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

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE EFA GOALSUniversal primary educationof society. Both the Philippines and Turkey faceproblems of deeply entrenched marginalization.In the Philippines, marginalization is stronglyassociated with poverty and location, with theAutonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and someoutlying islands falling far behind. In Turkey,disadvantage is heavily concentrated among younggirls in eastern regions who do not have Turkish astheir mother tongue (Box 2.10). Chapter 3 exploresthe problem of reaching marginalized people inmore detail, but it is evident in the cases of thePhilippines and Turkey that current policies arenot breaking down inherited disadvantage. Onecontributory factor is the low share of nationalincome invested in education. Turkey investedaround 4% of GNP in 2004, compared with 6%to 7% in Morocco and Tunisia. The figure wasjust 2.3% in the Philippines in 2005, comparedwith an East Asian regional average of 3.6%. 1515. The regional figureis the median for thosecountries with available data.Box 2.10: Turkey — marginalization keeps universal primary education out of reachTurkey’s advance towards universal primary educationhas stalled within touching distance of the goal. Muchhas been achieved over the past decade. But far more hasto be done to break down inequalities based on gender,region and wealth.The country’s basic education law requires every childto undergo eight years of schooling and there is a singlecurriculum for all 6- to 14-year-olds. Primary schoolenrolment increased rapidly during the second half ofthe 1990s as a series of programmes expanded schoolconstruction, strengthened teacher training, increasedtextbook supplies and provided transport for childrenin remote villages.Since 2000, however, progress has slowed. Enrolment ratioshave stagnated at around 90% since 2002 — far below thelevel predicted on the basis of Turkey’s average income.Some 640,000 children of primary school age were out ofschool in 2007. Around 60% were girls, pointing to deeplyentrenched gender inequalities. High levels of exclusion inthe early years are holding back progress at higher levels,with adverse consequences for future economic growth,employment and social development. Education quality isanother serious source of concern: Turkey figures among theworst performers on the learning achievement tests of theOECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).Turkey’s experience powerfully demonstrates the difficultiesgovernments face as they attempt to reach the mostmarginalized. One study using Turkey’s most recentDemographic and Health Survey highlights deep, overlappingand mutually reinforcing inequalities in opportunity foreducation, with gender disparities magnifying other gaps:Gender. Between ages 8 and 12, 7% of girls never makeit to school, compared with 2% of boys. By age 15, femaleenrolment is almost twenty percentage points belowmale enrolment.Region. The eastern region lags far behind the restof the country, mainly because of gender disparity.Enrolment ratios for girls in eastern Turkey, expressedas a share of the level for boys, peak at 85% at age 9and have dropped below 40% by age 15.Rural location. Being born in a rural area isdisadvantageous for girls across the country. Outside ofthe eastern region, that disadvantage kicks in from age 13.In the eastern region it starts early: by age 15, fewer than20% of rural girls are enrolled.Household wealth and other factors. Children in householdsthat are poor and whose parents have limited formaleducation are less likely to progress through the schoolsystem. Children in the wealthiest 20% of households arefive times more likely to reach higher education thantheir counterparts in the poorest 20%. The strength ofthe negative correlation between household circumstanceand education in Turkey is magnified by gender effects.For example, at age 16 boys of mothers with no educationare twice as likely as girls to be in school.Such findings powerfully illustrate the distance Turkey stillhas to travel to make the right to education a reality forall of its citizens. As the authors of the research put it, theopportunity profiles that emerge from household surveysshow that ‘school enrolment in Turkey is evidently notindependent from circumstances at birth’.Patterns of inequality in education raise concernsfor the future course of Turkey’s social and economicdevelopment. High levels of education inequality are holdingback efforts to strengthen economic growth, expandemployment and create a more equal society. Migrationfrom eastern to western regions, usually from rural to urbansettlements, spreads the legacy of education disadvantageacross the country. Large numbers of rural migrants toTurkish cities settle in squatter areas called gecekondulardistricts, which are centres of social marginalization andeducational disadvantage.The scale of inequality also highlights the importanceof equity in public spending. It is critical to strengthenstrategies and incentives for reaching rural girls, especially— though not exclusively — in the eastern region. Addressingthe disadvantages faced by children of parents who do notspeak Turkish as a home language is another priority area.Sources: Duman (2008); Ferreira and Gignoux (2008a); Otaran et al. (2003).71