UNESCO - Education for All

DRAFT OUTLINE OF THE EFA GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2002
SECOND MEETING OF THE EFA EDITORIAL BOARD
23-24 JULY 2002
Chairperson: Anil Bordia
Meeting Secretary: Christopher Colclough
Rapporteur: Clinton Robinson

1 The Board's advice will be sought on the purpose and scope of the 2002 Report.

2 The 2002 Report is being prepared under less than ideal circumstances. The Report Team is not fully in place and the timeframe is three to four months rather than the minimum of 18 months, which is planned for future reports.

3 Two documents are provided for the Editorial Board. The first indicates the proposed structure and content for the 2002 Report; the second paper is the working draft outline being used by the Report Team. This is work in progress.

The meaning, the history, the priority and the challenge of Education for All. EFA within wider sector and development contexts. Why EFA should be a major policy priority

Progress against the six Dakar EFA goals since 1990 and projections to 2015 for UPE, gender equality and literacy based on past and current trends. The characteristics of EFA indicators, and the measurement issues that they raise. An overall assessment of progress towards EFA through comparisons, composite indicators and indices. The priorities for collecting appropriate, reliable and timely data and strengthening national capacities in the use of statistics for policy development and planning.. The chapter will draw primarily on work that is being undertaken by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

This chapter will report on national education planning processes and policies, and on the ways in which the goals and objectives of EFA are being addressed. Particular attention will be given to progress since Dakar, including a) the commitment to develop or strengthen existing national plans of action by 2002 at the latest and b) to engage with all stakeholders in the development and implementation of plans. The concept of "credible" plans will be examined in the context of the Dakar Framework for Action. National case study material will be used.

- The Dakar Challenge
- The Participation of Civil Society in Planning for Efa
- Policies and Plans to Achieve EFA

Chapter 4 Financing EFA

Chapter 4 will assess the financial resources needed to achieve EFA. In 2002, the focus will be on primary schooling and gender equality in schooling. The Report will signal the importance of further work on the other EFA goals. It will draw attention to the need to address the costs of HIV/AIDS and of conflict and emergency situations in financing EFA. It will set out financing requirements, including external funding within the wider context of national sector and development policy reforms.

- Resource Requirements for Achieving Primary Schooling for All
- Resource Requirements for Achieving Gender Equality for All
- Resource Requirements for Achieving the Other EFA Goals
- The Costs of HIV/AIDS
- The Costs of Conflict and Emergency
- Country Typologies
- Financing Gaps

An examination of aid performance in the 1990s will build on data and on studies including from the OECD/DAC, UIS, and the thematic study prepared for the World Education Forum, Funding Agencies Contributions to Education for All. Against this background the Chapter will examine international responses to Dakar: their nature, their development and progress and the extent to which they offer a coherent approach to the achievement of EFA goals.

This Chapter will bring together the constraints and challenges highlighted earlier in the Report, including the political economy of policy reform and the modalities and conditionalities of external assistance. It will highlight what is possible based on the evidence of countries that are making progress. It will identify too those aspects of international assistance and cooperation that hold out the best opportunities for future progress towards the goals.

Developed by UIS this will include tables on all key features of education systems, including those elements which extend beyond EFA. The coverage of the Annex will be similar to that in earlier editions of the World Education Report, with some small additions and amendments.

Draft Outline
Work In Progress

The Foreword will present a vision for the annual EFA Global Monitoring Report; an analysis of the highest technical quality, written and presented to inform public, professional and political opinion and designed to influence and promote action. The Report will take a broad view of monitoring. It will chart progress and project trends towards the achievement of EFA goals, drawing on the best available statistical analysis. But it will also explore a broad canvas of issues including, political commitment, the engagement of civil society, the financing and management of education, the learning opportunities and processes that are meaningful and rewarding, the centrality of accurate and timely statistics for good policy, and the place of EFA within the wider canvas of development and change. A major function will be to assess the extent to which the international funding agencies are meeting the commitments of Dakar.

The 2002 Report will reflect the timeframe for its development. Its primary purpose is to map progress since Dakar, assess the extent to which planning and financing commitments are being met and chart prospects and opportunities for delivering the Framework for Action. In future years there will be the opportunity to monitor and explore specific themes.

This chapter will rehearse briefly, the meaning, the history, the priority and the challenge of Education for All. It will set EFA within wider sector and development contexts.

· From Jomtien to Dakar and beyond
· The process - national, regional and international
· The ITDs and MDGs: education in the wider development context
· The six goals - their definition, meaning and importance

· Human Rights
Notions of equality and social justice support the view that each individual has a right to be treated equally as regards access to publicly provided goods and services, and to the opportunities arising from such access.

· Human Capabilities
If development success depends upon the achievement of greater individual capabilities, and if education helps create these, increasing the equitable access to education becomes a direct means of achieving development.

· Other Development Goals
Education's role in achieving other development objectives - economic prosperity, better health, lower mortality, social capital, fairer societies.

The three frameworks are complementary: all are valid. They establish the central importance of EFA in reducing poverty and in achieving all the other Millennium Goals.

They also confirm the need for free and compulsory primary schooling for all, contrary to some policy trends in the 1990s, and to the ideology of the market.

This section will acknowledge that there are important aspects of education which are excluded from EFA. Some discussion of why this so and of its interpretation - particularly in the context of globalisation - will be given.

This Chapter will assess progress since 1990 against the six Dakar EFA goals and provide projections to 2015 for UPE, gender equality and literacy based on present trends. The nature of the EFA indicators and the measurement issues that they raise will be discussed. The concluding section will assess overall progress, at national and regional levels. The Chapter will highlight the priorities for collecting appropriate, reliable and timely data, and for developing national capacities in the use of statistics for policy development and planning. This chapter will draw primarily on work that is being undertaken by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

2.1 Universal Primary Education (UPE). One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Importance of capturing numbers and circumstances of children out of school as well as within. Core indicators, including commentary on completion rates. Discussion of concepts: UPE and primary schooling for all (PSFA).

2.2 Gender Equality - also an MDG. Continuing significance of the 2015 target in terms of sustaining the priority of gender equality.

2.3 Literacy. Issues of definition and availability of data. The need for methodological advancement.

2.4 Quality of Education. This covers not just schooling. The report should set out the challenges that have to be addressed.

2.6 Early Childhood Care and Education.

The chapter will conclude with an assessment of progress towards EFA; some discussion of comparisons, composite indicators and indices will be given, with examples. The importance of international support for data gathering, analysis and use and for capacity building at national level will be stressed.

The primary purpose of Chapter 3 will be to monitor national education policies and planning processes and the extent to which the goals and objectives of Education For All (EFA) are being achieved. Particular attention will be given to progress since Dakar, including a) the commitment to develop or strengthen existing national plans of action by 2002 at the latest and b) to engage with all stakeholders in the development and implementation of plans.

The objective of this section will be to state and interpret the planning changes set out in Dakar. It will:

- Restate and interpret what was agreed in Dakar with regard to planning.
- Restate the request in para 9 and/or the injunction in para 16 (Framework for Action) to develop EFA plans by 2002 at the latest.
- Debate and illustrate planning and plans designed to include all EFA goals from plans that focus on EFA priorities e.g. UPE/SFA.
- Clarify and illustrate from country examples:

Constitutional Rights, Policies and Plans
Education sector planning and EFA National Action Plans
Planning processes as distinct from planning documents
Implementation influences planning

- Illustrate the impact (or not) of Dakar on planning activities, priorities and processes at the country level.

The objective of this section will be to assess the extent to which civil society is involved in educational planning - when and how? It will examine the impact of this involvement in policies and plans, especially as these address the needs of the most disadvantaged in society. This section will:

· Restate the messages re civil society engagement in EFA from Dakar and Jomtien.
· Based on a range of examples examine the ways in which civil society is engaged in, or excluded from, planning: e.g.

Assess the impact of Dakar's recommendations on the creation of EFA Forums.
Provide examples of building capacity to enable civil society to participate in planning

Illustrate the engagement of civil society in planning at a local/community level
Assess the influence of INGOs in country level planning

· Using examples, demonstrate ways in which civil society has been active in ensuring that the education needs of the most disadvantaged are planned for; (e.g. child labour, AIDS orphans, street children, refugees etc.)

The objective of this section will be twofold: 1) to map and analyse the major characteristics of country level planning and plans for achieving EFA, and 2) to focus on policies and plans which offer real potential for attaining EFA. A range of criteria for success will be highlighted drawing on the experience of countries where progress is being made. The concept of credible plans will be examined. This section will:

First, provide, for as many countries as possible, basic information on key legislation and policies, sector planning and budget modalities, timelines for the achievement of EFA goals, plans to increase budget allocations to basic education and processes to engage civil society in such planning.

Second, identify those countries which are at serious risk of not achieving UPE, and an additional group of countries (to be determined) against an extended list of criteria to include the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, the incidence of conflict, the denial of education rights to girls and women.

Third, for a sample of countries that are making clear progress, analyse the evidence of plans and strategies that are making a difference. Examine these plans and strategies against a range of criteria e.g quantitative data for base year; technical adequacy of methods used; integration with other sectoral/poverty reduction plans; financial analysis; analysis of constraints preventing EFA; consideration of alternative strategies; realism of proposals for reform; coverage of demand-side; treatment of key parameters - public spending, unit costs, qualitative improvement, private costs, gender equality, addressing HIV/AIDS, education for peace etc. If possible an assessment of PRSPs, SWAs and earlier plans will be made in comparison with separate EFA plans, as instruments to guide expansion and reform.

Fourth, interpretations of the concept of a credible plan will be developed. Assessment of the work of the World Bank and of UNESCO's generic criteria.

The primary purpose of Chapter 4 will be to assess the financial resourcing requirements of achieving EFA. In 2002 the focus will be on primary schooling and gender equality in schooling. The Report will signal the importance of further work on costing the other EFA goals. It will draw attention to the need to address the costs of HIV/AIDS and of conflict and emergency situations in financing EFA. It will clearly set funding requirements within the wider context of the national reforms which will be needed for countries to achieve EFA.

This section will examine methods of estimation, review existing estimates and develop national simulation results with and without domestic policy reform.

An examination of the costs of HIV/AIDS to education and the financing of education in countries with high levels of prevalence.

An examination of the costs of conflict to education and the financing of education in countries suffering or recovering widespread conflict and emergency situations.

Identification of country groupings according to different categories of preparedness, based upon Sections 2 to 4, above, (e.g. distance from EFA, with/without credible plans, reform strategies, and resource gaps). Discussion of national/regional contrasts. Acknowledge importance of HIV/AIDS, the impact of conflict and the pervasiveness of child labour.

· Regional/sub-regional/national comparisons and contrasts
· Country and sectoral targeting

The main objective of Chapter 5 will be to assess international responses to commitments made in Dakar. This assessment will be placed in a post-Jomtien context. An examination of aid trends over the 1990s will build on data and studies from the OECD/DAC, UIS, the World Education Forum, and from non-official sources. Against this background, the nature, development and progress of international responses to Dakar will be assessed, as will the extent to which they offer a coherent approach to the achievement of EFA goals.

This section will provide an authoritative overview of the trends and patterns of aid flows to education, disaggregated as much as possible over the decade to 2002. It will document the extent of decline in real aid flows (total and to education), and offer explanations for these trends. The analysis will call attention to the special plight of Africa, in this context. These circumstances provide an important context for the examination of post-Dakar developments.

This section will restate and interpret the challenge to the international community set by the Dakar Framework for Action. It will assess the response thus far. It will assess post-Dakar aid commitments and mechanisms, bilateral and multilateral initiatives, and the role and impact of INGOs. It will examine the extent to which there is improved co-ordination and coherence in the international response and point to opportunities for more extensive, sustained support for EFA. And (or in Chapter 6) highlight that the fact that making money available may be far easier than making good use of it.

The Dakar Framework for Action is a collective commitment to action to achieve the six interrelated EFA goals. It re-affirms the vision of the World Declaration on Education for All. It acknowledges the many education-related commitments made at international conferences during the 1990s. It has five main threads to it - enhanced political commitment; the mobilisation of substantial additional resources, priority for sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the LDCs, the pledge to develop a global initiative, and the need for better monitoring of progress towards EFA at national and international levels. Paras 10, 11 and 17 are those to which most attention has been drawn since Dakar.

The 2002 Report will provide a brief commentary on these commitments, and assess the extent to which they have been influential in the two years since Dakar and in what contexts. The Report will also relate the Dakar goals to other international goals, notably the Millennium Development Goals and UNGASS 2002.

The 2002 Report will examine the extent to which Dakar goals have been encompassed in the development of new and existing aid instruments and modalities, including PRSPs.

An overview of specific commitments, programmes and initiatives will be provided (see list below). Based on this analysis, an assessment will be made of progress in terms of political commitment, aid flows, and the influence and impact of global and regional EFA co-ordinating mechanisms, special initiatives and programmes.

1 UNESCO's Co-ordination Role
An assessment of the process and the product of UNESCO's international co-ordination role, including the High Level Group, the EFA Working Group, the international strategy, facilitating the development of the Monitoring Report, strengthening UIS, promoting regional activity and developing an approach to EFA planning.

2 The World Bank's Action Plan for UPE
An assessment of the development and implementation of the 'fast tracking' initiative.

4 The EC Education and Training
An assessment of the new EC Education and Training initiative to promote and help to achieve EFA

5 The role of International NGO campaigns and programmes
The Global March, the Global Campaign, ELIMU, CCNGO and other international campaigns have gained a high profile in international negotiations. With what effect?

6 Flagship programmes
A number of major cross-cutting flagship programmes have been launched. An initial assessment of their place in achieving EFA.

7 The commitments, policies and practice of bilateral agencies
What has changed since Dakar?

This Chapter will assess the constraints and the challenges that have been highlighted in the Report including the political economy of policy reform and the modalities and conditionalities of external assistance. It will highlight what is possible based on the evidence of countries that are making progress. It will identify too those aspects of international assistance and cooperation that hold out the best opportunities for progress and the opportunities which exist in 2003. It will set out the key challenges and policy changes necessary at both national and international levels, if the EFA goals are to be achieved.