Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

10OVERVIEWEducation for All Global Monitoring Report 2 0Nevertheless, the world is not on track to meet theuniversal primary education goal. Current trends willleave some 56 million children out of school in 2015– and there are worrying indications that the rate ofprogress towards universal primary education isslowing. Two-thirds of the total decline in out-of-schoolnumbers since the Dakar conference took place from2002 to 2004. Regional progress has also been uneven.Out-of-school numbers have fallen far more rapidlyin South Asia, driven by rapid advances in India, thanin sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the countries that areoff track for achieving universal primary education by2015 are low-income countries that, having startedfrom a low base, are either increasing enrolmentsimpressively but too slowly (as in Burkina Faso andthe Niger) or stagnating (as in Eritrea and Liberia).Countries affected by conflict figure prominently inthis group. More surprisingly, higher-income countriessuch as the Philippines and Turkey are in danger offailing to achieve the target, largely because of deeplyentrenched national inequalities.Deep-rooted inequalities are a major barrier to universalprimary education. Disparities linked to wealth, gender,ethnicity, language and location are holding back progressin many countries. While gender gaps are narrowing, theyremain very large in much of South and West Asia andsub-Saharan Africa. In twenty-eight countries, there arestill fewer than nine girls in school for every ten boys.Closing the gender divide will require a sustained effortto change attitudes that diminish the value of girls’education, along with practical policies that createincentives for greater equity. Poverty exacerbates thegender divide. In Pakistan there is no discernable gendergap for the wealthiest urban households, but only onethirdof girls from the poorest households are in school.Enrolment is just one measure of overall progresstowards universal primary education. While enrolmentrates are rising, millions of children enter primaryschool only to drop out before completing a full primarycycle. Some 28 million pupils in sub-Saharan Africadrop out each year. In South and West Asia, 13% ofchildren entering school drop out in the first grade.© Louise Gubb/CorbisMoreover, current approaches to monitoring andassessment may be putting a positive gloss on underlyingproblems, for three reasons:Data reported by governments may systematicallyunderstate real out-of-school numbers for primaryschool age children. Household survey data indicatethat total out-of-school numbers may be as much asone-third higher than those reported by governments.Reporting conventions render invisible the 71 millionchildren of lower secondary school age who are outof school.Current monitoring tools do not provide an integratedway of measuring the three things that count inprogress towards universal primary education:entering school at an appropriate age, progressingsmoothly through the system and completing school.Chapter 2 sets out the case for a more comprehensiveapproach based on the net cohort completion rate.Adult skills and learningThe global economic crisis has pushed youth and adultskills and learning – goal 3 of the Dakar Framework forAction – to the centre of the Education for All agenda.With youth unemployment rising, governmentsincreasingly see skills development as a vital componentof overall strategies to combat marginalization. Morebroadly, there is recognition that, in an increasinglyknowledge-based global economy, the premium on skillsas a driver of employment, productivity and economicgrowth is rising.Countries vary enormously in the coverage andeffectiveness of technical and vocational education.In Germany and Japan, vocational education has playeda vital role in smoothing the transition from school towork and in combating youth unemployment. Vocationaleducation in East Asia was an integral part of industrialdevelopment strategies that fostered rapid growth,employment creation, and higher levels of skills andwages. It is increasingly recognized that one shot ateducation is not enough. For youth and young adultswho emerge from school lacking basic learning skills,vocational training can help provide a second chance.Experience from Latin America and the United Statesdemonstrates that technical and vocational training canextend opportunities to marginalized young people whodropped out of school, including the chance to re-entereducation systems.While there are many examples of good practice,the overall record of technical and vocational education6