Executive
Summary
This report sets out to monitor
progress that countries and agencies have achieved towards
the goal of EFA, as well as to highlight important trends
and findings and to point to future actions. It assesses
the future effort required in terms of additional school
places, literacy campaigns, teacher training, educational
materials and so on, as well as the magnitude of the financial
gap that needs to be closed in order to achieve the goals
and targets set for 2015.
The agenda of education
for all
The World Education Forum,
meeting in Dakar, Senegal in April 2000, reaffirmed the
vision of the World Conference on Education For All (Jomtien,
Thailand, 1990) that all children, young people and adults
have the 'fundamental human right' to a basic education
that will develop their talents, improve their lives and
transform their societies.
Representatives of 164 countries
adopted the Dakar Framework for Action, which laid out a
set of time-bound goals and strategies for attaining the
goal of Education for All (EFA) by 2015.
Three fundamental operating
assumptions underlie the strategies outlined in the Dakar
Framework:
-The heart of EFA activity lies at the national level.
- Partnerships are important.
- Governments need to co-ordinate their efforts with institutions
of civil society.
Progress since Jomtien
Universal primary education
Considerable progress had been made in moving toward the
goal of universal primary education (UPE) and momentum has
increased since Dakar. Some countries have achieved dramatic
progress. Nevertheless, this progress has been uneven, and
a major effort is needed to accelerate current positive
trends. There are still more than 100 million children out
of school, and 60% of these are girls.
Overall enrolment trends
suggest that, over the last quarter-century, considerable
progress has been made in expanding the capacity of primary
school systems in all regions of the world. The total number
of primary school pupils rose from an estimated 500 million
in 1975 to more than 680 million in 1998.
If this pace of increase
were to continue, the number of pupils in the world's primary
schools could reach 700 million in 2005 and 770 million
in 2015. If realized, nearly all of this increased demand
for school places would occur in developing regions - in
particular in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
For most developing countries,
school enrolment growth of 5% per year over the next 15
years would meet the EFA goal, but several countries would
have to grow at up to 10% annually. At least 32 countries,
of which 11 are experiencing conflict, are unlikely to meet
the target of UPE by 2015, unless a serious effort is made
for these countries.
One region of particular concern is sub-Saharan Africa,
where enrolment would have to increase at almost three times
the effort undertaken during the period 1990-97.
Gender disparities
Over the past decade the progress towards UPE was accompanied
by the reduction of gender gaps in all regions except sub-Saharan
Africa. While the gender disparity is not a serious concern
in most of the Latin America/Caribbean and Eastern Asia/Pacific
countries, it remains one in many Arab States, sub-Saharan
African and Southern Asian countries. Importantly, gender
disparities are most pronounced in regions or countries
with relatively low enrolment rates.
Adult literacy
Despite efforts since Jomtien, there are still more than
550 million female and 300 male adult illiterates. The level
of education of most adults in developing countries remains
too low to enable them to participate effectively in the
global economy. Reaching the goals set by Dakar would require
an annual increase of 92 million literate adults, or 1.3
times the pace of previous efforts. New ways must be found
to reinforce non-formal education systems, especially in
developing countries.
Progress in implementing
the Dakar Framework
National plans of action
In requesting that countries 'develop or strengthen existing
national plans of action by 2002 at the latest', the Dakar
Framework specified standards and conditions for the development
of such plans. It stressed that plans should be integrated
into a wider development and poverty reduction framework
and linked to Common Country Assessments and United Nations
Development Assistance Frameworks.
To date, 66 countries and
territories have responded to a UNESCO questionnaire regarding
their national plans for accomplishing EFA. Forty-one countries
indicated that they have such a plan, but the quality of
such plans varies widely. Many of the plans do not conform
to EFA guidelines specifying that governments should consult
a wide variety of stakeholders in drawing up their plan
in order to tie them to overall national development plans.
Moreover, many of the plans are not linked to specific EFA
goals such as the elimination of gender gaps. Thirty-nine
of the plans were prepared before the Dakar Forum, in some
cases more than 10 years before, and would need to take
note of current developments.
At least 48 of the 66 countries
do not appear to have reliable capacities for data collection,
processing and/or analysis for preparing EFA action plans.
Regional activities
In all regions, EFA mechanisms are being set up to co-ordinate
the identification of needs, fund-raising, assistance to
countries in the development of national action plans and
capacity-building of ministries of education. In view of
the capacity-building needs, especially in Africa and in
South Asia, it would be important to strengthen the technical
capability of these mechanisms.
Inter-Agency flagship
programmes
Flagship Programmes have emerged that address some of the
broad objectives laid out in the Dakar Framework. These
programmes bring resources (knowledge and experience) to
countries in the implementing of their EFA plans. In key
areas, such as HIV/AIDs prevention, school health and girls'
education, they are mechanisms for sharing what works and
contribute to developing quality education outcomes. They
broaden the range of programmes available for young people
and contribute to enhancing life-skills.
Most of the flagship programmes
have been launched quite recently, and thus are in the process
of being disseminated. Nevertheless, forty-four countries
have thus far addressed issues in girls' education in their
Common Country Assessments, and twenty-two in their United
Nations Development Assistance Frameworks. Initiatives called
Focusing Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH), which
include capacity-building for school health and HIV/AIDS
prevention through schools, have been launched in fourteen
sub-Saharan African countries.
Co-operation with civil
society
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made valuable contributions
to the Dakar Framework for Action, and representatives at
the Forum committed themselves to 'ensure the engagement
and participation of civil society in the formulation, implementation
and monitoring of strategies for educational development'.
The Dakar Framework consequently emphasized that EFA can
be achieved only if it is supported by a broad-based movement
that includes civil society organizations (CSOs) ranging
from NGOs to teachers' unions and religious organizations.
Because of their flexibility, innovation and closeness to
the grass roots, such organizations are uniquely qualified
to reach marginalized persons who may not be well served
by traditional schools.
At regional and national
levels, NGO networks have been strengthened and new ones
created. This post-Dakar networking has contributed to the
strengthening of NGOs, especially in Africa. These new and
stronger networks will give civil society a clearer and
more recognizable profile and will enable the expression
of joint civil society positions.
Mobilizing resources
for EFA
Achieving the ambitious but urgent goal of EFA will require
the investment of large amounts of new financial resources.
A significant proportion of funding must come from the individual
countries themselves through, for example, reallocation
and the adoption of cost-effective measures to reach EFA
goals. However, most will also need considerable additional
outside help.
The Dakar Framework calls
for external assistance on a systematic basis in the form
of the creation of a 'global initiative' to fund the financial
resources necessary for the realization of the goal of EFA.
This initiative has been launched in a context of decreasing
and softening donor contributions to international development.
Aid allocations have been on the decline in all regions
except for Europe, Central and East Asia and the Pacific
during the 1990s. The trend for the least developed countries
has been downward in recent years. Sub-Saharan Africa has
witnessed the sharpest decline by roughly one-third. Some
of the major aid providers are responsible for some of the
largest reductions. Moreover, during the 1990s, non-concessional
funds gained importance over concessional disbursements.
Given the urgency of
reaching the goals of EFA, this decline of contributions
is disturbing.
Major challenges that lie ahead
Funding the
global initiative
Estimates of the cost of achieving UPE range from US$8 to
$15 billion annually. While these sums are significant,
the key message is that UPE is affordable. Moreover, there
is evidence that, once an initial surge of enrolments has
moved through the system, developing countries should be
able to sustain such a system with declining external support.
While increased funding and
the reversal of recent trends toward declining official
development assistance are necessary to accomplish the goals
of EFA, this will not be sufficient in and of itself. Other
important objectives are to assure greater predictability
in the flow of external assistance and to provide debt relief
and/or cancellation.
Assessing and funding national
plans of action
During 2002, most countries will still need to develop or
adjust the existing national plans of action to EFA objectives.
And most developing countries have indicated that they would
require methodological and technical support for the preparation
of the EFA plans or the strengthening of existing plans.
Ways must be devised to provide
countries with the technical and financial assistance they
need to develop national EFA plans of action. Criteria and
mechanisms must be established for reviews of these plans
at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.
Improved monitoring of EFA
goals and targets
Progress toward EFA must be carefully measured. It is important
to assist developing countries in developing the capacity
to assess progress toward EFA, including the identification
of inequalities within these nations. UIS should be encouraged
in its review of core indicators for EFA and to develop
indicators for early childhood care and education and non-formal
education. Better information must also be developed and
disseminated on 'what works' in various contexts.
Increased co-operation at
the national level
Research over the past decade has consistently found that
increased education spending is a necessary but not sufficient
requirement for educational progress. Pragmatically, this
means an end to 'business as usual'. Attainment of the Dakar
goals will require significant policy changes at the national,
regional and international levels and - perhaps most important
of all - a willingness of the various stakeholders to enter
into new partnerships, especially new relationships between
government and civil society.
