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

001CHAPTER 22Education for All Global Monitoring ReportTwenty-eightcountries havestill not achievedthe 2005 goalof gender parityin primaryschoolingBox 2.6: Benin — on the right track, but tackling marginalization is a priorityBenin has been among the world’s fastest movingcountries on primary enrolment, with the netenrolment ratio rising from 50% in 1999 to 80%in 2007. The gender gap also narrowed, from just67 girls for every 100 boys in school in 1999 to83 girls in 2006. On current trends, Benin couldachieve universal primary enrolment by 2015.Maintaining the trends will be difficult, however.As in other countries, rapid progress in scaling upenrolment has brought new policy challenges:Raising completion rates. Achieving Benin’s goalof 100% primary school completion by 2015 willrequire far-reaching measures to ensure thatchildren enrol on time and complete a full primarycycle. Over-age entry remains a significant problem.The gross intake rate into the first grade is 115%,while in 2005 the net intake rate was less than50%. The disparity points to a concentration ofchildren over 6 years of age in the first grade.Getting children into school on time is importantfor increasing completion. Fewer than 20% of thosewho start school complete it at the correct age.Addressing population pressures. With a populationgrowth rate of 3.2% and almost half of thepopulation under 15 years, Benin’s education systemwill need to expand just to stay in the sameposition.Reducing regional disparities. There are markedinequalities across Benin. The gross intake ratefor the last grade of primary is only 36% in AliboriProvince (one of the poorest regions, withparticularly high levels of severe malnutrition forchildren under 5) compared with a national averageof 66%. Reaching vulnerable communities is vitalto sustained progress.Tackling poverty. More than half of Benin’s ruralpopulation lives in extreme poverty. Children fromthe wealthiest quintile are at least twice as likely tocomplete the primary cycle as those in the poorestquintile. This has the effect of skewing educationfinancing towards children from the richest 20% ofhouseholds, who receive 57% of public expenditureon education compared with just 5% for the poorest.The government has taken steps in its ten-yeareducation plan (2006–2015) to redress imbalances,including affirmative action for girls anddisadvantaged groups and regions — and strongbudget commitments. Education spending accountedfor 3.9% of GNP and 18% of budget spending in 2006.Just over half of the education budget is directed toprimary schooling. To ensure that Benin can go thefinal step towards universal primary education,international aid donors need to back up this nationalfinancing commitment.Sources: World Bank (2009g); Benin Government (2008).Does the scaling down of ambitions markan unwarranted retreat from the politicalcommitments made at Dakar? Each country hasto assess what is achievable in the light of whereit currently stands, and the human and financialresources it has available. However, there isstrong evidence from several countries thatpolitical commitment allied to strong aidpartnerships can generate rapid progress.Gender parity — some progressbut a long way to goThe expansion of primary education has gonehand in hand with progress towards greatergender parity, but there are marked differencesacross and within regions, as witnessed by thegender parity index (GPI).Twenty-eight countries had GPIs of less than 0.90 in2007; of these, eighteen are in sub-Saharan Africa.These countries have not yet achieved the goal ofgender parity in primary schooling, set for 2005.There are also marked gender disparities in theArab States, though the largest gap is found in aSouth Asian country: Afghanistan, with just 63 girlsenrolled in school for every 100 boys. Large genderdisparities are inconsistent with sustained rapidprogress towards universal primary enrolment.In countries at low levels of enrolment, such asBurkina Faso, Ethiopia and Yemen, moves towardsgender parity from a low starting point have helpedgenerate large increases in primary enrolment.The experience of Yemen demonstrates that rapidprogress towards gender parity from a low baseis possible and that sustained progress requiresa strong political commitment to equity (Box 2.7).Gender parity is usually inversely related toenrolment: the lower the enrolment, the greaterthe gender disparity (Figure 2.16). An exceptionis Senegal; while the country still has low netenrolment (72% in 2007), in the space of oneprimary school generation, the country has movedfrom a gender parity index of 86 girls per 100 boys64