6.2.17 Coefficient of Efficiency to Grade 5

Source: Indicator 13 and 14

The coefficient of efficiency to Grade 5 in 1994 is 49.9% compared to 61.1% in 1998. From the Government point of view, this is a big improvement considering its policy of keeping all children complete a full cycle of primary education. Except for Malampa Province, the other provinces recorded high coefficient of efficient between 1994 and 1998. Shefa Province increased from 40.3% in 1994 to 148.5% in 1998 in terms of coefficient of efficiency. The urban area recorded high coefficient of efficiency from 60.3% in 1994 to 142.7% in 1998. The rural area has done considerably well recording 47.7% in 1994 to 75.2% in 1998. Torba Province recorded a high coefficient of efficiency with 76.9% in 1994 to 107.7% in 1998. Malampa Province dropped drastically from 124.6% in 1994 to 65.0% in 1998 for the females. The coefficient of efficiency of girls is higher than boys in all the provinces in 1998. In 1994 the coefficient is higher for the province of Torba, Penama and Malampa.

Source: Indicator 13 and 14

From a PILL test which was sat by 5,038 Grade 4 students in 1998, the results revealed that 15.5% of the students being tested for Reading and Writing pass the test, 16.6% were male and 14.2% female passed the basic learning competencies.

For Mathematics, 23.0% of the students passed. The female did slightly better with 27.2% passing as compared to 19.2% male.

Tafea province outperformed all the provinces in both Reading/Writing and mathematics with 53.0% and 70.8% while Penama performing poorly in reading/writing with 10.2% and Torsa province with 5.6% for Mathematics.

The urban area outperformed the rural area slightly with 16.0% as compared to 14.1% for reading/writing. For Mathematics, the urban area outperformed the rural area slightly with 23.0% as compared to 20.9%.

The overall scenario tends to indicate that the grade 4 children have not done considerable well in the PILL test, which tends to assume that they have not mastered basic competencies quite well.

Source: Indicator 13 & 14

From the Year 6 national examination, results revealed that out of 4,952 students who sat the test, 26.8% passed the exam. 21.0% were male and 28.1% female passed the exam, which tends to indicate that they master the basic learning competencies. Shefa province outperformed other provinces with 36.0%. Torba has the least percentage of 8.2 succeeding in the exam.

It is worth noting that in all provinces and in the urban and rural areas, females outperformed the males except the Torba province.

Source: Examination Office, 1998

From a total of 4354 students who sat the Year 6 primary examination in 1990, only 23.8% were admitted to the next grade. In 1994, of a total of 4520 student sitting the exams, 25% were admitted to Year 7, which is the next grade. In 1997, of a total of 4,885 students sitting the exam, 42% were admitted to Year 7. The trend shows that the number of students giving access to further studies at the Junior Secondary level increases every year. This indicates that the student had mastered well basic learning competencies.

4. Adult Literacy

There are no recent data or latest statistical indicators to show literacy and illiteracy rate in Vanuatu. However an Asian Development Bank report on Vanuatu’s Economic Performance, policy and Reform issues (pp224) reported that:

"Vanuatu’s adult literacy rate in 1989 has been reported to be 68 percent for males and 60 percent for females (Tait, 1994). A joint Vanuatu Government/UN report quotes a 30 percent rate for both males and females for 1991. The latter figure seems rather low given improvements in overall enrolment rates since 1979. The difference in figures quoted may be due to the definition of literacy used. Nevertheless, both reports indicate that a significant number of adults are illiterate. A range of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) groups currently mount adult functional literacy programmes in an attempt to current the situation. In a society where youth do not play a prominent role in decision-making, it is important that key adults can at least read and write order to be more conversant with the ways of the modern world."

NGOs are the main key players in promoting Adult literacy Education in Vanuatu particularly the World Vision. One recent literacy programme managed by World Vision with assistance from the Australian Government aimed mainly at woman in the rural villages for it was believed that it is mainly they who have lacked opportunities for formal schooling. It is also recognised that everyone has the right to become literate. The programme was conducted in isolated areas on eight islands in Vanuatu namely Malekula, Epi, Ambrym, Tanna, Santo, Maewo, Torres and Pentecost.

Results and achievements of the programme are:

1. Health – literacy has resulted in improvements in waste disposal, access to safe water, improved food storage and handling, and increased knowledge in child health care.
2. Women’s confidence – literacy has given women the confidence to express their views and to speak in public. Women have also taken leadership roles and have been actively taking part in decision making. It was believed that to learn to read and to write is the key to new knowledge. The women who know how to read and write discovered for themselves a new way of life.
3. The number of trainees changes each year, as the woman gained what they wanted. Some took up leadership roles in their communities, some could speak Bislama and migrated to the town of Port Vila and Santo for work. Some have gone into small business.
4. Literacy had also led to improvement in community organisations by enhancing leaders ‘skills and encouraging them to be more open to active participation among villagers.

6.5 Expansion in Essential Basic Education and Training skills required by Youth and adults

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is provided by various agencies, which operate largely independently. The agency with most involvement is the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports which has five main responsibilities in TVET: (i) The National Institute of Technology of Vanuatu (INTV) in Port Vila is the country’s main provider of post-secondary, formal, pre-employment training for jobs in the modern sector of the economy. Most courses are offered in French and English and are at the craftsman level in the areas of industrial studies, commercial studies, and hospitality and tourism. (ii) The Vanuatu Teachers College (VTC) in Port Vila provides pre-employment training for Francophone and Anglophone primary school teachers and Francophone lower-secondary schoolteachers. No provision is made at VTC for training of technical teachers. (iii) The Training and Scholarships Coordination Unit (TSCU) in Port Vila administers Vanuatu’s national program of sponsored scholarships for overseas training. Training is made available in regional and other tertiary institutions at non-degree, undergraduate and post-graduate levels for school leavers and persons employed in the public and private sectors. (iv) At lower-secondary level the Ministry of Education assists two private Technical/Vocational Secondary Schools (TVSSs) that provide a combined program of general studies and technical education. (v) The lower-secondary schools the curriculum provides for the teaching of vocational subjects (industrial arts for boys and home economics for girls) and they are offered in about half of the schools. The Ministry of Education’s Division of Vocational and Further Education (DV&FE) administers the operation of INTV, VTC, the two TVSSs, and vocational aspects of general secondary education, while TSCU is administered by the Ministry of Education separately from DV&FE. It may be noted that DV&FE’s main function and focus is on administering the operation of the secondary-school system.

Government ministries and agencies other than the Ministry of Education provide training for specific purpose in 11 separate training centers:

In addition to the above, Government sponsored training comes from two other sources:

Non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and religious organizations also contribute to TVET, mostly in rural areas, in Vanuatu. (i) There are about 44 small, privately operated Rural Training Centers (RTCs) which were established by communities, church groups and private interests. They offer vocational and technical training programs to young people who leave the school system after completing basic education, with the objective of imparting skills that will be employable in the rural environment. The Vanuatu Rural Development Training Centers Association (VRDTCA) guides development and improvement of the RTC system. (ii) There are 8 independent TVSSs, mostly operated by religious organizations, which provide a combined program of general studies and technical education in Grades 7 to 9. (iii) There are about 70 registered NGOs in Vanuatu and their programs mostly include informal, community-based training with an emphasis on community, rural and women’s development.

Other agencies offer formal and informal TVET in Vanuatu. (i) The University of the South Pacific Extension Center (ESPEC) in Port Vila and a Sub-Center in Luganville offer three types of programs: foundations studies, equivalent to school Grades 12 and 13; tertiary level extension studies in units of vocational and degree programs; and short continuing education programs in specific skills. (ii) The Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry devotes half its budget to training designed to promote business development. Course for specific interest groups are offered in Port Vila and regional centers. (iii) Two private training companies in Port Vila provide commerce- related programs with an emphasis on business, management and office skills. (iv) Most private sector enterprises provide in-house training programs, ranging from informal apprenticeship-type training in small enterprises to structured staff development programs in larger enterprises. Larger private sector enterprises arrange for training of selected staff in overseas tertiary programs.

Determination of the scope of TVET in Vanuatu is complicated by a lack of data on enrolments from training agencies and differences in available data and courses offered. A very approximate estimate is as follows. The Ministry of Education, 11 other Government agencies and other non-Government agencies provide TVET through about 70 institutions or training centers countrywide. They cater to about 1,400 students enrolled in post-secondary, pre-employment programs from which about 440 students graduate each year. Post-primary, pre-employment programs cater to about 2,650 students resulting in about 1,010 graduates each year. Continuing education programs, mostly short, post-employment, upgrading courses are provided to about 1,170 students each year.

Distance education programs currently offered in Vanuatu and those potentially on offer, are all at a level equivalent to those of upper-secondary schools, or offer degree or diploma university courses. Education in English currently exists, and education in French is planned. Education in French will be offered through the Association of Universities entirely or partially teaching in French (AUPELF) and the Grouping of Universities expressing themselves in French (UREF). AUPELF-UREF is an international organization of Universities teaching in French. It established its regional office in Port Vila in 1998. It plans to offer within the foreseeable future degree courses by satellite to students throughout the Pacific. Financial assistance will be available to students taking these courses. The utility of its offerings to Vanuatu circumstances will require testing.

The major provider of Distance Education for Vanuatu is the University of the South Pacific (USP). Prior to the introduction of the New Zealand Bursary Program in 1995, its offerings provided the only route to pre-university qualification available within Vanuatu. These courses are still available. They consist of two parts: (i) a Preliminary Program lasting one year, and (ii) a Foundation Program lasting two years. In addition, certain degree courses are available.

So far, the Government has been unable to organize directly programs to provide education for the disabled. The causes of this situation are not a lack of will, but a lack of the necessary financial resources. In the years since independence in 1980, the Government has on several occasions expressed a sympathetic interest in the disabled, but has found itself unable to take any concrete action to give it effect. The role that the Government has had to abdicate has been assumed by private and public benevolence funded both locally and from abroad. The principal sources of funds are UNICEF and a German charity, Christoffelblinden.

Within Vanuatu the major vehicle for the education of the disabled has been the Vanuatu Society for Disabled People (VSDP). This Society has a central unit in Port Vila and a field worker in each of the six provinces. The role of the field workers is to identify the disabled in all categories, physical and intellectual, to design and implement programs for each disabled person, and to secure locally the co-operation and particular resources which will make possible the development and education of the individual in question. Local co-operation has often been freely given, and has resulted in positive and important results through the efforts and class and head teachers. This has been achieved both because of the understanding of particular individuals and, no doubt also, as a consequence of programs of education and sensitization that VSDP has offered to Teachers College students for many years.

7.0 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EFA STRATEGY, PLAN AND PROGRAMMES

Vanuatu has established a strong base for basic education through its policy of providing universal primary education which motivates parents to send their children to school. Having almost attained the target of Universal Primary Education, he urgent need recently has been to address and improve the overall quality of primary education and to further strengthen the secondary and post-secondary education in order to enhance access to and quality of the provision for students moving up from the primary level. The policy objectives and strategies which are more or less EFA strategies, constituted as a part of the Five Year National Development plans and other supplement General Policy Directives, has been effective in a number of ways in moving the education system forward into the prioritised areas. Some recent policy guidelines, coordinated projects for execution with external assistance and interventions by the Ministry’s management and professional units, are indicators of a positive thrust forward in education for all.

Pre-school education is presently managed by the communities. Kindergartens are more often attached to a primary school, so as to benefit from some common facilities. The average class size is about 34 children, and each teacher takes care of an average number of 19 children; 31% of the teachers are untrained. Generally, teachers are trained during a one-week course, with the aid of UNICEF and bilateral donors (Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and France).

• The Ministry correctly anticipated a number of constraints that had to be faced in its attempts at bringing about qualitative improvements in basic education.
• Constraints that were highlighted included limited resources. Government tends to reduce or keep at the same level its budgetary provisions towards Education. The budgetary provision allocation does not cover other areas of the Basic Education. Lack of human resource is another big problem resulting in the government still employing a lot of untrained teachers at the primary and junior secondary level of education annually. Lack of needed qualified and experienced manpower within the Ministry’s management structure reduces the successful implementation for Education For All. Also over the last seven years since 1992 which saw a lot of new officers being recruited to work for the Ministry of Education. Financial constraints face by the government, communities and parents also contributed to lack of proper hardware (physical infrastructure) and software (learning materials and consumables) within the education system.
• Vanuatu’s geography coupled with many islands and islets scattered every where contributes to communication and transportation problems. Many school children had to travel quite along way to go to schools. Some areas may have children not even attending schools due to the geography of the island and ships not servicing them.
• Communication between the main headquarter and provincial headquarters is often hard and unreliable. Correspondences between the main headquarters, provincial headquarters and the schools are greatly affected by these communication and transportation problems. Lack of funds at the provincial level also contributed a lot to communication problems between the provincial headquarter and schools
• The long-term and systemic nature of qualitative changes and the issue of integrating specific externally assisted programmes with national plans and policies. Many donors have their own agenda of priorities.
• Leadership and Management changes – In 1991 alone, there were five different Ministers of Education. Between 1992 and 1998 there were four different Ministers of Education. Between 1992 and 1998, there were four different Director Generals of Education. All these changes brought new policy directions which resulted in a lot of confusion and frustrations.
• While there may have been some delays in getting some of the planned activities implemented, especially those in the areas of school buildings, classroom facilities and curriculum materials, there were no major setbacks in implementing the Development Plan programmes regarding the EFA as such.

• For many years, government plus many stakeholders and organisations have joint-collaboratively promoted a strong public awareness of educational needs of the country. Government has been in the forefront of establishing policy framework which promoted Universal Primary Education, increase access to junior secondary and healthy collaboration with non-government organisations in all areas of education.

Government from its part has always from the 1980s and 1990s regarded education as its highest sectoral priority. This is reflected in terms of its annual budgetary allocation of 20 to 23% of the total government budget to Education. This message is always referred to in all the budget speeches read out to the whole population of Vanuatu.

In 1997, the Government of Vanuatu underwent a process of Comprehensive Reform Programme (CRP) which involves a lot of consultation and awareness from the National, Provincial and Village levels. As part of the governments political will one of the Comprehensive Reform Programme priorities stated clearly that the CRP envisages a redirection of resources to the delivery of social services .. especially education, which is the key to personal, social, and economic development. Education is seen as playing a critical role in the whole reform process, contributing directly to economic growth by providing a more literate and better skilled labour force and being the most important tool for building an equitable society.

• Great concerted efforts and improve planning recently have provided Vanuatu today with almost adequate human resources for effective management and leadership education. What is required how is to further upgrade and strengthened the level of schools and the teaching force at the early childhood and primary levels to match the enhanced capacity at the senior officer’s level of the Ministry of Education.

• Similar to other Pacific Island countries, it is difficult for Vanuatu to undertake some of the urgent but expensive development projects on its own. But to fulfil the commitment UNESCO Apia Office for the Pacific Region providing education for all and producing a literate population, government annually negotiates new education projects. As commonly known that ‘the South Pacific is one of the most heavily aid assisted regions in the world’.

• Awareness is important for effective implementation of government plans and policies. The strategies in place include workshops, use of media, cultural groups, and church organisations.

• The government’s main media organisation is also used to disseminate relevant information on education through school broadcast programmes. The Department of Education since 1980s have been developing radio programmes on many education subsectors. Recently it started producing radio programmes on what the proposed education reform is and why establish Elementary Education, relocation of grades 7 and 8 from convention high schools to Primary Schools, targeting students, teachers, school councils, provincial local governments, chiefs and politicians as agents for distribution of information on what is ongoing.

• Some Ministerial briefs to the Council of Ministers also report on the progress of the current education system and the proposed education reform which include EFA agenda, noting achievements, out-standing issues arising from current implementation of the plans and the future plan of the Department.

• The National TV also televised programmes on health and education issues for children and adults. Print media print news on health, education, women, youth and religious affairs weekly.

For preschool education, there has been some progress made through a seven year Early Childhood Education project funded jointly by organisations such as UNICEF, Save the Children Fund, CUSO and others. Through this project nearly 1,000 teachers were given basic training plus imported and locally - made play materials were provided to schools. An adhoc curriculum for preschool education was also developed. Preschool Provincial coordinators were recruited and funded by the project.

However, a lot still needs to be done to preschool education. As Vanuatu is moving towards the new millenium the following activities are required to improve this area:

1. A comprehensive preschool policy needs to be in place immediately
2. A proper unified preschool curriculum needs to be put in place
3. A proper preschool teacher education program needs to be put in place at Vanuatu teachers college
4. An proper in -service training program for preschool untrained and trained teachers needs to be put in place
5. A proper management structure to govern the operation of preschool education from the national level to school level needs to be developed
6. A school-mapping survey exercise for preschools needs to be carried out immediately
7. Government should provide some financial assistance to preschool education

It may be likely that there will be greater pressure on Government to become more involved in early childhood education in the near future due to the Education Master plan. The Government’s proposed vernacular and bilingual policy itself is likely to draw the attention of the education authorities to the impact of the early experiences of children on their subsequent life and performance at the primary school.

Considerable effort and progress is made at the primary level. Almost every child in Vanuatu attends six years of primary education. Access to junior secondary education has improved considerably from the usual 20 and 23% to 40 % of year 6 leavers. Other in-country institutions provide technical and vocational training opportunities for many school leavers.

Access to education for girls have much improved. At primary and junior secondary level the gap between male and female enrollment has virtually been closed.

Work on developing a common primary curriculum has started many years ago. A lot has been achieved through the Primary and Secondary Education Project funded by the World Bank. In this project, some 200,000 books were produced plus about 100,000 textbooks purchased commercially and distributed to all primary and junior secondary schools throughout the country. The New Zealand Education Assistance Program for many years has been the major key player in curriculum development in both primary and junior secondary education.

At the junior secondary level, progress is still continuing on trying to finish the uncompleted subjects and updating the completed subjects. Quality of syllabi and examinations has improved, as has the availability of text - books and other instructional materials.

The teaching force has been quite significantly upgraded. After some years of government instability, the department has tried to ensure that most primary teachers in established posts have followed the two-year course offered at the Vanuatu Teachers College or have adequate teaching qualifications from overseas institutions. The level of competence in the secondary teaching force has risen. A network of trained Provincial Education Officers and Primary inspectors has been re-established but many positions are yet to be filled. Many primary teachers have and are attending in-service training courses run by the primary advisers on topics such as multi-grade teaching and teaching skills.

The development of the complete unified curricula for years 1-10 has been slower than expected. The curricula will not be in place for some time yet. Similar to primary there are still under - qualified junior teachers in the system. However, policy decisions have been taken run junior secondary teacher training in Vanuatu.

A UNESCO study on "Pacific Islands Literacy Levels" in the early 1990’s indicated that primary students in Vanuatu have literacy and numeracy levels comparable to, or higher, than other Pacific Islands States.

In the absence of relevant studies, it is quite difficult to establish whether the quality of education has improved or declined over the last few years. Nevertheless, it can be assumed that the quality of education in Vanuatu has benefited from continued attention by the Department and various donor agencies. Overall whilst the quality of education is still considered lower than in developed countries, much effort has been put into improvement in recent years with assistance from World Bank, Australia, France, New Zealand and the Government than the past years.

However, maintenance of physical assets have often been neglected due chiefly to funding constraints. Schools have not been allocated enough resources. Improvements to the physical facilities of about 52 primary schools have been done through assistance from the European Union recently. The government and other major donor countries like Australia and France have continuously provided financial to expand and renovate existing schools.

Steps have been taken recently as part of the reform process to upgrade the capacity of the Ministry of Education to plan, implement and evaluate developments in the sector. The financial control system has yet to be improved and enhanced. The important positions in the Division of Administration are yet to be filled in.

However, there are gaps which still needs addressing in the education system and are raise recently in a Discussion Paper ER/12 during the current reform process. They are amended for the purpose of this report and are as follows:

1. Access

1. Primary school access is reasonable but requires continual rapid growth to keep up with school age population growth of about 4.5% per year.
2. Secondary school accesses. Only about 40% of grade 6 leavers go on to grade 7. Only a small proportion in grade 10 go on to grade 11+.
3. Gender balance. There is almost good and reasonable balance in primary but girls are an increasingly smaller percentage higher up the education system.
4. Adult literacy. Very low by international standards. Little effort to improve. Non-formal education has a role to play.

2. Financing of education

1. Costs of provision are high in Vanuatu compared to other Pacific Island countries. Providing education facilities in small isolated communities is bound to be expensive. There are many very small schools spread over more that 60 islands, each of which must be staffed and equipped adequately. It is however exacerbated by the need to establish separate schools for religious or language reasons.
2. There is need for more resources to be injected into the education system to increase the number of primary school places, expand secondary level provisions and improve the quality of schooling. The reduction of the education sectoral budget by more that 20% during 1985 – 92 period, and the reduction in school fees in 1993 placed these schools in a very precarious financial position.

1. Quality

1. In 1998 only 46.5% of primary school teachers were trained.
2. Trained teachers are not equitably distributed around the country.
3. There is insufficient school textbooks, equipment and facilities so some schools have to do without.

1. Relevance of education and training

1. Approximately 3,500 school leavers enter the labour market each year.Most leavers (from primary and junior secondary) go into the rural sector without sufficient skills for employment of self-employment. The modern school system distances them from their parents way of life and one could argue that most would not have the skills to survive in the traditional village situation.
2. Rural Training Centres provide some life skills training but have only a small impact because of their limited number.
3. Only about 500 paid jobs are available in the labour market each year. However, employers find it difficult to find recruits with the right skills. There is therefore a shortage of ni-Vanuatu with high level and right qualifications plus middle level skills ("blue collar level").
4. None of the existing post school training institutions are sufficiently large or well resourced to provide the necessary training for all but a tiny percentage of school leavers.

On the relevancy of the education and training, the following questions came up during the review of the Youth and Sports Policy, which are important when one is assessing the education system.

• Do parents have and spend time to speak to the youths and ask them what things they would like to be involved in, now that they experience school leaving?

4. Management

1. There is a lack of proper adequate planning and management capacity of the education sector.

Literacy

Literacy can be defined as the ability to read and write in the mother tongue or in a national language where cultural and political realities may so demand. Numerically which is the ability to deal with numbers at a primary level is typically considered part of literacy. Literacy is often seen by many people as an essential ingredient for development.

Rene (1968) warned about the danger of illiteracy and its effect on people when he said:

Vanuatu , despite having ecological features of population dispersion and different local languages, much of its population speaks Bislama, which is a version of pidgin, a Melanesian lingua franca. The official languages are English, French and Bislama. At the time of independence (1980) literacy in Vanuatu was estimated at 13 per cent for the over 15 population. However, the 1989 national census revealed an estimated literacy rate of at least 40 per cent.

The problem of solving or tackling the illiteracy issue at a national level has been neglected for many years. The Government has been directing much of its education financial resources towards the formal sector of education particularly the primary, secondary and post secondary including technical education. The Governments expectation is that any child who completes a full primary cycle should be literate, that is, be able to read, write and count. The Government is ignorant of the fact that many children who completed a full primary cycle might be low literate children who might still not be able to read, write and count.

Narsey (1993) reported the following in the Vanuatu post secondary education study:

The Department of Education had not provided for developmentally or physically disabled people. The ESCAP report on the review and development of Youth and Sports Policy (pp14) indicates that there were 120 people with disability needing education; another 95 were receiving some form of education. Normally, teachers have not been trained in the special needs of disabled, and many teachers felt, given the shortage of teachers and classrooms generally, that their normal teaching load was too burdensome to learn those skills. The report also revealed that the Ministry’s Sports Division advised that they have some resources, which could be prioritised for use by people with disability’s physical education.

Vanuatu is poised for significant improvements in the quality of basic education in the next few years. Its strategy for improvement is comprehensive and covers key dimensions of education such as upgrading the physical facilities and resources in schools, teacher education, curriculum, assessment, and advisory services to teachers, enhancing community support for education, vocational/technical and Distance education, literacy plus others. Currently there is close cooperation between the Government and non-government organisations but there needs to be more. For the last few years external assistance to Vanuatu is strong and consistent and this boosts its capacity to meet many of its educational needs substantially.

For challenges to the government, the following excepts from the reform Discussion Paper ER/12 (pp4) also apply to this report.