women’s political participation, andstabilizes societies.— Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY),House AppropriationsSubcommittee on State,Foreign Operations andRelated ProgramsWhat's more, the 9/11 Commission concludedthat educational opportunity is vital to efforts todefeat global terrorism. It helps structurecommunities, with schools at their center —bringing together parents, students, teachers andgovernment officials — and provides services thatsupport and lift up individuals and families.It must, therefore, be our common cause todemonstrate the value of universal basiceducation to the American people and advancethe Education for All goals. Millions worldwide willbenefit and this report helps to illuminate thepath to universal basic education.1

ContentsThe Role of Education in the Process of DevelopmentThe Power of Education................................................................................... 3Education Builds Stronger Economies................................................................ 4Education Builds Healthier Families ................................................................... 6Education Prevents HIV/AIDS .......................................................................... 7Education Builds Security ................................................................................ 8Global Commitment to Education for AllEducation for All Goals .................................................................................... 9Global Snapshot: Where We Stand Today .........................................................10Priorities in Global Basic EducationExpanding Basic Education .............................................................................12Promoting Quality Basic Education...................................................................13Ensuring Girls an Equal Education....................................................................14Improving Early Childhood Care and Education..................................................15Reaching Marginalized Children .......................................................................16Providing Education in Emergencies .................................................................17Boosting Adult Literacy ..................................................................................18Implementing Effective Strategies to Improve Student Learning ..........................20Achieving Education for All .............................................................................22Conclusion ...................................................................................................23AppendicesAppendix A: Where the World Stands on EFA ....................................................24Annex 1: Country Progress on EFA Goals/EDI 2007............................................25Appendix B: The Greatest Number and Share of Children Out of School ................28Appendix C: Out-of-School Children in Conflict-Affected Countries........................29Endnotes .....................................................................................................302

Education BuildsStronger EconomiesIn the U.S. and in countries around the world, education is essential to reducing povertyand stimulating economic growth. 3 Quality education equips people with the knowledge,skills and self-reliance they need to increase income and expand their opportunities foremployment. 4An educated worker is more productive andearns a higher income than an unschooledcounterpart, leading to greater individualeconomic growth. Boosting individual capacityimpacts household income, leading to growthin communities and national economies.Countries with strong education programsexperience greater growth and stability thanless-educated neighbors.“For education builds strongereconomies: the foundation of everystate is the education of its youth.”— Diogenes Laertius4

Expanded Productivity:A farmer with just four years of education is9% more productive than one with noeducation. He or she is more likely tounderstand the causes and treatment of cropdiseases and how to introduce new farmingtechniques. 5Increased Earnings:An individual’s earnings increase by 10% foreach year of school completed. 6 The effect ofeducation is even stronger for girls, withwages rising 20% for every year beyondfourth grade that a girl is in school. 7 For eachadditional year of secondary school, anindividual’s wages increase by 15-25%. 8Higher GDP:Research has found countries that haveexperienced surges in literacy rates of 20-30%have seen simultaneous increases in GrossDomestic Product of 8-16%. 9Research has shown that investingin education is the most costeffectiveway to achieve long-termeconomic growth and development.In fact, no country has reachedsustained economic growth withoutachieving near universal primaryeducation.5

Education BuildsHealthier FamiliesEducation provides individuals with theknowledge and skills to practice basicelements of health, sanitation and childcare. 10 Education, especially girls’education, saves lives and improves familywell-being.Educating women reduces both infant andmaternal mortality. 11 Educated mothers aremore likely to seek pre- and post-natalcare, follow doctors’ recommendations, and have births attended by trained personnel. 12Educated women are more likely to have healthier children and have decision-making powerwithin the household. 13The children of educated women are more successful in school and are more likely to sendtheir own children to school, creating a cycle that benefits generations. 14“[Literacy] is a bulwarkagainst poverty, and a buildingblock of development…Especially for girls andwomen, it is an agent of familyhealth and nutrition.”— Kofi Annan An additional one to three years of amother’s schooling is associated with a 20%decline in the risk of childhood death. 15 A 63-country study found that educatingwomen was by far the most important factorin reducing malnutrition—more thanimprovements to the food supply. 166

Education for AllGoalsIn 2000, global leaders from 164 countries came together at the World Education Forum inDakar, Senegal and committed to ensure “Education for All” by 2015. The goal of Educationfor All (EFA) is to ensure that all children receive an education that enriches their lives,expands their opportunities, and empowers them to participate in society.The Education for All framework includes the following six goals:1. Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care andeducation, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantagedchildren.2. Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children indifficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, haveaccess to and complete free and compulsory primary education ofgood quality.3. Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults aremet through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skillsprograms.4. Achieving a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015,especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuingeducation for adults.5. Eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by2005, and achieving gender parity in education by 2015, with a focuson ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basiceducation of good quality.6. Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuringexcellence so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes areachieved by all students, especially in literacy, numeracy, andessential life skills.In the ten years since Dakar, real progress has been made in improving both educationalaccess and quality, but significant challenges remain. According to UNESCO’s EducationDevelopment Index, which measures progress on universal primary education, adultliteracy, gender parity and education quality, 62 countries have either achieved the goals orare close to doing so. 25 However, 36 countries have a mixed progress report, and 30countries are far from meeting the goals. 26 If current trends continue, 56 million childrenwill still be out of school in 2015. 279

Global Snapshot:Where We Stand TodayProgress:- Today, more children are enrolledin primary education than at anytime in history.- Worldwide, 33 million morechildren were in primary school in2007 than in 1999.- South and West Asia more thanhalved their out-of-schoolpopulation – a reduction of 21million – and reduced theproportion of girls out of school.- Sub-Saharan Africa has reduced itsout-of-school population by almost13 million, or 28%.- Since 1985, the global adultliteracy rate has increased from76% to 84%.- 140 million children were enrolledin pre-school programs worldwidein 2007, up from 113 million in1999.10

Challenges Remaining:- 72 million children of primaryschool age around the world arenot in school.- There are an additional 71million adolescents of lowersecondary school age currentlyout of school.- Girls account for 54% of theworld’s out-of-school children.- Millions of children who are inschool receive a poor qualityeducation, with overcrowdedclassrooms, inadequatelytrained teachers and a lack ofbooks and learning materials.- An estimated 44% of out-ofschoolchildren in developingcountries are unlikely ever toenroll.- More than half – some 39million – of the world’s out-ofschoolchildren live in conflictaffectedand fragile states.- One out of every three childrenin sub-Saharan Africa is not inschool.- An estimated 759 million adults,16% of the world’s adultpopulation, lack basic literacyskills.11

ExpandingBasic EducationFor millions of children around the world,access to education is uncertain, and thebenefits of education unrealized. A lack ofeducation consigns people to lives oflimited opportunities, scarce resourcesand fewer options for supportingthemselves and their families. 28 In 2007, 72 million children wereout of school. 29 Counting out-ofschooladolescents doubles thisfigure. 30 Girls account for 54% of the world’sout-of-school children. 31 More than half, roughly 39 million,of all of the out-of-school childrenaround the world live in conflictaffectedand fragile states. 32 In sub-Saharan Africa, one in threeprimary-school aged children is outof school. 33 Nigeria, alone, accounts for aroundone in nine of the world’s out-of-school children. 34Access to education is denied for a variety of reasons. For many poor families, the cost ofschool fees, textbooks and uniforms is more than they can afford. In other cases, schoolsare too far away or they lack adequate supplies and resources. For some children, typicallygirls, formal learning is culturally prohibited. Still others are denied an education becauseconflicts or natural disasters have displaced entire communities and placed meeting basicneeds, like food and shelter, above all else. 35Additional resources, as well as effective strategies, are needed in order to overcome theseobstacles and ensure that all children around the world have access to a basic education.12

Promoting QualityBasic EducationFor those children who do attendschool, low quality education limitsstudents’ learning potential in manyregions. Absolute learning levels are solow in many developing countries thatmillions of children complete primaryschool without acquiring basic skills inreading and math. 36Dilapidated school buildings,overcrowded and under-resourcedclassrooms, and an inadequate supplyof both teachers and learning materialslead tens of millions of students todrop out of school before the fifthgrade. 37Over half the 6th grade students inKenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda,the United Republic of Tanzania andZambia attend school in classroomsthat do not have a single book. 38A recent survey in rural India foundthat fewer than half of the children in 3rd grade could read a text designed for 1st gradestudents. 39Shortages of qualified teachers—many lost to HIV/AIDS—and problems of teacherabsenteeism threaten the quality of education in many countries. According to UNESCO’s2010 EFA Global Monitoring Report, 10.3 million more primary school teachers will beneeded around the world to achieve the goal of universal primary education by 2015. 40Gains in quality will depend on increasing the number of properly trained teachers andsupplying them with the classroom resources needed to boost learning outcomes. Throughmore reliable and regular learning assessments, as well as the use of data, we can ensurethat each child reaches his or her potential.13

Ensuring Girlsan Equal Education“The surest way to keep a peopledown is to educate the men andneglect the women. If you educatea man, you simply educate anindividual, but if you educate awoman, you educate a family.”— Dr. J.E. Kwegyir Aggrey,a Ghanaian educatorPoverty and discrimination remain huge barriers to girls’ education in many parts of theworld. When families struggle to find the money for school fees, uniforms and books, girlsare the ones most likely to miss out since they are often required to stay home to help earnmoney or care for younger siblings. 41 In 2007, girls accounted for 54% of the world’s out-of-school children. 42 Two-thirds of the world’s 759 million illiterate adults are women. 43Educating girls empowers women and is one of the most cost-effective ways to spurdevelopment. 44 In fact, investing in the education of women and girls has the highest rate ofreturn of any possible investment in developing countries. Ensuring equal education forwomen and girls creates a ripple effect throughout society. An educated woman reinvests90% of her income into her family, compared to 30-40 percent for a man. 45Educating girls:- Boosts economic productivity and reduces poverty- Lowers maternal and infant mortality rates- Reduces fertility rates- Helps protect against HIV/AIDS- Increases life expectancy- Improves the health, well-being, and educational prospects of the next generation- Increases per capita income- Contributes to the development and deepening of democracy14

Improving EarlyChildhood Care and EducationEarly childhood—the period frombirth to age 5—is the most criticalperiod of growth and learning in aperson’s life. What happens—andwhat does not happen—in a child’sfirst days, months and yearsdetermines how well the braingrows, how language skillsdevelop, and shapes lifelongapproaches to learning. 46The health and nutritional status ofchildren have a profound influenceon their cognitive development andlearning potential. Malnutrition or micronutrient deficiency in the first two years of life canimpair brain development and the functioning of the central nervous system, withirreversible consequences. 47“Five- and six-year-old children are theinheritors of poverty’s curse and not itscreators. Unless we act, these childrenwill pass it onto the next generationlike a family birthmark.”— UNESCO EFA Global MonitoringReport 2010Pre-school education and targeted healthcare can counter early childhooddisadvantage. Well-targeted earlychildhood development programs costless—and produce more dramatic andlasting results—than educationinvestments at any other level. 48 Whenchildren receive good quality care andlearning opportunities in their earliestyears, they have a better chance to growup healthy, to do well in school, and to reach their full potential in well-being andproductivity. 49Economists estimate that each extra year of pre-schooleducation will increase a person’s future productivity by 10to 30 percent. 50One in three children below the age of 6 in thedeveloping world, or 175 million children, startschool each year with their bodies, brains andlong-term learning potential permanentlydamaged by poor health and malnutrition.15

ReachingMarginalized ChildrenChildren do not choose the circumstancesinto which they are born, yet the wealth oftheir parents, their own gender, ethnicity orlanguage can greatly influence their accessto, as well as achievement in, education. 51Many groups of children are particularlymarginalized, including the very poor, girls,ethnic minorities, child laborers, orphans,people with disabilities, and those living inrural areas. There were 166 million child laborersbetween the ages of 5 and 14 in2004. 52 One-quarter of the children insub-Saharan Africa are engaged inexploitative labor. 53 UNESCO estimates the number ofchildren under 18 years old withdisabilities around the world rangesfrom 120 to 150 million. 54 Anestimated 98% of children withdisabilities in developing countries donot attend school. 55 Today, 2 million children under theage of 15 are living with HIV, 56 and anestimated 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. 57 The greatmajority of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa, many in child-headed households.For children vulnerable to any number of external threats—including conflict, trafficking orthe loss of a parent due to HIV/AIDS—education can provide a safe refuge. Often, educationmakes a crucial difference in children’s lives by giving them the knowledge to deal withhealth issues and the life skills to survive and achieve a better future.“School is the only place for a child to be in, where they areprotected from various forms of abuse and are safe from anumber of issues that children face today—be it childmarriage, child trafficking or child labor.”— Dr. Jayakumar Christian, National Director, World Vision India16

ProvidingEducation in EmergenciesMillions of children aroundthe world are trapped inconflicts and struggling tosurvive in the wake ofnatural disasters. In theseemergency situations,children usually suffer themost. During the upheaval offleeing the crisis area,children can becomeseparated from their familiesor orphaned from theviolence. And as schoolsclose, children may berecruited and forced to fightas child soldiers, and aremore vulnerable to sexualabuse and exploitation. Currently, more than half—some 39 million—of the world’s 72 million out-of-schoolchildren live in conflict-affected or fragile states. 58 Within conflict areas, one child out of three is not in school. 59 By the end of 2008, an estimated 15 million children between the ages of 5 and 17had been forcibly displaced from their homes, either within their own countries oracross national borders. 60 In Pakistan alone, nearly 7 million children are out of school. 61Providing education in emergencies not only ensures that children realize their right toeducation, it provides them with a sense of hope and normalcy when their lives have beendisrupted, promotes their psychological andsocial well-being and cognitive development,and lessens the risk that they will berecruited into dangerous activities. 62Ensuring quality education in emergencies isamong the best ways to mitigate the impactof the crisis on children while building hopefor the future.“Given that the average conflict lasts 10years and that children and familiesremain in internally displaced persons(IDP) camps an average of 17 years, it iscrucial to provide education from theoutset of every humanitarian response.”— Save the Children’s report on DeliveringEducation for Children in Emergencies17

BoostingAdult LiteracyReading and writing are essential skills fortoday’s world. Literacy expands people’schoices, gives them more control over theirlives, increases their ability to participate insociety and enhances their self-esteem. 63Yet, millions of people around the worldhave never attended primary school andmany millions more have left school lackingthe skills they need to earn a livelihood andparticipate fully in society. 64 As a result: An estimated 759 million adults—16%of the world’s adult population 65 —areunable to read and/or write a simplestatement in their national or officiallanguage. 66 Two-thirds of the world’s illiterateadults are women. 67 In India, alone, there are 270 millionilliterate adults. 68 Entire age groups in certain counties,such as war-torn Sierra Leone, lackprimary education altogether. 69While adult illiteracy reflects patterns of past exclusion from educational opportunities, itsconsequences extend beyond the individual. When people lack literacy, society as a wholesuffers from lost opportunities for higher productivity, shared prosperity and politicalparticipation.Ensuring that adults, particularly women, canread, write and do basic math will not onlyvastly improve their own economic prospects,but will inspire their children to succeed inschool as well.18

Implementing Effective Strategiesto Improve Student LearningThere is no magic formula for achieving universal basic education. However, experience hasshown that certain principles contribute greatly to effective basic education programs:Parental and Community Participation — Participation and support from parentsand communities is integral to increasing enrollment and improving quality. Reform effortsneed to be consistent with attitudes and cultural traditions so that parents are comfortablesending their children, particularly their daughters, to school.Curriculum Development — In poor countries, many schools lack basic supplies.Books, chalk, and even pencils can be difficult to obtain; furniture and computers are evenmore scarce. Meanwhile, teaching materials, if available, are unlikely to be current or evenappropriate.The curriculum must be made relevant to a country’s and a society’s environment andculture. The curriculum should teach all students the fundamentals of reading, writing, andarithmetic. It should be developed in the context of the national goals for education andincorporate international content standards.Additionally, school curricula should provide basic life skills in health, nutrition, andeconomic well-being, and should be delivered in a way to promote problem solving, criticalthinking and conflict resolution. Programs must be designed to address both formal andinformal knowledge and learning.Teacher Training and Support — Teachers are the backbone of education. Theyshould be known and trusted by the community, competent in the subject matter theyteach, and strong in classroom and instructional skills. Because a teacher’s own education isimportant in influencing the kind of teacher he or she will be, concerted efforts must bemade to provide several stages of training and professional development for teachers. Thisincludes improving and modernizing pre-service and in-service teacher education to makeeducation more learner-centered, interactive, and relevant to the lives of students and theircommunities.In areas of the world where well-trained teachers are scarce, efforts should focus onbuilding a support system for teachers to provide them guidance, mentoring, and ongoingtraining, including the use of technology to bring additional content and innovative learningmethods to the classroom.20

Learning Environment — Environmental factors affect a child’s ability to learn. Aquality learning environment should be safe, stimulating, enabling, gender-sensitive, andconveniently located.Factors in the school environment, such as the existence of separate toilets or latrines, aswell as the safety of a school in a conflict-affected state or region, must be taken intoaccount. The provision of water and sanitation facilities in schools, as well as perimeterwalls to ensure security and privacy, can help raise school attendance—particularly bygirls. 70 Teachers should support the rights of girls, minorities, disabled or other vulnerablechildren.Educational Outcomes — The success of education programs and investments shouldbe measured not in terms of their inputs, but in terms of their learning and developmentoutcomes. 71 Regular assessments of subject competencies are critical to ensure qualityeducation and improve achievement. Monitoring should be done to measure learningoutcomes and application of new knowledge and skills. Educational assessments should belinked to national goals for education, community goals, and positive participation in society.Educational Policy — Educational achievement is determined by many processes: theway teachers deliver lessons, the way administrators manage schools and communities, andthe way the government supports education. Government commitment, policy reform andbudget decisions are crucial to achieving the goals of Education for All. The following are keyfactors: Prioritizing education at the national and local level; Making schools accessible to all children; Making a special effort to reach out to vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups, including:girls, rural children, poor, minorities, children in conflict areas, and others; Working to increase the benefits and cut the costs of education; Generating community expectations that children will attend school; and Ensuring transparency and accountability in education management at the local andnational level, while working to institute lessons learned.21

AchievingEducation for AllTen years have passed since world leaders adopted the six Education for All goals. Theworld has made remarkable progress in improving access to education. Worldwide, thenumber of children of primary school age who are out school has declined by 33 millionsince the Dakar pledges were made, from 105 million in 1999 to 72 million in 2007. 72Some countries havemade extraordinaryadvances. Throughincreased internationalassistance, Cambodia,Ghana, Kenya,Mozambique, the UnitedRepublic of Tanzania andZambia eliminated schoolfees, greatly expandingschool enrollment. Withone of the world’s lowestenrollment rates in 1999,Benin achieved rapidprogress, and may now be on track to achieve universal primary education by 2015. 73Despite these successes, progress must be accelerated in the coming years in order toreach the targets of EFA.Additional international assistance, commitment and political will areneeded to achieve the goals of Education for All by 2015: Thirty countries are failing to make progress towards the EFA goals. 74 UNESCO estimates that $16 billion in international assistance is required per year toreach the goals of Education for All by 2015. 75 If current trends continue, 56 million children will still be out of school in 2015. Themajority of them will be the very poor, girls, ethnic minorities, child laborers, orphans,people with disabilities, those living in rural areas or in areas of conflict. 76The international community still has an opportunity to fulfill the pledge to provide everychild around the world access to a quality education, but the window of opportunity isclosing. World leaders must now renew their efforts, increase their commitment and boostfunding levels in order to reach the global goals of Education for All by 2015.22

ConclusionEducation is the most powerful way to givechildren a better life. It instills hope, firesthe imagination, and imparts safety andsecurity. When we educate children living indifficult and dangerous lands, we shine lighton the path out of poverty and strengthenour common humanity. Education has nomore honorable purpose than this.But getting and keeping children in school,and giving them the tools for success, isvital on other levels as well. In this globaleconomy, all nations benefit from thegrowth and prosperity derived fromeducation. All nations benefit from theenhanced peace and stability that itnurtures. All nations give greater homage tohuman rights when a child picks up a bookinstead of a gun, or enters a school insteadof a factory or a brothel.The 19 members of the Basic EducationCoalition are firmly committed to ensuringthat all children, irrespective ofcircumstance or status, receive a qualitybasic education. We invite you to join us inthat mission and help us to realize the goalsof "Education for All." Admittedly, thechallenges before us are formidable. But bymobilizing political will, raising publicawareness, and applying effective andinnovative methods for learning, we canoffer to each child that which we wouldwant for our own—the keys to their dreams.— Cris Revaz,Executive Director,Basic Education Coalition23

24 24Appendix A:Where The World Stands on EFAAchieved EFAMid-range to EFAFar from EFANot included24

Annex 1:Country Progress on EFA GoalsThe EFA Development Index (EDI) and its components, 2007EDI RankingCountries/TerritoriesAchieved EFA Goals or Close to Achieving Goals1 Norway2 Japan3 Germany4 Kazakhstan5 Italy6 New Zealand7 France8 Netherlands9 United Kingdom10 Croatia11 Luxembourg12 Slovenia13 Cyprus14 Cuba15 Finland16 Iceland17 Spain18 Denmark19 Austria20 Sweden21 Republic of Korea22 Georgia23 Belgium24 Greece25 Estonia26 Israel27 Poland28 Ireland29 Aruba30 Azerbaijan31 Switzerland32 Lithuania33 Czech Republic34 Tajikistan35 Hungary36 Slovakia37 Latvia38 Argentina39 Uruguay40 Armenia41 Belarus42 Romania43 Portugal25

Annex 1 (continued)The EFA Development Index (EDI) and its components, 2007EDI Ranking Countries/Territories44 Brunei Darussalam45 Uzbekistan46 The former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia47 Kyrgyzstan48 Ukraine49 Tonga50 Bulgaria51 Chile52 United Arab Emirates53 Kuwait54 Bahrain55 Mexico56 Republic of Moldova57 Trinidad and Tobago58 Maldives59 Venezuela60 Saint Lucia 261 Malta62 Macao, ChinaMidway to Achieving EFA Goals63 Mauritius64 Barbados65 Indonesia66 Panama67 Jordan68 Peru69 Malaysia70 Qatar71 Mongolia72 Paraguay73 Bahamas74 Namibia75 Colombia76 Palestinian Autonomous Territories77 Turkey78 Fiji79 Bolivia80 Belize81 Ecuador82 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines83 Sao Tome and Principe84 Lebanon85 Philippines86 Algeria26

Annex 1 (continued)The EFA Development Index (EDI) and its components, 2007EDI Ranking Countries/Territories87 Honduras88 Brazil89 Suriname90 Oman91 Cape Verde92 Botswana93 Swaziland94 El Salvador95 Zambia96 Kenya97 Dominican Republic98 GuatemalaFar From Achieving EFA Goals99 Iraq100 Bhutan101 Nicaragua102 Ghana103 Lesotho104 Cambodia105 India106 Morocco107 Madagascar108 Uganda109 Lao People's Democratic Republic110 Malawi111 Burundi112 Bangladesh113 Mauritania114 Djibouti115 Nepal116 Gambia117 Pakistan118 Senegal119 Yemen120 Benin121 Mozambique122 Togo123 Guinea124 Eritrea125 Burkina Faso126 Ethiopia127 Mali128 NigerSource: UNESCO. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized. France: Oxford University Press, 285-286.27

Appendix B:The Greatest Number and Share of Children Out of SchoolGreatest Number of ChildrenOut of SchoolRank Country Children(thousands)Greatest Share of ChildrenOut of SchoolRank Country Children(%)1 Nigeria 8,097 1 Liberia 69%2 Pakistan 7,208 2 Djibouti 62%3 India 6,821 3 Niger 56%4 DR Congo 5,203 4 Sudan 56%5 Ethiopia 3,721 5 Guinea-Bissau 55%6 Sudan 2,798 6 Eritrea 53%7 Afghanistan 1,816 7 Burkina Faso 52%8 United States 1,683 8 Central African Republic 46%9 Bangladesh 1,371 9 Comoros 45%10 Kenya 1,371 10 Côte d’Ivoire 44%Source: Save the Children. State of the World’s Mothers 2009: Investing in the Early Years.28

Appendix C:Out-of-School Children in Conflict-Affected CountriesCountryNumber of Primary-Aged ChildrenOut of SchoolAfghanistan 1,816,000Angola 824,000Burundi 324,000Cambodia 213,000Central African Republic 375,000Chad 1,186,000Colombia 367,000Cote d’Ivoire 1,164,000Democratic Republic of Congo 5,203,000Eritrea 308,000Ethiopia 3,721,000Guinea 389,000Haiti 706,000Iraq 508,000Liberia 356,000Myanmar (Burma) 16,000Nepal 702,000Nigeria 8,097,000Pakistan 6,821,000Republic of Congo 243,000Rwanda 303,000Sierra Leone 285,000Somalia 1,280,000Sri Lanka 51,000Sudan 2,798,000Timor Leste 57,000Uganda 1,168,000Zimbabwe 281,000TOTAL 39,562,000Source: Save the Children. Last in Line, Last in School 2009: Donor Trends in Meeting Education Needs in Countries Affected byConflict and Emergencies.29

Endnotes1 CARE, Education: Investing in the Leaders of Tomorrow (2003) (“CARE Leaders of Tomorrow”), at 2.2 CARE Leaders of Tomorrow, at 2.3 See generally, Window on the Future: 2025; Projections of Education Attainment and Its Impact, EducationPolicy and Data Center (2007) (“Window on the Future”), at 72-73; Policy Paper: Program Focus Within BasicEducation, USAID On-Line Basic Education Strategy Discussion (2009), at 6-7; Bloom, David, et al., HigherEducation and Economic Development, Africa Human Development Series No. 102, World Bank (2006);Boissiere, Maurice, Rationale for Public Investments in Primary Education in Developing Countries, OperationsEvaluation Department, World Bank (2004); Flabbi, Luca, Returns to Education in the Economic Transition: ASystematic Assessment Using Comparative Data, Policy Research Working Paper 4225, World Bank (2007);Hanushek, Eric A. and Wößmann, L., The Role of Education Quality in Economic Growth, Working Paper 4122,Policy Research, World Bank (2007); Psacharopoulos, G., Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update,World Development 22(9): 1325-43 (1994).4 UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2009: Overcoming Inequality: Why Governance Matters (2009)(“UNESCO GMR 2009”), at 29.5 UN Food and Agriculture Organization, “Education for Rural People to Boost Agricultural Productivity in LatinAmerica,” FAO Newsroom (2004).6 Hanushek, Eric A. and Wößmann, L., The Role of Education Quality in Economic Growth, Working Paper 4122,Policy Research, World Bank (2007).7 Psacharopoulos, G., and H. Patrinos, Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update. Policy ResearchWorking Paper 2281, World Bank (2002).8 Sperling, Gene B., and Herz, B., What Works in Girls Education: Evidence and Policies from the DevelopingWorld”), Council on Foreign Relations (2004) (“Sperling What Works in Girls Education”).9 Fiske, Edward B., Basic Education: Building Blocks for Global Development, Academy for EducationalDevelopment (1993), at 16.10 See e.g., UNESCO, (Core Two, Water, Sanitation and the Environment, and Core Three, Skills-Based HealthEducation) http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=36857&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html11 See e.g., Window on the Future, at 75-76; UNESCO GMR 2009, at 32; Lay, Jann, The Complementarity of MDGAchievements: The Case of Child Mortality in South Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development (2009).12UNESCO GMR 2009, at 34.13 World Bank, Girls’ Education in the 21 st Century: Gender Equality, Empowerment, and Economic Growth, MercyTembon and Lucia Fort, eds., (2008).14 See Sperling What Works in Girls Education, at 30-31; see also UNESCO GMR 2009, at 35 (“In many countrieseach additional year of formal education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in schoolfor an additional one-third to one-half year”).15Sridhar, Devi, Linkages between Nutrition, Ill Health and Education, Background Paper Prepared for the UNESCOEFA Global Monitoring Report 2009, UNESCO (2008).16 Smith, L. and L. Haddad, Overcoming Child Malnutrition in Developing Countries: Past Achievement and FutureChoices, Discussion Paper No. 30, International Food Policy Research Institute (2000).17See Sperling What Works in Girls Education, at 31-34. In Uganda a girl is 40 percent less likely to be infected ifshe has had a lower secondary education than one who has had no education. Window on the Future, at 69.18 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 35.19 Global Campaign for Education, Learning to Survive: How Education for All Would Save Millions of Young Peoplefrom HIV/AIDS (2004).20 USAID, Progress in Education 2005: Meeting the Global Challenge (2005).21 Sen, Amartya, Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press (1999).22 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 36.23 Save the Children, Where Peace Begins (2008) (“Save the Children Peace”), at 13, citing Collier, P. “Doing WellOut of War: An Economic Perspective,” in Berdal, M. and Malone, D. M. (eds.) Greed and Grievance: EconomicAgendas in Civil Wars, Lynne Rienner Publishers (2000), at 97.24 Save the Children Peace, at 13.25 UNESCO, EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized (2010) (“UNESCO GMR 2010”), at 278-279.26 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 278-279.27 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 1.30

Endnotes28 CARE Leaders of Tomorrow, at 3.29 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 5.30 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 55.31 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 7.32 Save the Children, Last in Line, Last in School 2009: Donor Trends in Meeting Education Needs in CountriesAffected by Conflict and Emergencies (2009) (“Save the Children Last in Line”), at v.33 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 60.34 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 61.35 CARE Leaders of Tomorrow, at 3.36 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 41.37 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 13.38 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 116.39 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 109.40 UNESCO GMR 2010, Summary 20.41 Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers 2005: The Power and Promise of Girls’ Education (2005), at 4.42 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 7.43 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 7.44Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), “Women Feed the World,” FAO Factsheet forWorld Food Summit (1996).45 Clinton Global Initiative, “Corporations, NGOs, and Foundations Announce 13 New Commitments to EmpowerGirls and Women at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative,” Press Release, September 23,2009.46 Save the Children, State of the World’s Mothers 2009: Investing in the Early Years (2009) (“Save the ChildrenEarly Years”), at 5.47 Grantham McGregor, S. and H. Baker-Henningham, “Review of the Evidence Linking Protein and Energy toMental Development,” Public Health Nutrition, 2005 Oct; 8 (7A): 1191-201.48 Van der Gaag, J. and J.P. Tan, The Benefits of Early Childhood Development Programs: An Economic Analysis,World Bank (1998).49 Save the Children Early Years, at 5.50 Save the Children Early Years, at 14.51 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 185.52UNESCO GMR 2010, at 168.53 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 79.54 Rousso, H., Education for All: A Gender and Disability Perspective, Background paper prepared for the UNESCOEFA Global Monitoring Report 2003/4, Gender and Education for All: The Leap to Equality, Disabilities Unlimited(2003), at 1.55 Magreb, Phyllis, “Education for All and Children with Disabilities,” Educating Children for Democracy, Issue No. 6,Winter/Spring 2004.56 UNAIDS, Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic (2008), at 33.57 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 184.58 Save the Children Last in Line, at 4.59 Save the Children Last in Line, at 4.60 UNHCR, 2008 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons(2008).61Save the Children Early Years, at 22.62 Academy for Educational Development, The Education Imperative (2003), at 6.63 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 93.64 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 91.65UNESCO GMR 2010, at 95.66 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 7.67 UNESCO GMR 2009, at 11.31

Endnotes68UNESCO GMR 2010, at 95.69 World Bank, World Development Report 2007 (2007), at 59.70 World Bank, The Global Challenge in Basic Education: Why Continued Investment in Basic Education IsImportant (2009) (“World Bank Continued Investment”), at 25.71 World Bank Continued Investment, at vi.72 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 55.73 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 1.74 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 278-279.75 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 129.76 UNESCO GMR 2010, at 1.32

Photo Credits:Front Cover© AED/Richard KraftPage 1© Basic Education CoalitionPage 3© AED/Sara AmiyarPage 4© Save the Children/Michael BiscegliePage 5© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 5© UNESCO/Niamh BurkePage 6© AED/Kristen MarshPage 6© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 7© AED/Richard KraftPage 8© UNESCO/Dominique RogerPage 10© Save the Children/Farah JanjuaPage 10© Save the Children/Michael BiscegliePage 10© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 11© AED/Darcy KiefelPage 11© UNESCO/Olav A. SaltbonesPage 12© AED/Richard LordPage 13© Basic Education CoalitionPage 14© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 15© Save the Children/Michael BiscegliePage 15© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 16© AED/Carolyn WatsonPage 17© AED/file photoPage 18© UNESCO/Yannick JoorisPage 18© CARE/Brendan BannonPage 19© AED/Shehab UddinPage 22© USAID/Jay SorensenPage 23© AED/file photoPage 28© AED/Bill Denison

Raising public and private supportfor quality basic educationas a key element ineconomic developmentand human well-being…Education for AllBoard of DirectorsStephen MoseleyAcademy for EducationalDevelopmentSol PelavinAmerican Institutes forResearchDavid BeckmanBread for the WorldJoDee WinterhofCARESean CallahanCatholic Relief ServicesAnne ScottChildFund InternationalCharito KruvantCreative AssociatesJorge SanguinettyDevTech SystemsLuther LuedtkeEducation Development CenterWilliam ReeseInternational Youth FoundationPaige AlexanderIREXAudrey Bracey DeeganPlan USAJoanne CarterRESULTSLuis CrouchRTI InternationalCharles MacCormackSave the ChildrenRitu SharmaWomen Thrive WorldwideJoel LamsteinWorld EducationCarol JenkinsWorld LearningGeorge WardWorld VisionStaffContactCris RevazExecutive DirectorGeoffrey PlagueAdvocacy DirectorAnna RackAdvocacy AssociateThe Basic Education Coalition1825 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 600Washington, DC 20009T: 202-884-8751F: 202-884-8765www.BasicEd.orgApril SwainOutreach Specialist