people and planet

20
BOX 20.2
(e.g. intercultural bilingual education policies for
indigenous people in Peru and the Programme for the
Roma community in Poland).
Three countries provide useful examples in examining
overall how countries address equity through financing. The
policy of the Netherlands on disadvantage in education is
not only integrated, comprehensive and systemic, but also
strongly focused on prevention, early detection and early
support mechanisms for vulnerable children, with emphases
on measurement and better cooperation between
professionals (Hilverdink, 2013). Between 2003 and 2012,
the socio-economic status of 15-year-olds became a weaker
predictor of performance in mathematics (OECD, 2013b).
Promoting equity through education financing policies in Morocco
In Morocco, free universal education to age 15 is a principle of state policy. Equity is
enshrined in the foundation education policy texts: the 1999 National Education and
Training Charter and the 2011 Constitution. Yet, households were still bearing significant
costs that impeded their children’s schooling. The 2009–2012 National Education
Emergency Plan and the 2013–2016 Education Action Plan tried to improve equity
through financing policies. The former included subsidies for transport and boarding and
free school lunches.
In addition, the Tayssir cash transfer programme provides direct financial support to poor
rural families to reduce dropout and improve school attendance. Labelling the transfers
as education support without making them strictly conditional has led to large gains in
school participation. In 2013/14, 825,000 students (13% of the total population of primary
and secondary school age) benefited from the Tayssir programme. By contrast, the cash
transfer programme for education in Tunisia covered fewer than 80,000 children in 2013.
Close to 4 million students have also benefited from the One Million Schoolbags initiative,
which targets poorer first grade students. Over half the total budget for social support to
education was directed at these two programmes in 2014–2015.
Despite improvement towards gender parity in primary education since 2000 in
Morocco, girls’ enrolment in secondary education is lagging due to cultural obstacles as
well as access and quality issues in rural areas. In response, the government developed
a strategy to construct dedicated schools and boarding facilities. The Ministry of
National Education and Vocational Training also identified criteria for targeting the most
disadvantaged schools, including areas with high levels of dropout and low income
populations. An evaluation of the Emergency Plan in 2012 showed impressive progress
in developing education services and ensuring more equitable access, particularly in
rural and disadvantaged areas. A development that will facilitate further evaluations is
the establishment of a monitoring programme through the longitudinal survey of the
National Observatory of Human Development.
Source: Benhassine et al. (2015), UNESCO (2015c), UNICEF (2014g), and World Bank (2014b).
Samoa has made an effort to address the needs of
disadvantaged students through the Samoa School Fees
Grant Scheme, which removed primary and secondary
education fees and covered all schools’ operating
costs with grants to help them meet minimum service
standards (SSFGS, 2010). However, the programme’s longterm
prospects need to be secured, as it is mainly funded
by international donors. In addition, the country lacks
direct social protection programmes for disadvantaged
households and children (Amosa, 2012).
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government
developed a mechanism for equalizing fiscal transfers
between provinces. It also abolished fees for grades 1–5
in 2011. However, only 68% of teachers were registered on
the payroll in 2013, with the remaining teachers still being
paid by households through so-called motivation fees
(World Bank, 2015e). Household out-of-pocket payments
accounted for 64% of total expenditure in primary
education in 2012 (UNICEF, 2015b). In response to these
challenges, the government produced its Education and
Training Sector Strategy 2016–2025 with equity as one of
three strategic axes (D. R. Congo Government, 2015). Key
actions include the expansion of classroom construction
in remote areas, the abolition of fees at grade 6 and for
the end of primary cycle examination, and improvements
in salary payments (GPE, 2016).
Comparing the equity focus of national education financing
policies across countries is feasible. However, considerable
effort will be required in introducing a process, agreeing
on a framework and actually carrying out an assessment.
To get countries on board, the emphasis should be on
establishing a peer review mechanism through which
they can learn from each other. This is discussed in more
detail in the next chapter, on system indicators.
AID EXPENDITURE
Government is the main source of education expenditure.
However, as cost projections in the 2015 GMR showed,
external financing remains vital for low income countries.
The financing gap was estimated at 42% of the total cost
of reaching the new targets, assuming the countries
could increase domestic resource mobilization and
ensure that 20% of public expenditure was allocated to
education (UNESCO, 2015i).
It is not surprising that countries look to external
financing to fill this gap. Aid to basic and secondary
education in low income countries would have to
352
CHAPTER 20 | FINANCE