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

0120CHAPTER 3Education for All Global Monitoring ReportInnovativeprogrammesrun by nongovernmentorganizationsmust beintegrated intonational plansImproving access to education for these childrenis often difficult, but it is not impossible. The keyis to identify the children and ensure thateducation is provided on a flexible timetablein an accessible environment.Targeting excluded regions and groups ofteninvolves more than the physical presence of aschool. Some governments and non-governmentorganizations have used technology in an effortto shrink distances in education. Such technologycan complement teacher-student contact by beingavailable at times when children cannot make it toschool (whether in the evening or during seasonswhen they are needed to work) (CambridgeDistance Education Consultancy, 2009). In China,education authorities have developed a range ofdistance-learning models, using DVDs and satellitebroadcasts to provide teaching to schools in remoterural areas. While the benefits of distance learningin primary school can be compromised by theabsence of a teacher, in this case the policy wasaccompanied by investment in training localteachers. Large-scale evaluations in Gansu andHubei – among the most deprived provinces inwestern China, with particularly low literacy rates –found improvements linked to distance learning,with most teachers reporting evidence of studentstimulation (McQuaide, 2009).Providing a second chanceto out-of-school children and adolescentsMany marginalized children and youth lack a wayback into education. Adolescents who have neverattended school or who dropped out early havelow levels of literacy and numeracy. Many of theover 71 million adolescents estimated to be outof school are denied a second chance, oftenbecause of inflexibility in national educationsystems. Facilitating re-entry into education isa key strategy for empowering youth and youngadults to escape poverty.of classes with strong support for learners aswell as courses and curricula geared towardsrelevant skills.Re-opening the doors to education is a majorchallenge for education policy. Some programmesfocus on building bridges between skills trainingand employment for marginalized youth and adults.The Jóvenes programmes in Latin America areone example (see Chapter 2). Over-age childrenand adolescents who have missed out on primaryeducation have different needs. Acceleratedlearning programmes have been developed inseveral countries to provide them with opportunitiesto cover the primary education curriculum over ashorter period. An important requirement for bothtypes of intervention is that they lead to recognizedqualifications, allowing graduates to re-enterthe formal school system or to gain meaningfulemployment. This means programmes runby non-government organizations must beacknowledged by governments and integratedinto their national plans.Such programmes have been beneficial in reachingvarious marginalized groups, from Bangladeshinomads and street children (Box 3.16) to peoplein the most educationally disadvantaged regionof Ghana (Box 3.17). They also play a vital rolein post-conflict settings, where a generationof children may have missed out on education.Sierra Leone’s post-conflict reconstructionstrategy targeted children aged 10 to 16 througha programme called Complementary RapidEducation for Primary Schools. Although underresourced,the schools in the programme broughteducation to thousands of children. These childrenperformed as well as other primary schools innational tests. As a result, many participantstransferred to regular primary and secondaryschools, and are reported to have continued to dowell (Baxter and Bethke, 2008; Johannesen, 2005).Non-government organizations often provideeducation that is complementary to formalschooling, and can put children and youth on aroute back into the formal system. The scale ofthis provision is not widely recognized. One surveyin sub-Saharan Africa recorded 154 programmesin 39 countries reaching 3.5 million children(DeStefano et al., 2006). While the quality of sucheducation is highly variable, the scale of demanddemonstrates that complementary educationprogrammes fill an important gap. The moresuccessful programmes combine flexible timingResponding to non-state initiativesWhen governments fail to provide marginalizedchildren with an appropriate education, localcommunities often develop their own schools.How governments respond to such local initiativescan have an important bearing on educationopportunities for marginalized groups.In Zambia, some of the poorest communities set uptheir own schools after a breakdown in the nationaleducation system in the 1990s. In 2006, about one insix basic-level students were attending one of these194